spinning: Jimmy Eat World - If You Don't, Don't'The first day is always the worst.' It's a universal saying, I've learned, as I finally got to sleep last night. I had been up almost 36 hours and I looked and felt like a disaster after my travel day. But things quickly took a turn for the better here in Santander, and I'm thankful for how quickly I've gotten acclimated. The flight to Madrid wasn't fun, even sitting with a bilingual American/Spanish woman and having an aisle seat with the one next to me empty. By Madrid, I was tired and airsick, and I had one more flight to go - after navigating a Spanish airport to get a ticket, through customs, and to the proper gate. By pure luck, at the first counter I saw two UT students, so we formed a group and successfully got through the various lines and so forth. In Santander, life was golden. About 10 of us were on the Madrid-Santander flight, so it had gotten really easy to get around. We were all met by a collection of students, UT profs, and people from UC - Raul, the coordinator of the program, and Laura, a guide for the students (she's young, cute, looks similar to Emily Gordon, and speaks great English). A bus ushered us all to a stop on the UC campus, but the ride was amazing - the architecture gives new meaning to 'mix of old and new.' I'll try to take pictures to prove it. We immediately were paired up with our senoras - the 'little old ladies' who were to be our hosts. Once my name was called, I was brought an attractive blonde in flip-flops and cool shades - and my 'little old lady' is well short of 30 by her looks. I live here now with her, her husband Carlos, and temporarily an Oregon State student named John.