The word is "tranquilo"

By now all of you should know for sure that I am currently in Cáceres, Spain, studying abroad for three months. I arrived in Madrid on Sept 10 after a looong set of flights through Detroit and Amsterdam. Kudos to me though, navigating airports I've never seen before. I managed to check my email in Detroit and wrote down the phone number for our Spanish coordinator, which turned out to be extremely helpful later when I couldn't find a single person from our group at the Madrid meeting point. Long story short, there are two arrivals areas in Terminal 2, and when they said "cafeteria at the end of Terminal 2" they actually meant "cafeteria at the end of Terminal 1 that is closest to Terminal 2". God bless the Info kiosk woman who called the number I had written down and explained where to find me. I joined the group for our bus ride south to Cáceres.

The first three weeks here have been excellent, although not without other kinks. It wouldn't be my life if something off-kilter wasn't happening alongside the rest of my schedule. Which is the reason I tend to worry... all the time. Which, for those of you who understand Spanish culture, just isn't a good thing. Sure, the Spanish mothers have a natural concern about their children getting places safely, but as una joven I'm supposed to just go with the flow of things. Tranquilo. Slow down and enjoy what's going on. Have a cerveza and tapas and just chill with some amigos. Stay out until 5:30 in the morning. Take a siesta. Etc. And all I can think is "just give me a set schedule and some written rules already!"