Overwhelmed (with gratitude)

In March, I found out that I would be leaving in September on a Fulbright ETA grant to Spain. After spending all summer preparing to leave (and procrastinating packing until the day before leaving), September 9th arrived and it was time for me to leave for Spain! I left my home in Montgomery, Alabama at 10 am on Saturday, and drove two and a half hours to the parking garage in Atlanta, Georgia where I would leave my car for my parents to pick up the following day. On the shuttle to the airport, I met a pilot who was kind enough to walk me to the terminal where my flight was. My flight from Atlanta to Boston was uneventful, but right before taking off I found out that my second flight had been delayed by four hours - instead of leaving at 10:40 pm, I now would be leaving at 2:30 am. Ordinarily this would not have been an ideal situation, but luckily one of my best friends lives in Boston, and she came to pick me up at the airport and bring me back to her house. We spent two hours catching up, then we napped for an hour before I took an Uber back to the airport to catch my flight.

When I got on the plane, I realized that only two people on the entire flight spoke English. Everyone else spoke Portuguese, including the flight attendants. I speak Spanish fairly well, but I don't speak or understand even a tiny bit of Portuguese. I shrugged it off and followed hand signals to my seat, figuring I had seen the airplane safety demonstration enough to be fine.

After takeoff, I realized no one had been placed in the seat behind me, so I put my seat back. I fell asleep and woke up to the sound of a man yelling at me and saying "too tight." He pointed to the seat behind me and gestured for me to put my seat up. Although I was confused as to why he was switching seats after we had taken off, I put my seat up and went back to sleep. A little while later, I woke up again to him violently kicking my seat and screaming in Portuguese. Ordinarily this would have really shaken me, but like I said, I don't understand any Portuguese... so I just stared at him in confusion, motioning to show him that my seat was fully in its upright position. He continued kicking my seat and screaming (which was not my absolute favorite thing in the world at three in the morning after a full day of travel) until a flight attendant came and escorted him away.

When we landed in Portugal, the customs line was very long. Originally I had a six hour layover, but after the plane was delayed it ended up being only two hours. I knew it was going to be tight, but I didn't anticipate that I would be sprinting through the airport after my plane had already boarded. Part of the requirement to stay in Spain for nine months is to get an entry stamp when we enter a country in the Schengen zone (in my case, Portugal). The lady at customs assured me that she had stamped my passport, and I had no time to check because I was going to miss my flight. I ran to the security line and found, to my dismay, that the lady checking bags was taking everything out of each carryon bag and inspecting it closely. I wanted to scream that my flight was leaving the ground in twenty minutes, but instead I gritted my teeth and hoped for the best. After I got through security, I sprinted to the gate with five minutes until takeoff... only to discover that the gate had been switched to a gate on the other side of the airport. I arrived at my gate two minutes before takeoff, hot and out of breath, but luckily I didn't miss my flight!

On the plane, I had a chance to check my passport for the stamp... when I realized she hadn't given me one. I listened to Billy Joel for the entire hour-long flight and tried to come up with a plan to avoid being sent back to the United States after three months without Spanish residency. When I got to Madrid, I collected my bags and headed straight for the Policía Nacional and explained my situation in very rusty Spanish. After being told by two different police officers that I was out of luck, the chief police officer came out and sternly told me to come with him. I followed him through some security offices and sat down at his desk, where he proceeded to ask me a lot of questions and yell at me in Spanish. Willing myself not to cry, I carefully explained the situation and asked him what my options were. He ended up giving me a piece of paper that will help me apply for Spanish residency, and he said that even though it isn't technically an entry stamp, it serves the same purpose. Flooded with relief, I headed outside to catch the shuttle to my hotel, hoping that there wouldn't be any more surprises.

When I got to my hotel room, I immediately took a scalding shower and FaceTimed my best friend from home. I headed downstairs for dinner, where I ordered the Spanish version of a bacon cheeseburger, with a ring of fried potatoes on the top and bottom instead of a bun. The waiter told me I could take the food up to my room if I wanted, which was excellent news because all I wanted was to lay in bed. When I woke up the next morning, I spent eight euros on the breakfast bar, which is very pricey for a Spanish breakfast, but I decided it was worth it because I was incredibly thirsty. I got a small plate of food, but ended up refilling my cup six times (two cups of coffee, two cups of water, one cup of apple juice, and one cup of orange juice). I got some strange looks, but I didn't care. While I was eating, I texted my mom and one of my friends from home, forgetting about the time difference and accidentally giving both of them notifications at 3:30 am (sorry)!

I have one more night in this hotel - tomorrow, I will take a taxi to the center of Madrid, where I will begin my week-long Fulbright orientation.

Overall, I would say my travel experience from the United States to Spain was successful (considering I made it, which is my only criterion). Travel is exciting and beautiful, but it's also exhausting and overwhelming, and I am excited to have that part of the journey behind me. The past two days have brought on a lot of emotions, but mostly I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I am exhausted, but grateful for a warm and quiet hotel with a comfortable bed and a hot shower. I'm thankful for all the kind strangers who helped me these past two days, from the couple who let me cut in front of them in the security line to the woman who slipped my toiletries bag in with her luggage to avoid a delay in my clearance. I am so thankful for supportive friends who let me call them in the airport (thanks Tony!), gave me a place to sleep (thanks Isabelle!), and FaceTimed me at 6 am their time while getting ready for work (thanks Roo!) Above all, I am thankful for the support of my family and my professors - there is no way I would be in Spain right now getting ready to begin a Fulbright grant without them. The next nine months are going to be a whirlwind, but I couldn't be more excited for this adventure!