Well, we made it to Spain in one piece, after a long time of travelling. The first , to New York, was short (about an hour) and the plane was tiny. The second flight to London was long. The 777 is a massive plane. 3 separate cabins, all with 2 aisles. We were delayed on the ground for about an hour while they loaded all the bags, and then had to wait another half hour to take off because the airport was so busy. The flight was nice once we finally got in the air. 5 hours long. Each seat had its own personal tv screen. I watched a movie and then tried to sleep some.
Once we landed in London Heathrow airport, we had 4 hours before the next flight. We killed most of that time walking around the airport trying to find where we were supposed to wait to be called to the gate. The airport looked like a mall.
The final flight was nice, I got some sleep. I couldn´t believe it when we landed in Spain because I still don´t feel like I´m on the other side of the Atlantic.
The dorms are very nice, single rooms with private bathrooms and cleaning service. The walk to our rooms takes at least 5 minutes though. One the first day, we walked around with the Galician students. They showed us through a Cathedral and then took us out to dinner. The food here is different in general. There is no such thing as peanut butter here. Also, french fries are served with many meals but they taste different from American fries. They don´t eat ketchup with their fries or burgers. Overall though, I´ve enjoyed my meals here. Meals are cheap, too. We had an entire 3 course dinner last night for only 9 Euros (about $10.74). Today I had pasta for dinner and it was only 3.85 Euros ($4.59)
The town is very old but the university is modern. I´ll post pictures later. So far we´ve walked around and explored. Saturday night we went to a concert in front of the cathedral I mentioned earlier, we call that area the Square. There were fireworks and everything! Great show. After the fireworks we hung out at a bar.
It doesn’t get dark here until after 10. People are out and about at night. Some do the siesta, but not everyone. 10 pm here is like 7 pm in NC in terms of the ¨feel¨of dinner time. I´m still not adjusted to the 6 hour time difference, it always feels like it should be earlier.
As for the project, we had a large group meeting Saturday afternoon. The site will consist of 13 different stories. Each story has its own photographer, audio reporter and designer. I´m the designer for 2 stories, one about a healer and one about the el camino (the actual pilgramage to santiago). Monday I will be going to the photo shoot for the healer, it´s a 2 hour drive from here.
I´ll write some more when I have more time. I am thinking about everyone at home and I hope things are well! Have a happy 4th of July!
