I am posting this a little late, as I am currently already in Oviedo, but I figured better late than never.
Going into this, I was very nervous. Excited for sure! But nervous nonetheless. I still hadn’t registered for classes, so I had absolutely no idea what my day to day schedule looked like. I didn’t know who was going to be apart of the program with me. I really want to practice my spanish, so I am nervous about meeting people who speak spanish that I can consider friends. I’m living with a host mom too, which (as I know now) she is a wonderful lady, but I was very worried that we would not get a long for whatever reason. I was also worried I wouldn’t have enough money to travel. Or time. Basically, because I didn’t have any of the answers to any of my questions, I was very anxious. And! Up until the day before I left for Spain, the embassy still had not sent approval for my visa!
The days leading up to my departure were the most hectic. I had a family trip ending on the 1st, some last minute doctors appointments on the 2nd and 3rd, a flight to Miami and back to get my visa from the consulate on the 4th, and my flight for Spain on the 6th. I spend the 2nd and 3rd packing and saying my final goodbyes to everybody. I made sure I had enough medication for the semester ahead. Then on the 4th, I had booked a flight to Miami so I could get that darn visa. But here’s the kicker, since submitting my application a month before, I had not heard anything from the consulate on the status of my visa. I was just planning on showing up and begging for it. To my surprise, I got there and was accompanied by at least 30 other students from all across the south east struggling with the exact same problem. It wasn’t until I had already wandered around Miami for 6 hours (after they told me to come back at 3 pm) and I was sitting in their waiting room and finally got that confirmation text that my application had been approved. It was like a massive stressor had been lifted so gracefully from my shoulders. I was so panicked about that visa application. The next day, I made it to the airport with all my belongings (somewhere in TSA I lost my beloved pillow) and had a pretty smooth flight. I was a little annoyed with the fact that once I got to Madrid, I had to get my luggage and check into an entirely different airline, but I guess that is what I get for picking to study abroad in a city that has an airport with only domestic terminals!