Travel Day to Granada!
HELLO! I’m finally sitting down to write about my travel day and first, BIG apologies for not posting until now. I’ve had a crazy first few (almost 4!) weeks and it’s so wonderful to sit down and actually write about my first day in Granada. So without further ado…
My travel day of January 8, 2021 was QUITE hectic, but it started off pretty well. My first flight out of 3 was at 3:45 from O’Hare (Chicago for all my non-midwesterners hahaha) to JFK (NYC). We left home at about 10:45 and got to O’Hare at 1:15. It took a pretty long while to get my boarding passes and baggage tickets printed because an American Airlines employee had to come over and check my passport, visa, and vax card. Then, by some miracle, my bags were 50.5 pounds and 51 pounds, but the nice check-in lady let it go.
Then the big ~goodbye~ came. Up until my departure day, I was convinced I would cry a lot when I said bye to Mom & Dad at the airport. Then, that morning I didn’t think I was going to cry (SHOCKING, I know). But, as soon as it set in a bit and I went to say goodbye, I knew the tears would come. I of course knew my mom would cry (hahaha), but as soon as my dad started crying (haha sorry Dad), I did too. After a few tearful minutes, I wanted to get through security, so I was off.
Getting through security went pretty quickly, then I stopped at Starbucks, and waited at the gate. Everything was going swimmingly until we got to wait for an hour to get de-iced!!! And then they made an announcement that it would be another 25 minutes til takeoff! So naturally with my 2 hour layover in JFK I was a little (re: a LOT) anxious. Luckily we finally took off at about 4:50 and ended up landing in JFK at about 7:30 (only 30 minutes late).
I got lost TWICE in JFK; I started walking towards the other (international) terminal, then thought I was going the wrong way, so I walked all the way back to my arrival gate and finally realized that I was going the right way. I went to give the security agent my boarding pass and she told me that I had to go to the Iberia Airlines desk and get a new boarding pass. The time was about 7:55 at this point, 30 minutes until boarding.
I got to the Iberia desk and the line was AT LEAST AN HOUR LONG. I went to the front and asked a lady if they could just check me in, she nodded and then went to tell another lady who blatantly ignored me:) But, then she told someone else and she helped me right away. She told me that I had to RUN and that I would probably miss my flight, NOT what I wanted to hear.
So I quickly went through security and got to my gate, and grabbed a snack. We sat in that gate FOR FOREVER. We were supposed to board at 8:25 and take off at 9:00. But, we did not even start boarding until 9:45! With my 1 hour 45 minute layover in Madrid looming, I was getting very nervous. Luckily I found some other girls studying abroad going to Granada, and the girl next to me was as well, so we stuck together.
The flight was fine. I was obviously annoyed with Iberia hahaha, and I was so stressed about probably missing my next flight (and possibly that the only other flight that day to Granada would be full) that I couldn’t relax and watch movies:/ I stayed up for dinner, then tried to get some sleep. I slept HORRIBLY and wasn’t asleep for more than 25 minutes at a time.
Near the end of the flight, a super nice flight attendant came over and drew me a little diagram on how to get to my next gate, but that we would need to run. I found another BC girl (Vivian) on my flight too, and the 5 of us in total on our way to Granada got off the plane as fast as possible, at 11:27 (with a 12:00 flight).
As we were SPEED WALKING, an airport employee was yelling about connections and she mentioned Granada. We walked over and I thought maybe we were special, that she’d say “Don’t worry! Come to this separate fast line for customs and security, and we’re holding the plane for all of you!” (9 of us passengers in total at this point). But nope! She told us they canceled our flight for us and rebooked us on the 3:55 flight. Yes I was upset, but at least I had another flight that wasn’t full.
So, we made our way through the Madrid airport and found our terminal. We just chilled out for a while until our flight, nothing too exciting. We boarded the plane without incident and we were off!
I didn’t do much on the flight, just tried to get my bearings because at this point, I was still pretty stressed. I got some BEAUTIFUL views of the Sierra Nevada mountains on our way into Granada, as well as the landscape. Then… we landed and I was finally there!!!!!
I stepped off into absolutely beautiful weather a little before 5 P.M. We went into the baggage claim, and the next best part of my travel day was…. NO LUGGAGE!!!!! I was about to break down into tears and lose it, but somehow I kept it together. Teresa, one of our program directors, stayed to help me figure everything out, and it was actually really wonderful to talk with her and she talked to the airport employee in Spanish, which was very helpful. They had me give information on my bags and tell them the tracking numbers. (Normally I just don’t pay any attention to my tracking slips, so Mom, thank GOD you told me to make sure I kept them even though I normally toss them. I will definitely be buying air tags for my suitcases before I go home.) And, I got to talk to Teresa in English for once which was awesome because I think she knew I couldn’t take much else hahaha and just needed some English.
We left the airport and I was feeling a bit better. Teresa said that because the planes that fly from Madrid to Granada are so small, sometimes they have too much luggage and not enough space, so they leave the baggage in Madrid and fly it in the next day. She thought that’s what had happened to mine, and she was exactly right. We left the airport and she drove me to my residence (lucky for me hahaha, everyone else had to take the bus into the city).
When we got to my residence after stopping at the GRIIS (program) office, I was pretty nervous. I met some of the ladies who work there and admittedly could barely get out a word of Spanish because I was tired, upset, and super stressed. Not having my luggage was really the nail in the coffin. I also found out I’d be sharing a bathroom with the girls on my floor and when I walked into my room, it seemed SO SMALL, especially compared to my room at home and my room at BC. As soon as Teresa left and after my little tour, I immediately burst into tears. I was very, very upset (and had not been that ~down bad~ in a while). I called and texted some family and friends and felt a little better immediately. But it was a hard hard few hours: I had no luggage, I was in a tiny room, I had been late, I was planning on having the whole afternoon but didn’t get to the residence until about 6:30, my bed was uncomfortable, and I just wanted to change clothes and do my skincare (hahaha) and be at home.
But, I pulled myself together because 4 of us BC kids (Gillian, who lives right next to me and definitely made me feel better!, JP, and Nick) had decided to go out for tapas. Well, I ~thought~ we were going right to tapas. Nick lives in the residence next to Gillian and I, and JP met up with us, so we decided to just stroll and look for a place. As we were strolling around, JP expressed that he REALLY wanted to see a cool view of the Alhambra, so being naïve we thought, “Oh yeah that should be easy! It’s on a hill so we’ll just look for any hill and then we’ll be able to see it.”
Spoiler alert: we were very wrong. We walked around for about 45 minutes and mind you I was STILL in my airport clothes (with a borrowed shirt from Gillian, big round of applause for Gillian), which included my platform supergas: NOT meant for walking. (As some of you may remember, these are the shoes I wore for my first day in NYC in June and didn’t realize that they were a horrible idea to wear until about 5 miles in and about an hour of walking away from the hotel. I was almost in tears because my feet hurt SO BAD, and yes it was my own fault, but I hadn’t imagined I was going to walk ~10 miles~ in them. So, the next morning I promptly bought a new pair of Allbirds and told myself that sadly I would be retiring the platform supergas from walking duties. Until I was in Granada without my luggage…)
After 30 minutes and a funny encounter with some teenage Spanish girls, we found ourselves walking up a hill and thought it was perfect! Turns out, we were actually AT the Alhambra and so we couldn’t get a nice view of it, HA. We cut our losses because my appetite that had been fended off by my travel anxiety had finally returned, and we were STARVING.
We picked a random place after inquiring about a few options and settled on: Bodegas Casteñada. We ordered sangria and some beers (I’ll give you a whole one chance to guess which one I got), and got our first ~tapa~. It came over and looked interesting, so I did the bravest thing I have ever done: I promptly tried a bite and discovered it was octopus!!!!!! Was not a fan sadly. But it’s a good thing I did the sampling because Nick is highly allergic to all shellfish and probably would have gone into anaphylactic shock had he tried it! Anyways, we got some croquettes, little ham and cheese combos, and a tortilla Española (Spanish omelet with potatoes: very delicious).
The sangria was amazing and suddenly I ended up 3 glasses in due to the encouragement of our waiter and many utterances of the “come on! It’s our first night in Spain!” phrase. Overall, it was a really fun time and really made me put my travel struggles into the back of my mind. We’re keeping note of all the places we visit so I’ll give you a little sample. Here’s what I wrote about our first tapas place:
Bodegas Castañeda
• sangria will get you sneaky drunk off 3 glasses
• sangria is really good
• waiters are great if you talk to them
• more of a locals vibe
• croquetas are FIRE
• overall okay
• we’re nostalgic bc it’s the first place we went and we were STARVING
As tapas wound down, I was feeling a million times better (probably because I had some more nutrition in my system, even though my appetite still wasn’t too strong), so obviously I texted everyone that I felt better, so that my darling family and friends wouldn’t worry too much. Then it was off to bed in my uncomfortable bed! (Spoiler alert: once I took out the weird mattress cover, it made a world of a difference.)
In all seriousness, it felt very nice to crawl into bed in anticipation of my first full day in Granada. Yes the first few hours were rough and I wasn’t too happy. Between the delays, stress during the flights, exhaustion & lack of sleep, and lost luggage to seal the deal, paired with the small room, uncomfortable bed & pillow, and bathroom situation, I wasn’t feeling too amazing, and it definitely was not what I imagined for my first day in Granada.
BUT, I can confidently say that I’m happy everything happened the way it did. When someone tells me that everything happens for a reason, I often say “But it shouldn’t NEED to happen! If everything just worked out happily, then I would never need to learn those lessons!” My first thought was “Really?! I couldn’t have just gotten my luggage and had a good flying experience?! Just that one thing?! Why did it have to be me?!” (Bonus points x10000 if you remember that that’s the title of my most favorite song from Mamma Mia.) However, this time, I wouldn’t change a thing even if I could. I dealt with all of those things in my first few hours in a foreign country, having to go about most things in a foreign language or with the help of people I had just met. Yes, I broke down and cried and was super upset and anxious and just really sad. But, if I can get to a foreign country with no luggage after a horrid day of travel, I think I can get through a lot more that life throws at me. I laugh to myself and wish I could tell January 9th Olivia that everything was totally fine, and I got some cute new Zara clothes out of it! And of COURSE, a good story to tell. (Also, I hope it was a cautionary tale to some of my abroad friends who hadn’t left yet, and a wonderful reminder to maybe buy some air-tags for my luggage so I can track them next time!)
And, most importantly, I really learned to appreciate everything else that was GOOD that happened. My homesickness and anxiety hit me like a TRUCK on the front end, so I think that lessened the initial shock because I got a big punch, and then less homesickness the next week. I was ELATED to get my luggage (and of course do my skincare) and I knew that I’d be able to overcome more challenges and that everything little thing that happens is still a good thing no matter the situation. I know I sound incredibly cheesy but it really is true.
I think that concludes this travel day post, and I’m feeling very reflective as I’m sitting in the Málaga airport at 1:34 A.M., so I hope I did this long-awaited (I hope at least one of you has been awaiting it!) first post justice. And as for why I’m in the airport at this hour, that, of course, is a story for another time:) …
(P.S. Once I am back in my room, I’ll put a collection of pictures form my travel day up under the “Photo Blog” section of my website. Check back soon!)
