Arrival

This first post is going to be rather uncreative, as the title suggests, and with only one semi-exciting adventure to tell about. All my travelling went well, and I even managed to hook up with other students in the program at the Madrid Airport, which made the last leg of the journey much less steressful as we were able to share cabs to the hotel, although my one attempt at actually using my Spanish was quickly thwarted. I got off the plane and through Passport Control in Madrid to find myself at a loss of where to go next. I was 99% sure my bag was checked all the way through to Seville and that I didn't need to pick it up and take it through customs to recheck it, but I also didn't have a boarding pass for my flight from Madrid to Seville and had no idea where to get it. I tried going through the "connecting flights" security pass, as that seemed the logical solution, and explained to the security guy that I didn't have my boarding pass, and didn't know where I needed to go to get it. He started speaking a lot of gibberish back to me, and finally took my passport and left. He returned within a few minutes with an English-speaking security person and she told me there were several ways to get to Seville. Once I explained to her that I already had a plane ticket, and I only needed a boarding pass, she explained to me I needed to exit the airport and take a bus to another terminal. All in all, it ended well and I got on the bus and the plane at the right time and to the right place, but was slightly embarrassed that my first attempt at speaking Spanish failed.