¡Bienvenidos a Toledo, España!

¡Hola amigos!

6 days and 4500 miles later I have a blog :)

My travels were off to a rough start on Thursday, January 13th. I finished packing my clothes into vacuum air tight storage bags at 4am and left my house and my passport at 8am. Yes, I left my passport. My mom and I arrived at the MSP airport a little before 10am for my flight to Atlanta at 1pm. It wasn't until around 10:20 after my mom and I were done adding and removing things from my bags and ready to check them that we realized my passport was at home in Rochester still in the scanner. Being on time for an international flight only matters if you've remembered the one single item that you need to board an international flight and I did not have it. Mom was quick to move and out the door before I knew what was going on. Conveniently, a tiny blizzard started outside as mom raced to meet dad (who had to leave work, sorry!) in Cannon Falls, which slowed things down. Additionally the airport informed me that my bags needed to be checked before noon or I was not getting on a plane. Mom parked illegally and made it with 7 minutes to spare and after a few more minor complications with the bag check my 50lb and 49.5lb suitcases made it through. How will these bags get home after shopping in Europe for 4 months? I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

 

This picture was pre- forgotten passport realization

 

15 hours, 2 flights, and one bus ride later I arrive in Toledo around 11am (4am US time, Spain is 7 hours ahead). I have moved from the dirty streets of Minneapolis to the cobblestone, cat filled streets of Toledo, España. These are not pet cats. These cats are mean as hell and thrive on garbage. Mackenzie Davis, you might have to fly out here and take care of some cats for me. I wish I had a cooler intro to Toledo picture haha that'll come later I just haven't gotten to it.

...Other than that, the city is GORGEOUS and so much bigger than I remember it. I feel like I’m living in a Spanish history book. Toledo has an old city of about 10,000 people and a new city outside of the old city walls of about 70,000. I live in the old city and only a 4 minute walk from school with a host family. I have a mom, dad, and three brothers: Jorge (33, married and lives in Madrid), Emilio (26), and Diego (20). The houses in Toledo are all connected so that the outside just looks like 4 or more doors in a wall. They’re built to be narrow and deep. The house has two floors and I have my own bedroom and bathroom (I think?) on the main floor. Everything is really nice, extremely clean, and spacious. I am happy :)

Front door

Hallway to front door from my bedroom

My bedroom

This leg is in my kitchen, but I guess that's normal here..culture shock.

I will inevitably be hit by a car this semester. These are the narrow streets of Toledo in which both myself and a rapidly moving car are supposed to fit at the same time. I think it might be fun for the locals when they spot an American because we freak out and glue ourselves flat to these walls when a car passes. Somehow the locals have other ways of avoiding passing cars.

This is the name of my street. I think the street signs are small and not noticeable because they don’t help at all. Toledo is a maze. 

I brought several pairs of heels that I will never wear again the rest of the duration I am in Toledo. I didn’t know that by cobblestone streets that they were referring to giant pebbles protruding from the ground. I wore heels out once and it felt like the Rocky Mountains. 

This is José and he makes us sopresas y chupitas gratis at a bar called La otra boveda

I was served beer in a wine glass? If you'll notice there is a single tap. It is confusing for an American to only have one beer option, but we're dealing with the situation.

For whatever reason they are in support of the Minnesota Timberwolves.. this was on the bar. haha

There are 35 people in this itty bitty bar :)

I haven’t taken very many pictures of the city yet because it hasn’t been sunny, but we have a city tour on Friday so I’ll post pictures from that. Here are a few that I took on my way to class :)

La catedral

La catedral

I go running pretty much every day on a path that goes down along the river, across the bridge, and around the mountainside of Toledo. The weather is in the 40s, which is perfect for running. It was a really hard adjustment, especially living with a family that doesn’t speak any English at all, but I'm getting better! The first day of classes was today and it was not good, but everyone else except for the Puerto Rican students feel the same. I may have to switch a few things around.. the last thing I want to be doing in Spain is any kind of homework. It is now 2am here and I feel like I will never adjust to the time change. It has been a blast so far and I am unbelievably excited for the rest of the semester!! 

Miss you all so much!! <3