Today has been hectic with a lot of great things and sad things happening. I think i have spent most of the day on the phone with my mother crying, missing her like crazy. I miss everything, from the freezing cold weather of New York to my Dad's alarm clock in the morning. I did not realize that this would be so difficult since I have been away from home before, I guess it was not that away.
I started this journey yesterday at JFK leaving my Mom in tears, and as I am writing this tears are falling down. They are happy tears because I know I'll see her sooner than I think. As she walked through the doors of the airport, I was grateful for all the knowledge she has passed on me. I believe that is my strength in this journey. That and this blog. Writing always helps me to get in a better mood really quick. Like really, there are no more tears now!
I got to the airport at like 7am, and everything was surreal to me. I could not believe that I was actually here. At times, I thought I was dreaming. Let me tell you one thing, the Madrid airport is amazing. The city could not have given me a better first impression in the first day. And the good thing, things looked up for the rest of the day as well.
Rocio, the coordinator of the program picked us up, and since I am the only one staying with a family, she drove me home first. I was so nervous because I did not contact with Marina prior to this, so my head was all over the place. Like for example, as Jenifer, one of my classmates, put it, "Where's the sun? I'm really disappointed that the sun is not up yet." So was I Jenifer.
As Rocio drove around the city, my mind did not go to the part of my brain that missed my family. I do not know the right term, but I think my mind suppressed that thought because it was too much to handle at the same time. Rocio parked the Jeep in the street, Olivia, my other classmate, helped me with my luggage, and when I turned to the sidewalk I finally got my first glance at Marina.
Marina is the sweetest person in the world, and just by looking at her for the first time she made me feel comfortable. Living with a mental illness it's not easy, and every little change is very difficult for me. As one can imagine, moving for four months to another country is not the same as changing shampoo brands again because I do not like the smell of it. This is a big change for me, and I am not ashamed of sharing this with everyone. OCD it's not that bad, especially when you have things you've wanted to do and see since forever.
After I got settled at Marina's house, I took a little nap. Then things got interesting. The first thing in my to-do list was to get a SIM card for my iPhone. We went ahead and got that. I was pretty sure things will go smoothly with the change of cards because "Why wouldn't they?". Well, I was wrong. It seems I was misinformed about the status of my phone, and it was not unlocked as I have previously been told. I do not know if that was my mistake or the carrier's, but at this point it does not matter. Since my phone could not be activated because it was locked, I bought a new one. It's not as nice, but I have Internet access and free calls. To be honest, it could have been worst, but it would have been nice not to spend 90 euros on a new phone. That's really my only complaint.
The culture shock became very present when Marina told me they do not use bottled water in Madrid. I was aware of this to some level, but it was kind of weir to just drink water right out of the faucet. By now, I have gotten used to it, so it's not really that big of a deal.
After all the phone drama, my mind remembered that I had a family whom I had just left behind, and here it is where the water-works come to play again. I am obviously happy that I'm here, in the land of the most amazing writers in the history of human kind. But my family is also one of the most amazing families in the history if human kind, so when I called my sister in Mexico to say "Hi", the tears could not be contained anymore. I blamed the tears on the cellphone drama, but the reality of it is that I miss them very much. When they heard me cry, they were really supportive and I'm thankful for that. After I called my sister, my Mom was next in New York. At first I did not want her to hear me cry, but I could not keep that facade for too long. After five minutes I was in a mini existencial crisis, but she calmed me down and that helped.
Being home-sick is not something that is just going to disappear as soon as it came. I'll probably be still crying on the phone with my mom until the day before I leave, but in the mean time I'm going to make the best out of this amazing experience.
We have an official tour of the city tomorrow at 11:30am, even though Marina already made sure that I'm confortable around the neighborhood and the city with an impromptus tour in the middle of the afternoon. I'm proud to say that I know now how to take the Metro, but still, please pray for me not to get lost in the city!
I know this is a short entry to the blog, but I hope you guys can get a closer connection to my experience thought this one. Also I'm sorry that I did not take any pictures or that I was not elaborate enough about the architecture and culture of the city, but I wanted this entry to be more focused on the rollercoaster of emotions that went on on my fist day.
-Paulina
I started this journey yesterday at JFK leaving my Mom in tears, and as I am writing this tears are falling down. They are happy tears because I know I'll see her sooner than I think. As she walked through the doors of the airport, I was grateful for all the knowledge she has passed on me. I believe that is my strength in this journey. That and this blog. Writing always helps me to get in a better mood really quick. Like really, there are no more tears now!
I got to the airport at like 7am, and everything was surreal to me. I could not believe that I was actually here. At times, I thought I was dreaming. Let me tell you one thing, the Madrid airport is amazing. The city could not have given me a better first impression in the first day. And the good thing, things looked up for the rest of the day as well.
Rocio, the coordinator of the program picked us up, and since I am the only one staying with a family, she drove me home first. I was so nervous because I did not contact with Marina prior to this, so my head was all over the place. Like for example, as Jenifer, one of my classmates, put it, "Where's the sun? I'm really disappointed that the sun is not up yet." So was I Jenifer.
As Rocio drove around the city, my mind did not go to the part of my brain that missed my family. I do not know the right term, but I think my mind suppressed that thought because it was too much to handle at the same time. Rocio parked the Jeep in the street, Olivia, my other classmate, helped me with my luggage, and when I turned to the sidewalk I finally got my first glance at Marina.
Marina is the sweetest person in the world, and just by looking at her for the first time she made me feel comfortable. Living with a mental illness it's not easy, and every little change is very difficult for me. As one can imagine, moving for four months to another country is not the same as changing shampoo brands again because I do not like the smell of it. This is a big change for me, and I am not ashamed of sharing this with everyone. OCD it's not that bad, especially when you have things you've wanted to do and see since forever.
After I got settled at Marina's house, I took a little nap. Then things got interesting. The first thing in my to-do list was to get a SIM card for my iPhone. We went ahead and got that. I was pretty sure things will go smoothly with the change of cards because "Why wouldn't they?". Well, I was wrong. It seems I was misinformed about the status of my phone, and it was not unlocked as I have previously been told. I do not know if that was my mistake or the carrier's, but at this point it does not matter. Since my phone could not be activated because it was locked, I bought a new one. It's not as nice, but I have Internet access and free calls. To be honest, it could have been worst, but it would have been nice not to spend 90 euros on a new phone. That's really my only complaint.
The culture shock became very present when Marina told me they do not use bottled water in Madrid. I was aware of this to some level, but it was kind of weir to just drink water right out of the faucet. By now, I have gotten used to it, so it's not really that big of a deal.
After all the phone drama, my mind remembered that I had a family whom I had just left behind, and here it is where the water-works come to play again. I am obviously happy that I'm here, in the land of the most amazing writers in the history of human kind. But my family is also one of the most amazing families in the history if human kind, so when I called my sister in Mexico to say "Hi", the tears could not be contained anymore. I blamed the tears on the cellphone drama, but the reality of it is that I miss them very much. When they heard me cry, they were really supportive and I'm thankful for that. After I called my sister, my Mom was next in New York. At first I did not want her to hear me cry, but I could not keep that facade for too long. After five minutes I was in a mini existencial crisis, but she calmed me down and that helped.
Being home-sick is not something that is just going to disappear as soon as it came. I'll probably be still crying on the phone with my mom until the day before I leave, but in the mean time I'm going to make the best out of this amazing experience.
We have an official tour of the city tomorrow at 11:30am, even though Marina already made sure that I'm confortable around the neighborhood and the city with an impromptus tour in the middle of the afternoon. I'm proud to say that I know now how to take the Metro, but still, please pray for me not to get lost in the city!
I know this is a short entry to the blog, but I hope you guys can get a closer connection to my experience thought this one. Also I'm sorry that I did not take any pictures or that I was not elaborate enough about the architecture and culture of the city, but I wanted this entry to be more focused on the rollercoaster of emotions that went on on my fist day.
-Paulina
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