I made it to Spain, my bag has not

After a horrible flight on Iberia Airlines from Chicago to Madrid, I finally made it to Spain. I puked 5 times on the plane, yes, 5 times, including right as the plane was touching down on the runway, using all three vomit bags and both restrooms in the rear of the plane. I chalk this up to the fact that the food sucked a lot but I still ate it, the fact that I was in THE WORST seat on the plane (last row, very center, no windows), and the fact that the turbulence was unrelenting for almost 5 hours. Yeah, it was that bad. At least I didn't puke on the floor like other people were doing. So other than all that, the flight was great! Oh except for that after waiting an hour and a half at the baggage claim my backpack was nowhere to be found. Yep, all in all that was the worst traveling experience of my entire life. Period. I am in Alcala now though, and much like the movie, it's a wonderful life. I should be receiving my backpack in the mail tomorrow, and the last of my traveling woes will be behind me.

My host mother Isabel is very nice and a wonderful cook, and my housemate Carlos is cool too. Fortunately he has been kind enough to lend me a shirt and a jacket for me to use until my luggage arrives. I like the apartment I am in a lot too. It is in the historic center of Alcala, caddy-corner to the enormous house of the cardinal magistrate, one of the architectural highlights of the city, and only an 8-minute walk to the university. I will be posting pictures once my other bag arrives.

Also of note is the fact that it snowed 3 inches here today, a remarkable event considering the last time they had snow here was 4 years ago, and it didn't even stick. Everywhere in the city today people were taking pictures and throwing snowballs, and judging from their awkwardly misshapen two-sectioned snowmen it was obvious that heavy snow was not a normal occurrence in this part of Spain.

I did get a phone today (680.223.106, country code 34) if you would like to contact me. All incoming calls are free for me, but I will need to wait until Monday to call anyone, as I have not yet purchased more minutes or an international calling card for my phone. If you do call, just remember that I am 8 hours ahead of Colorado time.

So far everyone here has been very nice and accomodating, both the other students from CSU and the faculty of the university here. I will be starting classes on Monday, and look forward to seeing how those will go. I miss everyone back home but want you all to know that I am doing fine and enjoying my time here. Until the next update, ciao!