Arrival in Spain!

Hola a todos!

After a full day (or two) of planes, buses, and automobiles, we are finally in O Barco de Valdeorras, Galicia, Spain in our new apartment! Both planes were on time and we got into our bus right away without too much waiting. We took about a 5 hour bus ride to Ponferrada (a nearby larger city), where the director at Amanda's school picked us up and brought us to our new apartment. He is very friendly, and I generally understand what he is saying. We have WiFi (pronounced WEE-FEE) in our apartment.

We went to Eroski, the grocery store, and picked up dinner of frozen pizza, and some other food for a few more days. The store is less than two blocks away, so it is very convenient. I even found Special K with Red Berries (Frutas Rojas), and have some for breakfast tomorrow! The only main differences we've spotted between the grocery stores are that the milk is not refrigerated (it is in a carton and has a later expiration date) and the store charges .03 centavos (European cents) for each plastic bag that they give you. So we crammed most of our stuff into one bag, and will start bringing our own bags to the grocery store.

Tomorrow is the first day of work! I am getting picked up at 9:30am. I am excited to see my school, and meet the students. My director and I will also meet and discuss which days/ what hours I will be working. Since my school is about 5K (3 miles) from O Barco, the town we are living in, I will ride into work with either my director or the other teachers who live in O Barco as well.

Our apartment is very spacious, and I will be posting pictures soon. There are two bathrooms and three bedrooms. We have an oven and a microwave, but no toaster. We also have a washing machine, but no dryer (which is very common in Spain).

It's great to finally be here and I am excited to get a little bit of rest before I start at the school! Hopefully after work tomorrow, I will pick up a SIM card for my cell phone, so I can use it outside of just WiFi. We have a home phone at the apartment that is free to local (Spanish) numbers, which is how I've been in contact with my director.

I always appreciate email! I also have my address, so please email me if you are interested in that :)