Leaving Tomorrow

As many of you know, I will be living in Spain for the next nine months to act as an assistant in an English-language elementary school. My friend Cody is also participating in the same program. I fly out of Kansas City tomorrow morning around ten and will reach Madrid at eight in the morning, Thursday 24 (Spanish time). I will live in a suburb of Madrid called Alcalá de Henares, home of Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote.

I had to fly to Chicago last Wednesday in order to pick up my student visa from the Spanish Consulate. The collecting of said visa was very easy. After getting off the plane at Midway Airport, Cody and I took the L to the downtown area, walked a few blocks to the consulate, rode the elevator to the fifteenth floor, sat for a few minutes in a waiting room, and was then handed the visas (along with some complimentary buttons). I hope officialdom in Spain goes as swiftly. I had enough time to wander the city, eat at a pub, and visit Millennium Park (seen here).

Right now I am packing and double-checking to make sure I have everything I will need for the next several months. The preparations have kept me quite busy for the past few months and have been a little frustrating at times, but as was advised to Don Quixote, that befuddled knight-errant, "Be patient and shuffle the cards." I am looking forward to constantly renewing my perspective and experiencing new things in the months to come.