Jet Lag Drag

Hola! I am finally here in my Spanish host city of Salamanca, where I will be staying for the next 9 weeks or so. The past five days have passed in a blur of airports, hotels, tours, and siestas! I left the United States on Friday at 5:30 pm out of Chicago. From there I flew to London, and then on to Madrid, Spain. I was definitely not prepared for the 7 hours time difference between Spain and Iowa! I was on my flight to London getting sleepy around midnight central time, but when I looked out my window as we were preparing to land I was shocked to see the sun coming up! It was around 6:30 am when I landed in London (12:30 am central time), and I was having a hard time comprehending how I just lost so many hours of my life while sitting on that plane!

Needless to say, by the time I arrived in Madrid at 2:00 pm, my body didn't know what it was supposed to do. That first night in the hotel, I'm fairly certain all of the students in my group who had traveled from the U.S. were all asleep by 9 pm (2pm Iowa time). It has taken me a good 3 or 4 days to adjust to the time change and not need a 'siesta', but I'm happy to say that I no longer feel so confused about whether I should be awake or asleep.

So far Spain has seemed similar to the U.S. in many ways. There are Starbucks and McDonalds in the cities, the roads are paved, and cars yield to pedestrians. There are also quite a few differences that will take some time getting used to. Two major ones that I can think of right now are meal times and the prevalence of smoking.

Meal times are a lot later than is common in the U.S., but quite similar to what I experienced in Ecuador. Breakfast will be before my 9 am class; lunch is at 2:30 and is the biggest meal of the day, and dinner is a light meal at 9 pm. So far it really hasn't been difficult to eat around these times. With the sun out for so long it is easy to lose track of time and not realize how late it is until my tummy starts rumblin'!

Worse than dealing with later meal times and tummy rumbles is adjusting to all of the smokers! Smoking is very popular and accepted in Spain. Many people smoke while they are walking down the streets, conversing, or after eating a meal. It seems as though dead cigarettes are all over the ground and just walking by the entrance of a bar or restaurant can overwhelm you with smoke. I realize now how much I take for granted the fact that smoking is outlawed in public places in Iowa. I will have to breathe in deeply when I return!