Los primeros días a Santander

From June 29th:


Truly,  I don't even know where to begin on this crazy, scary, confusing, hard, seemingly impossible trip. I'm feeling a million things, but mostly am just feeling lost. It's not even the Spanish (which is a struggle) that's the worst, I feel like I'm not equipped with the problem solving skills, knowledge, or even brain power to be able to handle all of this.
The layover in Toronto was alright, more boring than anything. I was really grateful to be able to email, Skype, and Facebook around. We woke up feeling more disgusting than I think I've ever felt so we checked out and got the rundown on how to get downtown. All in all we only made it about halfway downtown and decided it was too hot, and too not worth it so we found the nearest dollar store and enjoyed its A/C. We got some necessities, most importantly including new T-shirts! They were like the best gift in the world! After our not-so-adventurous trip downtown we had only killed about 2 hours. It was around 2 and we had to wait until 8 to even begin boarding our plane. Kelsey decided that we should go back to the airport and see if they would let us spend a few hours in their lobby, and to our relief they let us spend 2 more hours in our room! We got another blissful shower, some more chill time, and then dinner in the hotel's restaurant. Even after all that we still arrived for our flight 3 hours early, but again, enjoyed the boredom.
Written July 3


This seems like it will be impossible to keep up on; I'm hoping now that I'm settled I will be able to get into a routine and post shorties regularly.
Picking up where I left off last time, we got on the plane to Madrid and arrived in Madrid safely, but by that time they had lost our luggage. It was then that I finally broke down and wasn't able to handle all the emotions anymore. I felt bad for the poor lady in baggage claim and Kelsey, they were like "don't cry, it's alright," but we all know that that never helps. I just need to cry when I cry, like right now. Usually it doesn't mean that anything is super wrong, I just need to get it out. I don't really understand why it is so hard for me to be away from everyone for so long. I'm grateful that I have people to miss and people that love me at home, but I wish that I could just have fun and be satisfied with talking when we can.
Anyway, we had to file a claim with the lost baggage people who told us to come back at 2 the next day to see if it made it on the next flight from Toronto to Madrid. That's right, there was a good chance that it wouldn't come in the next day and we would have to have it shipped to Santander (where we are staying for the full 2 months, Madrid was just a stop in passing) and that might take a few WEEKS! That just added to everything, but we caught a cab and headed to our hotel. I was able to get through the ride and checking into the hostel (even with a mean guy checking us in). By that time it was around 2 pm and we got to talk to family and another one of the people in our group who was in Madrid too. After that we realized the most important thing was sleep, so we took siestas and finally got ourselves together and braved the metro (aka the subway).
That was definitely a difficult trip, we had to walk about 25 minutes to the bus station and Kelsey is just as bad as directions as I am. Then we had to figure out the ticket thing and figure out where to get off. Let's just say it was a miracle we found Katie. Once we had someone who was more comfortable with the city it was a lot of fun. We had to work our way around the Gay Pride Festival and Parade, but eventually found a place to eat. I'm sorry that I don't have a picture of the food, but it was delicious. We had paella, egg rolls (what?), flan with chocolate AND chocolate mousse. We were that hungry. Afterwards Katie was gracious enough to hang around H&M with us until we bought some new clothes because that was day #4 of the same clothes. I was starting to feel like one of those cartoon characters that always wears the same clothes. I mean, it is pretty convenient!
The ride back to our hostel was just as eventful as we took it all the way to the wrong end of the city before realizing it and taking it all the way back. Luckily, the roads weren't too creepy and we just booked it home. That was the second time I really lost it. I was scared because I knew that getting our luggage was going to be a struggle in the morning and we still needed to book tickets (plane, train, or bus) to Santander. The main problem was that all of the modes of transportation seemed to be booked through the time we needed to be there. It was all a mess.
Speeding things up a bit, we got good sleep  (and Kelsey informed me I talk in my sleep) and figured everything out for the next day. Getting our luggage was a mess, but it turns out the easiest part was getting a bus ticket to Santander even though we didn't arrive until 1 am.
To be continued, this is already too long and I don't have more time to write!
Hasta luego, todos. Y buenas noches
:)