Getting there is half the fun

            My trip started out with a mishap, albeit a small one.  Who knew you couldn’t carry on a jar of peanut butter?  Not this girl.  Thanks to a benevolent American Airlines employee, I was able to switch it to my checked bag and was on my way.  I first flew to Chicago where I met Shannon at the gate.  Shannon is another auxiliar in Barbate, and it just so happened that we were on the same flights to Madrid and Sevilla.  It made it so much easier traveling with a buddy.  There were at least 6 other auxiliares on our flight, including two who were in our same row, so we chatted with them for a bit (they’re both up north in Galicia). 

Wine and cheese mid-flight? Yes, please.

            We arrived in Madrid and made our connection to Sevilla with no trouble (unless you count a ridiculously unorganized airport security checkpoint trouble).  Once there we met two other auxiliares while waiting for our bags (read: praying they had actually arrived).  From there we took a bus to the main bus station to hop a bus to Cádiz.  We were packed on that bus like sardines, only to find out that we had gone to the wrong station.  Womp womp. 

This shot does not do the reality justice.  I was squished.

            We found our way to the correct one and got on our bus to Cádiz.  Once there, I said goodbye to Shannon, who elected to stay in Cádiz for a few days, and got on my 4^th bus of the day to Barbate. 

Proudly displaying our hard-fought tickets to Cádiz.

            I arrived in Barbate around 7pm, and hoofed it with my huge suitcase and massive backpack to my hostel.  The hostel has advertised Wi-Fi, and the network appeared to be working, but for some reason I was unable to connect.  I got a bit frustrated at this point because the girls behind the desk didn’t really do much for me other than say “you shouldn’t need to put in a username,” even though I kept showing them that it asked for one.  I was jetlagged and exhausted, so my español was not what it could have been and I just let it go for the night.

            The next day I explored the town a little and met up with Claire, Dave, and Charlotte.  Claire and Dave are second year auxiliares who lived in Murcia last year, and Charlotte is an English university student spending her third year here in Barbate on basically the English equivalent of my program through the British Council.  We had a great time getting to know each other and it made me really excited for the year ahead!

            Coming up next: where am I going to live?