When I was little, I loved flying. I loved the airports with their magical moving walkways, the planes with their brightly dressed flight attendants and, most importantly, the little pair of plastic wings I used to be given which basically made me the captain of the flight. Unfortunately, with many repeated years of traveling, the novelty and magic I used to find in airports has almost vanished entirely. I still like the moving walkways (there’s something so satisfying about moving fast with practically no effort) but the big cushy plane seats I remember from my childhood have been replaced with narrow seats that give me absolutely no room for my legs. I am no longer given any plastic wings, so it has been years since I was last a captain, and I now must carry my own baggage (except when my lovely father does it for me). I know, it’s gotten pretty rough.
With all that being said, however, my seven hour flight from Chicago to Dublin (my final stop before Madrid), was pretty A O.K. There was a variety of in-flight entertainment and the irish accents of the flight crew were a delight to listen to. Thus, even though my stomach is currently full of cramps (quick shout out to all the ladies who can relate), I’ve had a pretty painless day.
As for Spain, I must admit that I’m a little nervous. The settings of my brain are firmly set on ‘English’ currently, and although I tried to review all my spanish books on the flight, it’s clear that I have a long way to go. Thus, dear friends, my subsequent blogs about Spain will always begin with a few paragraphs in Spanish. If you know Spanish, kudos to you and please look kindly upon my mistakes (corrections are always appreciated!!!) If you are not familiar with that particular romance language, not to fear, I will also have paragraphs in English at the bottom. I will note, however, that while I hope I can convey similar stories and ideas in both languages, they will definitely not be direct translations of each other!
So bye for now! The next time I compose a blog, I imagine I will be sitting in a small cafe in Madrid or Oviedo, thinking in Spanish and sipping coffee out of my very stylish mug, that’s the plan anyway.
Really quick—if any of you have any suggestions on places I should visit please let me know!
A new development has just occurred. As I am not officially out of the Spain airport yet, I think I’m still allowed to write in English. It turns out that the exceptionally good flight came at the cost of an exceptionally painful baggage mix-up. My luggage, I am told, is still somewhere near Dublin and should arrive in a couple days (if I’m lucky). The whole thing is pretty inconvenient but at least I now have an excuse to spend a fortune on cute European clothes. Hurray for baggage troubles! But seriously, If any of you could send me lucky vibes so I don’t have to spend my whole time here replacing what I lost, that would be awesome.