Away I Go!

Ten hours ago I boarded a plane and left American for my six month adventure in Germany. I am currently sitting at the Madrid Airport awaiting my connection to Hamburg. I've been to the Madrid airport before, back in 2011 when I went to Málaga to study Spanish for three weeks. But, all I remember of my time here back then is running frantically from one side of the airport to the other as we tried to make our connecting flight, with a gate that kept changing. Running all over this airport is no small feat; from the center of the main terminal, it is an eight minute walk to either end. Sixteen minutes from one end to the other. Maybe I'm just crazy, but to me that's a pretty long distance.

Right now I am sitting in the middle of the airport by the boards with the flight status'. It appears that they don't assign a gate until an hour before the flight's departure, which, with such a big airport, is kind of annoying. Although, it is a pretty nice airport and the center of the terminal has lots of shopping, and not just the shopping that you tend to find at american airports that have snacks and a small selection of books. No, this airport has fancy clothing stores, a Real Madrid official store (a football, or soccer, team for those of you who were wondering), and a very, very large store that appears to have a lot of makeup and candy. It also has free WiFi, hence, my ability to post this before the majority of you wake up. And, most important of all, a Starbucks.

Here is a picture of the sunrise from 35,500ft!

The Final Countdown

My time remaining in America is coming to an end and with it, my time left to pack and enjoy all of the things I am going to miss. For six months I won't be able to snuggle with my puppy, hug my horse, or hang with the goats. But, I will be able to explore Europe and, in December, I'll be able to show my parents and brother around Hamburg when they come to visit for Christmas!

A collection of the things I will miss most:

 Tachman

 Doggies: Charlie, Maggie, and Watson

 Mr. Pandor

 Tudor and Pandor

 The Zoey Pony

 My goat pal, Scruffy

 The one and only Tachman

 My family

The little Lilly

The Choo

 The adorable Charlie 

 I might miss Charlie the most

 Gus!

Pandor with a flower crown is just epic

My bookcase and all of my books

Fall Fun

Fall is one of my favorite times of year. The season officially started a couple of days ago  and the weather has turned cooler, but not yet cold. Leaves are turning all sorts of colors, but the grass is still green. It also includes one of my favorite holidays: Thanksgiving, my favorite meal of the year. And then of course there's also my birthday, nestled near the end of the season.

This year I am also partaking in one of my favorite November pastimes: NaNoWriMo. Also know as National Novel Writing Month, in which participants try to write 50,000 words in the month of November. I have participated in it three of the last four years, "winning" twice. It will be a little tricky trying to write 50,000 words the first month I live completely on my own, and in a foreign county to boot, but I'm hoping to get a lot of inspiration from Hamburg! In preparation for the first of November, this month I will be focusing on developing the world and characters in which my story takes place. Hopefully they will be so developed that (at least) 1,667 words per day just flow out onto a word document.