Countdown to Departure

Hi Friends!

I can’t believe that six days from now I will be in Madrid! I’ve received my final packet from ISA, so I have more information about my homestay. I will be staying in a large apartment with my host mom Señora Marieta, her 27-year-old daughter Claudia, their dog, and another exchange student named Joy. The host home is a 20 minute (1.5 km) walk from the Centro de Lenguas Modernas at the University of Granada. My host mom will provide three meals a day of “a varied Mediterranean diet,” and, while breakfast is more flexible, the posted meal times are 2:00-3:00 pm for lunch and 9:30 pm for dinner. Speaking of time, I will be in the Central European Standard Time Zone which is seven hours ahead of the Central Standard Time Zone that Alabama is a part of. So if it is noon in Alabama it is 7 pm in Granada, and if it is 7 pm in Alabama it is 2 am the next day in Granada.

Also! Before I leave I want to update you on how to contact me while I am abroad. I cannot stress enough that my current cell phone number will NOT work while I am in Europe. I have an internationally unlocked phone that will be registered with a Spanish SIM card and will have a Spanish number, however, my number of international minutes and texts before up charges will be limited. For this reason, please add me on Whatsapp! Whatsapp is free to use for unlimited international/local texts and calls. I used it in Costa Rica to communicate with other travelers and it worked really well! If you download the app you can add me from your contacts using my current cell phone number (you will have to add me by my new number if you wait until after I leave the States). You can also add me on skype with my email <jen202434@gmail.com>, or you can send me an email!

If you would like to send me physical mail please send it to the ISA Granada office address listed on my home page.

Thank you all for supporting me in this journey! The next time I write will be from Spain!!

Jennifer