¡Ya llegamos!

...and so it was that after almost 24 consecutive hours of travel (including 37 different travel itineraries, widespread exhaustion, some very good movies on the flight, and a renaming ceremony for a stuffed panda whose new name is "Enrique") we arrived safe, thrilled, spent, excited, and relieved in Madrid's Barajas International Airport, where students had their very first opportunities to interact with real live Spaniards on their own soil passing through customs. We promptly fetched our checked bags (we didn't lose a single piece of checked luggage!!) and met our bus driver, Sonia, who took us from Madrid to León. On the way, we stopped for some café and a bite to eat at an excellent parador, and we had a chance to sample some new Spanish foods, like jamón serrano and tortilla española.

After another couple of hours of impatience in the bus (featuring Isra's famous Spanish traveling soundtrack), we arrived at our new home for the next seven weeks - León.

The weather welcoming us into León was gorgeous: bright blue sunny skies, a light breeze, and mid 70s (fahrenheit) temperatures - definitely a good omen. The host families were completely overjoyed with their new house guests, showering them with the typical Spanish greeting of a kiss on each cheek, followed by hugs, tears, and an immediate instinct to offer each of them way too much delicious Spanish food.

Tomorrow promises new adventures as the students take a tour of León with the instructors. As it happens, there seems to be an ancient Roman-style crafts festival in downtown León, so we may get some early souvenir shopping in as well... After having a chance to rest after the long journey (and hopefully adjust to jet lag), the students will have the whole weekend to get to know their host families with no interruptions, which it seems like everyone is looking forward to.

More exciting reports to come soon. ¡Viva León!
~Mark