Arrival!!!

I am finally here! I felt like I have been waiting for this for so long! I finally got picked up by mi familia at 8 o'clock, Saturday night! We went to a castle-like building and had to pull our luggage up a hill, then we were met by our host siblings! They were all holding a large welcome sign, and my host brother (Marc) told me that our parent's were inside waiting. We then had to wait for everyone to be individually called out and introduced to their family. I have to admit, it was a little awkward at first. I was scared to speak Castellano and I didn't know what to say - but it goes away quickly! The plane ride from NYC to Zürich, Switzerland was 7h and 10m and overnight. I didn't sleep at all and I was exhausted. On the plane ride from Zürich to Madrid I slept the whole time but one thing I realized is that my sleep schedule was so messed up that it was really easy to adjust to the one in Spain! I barely had any trouble with jetlag! Yesterday was my first day with my host family and we went to the beach, and their cousin's house. It was super fun, and they ate all this food that I have never seen before! I felt pretty stupid asking what everything was though... The constant spanish 24/7 has its effects already. I am tired ALL the time, and I am getting headaches after an hour or tour of having to speak! One thing I started doing (Ferran my host dad suggested) is watch movies in English with subtitles in Spanish. Here is a list of some of the things I have already noticed that are different between España and the USA! -You can sit wherever you want at the table, in the USA normally my dad the heads of the household sit at the ends -The milk comes in paper carts and it smells like cheese. It's thick..and weird..... -You push in a button to flush the toilet - not pushing down a handle -There is no carpet in an house, all the floor is wood -Pencils don't have erasers -They don't have line paper -The light switches are 2 inches by 2 inches wide and thick -It's normal to not ever have your air-conditioning on and keep all the doors and windows open -People drive in tight places, with tiny cars only holding on with one hand looking at you trying to explain something with the other hand - miraculously never getting hit or hitting the several European bikers wearing spandex shorts -You kiss everyone. Even that guy you run into on the street who you have no connection with. Yes. You still kiss him. -This is more well known, but everyone stays up late here. At home, I was always the one who went to bed late but now, its normal or I am the one going to bed early! There are several more, but I will stop here!