It's so hard to believe that this time last week I was with my host family at my "grandparents'" house (well, this time Seattle time... This time Spain time, I was probably back "home" eating dinner") hanging out with everyone. It's so crazy how at the beginning of one week you can be in one part of the world and by the end of the week be on the opposite side of the world. What's crazier is waking up Thursday morning in Spain and going to sleep in Seattle that night. After my crazy 18 or 19 hours of traveling, it felt really good to finally just collapse into bed.
Getting home was definitely an adventure. I woke up around 5:15am to be downstairs in the Fundación by 5:45am. The bus they provided for us left around 6:00am and we were at the airport by 7:45am. By 8:00am I was at my terminal (T4) and in line to check my bag. Everything went smoothly until it was time to take off. We pulled out of the gate and started making our way towards the runway when pilot came over the PA system and told us that there was a problem with the right engine and we needed to go back to the gate so the mechanics could fix whatever the problem was. I'm sitting there thinking, "Ummmm... why are you JUST now checking the engine? How long have we been sitting at the gate doing nothing? You totally could (and should) have checked them a bit earlier..." So back to the gate we went. We sat there for a least 30 minutes and after about that much time, the pilot told us that the mechanics had successfully fixed the problem and that they were going to check for other problems and then we'd be on our way in about 20 minutes. TWENTY MINUTES?! I think I said that a bit louder than I meant to because I definitely got some strange looks from people around me... Eventually we managed to get off the ground and on our way.
The important part to remember in this story is that I had a connecting flight to make. I went from Madrid to JFK (New York) and from JFK to Seattle. My flight was supposed to land in New York at 1:10pm and my flight to Seattle was leaving at 3:55pm. That's almost 3 hours, so I figured I'd be fine. Well, I didn't take into account the 1 hour delay in Madrid or the fact that I would have to go through customs/immigration in New York (meaning I'd have to get my bag off a conveyer belt and then recheck it). Being an hour late from Madrid, I arrived in New York about 2:15pm. American Airlines was nice enough to check who had connections so they could give us our bright orange "Express Connection" boarding passes. But unfortunately those passes did not make our bags come off the conveyer belt faster. They helped get me through lines faster, but that doesn't matter if I don't have my bag first. So I stood at the conveyer belt (walking in circles around it because I was so nervous and I didn't want to miss it) for at least 30 minutes waiting for my bag. And apparently you aren't supposed to use your cell phones while waiting. I wasn't even trying to USE my phone... I just wanted to check the time and I got yelled at least twice for it. Yeah, that definitely didn't help my stress levels.
I got my bag about 3:00pm and had 25 minutes before my plane started boarding. And I still had to go through the customs line AND recheck my bag AND go through security again and THEN get to my gate. Fortunately my bags had been tagged while I was in Madrid, so all I had to do what put it back on the conveyer belt and off I went. I got to the security line upstairs and was scared that I was going to have to wait in the ridiculously long line. As I asked one of the people working there where I should go with my bright orange boarding pass, I was trying to hold back tears. I had 15 minutes to get to my gate and still had to go through security. The line for the orange passes was also fairly long (apparently everyone in New York is catching a connection...), but I somehow managed to get through in a reasonable amount of time. I finished putting myself back together (jacket, scarf, boots, belt, computer in backpack, backpack on back, etc...) and I SPRINTED to my gate (which I didn't exactly know where it was).
Turns out my gate was on the other side of the airport, which meant LOTS of attempted sprinting (I was wearing high heeled boots because they wouldn't fit in my suitcase and carrying a really heavy backpack. Have you ever tried running with heavy backpack on your back? It's nearly impossible...). Down escalators, up escalators... All those days of walking hills in Toledo did nothing when it comes to dealing with walking up/down escalators. My legs were burning so badly (not to mention shaking) by the time I got to my gate... which was one of the furthest ones down the hallway once I got off the escalators. I gave the lady my boarding pass to scan, and finally could relax a little bit. I got there TEN MINUTES before they closed the gate. I have never ever cut a flight that close. But I made it, and that was the important part.
6 hours later I was landing in Seattle. I looked out the window as we landed and I just didn't get the same feeling I got landing in Madrid each time I came back from a weekend trip. I was excited to see my family and friends, but I really didn't miss much else about the United States. My parents were waiting for my by the exit to baggage claim and I made my way to them as quickly as I could (remember, my legs were killing me from running in New York and my backpack was super heavy). It was less of a run and more of a... waddle? scoot? skip? something... Doesn't matter, I probably looked ridiculous regardless. I all but collapsed as I gave my parents hugs for the first time in months. It definitely felt good! We then went to get my "maleta" from baggage claim and then we were on our way home. I managed to stay up until about 10:00pm and then I just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. (*Funny story here. I walked into my room for the first time and went to turn on my light, attempting to just hit it as I walked in like I did in Spain, but totally missed the light switch. The ones we have in my house here and the ones in my house in Spain are different. The ones in Spain were more like a seesaw, where you hit the top half of it it up to turn it off and the bottom half to turn it on. The ones here are actual switches. When I missed it the first time, I stopped and thought to myself, "Ok, that was weird..." Things like that have been happening all the time!)
Friday morning I was a bit disoriented when I woke up. I expected to wake up to the same room I'd been waking up in for the past three months. I also woke up at 4:30am, so that might have had something to do with it, too... Just a thought. It's gotten a little easier the longer I'm home (what with the time difference and stuff). It was hard this weekend though, knowing that my host family was going to be at the grandparents' house and I wasn't going to be there... for the first time in 3 1/2 months. But I have kept myself busy since I've been home, and I'll continue being busy. I've got plans every day until I leave for Mexico on the 24th. And then I'll relax in Mexico and then I've got two or three days before I leave for school after I get back. Once I'm back at school, it's back to studying I go!
The one big thing I've learned from being home is how at home I felt in Spain. Yes, my host family helped, but the feeling extended beyond my "home" life. I loved being surrounded by Spanish all the time and being forced to speak it when people didn't know English (even if they did know English, I tended to speak Spanish anyway). I finally found a place where the grass ISN'T greener on the other side. I can totally see myself living in Toledo (and Spain in general) in the future and being very happy. Now I just have to figure out how to make that happen!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you to those of you who have faithfully been reading my blog (and also to those who check in once in awhile). A blog is not much without its readers. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it! Check my profile for other blogs as I head back to school. I have discovered a love of blogging and I intend to keep writing! <3
No comments:
Post a Comment