Officially giving snow & ice the silent treatment

Originally, my plan was to fly from Boston to Newark at 12:30PM on Wednesday. I would've gotten into Newark around 2PM give me a ~6 1/2 layover before my program's group flight to Madrid at 8:20PM.

Then, the blizzard which is currently pummeling New England meant I had to change plans. And fast. I had to rebook to only fly the Newark -> Madrid leg Wednesday night. Since if I didn't officially rebook, I probably would've been taken off the Newark -> Madrid leg since I wouldn't have been present for the Boston -> Newark leg which makes little sense to me, anyway. Luckily, Continental Airlines let me do so without a change fee because of the blizzard. Except I almost didn't get a spot on the plane I would've connected to in the first place beacause other folks had changed their flights so the plane was "full", even though, again, I was technically holding a seat! Luckily, with a combo of me continuously hitting the refresh button hoping something would change which would allow me to "book" my flight (again) + someone else changing their plans/freeing up a seat + Continental's already heavily-trafficked letting me through all falling into place at the same time. I was able to get my seat back. In theory, assuming the flight hasn't been excessively overbooked with the boatloads of people needing to re-route.

In order to make sure I beat the blizzard in Boston, I took an 8:20AM Amtrak out of Boston to Newark & am staying in a hotel near the airport with another student participating in my program who also had to change an original Boston -> Newark -> Madrid plan. According to the AccuWeather.com forecast for Newark, there will be sleet & freezing rain in the morning, but less rain in the afternoon and a cloudy evening. So hopefully our flight will only be delayed at worst. I'm crossing my fingers!

Lastly, I should've mentioned earlier that my program takes on a ten-day tour of Spain before we start classes. Right after we land, we leave for Salamanca, where there's a wealth of Romanesque, Gothic & Renaissance archeitecture. We haven't gotten an official intinerary yet, but I THINK we're going to Salamanca, Madrid, Toledo, Segovia & Barcelona. I probably won't be able to update my blog very much during the trip, but I'll certainly write about it soon after.

Ok, off to have a drink at the hotel bar after all this madness!

EDIT: I should also mention that I got my housing assingment! I'm living with a woman who works as a financial advisor ~10 minutes from the university. Of course, I searched for the address on google earth & it appears like it's a quaint, typically European street. I sent her a letter which she'll hopefully get during our ten-day trip before we officially arrive so that she has some background about me. With any luck, it'll be a good match!