I cannot sit still.

Actually, that’s a little bit of a lie. I’m not really nervous, not yet anyways. I’m sitting on the floor  eating goldfish (the crackers, not the actual fish–fret not) in the middle of JFK waiting to board my flight to Madrid. My gate isn’t listed yet so I’ve decided to camp out in one that’s bound for Helsinki until it is. Take off is at 7:25, so I still have a little bit of time to go. Getting to the airport and through security was pretty simple, thanks to strategic packing. I can’t say that I learned this skill alone, but when you’re made to rearrange a suitcase to be half a pound lighter to meet the fifty pound weight limit it comes in handy.  I credit the ability to my parents for the endless trips while I was growing up and to my high school career as a cashier. I couldn’t help but to feel a little satisfied in having executed it successfully at the bag check. Even though this is my first time flying alone, I guess it would be pretty bad if I didn’t have it figured out at this point in my life as a traveler.

In any case, Madrid is the first stop. I have a layover there for three hours or so before I catch another plane to Malaga. The rest of the people in my program are arriving on Friday, so I’ll be there a bit earlier than most. I think it’ll probably be good to adjust to the timezone that way and maybe go exchange some dollars for euros in the gap. Once the rest arrive, we’ll take a van from the airport to our host families’ homes in Ronda. My family has a dog!  I know this is so miniscule in the grand scheme of things, but I can’t wait to meet it. My dog at home is huge and I hear that this one is supposed to be little, so that’ll be a nice change of pace.

But besides the actual itinerary, I can’t help but to wonder if my Spanish will be adequate. I’m very hopeful, but also very skeptical. I brought a notepad to write things down so that if I don’t make sense in speaking it’s a little easier to communicate. Getting to my gate in Madrid will be interesting. I’m confident in my abiity to at least read signs, so hopefully that should be enough. Fingers crossed.

As for now, I wait with my goldfish, two backpacks, and Helsinki bound gatemates. Here’s to the start of my adventure.

As taken from JFK’s floor

Location: JFK International Airport