I Made It! - part 1

Hola España! I've made it here safe and sound and have found myself loving this country, the people, and the culture. I've been SO busy, so its been hard to find time in the day to write a post to update everyone before passing out in bed. I'm going to try to keep this short and sweet and then post something hopefully tomorrow, with more updates. This post will just be about the plane ride and my first day here. 

I got to Pittsburgh airport right around noon, made it through security really quickly, and found my gate, which was at the end of the terminal. I then sat around for several hours until my plane got there. The flight went well and I soon found myself in Chicago, with only a slight delay. I was a little worried because I didn't have much time between my flights and it was a big airport. But thankfully, my next flight was delayed a little due to deicing.

 

My next leg was from Chicago to Madrid. It was really nice because I had an isle seat and the plane wasn't crowded at all. The man that was next to me ended up moving into the empty seats behind us so we both had more room for sleeping. Speaking of sleeping, I slept for about four hours on that flight, on and off. It was a little hard due to a screaming baby nearly the whole flight, but thanks to my eyemask, earplugs, neck pillow and good ole melatonin, I was at least able to sleep a little. The food on that flight was also pretty good. For dinner I had chicken and rice with vegetables, a crab salad thing, cheese and bread, and for desert, tiramisu. Breakfast was a croissant stuffed with ham,a fruit cup, a blueberry muffin, and a kitkat bar(I know right? I was confused, too.). 

There were times I seriously thought I was going to die on that flight due to the nasty turbulence. So not fun. 

I finally made it to Spain! The Madrid airport was HUGE and really nice. It was a bit challenging because hardly anyone spoke English, so I had to use Spanish at times. While walking to my gate area, I met two other girls from CEA and then, after finding my gate number (it wasn't posted on my ticket or on the boards. I had to end up going to customer service) I met one of my roommates, Callie!

When we finally made it to Granada, we were taken to our apartment and given information and keys. Our apartment manager, Manuel, took Callie and I to a nice tapas bar around the corner from our apartment. I was amazed at the delicious food! I even liked the seafood that was given to me. Our other roommate, Ashley, arrived later that night and we all went out for tapas with some other CEA people we had met up with. 

That was pretty much my first day! I'll post more soon :)

-Christy

How to Pack Your Life in One Suitcase

Tomorrow is the day! It's all gone so fast, but soon, I'll be on my way to Spain! It's currently 4°F outside but it feels more like -12. So, I'm pretty overjoyed to be going somewhere where it's currently 46°F!


As promised, I would show you how I managed to pack my life in a suitcase.

I was originally going to roll all of my clothes in outfits and just put them in that way, but thanks to my lovely friend Chrissy's advice, I used a 4-piece compression bag set by American Tourister.

They're really nice for traveling because you don't need to lug a pump around to extract the air! You just fill them and roll them.

I was surprised at how much space it saved! I packed about 8 shirts in this particular bag and as you can see, it really didn't take up too much room.

I also stuffed my suitcase with a couple of dryer sheets. even though most of my clothes are in bags, I still want my suitcase smelling fresh; dryer sheets are a great way to do that!

And now, for the final result:

Voila! My "whole life" in one suticase! :) it contains:

10 tops

6 jeans

3 pairs of shorts

2 leggings

2 dresses

2 workout tops

4 pairs of pajamas

7 panties

4 pairs of socks

5 tanks

6 bras

4 boot socks

1 pair tights

running shoes

converse shoes

boots

flats

flip flops

2 pairs sandals

snow pants 

winter jacket

sweatshirt

swimsuit

gloves 

3 scarves

Not too shabby if I do say so myself! There are also a few miscellaneous items thrown in, like belts and deodorant, but I didn't feel they were worth mentioning. I still have to pack my carry-on, but I'm pretty much done! Yay! Now its off to Spain! I'll let you know when I get there and tell you about the flight experience with LOTS of pictures! :D




Besos!




-Christy

an apartment and seven days.

Well, it's the final countdown! Seven days until I'm finally leaving for España. It's starting to become more of a bittersweet thought. I'm so thrilled to be spending time studying in Spain and experiencing a different culture. But at the same time, I'm really starting to realize just how much I love home and my friends and family. I never thought I would admit it, but I'm actually really sad to leave home - which for me is really weird. I've never been homesick before and I'm a little apprehensive that I will be while in Spain and I won't know how to deal with it. Oh well. Just take it a day at a time, right? :)

Anyways, enough of my worrying! On to better and brighter news!

source

I FINALLY received my apartment information for Granada! (note to friends and family: if you would like my address for while I am in Spain, just text, call, email, facebook me, etc. I'm not going to post it online.) I have two roommates, Callie and Ashley, who seem to be very sweet girls. :) Our apartment is in a wonderful location and is only a 10 minute walk from the campus building and a 15 minute walk to the Alhambra! I'm really looking forward to experiencing the different parts of the city and exploring the surrounding areas - especially grocery shopping! Another great thing about my apartment is that there is free WIFI! So I can update my blog in the comfort of my room. :)

I have a little story that I almost forgot to tell you guys!
I was looking for a book to read on my bookshelf when I found this book:

(Image Copyright Christy Purinton)

It's Tales of the Alhambra written by Washington Irving! It was published in Granada in 1978 but was originally published in 1832 and then later revised by Irving in 1851. I had NO idea this book was on my shelf and thought it was a funny coincidence! I'm hoping to finish the book before I leave. It's actually a very interesting read, much to my surprise. :) I'll try to keep you all posted on what I think if/when I finish it.

My next post will be about how to pack your life into one suitcase for 4 months! Stay tuned! ;)

- Christy