Cheers to Being Clueless and Receiving the Saving Graces of Others!

Okay! After three flights (Pittsburgh to Washing D.C. to Frankfurt to Faro), 24 hours in the air and airports, two bags of trail mix, a bowl of miso soup in Frankfurt, only a few hours of off and on dozing, I arrived perfectly sweaty and delirious in Faro, Portugal on the pleasantly sunny morning of September 24th. (Hats off to the German Airlines Lufthansa; I got to watch Star Trek 2, eat two meals, and enjoy three glasses of wine and one glass of Baileys on the house!).
My checked suitcase came through (Thank god!) and I wandered through the airport out to where I believed and hoped the bus would arrive that would take me to the bus station where I could catch a ride into Spain. To my slight relief, there were others waiting cluelessly as well; we were all doing our rounds back and forth from the bench to the bus map and exchanging "welp, I hope this works!" looks. The bus eventually came and a nice woman I was sitting next to directed me about which stop to get off on to get to the station. The open-air bus station in Faro was buzzing with humidity. I bought my ticket, sat down on a bench next to a smelly garbage can, rested my head in my arms on top of my suitcase and proceeded to fall in and out of sleep for the next three hours until my bus arrived.
The ride into Spain was pleasant--the part that I remember that is, for I fell asleep almost immediately. When I woke, I asked the woman next to me "Cuál es el nombre de esto ciudad?" to which she replied "Ayamonte." Ayamonte is a pretty little white-washed city very near the Spain-Portugal boarder on the Spain side--I was on my way. Huelva came about an hour later. A friend of mine, Miriam, whom I only met via facebook the week before met me at the station and brought me to another friend's apartment. By another friend I mean another person I met on facebook the week beforehand. Jess and Jane! Our Saviors! Jess and Jane are two second-year auxiliares with the program. They graciously allowed Miriam and I, mere first-years, to crash with them for the first week while we scrambled for an apartment. So my first experiences in Europe and Spain are all defined by my own cluelessness and other's willingness to help me--from the women on the buses, to  Miriam (Miriam is from Philadelphia), to Jess and Jane allowing two strangers to sleep and eat in their apartment. I feel very lucky; things came together, I met nice people and I survived the trip and my first days in Spain.