Saturday, June 25th:
Today was quite the day… We got up early and I took Matt to the airport, which consisted of taking three different metro trains while lugging our large suitcases behind us and getting stuck in the turnstiles. We left extra early because we weren’t sure exactly how long it would take us. Over 45 minutes later, we got to the airport, only to realize there was probably close to a mile of walking before Matt’s gate. Because it took longer than we thought to get there, especially with the extra walking, I couldn’t take Matt all the way to the gate (I had to meet Angi at the train station by 10:45 so we could catch our train to Salamanca). I got surprisingly emotional in the airport and had a hard time pulling myself together (now, those who know me well know that I am NOT a crier and would rather go to the dentist than cry in public… and I HATE the dentist). But we said our goodbyes and thankfully now there’s Skype! Another 45 minutes later (only this round of traveling, I had to cart the big suitcase around myself, ugh!), I got to the train station and found Angi right away (of course, at a café!). We got a couple more cafés, I grabbed a sandwich for the train and we were off… The 2 ½ hour train ride seemed to take an especially long time, but we arrived and grabbed a taxi.
We were a little uncertain about what to do next. We knew that it was a possibility to check into our dorm rooms early, but no one had emailed Angi back confirming that it would be okay. We thought we’d try there first, otherwise, we’d have to wing it and find the first hostal that was available. Thankfully, it was no problem to check in! We handed them 30 euro for the extra day and got our keys and welcome packets.
The first thing we noticed walking up to the building is that the outside didn’t look nearly as nice as the pictures showed online. We started to get a little worried. After they gave us our keys we were a little nervous as we went to find our rooms. They’re not bad, but certainly not as nice as the website showed. They remind me so much of the Redlands dorm rooms… I think all dorm rooms everywhere are weathered and worn. These dorms are used year round and definitely show it. Ah, and one detail that I missed on their website is that these rooms are not air conditioned and don’t even have fans. It’s supposed to be 99 degrees today and over 100 the next two days. It is HOT & stuffy in these rooms!! (Again, reminds me of Redlands!!) My poor little Lenovo is on the verge of overheating. But the room is plenty big and has more storage than I need and I do have my own bathroom. Supposedly there are shared kitchenettes between each room, but my keys don’t open the door to mine… Hmmm, something to look into.
Basic & Simple, but all the necessities (except AC or a fan!!)
Mi baño privado
No real plans for the next day. We have an orientation meeting tomorrow evening, until then we’ll probably just hang out and rest (Angi had the marathon of all traveling trips: over 30 hours traveling!). I need to do laundry in the worst way and I’m anxious to wander around and get my bearings around my new “home town”.
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