Welcome to Valladolid

We have arrived in Valladolid-- (minus a couple members of our group, but I will get to that later)-- The travel was extremely long and tiresome, but the anticipation of the upcoming journey kept some of my fellow classmates and I lively throughout the process. We departed Minneapolis en route for Philadelphia, before we made our leap across the pond for Spain. Once in Philly, we grabbed some food and waited for our upcoming flight. Those who were of age consumed some adult beverages-- some more than others. This brings me to the losing a couple of members part. Once we boarded the plane, we sat for a while, and some of those participating in Happy Hour were having a bit of fun, maybe a little too much. Before we left for Madrid, 5 students from our group were kicked of the plane, forcing our only instructor on the plane to stay back. The flight went well after that, movies were watched, music played, etc. Once in Madrid, we had some time to kill so naturally our first destination was an airport bar. We had a few cervezas before the bus ride to Valladolid. The bus ride was longer than expected, but there was enough to look at to pass the time. Once in Valladolid, we were introduced to our host family. Patrick (my roommate) and I met our Spanish mother named Inma, who is 31 and does not speak a lick of english. She is extremely nice and has three kids named Jorge, Yadira, Angela. We have already created a great bond with the family. We went to Jorge's soccer practice, and hung out for a bit. The first night out consisted of some drinking and dancing at bars and discotecas. At 3:30, Pat and I departed for our house about 30 minutes away on foot. There was a big problem... We didn't exactly know where to go, paired with the fact that we were slightly inebriated. A half our or so passes and we have no idea where we are at. I stop a couple passing by and ask them to type the address into is phones GPS (our phones do not work). We find out that we were walking the opposite way and he advised we take a taxi. I hail one quickly and we should be home free. Another issue, we spent the little amount of Euros we had at the bar. We asked to pay in debit card but it was a no g. I desperately check my wallet one more time and a 10 Euro magically appears. Pat and I finally make it back, and joyfully embraced once we got home. Today consisted of orientation and walking around the city that is extremely massive and beautiful. All is well on the Spanish front, it is shaping up to be a great 5 weeks.

Cheers

Parker