Um...¿No sé?

Well I have safely arrived in Barcelona! I'm trying to be excited but the voyage was so awful I just want to lay down and die right now.

I left home at 1 pm central time Monday. I realized I forgot my water bottle so we stopped at Target to get another one. That was really the only time I was exposed to the -40 temperature so I can't complain. After the quick stop at Target we got to O'Hare. I said bye to my dad and couldn't look at him cause I felt the tears coming. He stayed in the car while Erin and my mom walked me to security. The tears did fall when I said bye to them. Those tears continued to fall all though security so that was pretty humiliating but whatever JUDGE ME I don't care. I sat at the wrong gate for almost an hour and then luckily found the right one. Then I found the girls I was flying with and we boarded. Then we waited TWO HOURS after I boarded to defrost the fuel tanks or something so yay for delayed flights.

I flew British Airways to London and then to Barcelona. I have very mixed feelings about British Airways or maybe it was just my experience in general. For one, the dinner I ate was atrocious. Like, I'm not sure what I even consumed. I think it was mashed potatoes but there's really no way to be sure. I wish I could have taken a picture to share but it was dark and the flash would gone off and I didn't want to upset the Brits. The dinner did come with a salad which I enjoyed, but my silverware packet came without a fork, which I did not enjoy. Have you ever tried eating salad with a spoon? Not easy.

Luckily, I had a row to myself the entire flight so I was able to lay however I wanted and get some sleep. I was all cozy about to fall asleep with we hit turbulence. Usually I'm not too bothered by it but this time I was actually frantically searching for a barf bag. I found my Dramamine and rushed to the bathroom. After that, sleep came easy. Then I woke up and had to use the bathroom so I walked to the compartment that said "vacant" and walked in. It was not vacant. If this is any indicator of my trip, it is not going to be a good one. However, the Brits did serve tea on this flight. It wasn't any of that herbal tea garbage but it was British breakfast tea with milk and sugar (can't say for sure if it was Barry's, but it tasted pretty similar). I had 3 cups on the flight. Maybe I should have signed up to study abroad in London?

After our connection flight to Barcelona, we got off and met with the study abroad group. They took us to a room and gave us all of the information we will need for the next week. Naturally, I'm still confused. Then they gave us our housing information and sent us to the taxis. That was hilarious but my Spanish is awful and I know ZERO Catalan (which is what they actually speak here) but I got to my homestay. I realized I couldn't even get into the building without a key and I awkwardly just stood there until someone let me in. Did you know elevator doors in Barcelona look like closet doors and us Americans have no idea it's an elevator? Yeah I didn't know that until I was taking my ~70 lbs of luggage up 7 flights of stairs and then an old lady came out and told me to take the elevator. So yeah. There has been a lot of giggling and saying "no sé!" around here.

I finally got to my homestay apartment and the woman is super nice. Her name is Mercedes and she speaks little to no English. I'm doing a lot of smiling and nodding. My roommate isn't here yet because her flight was cancelled so I'm pretty lonely here. Honestly don't know what I was thinking signing up to be away from home for an entire semester but I hear its worth it so hopefully it gets better. Mercedes also has a cat. I'm allergic to cats. So this will be interesting. I also do not know the cats name and I tried asking but I don't think she understood me. So this cat will be known as "Gato" from here on out.

In conclusion: flying is terrible and I smell awful and I just want to sleep forever. Gato is meowing until I pet her. Good thing I'll probably get hives.

Sorry if there are typos in this but I'm much too lazy to read it over. Lo siento.

Angela