La Llegada a España

The Aeropuerto Madrid-Barrajas is big!  To give you an idea of just how big it is, consider this: Spain is a country of about 47 million people, but each year they host more than 60 million tourists.  60 million . . . 13 million more than their resident population, so they have to have a large airport to get everyone to and fro.  And, indeed they do!  (Airport photos courtesy of Wikipedia.)

I would have easily gotten lost on my own and wandered around for a long time trying to get my bearings but, fortunately for me, Daniel from MLSA was there to greet me as I got off the plane.  He helped me make my way across the airport and onto a bus (to another part of the airport) where we met up with other students who would be studying Spanish this summer.  After a short wait we were off on a bus to the residence hall.

I knew I would be studying with three other teachers who had received generous scholarships from the National Spanish Exam, but what I didn't know is that there would be another 85 people here with us.  (It makes sense, of course.  I just hadn't thought it through.)  So the whole residence hall was abuzz with activity and excitement as we were checking in.

Dorms are better than they were back in the late 80s when I was at NC State.  I know this because I have two college-age daughters and I've been on a few campus tours.  Here in Spain they have all the modern conveniences, and some perks that I never expected.  We have private rooms, private baths, air conditioning, tenis courts, a swimming pool (with a lifeguard!), a game room, a pre-paid cafeteria in the building, and a pay-as-you-go restaurant as well.  Needless to say, I had none of these things at NC State in my day.

It is very comfortable, which is important when you are far away from home and missing your loved ones and your easy-going summer routine.  It is also nice to know I have a comfortable place to get my studies done in the evenings.

The MLSA staff is outstanding and they are making sure that everyone is taken care of, but I will talk more about that in another post.

Hasta pronto,

--AnneK

 PS: I have a nice photo montage of the dorm on my arrival day over on Facebook. And after an hour of trying to embed it here, I'm going to just go ahead and share the URL for now. Embedding Facebook videos here in Blogger is not a task for the weak of heart.

Enjoy the video: https://www.facebook.com/annekarakash/videos/10206292116093312/