I made it!

So today is the 26th of May and I made it to Spain. It was bit scary at first trying to find all my flights and buses. As soon as I left my family in the airport in New York, I instantly felt different. I was at the gate waiting for my flight to Madrid and everyone was speaking Spanish around me. Even the woman on the loud speaker was only speaking Spanish and I was wondering what I got myself into. As I finally boarded my flight and sat next to a man that I didn’t know, I felt relief: I made it on the plane and was on my way. The flight lasted about seven and a half hours which was the longest flight that I had ever been on. I decided to pick a flight that flew through the night and arrived in the morning: probably not the greatest idea.

I tried to sleep, but it was very difficult as the seats are not the most comfortable in the world. Finally when we did land, I was getting all of my bags ready to get off the plane and I overheard a girl speaking English about how it was her first time in Europe. She looked about my age so I made it a point to go and get to know her. We hit it off right away and we actually helped each other find our gates. She was from Buffalo, NY and was also staying in Spain for the summer. We exchanged numbers and parted ways. From there the trip was relatively easy. I got on to the plane to Asturias, Spain and tried to sleep some more. This was not possible because we were only in the air for about 30 minutes before we began to land. Once we landed I found my baggage and found the bus to Oviedo.

When I reached the bus station, I got off the bus and a woman came up to me and asked me if I was someone, but I couldn’t make out the name she said. I said no, but then she returned and asked my name. I told her and the problem was that she just couldn’t pronounce Ashley! Which is pretty crazy for me to think about. We got into her car and started talking. It was a bit difficult for me to communicate myself because of the fact that she didn’t speak any English. When I didn’t know the word or what to say, I had to find another way to say it.

I did get to finally sleep when I got to the apartment for four hours. The apartment is very nice. I have my own room which is pretty big with a big closet. Also I have my own bathroom with a shower and luckily she already supplied me with all the towels that I could need. After taking a nap and putting all my clothes away, I went downstairs and there was food already made for me. Overall, the first day is turning out quite well.

My name is Ashely Sirna. I am a junior at SUNY New Paltz and am double majoring in Spanish and psychology with a minor in disaster studies. This summer I am studying abroad in Oviedo, Spain for two months. I am very excited to learn about the culture and improve my Spanish!

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