The Longest Flight EVER: Madrid, Espana

So, we have finally arrived at our destination, Madrid.  In all honesty, our trip over to Europe was terrible.  Even subtracting the tears that were shed, by mainly me, throughout the day.

First, our flight from Detroit to Montreal was put in the smallest plane I think possible.  Not only was the plane terrible, Ryann hasn't flown in almost 6 years and was terrified.  Both of us only slept for a total of probably 30 minutes on the first flight and the remaining 2 flights leaving us exhausted.

Then, luckily when we arrived at Montreal, we found a couple and a pair of older women who were taking the same flight to Paris as us and they were encouraging us about studying abroad and were very nice and followed them through customs.  They were very helpful.  We got to call mom and Nick at the airport in Canada, but our calls were cut short by boarding.  Our plane then boarded from Canada to Paris.  It was the largest plane I ever remember traveling on.  At first, like any normal child, Ryann and I were very excited to play the games, look at the plane statistics and watch movies, but like most good things, the excitement came to an end.  The rest of the flight was miserable.  We were tired and grumpy by this point.  One good thing--the food on the flight was very good, and Ryann was amazed that they gave us alcohol to drink.  She's silly.  She has one taste of the wine and screwed her bottle shut and didn't drink another drop.

So we arrive at Paris with a woman waiting at the end tunnel for a group headed to Madrid.  First, I have to add that the Paris airport is HUGE, absolutely HUGE.  The woman proceeded to sprint all the way through the airport, through customs, through security and raced us on to our flights, which were in the last call boarding phase.  She told Ryann and I the wrong gate, so we became more frantic but finally found the right plane.  We arrived in Madrid safely, got out luggage and eventually found Sala Uno and the ISA directors that were to take us to our hotel.

I guess I shouldn't be so pessimistic.  God protected us on our way here and nothing of ours was damaged, stolen or lost.  The other students in the program are very nice and I think Ryann and I will get along great with some of them.  And, not to mention, we are in Europe right now!  I think these first few days will be harder on me than I expected.  I act very tough and like I can handle anything (mostly for Ryann not to be scared) but really I'm shaking in my boots and right about now.  I don't think I could want anything more than for my parents and Nick to be here with me.  But, I am trying to be positive and realize that I will obviously be homesick at first, that's normal and once we go on the bus tour of Madrid tonight and get our cell phones I will feel much better.

Internet may be scarce here, since I just paid too much money to contact my parents and Nick, but I really needed to see their faces and hear their voices.  I will try to keep everyone updated on mine and Ry's adventures, hardships and experiences that Espana has to offer us.

Vaya con Dios.