Vale!

Madrid - 9:56 am

The 6.5 hr flight from JFK to MAD went quicker than I expected. I didn't get much sleep but I never do on airplanes anyway. Sat next to this really chill dude from Lyon. With his English and my French we had very choppy conversations in half of each language. He said he had been in Times Square for NYE and he was kind of surprised to hear I had never done that despite living in New York (well, Long Island) my whole life.

Customs in Madrid was easier than I expected (for those who have heard about my trouble coming back Brazil) although the officer was kind of a jerk. He put a stamp on my visa and gave me a stern look when I asked him if there was anything I had to do because I had a long-stay visa. All he said was "vale" and I was on my way.

I had heard "vale" was widely used here in España but I did not envision hearing it at the end of every sentence like I have so far in my limited interaction with people at the airport. I guess a loose translation of "vale" would be OK, or good.

It's 4:09 am EST, and I know I should take a nap or something during the next 3 hours of my layover. For now, I'm just hanging out at a random gate because they will not post a gate for my flight until an hour before departure. I'm excited to get to Montpellier, get settled and get some rest. Next post will be from France, vale.