¡Estoy aquí!

I made it safe and sound to Madrid. My flight was long but relatively painless. On Swiss Air, the plane from SFO to Zurich has a "flower power" theme as you can see here:

The only real highlight of my red-eye was that I got to see the Northern Lights for the first time out the window. My stop was in Zurich, where the view from the airport is gorgeous -- I think I even saw the Alps! I imagine if airport Switzerland is pretty, then the rest of the country must be even better.

After arriving in Madrid, I took a cab to my new apartment only to realize upon getting there that I didn't know my apartment number! Fortunately, in the 5 or so minutes I was standing outside with my luggage trying to figure out what to do, my roommate, Joyce, happened to walk down the street and figured the girl with tons of luggage and bags under her eyes waiting outside her building must be her new compañera estadounidense. Both Joyce and the apartment are very nice. My bedroom is bigger than the kitchen (which isn't saying much) and I was delighted to discover I have a double bed. I've been sleeping with my legs splayed out to both corners in order to take advantage of it.

Ah, there's another thing: sleep. Beautiful beautiful sleep. Jet lag is a real bitch. My first night I went to bed at around midnight only to wake up 2 hours later and remain awake until 7:30 AM. Can I say I took a nap if it lasted from then until 11:30 AM? Morning nap? Anyway, I was kind of a zombie wandering around the city yesterday. However, last night I managed to sleep for 8 hours in a row and am feeling slightly more peppy. Still considering a siesta later though.

Yesterday mostly involved getting my bearings, buying a SIM card for my phone, and buying stuff for my room. It was surprisingly difficult for me to figure out which bath product was body wash. I still don't know if you use "body milk" to bathe or to moisturize. Last night I met up with Diana and Michael who were in Vermont with me this summer. We went out for a beer and a bite to eat. It was really nice seeing familiar faces since my sleep-deprived self was feeling pretty homesick. I'm sure once we start classes and I get into the groove I'll be totally fine.

This weekend I have plans to go to a concierto de jazz with Joyce and her friend and El Rastro with Diana and some others. I'll post photos of the apartment and the neighborhood when I have them!