He llegado - I have arrived

Happy Three Kings Day everyone! Despite the fact that today is Sunday and also a holiday, the internet cafe across the street is open, so here I am.

I landed here yesterday afternoon, and it still hasn´t set in that I´m going to be here for the next five months, at least. The entire trip over is a blur; never has a plane trip gone by that quickly.

My room is cozy and overlooks the street below. The walls are yellow, just like my room at home.

My señora is nice and enjoys to talk. She´s 80 years old, has 8 kids and 12 grandkids, most of whom are older than I am. We spent most of the evening watching the Three Kings Day parades on TV and chatting. After an commercial featuring Bill Clinton wishing King Juan Carlos a happy 70th birthday came on, Señora asked me about the election, and whether I was supporting Hillary or ¨el hombre negro¨ (she forgot Barak Obama´s name).

The amount of attention the rest of the world pays to the U.S. struck me in the airport, where almost every single newspaper in the shop had photos of Obama and Huckabee on the front page. At first I thought, well maybe that´s just because it´s the international edition, but when Señora (who said she doesn´t like politics) even knew who Hillary and Obama were, well then, I guess the coverage really is global.

Signs of home are everywhere. On the taxi ride to my apartment, we passed a Burger King, KFC and McDonalds, and the radio alternated between 80s-sounding pop music and Alanis Morissette, that ¨hey now, you´re a rock star¨song, and ¨Ain´t No Mountain High Enough.¨
Well, my time here is almost up, but since the cafe is right across the street from me, hopefully I´ll be able to keep my promise and update frequently.

Miss you all!