Spain Study Abroad, Blog #2 from…Arrival in Spain
From Kendra, Coordinator of iD Tech Camps’ Documentary Filmmaking and Cultural Immersion Study Abroad Program in Spain:
Hola!
First, I do apologize for the minor delay in this email – I know how eager everyone must be to hear from us! The entire group did arrive safe and sound in Spain, but it was after a very long journey, delayed flights, and missed connections.
Our travels began in New York JFK airport. After meeting the group, we proceeded through to our departure gate. At first, our flight was only delayed by 30 minutes due to the previous plane arriving late. Once on board around 9:30pm, we were informed that thundershowers moved into New York and delayed all outbound flights. When the storm cleared, there was a huge traffic jam on the runway and our plane was slated as the 100th plane in line for takeoff. We were sitting delayed on the plane for almost 4 hours. Once we finally took off it was smooth sailing. However, the long delay made us miss our connecting flight in Madrid. Luckily we were able to reach our contacts in Spain while we were waiting on the plane so that they could meet the 2 students who were traveling straight to Spain to meet the group. They also arrived safe and sound, but much earlier than the rest of us. The next available flight to Jerez that they could get our entire group on did not depart until 9:25pm on Friday evening. I was able to purchase a phone card and tried to have all the students call home to touch bases while we were waiting in the Madrid airport, since I knew that once we finally arrived in Cadiz there would be no time. After flying to Jerez, and collecting all of our luggage (which thankfully all arrived) we took our charter bus in to Cadiz where the host families were waiting to meet all the students. When they finally got home it was after midnight and everyone was exhausted, but happy to have arrived in Cadiz.
The students were great during this ordeal and they are all a pleasure to have in the program. None of them complained during our 24+ hours of travel – in fact, it was a great bonding experience!
Today we had our orientation tour in the AM, and we made sure that all the students bought phone cards so they can call home later this afternoon when it is a reasonable hour in the US. If you have not heard from them already, you should hopefully be getting a call later today. You can also feel free to try to reach them at their host family home by calling the number included in their welcome package. The rest of the afternoon today is free to relax, unpack, get over jet lag, and get ready for our busy schedule over the next 2 1/2 weeks.
Kevin and I did activate our new Spanish Mobile Phone number today. You can use this number if you need to reach us urgently, or in case of emergency. Always do feel free to email me as I check my email often while here in Spain and will reply to any questions very promptly.
Finally, tomorrow we have a jam packed day of sightseeing in Sevilla, then on Monday our classes start. By Monday afternoon we should have some summer camp photos posted from the weekend and a “blog” up so you can read about our adventures here in Spain. Photos can be found by logging into y our Camp Account, then select The University of Cadiz, Spain, and the first session dates. Our blog site is http://internaldrive.com/. I will be sure to email you again so you know when they both are live.
Again, thank you for your understanding. Please contact me anytime by email if you have questions or comments.
Best,
Kendra
June 24th, 2007
Posted in: Locations
