Day 1

Dear Journal,

            This week I have had countless interactions with the locals of Madrid, none of which I understood that well, except for one. Landing in Madrid, I was worried about how I was going to find my way to ACCENT from the airport. While in baggage claim, I read my novel. A couple minutes into the book, a girl I recognized from the same flight walked up to me, “I love that book! Can’t wait for the third one to come out.” I put the book down and we started talking. Her name was Iulia Alguacil, she lives and studies in Madrid but was taking time off of academia to travel around the United States. After picking up our bags, she asked whether I needed any help getting into town. Feeling relieved, I immediately took her on her offer. Maneuvering our way through the crowd of people, we eventually got to the exit where I met Iulia’s mother. She did not speak English, so Iulia became our translator. We hopped on the metro heading for Sol; while waiting to get to our destination Iulia’s mother offered me breakfast. At that point my stomach was growling to the point where I felt the people sitting across from me could hear, thus I accepted her kind offer. I could tell both of them heard my stomach growl by the way they giggled. Once we arrived we took a picture with the bear and the tree and headed over to a small coffee shop a few blocks away. There, they taught me Spanish terms/customs I should know and talked about the places I should visit. Before departing Iulia gave me contact information and reassured me that if I needed anything I could call her. Before taking the train to ACCENT, I came in to shake her hand goodbye, but she shook her head and gave me the Spanish gesture of kissing both sides of my cheek. Being new to this custom, I blushed and walked away waving farewell.