Run Rudolph Run

If the first thing you hear when you see that name are the chords of the electric guitar at the beginning of the Chuck Berry song, and the first thing you think of is the scene from Home Alone when Macauley Culkin’s family is sprinting through the airport, then you’ve got a pretty good image of my first plane ride out of the United States.  Yes, it almost didn’t even happen.

My flight from Columbus to New York was uneventful.  My first hour of layover was equally uneventful until I checked my flight information five minutes after my plane was supposed to begin boarding.  A flight attendant who barely spoke English told me I was in the wrong terminal and there was no way I would make it to the correct one in time to catch my flight… and she was right.  By some stroke of luck I immediately overheard someone who had made the same mistake, and I followed him to the correct terminal.  “Followed” is putting it gently… shuffling vociferously between people previously minding their own business, gasping vehemently at every stop on an escalator or shuttle, wobbling obnoxiously with 100 pounds of carry-on luggage, and cutting the 2-hour security line—which turned into an inadvertently theatrical ordeal since there was a whole group of us hurtling our backpacks onto the cart,  whipping our shoes off, and chugging water bottles that had just been refilled (that was me)—this description is more fitting.  Future lesson learned: pack lighter carry-on bags.  Oh, and make sure I’m in the right terminal.

Since then, things have gone as smoothly as possible.  I spent two nights with the other students in my program in Madrid, one night in Toledo, and I’ve been in Granada a week now, since Sunday.  Those 6 days have given me enough time to finally unpack my suitcases, get to know my host mom, figure out the fastest way to walk to school with my roommate (actually, I’m not sure yet that it’s the fastest), and find a few running trails!  I’m in the slow process of trying to feel like myself again in a new city… it’s a lot to get used to under the circumstances of knowing it is my home for the next 4 months.

I’m officially signed up for the Cologne Half Marathon in Germany on October 14!  My training has intensified on me before I’ve even found the best running routes around Granada, and since my Spanish skills are not up to par enough to make me sound more sophisticated than a 5-year-old when conversing with receptionists at local gyms, I know this race will creep up on me.  Still, getting to run regularly again has been the highlight of my week; hitting the ground running may be the only thing that keeps me grounded as I begin to explore the beautiful, friendly, and safe—I know some of you have been wondering— city of Granada and make plans to travel through Spain and along to several big cities in Europe… just no more airplane running workouts, please.