I'm back!

I'm alive! haha I survived my weekend of extreme travel. My flights back to Spain were painless but on the way to the US, I almost lost my mind! Here's what happened...

Actually I need to backtrack and tell you about Thursday first! We were expecting some big protests with tons of people, parades, trash cans on fire (b/c that happened at the school one time last year)... the works! But no, instead, EVERYTHING was closed. The doors to the school buildings were chained shut, seran wrapped, and there were a lot of tagging and posters on the walls. Grocery stores, cafes, bakeries... were all closed. There was no one in sight, except for the American students. All of the teachers called off classes, except, once again, for Our teachers. We were the only people in our building the entire day. So after a long day of classes, I rushed home, grabbed my bags and headed to the bus station. There were suppose to be two buses leaving at the same time and of course, there was only one, it left early and I missed it. So, one hour later I caught the bus to Bilbao (not too big of a deal).

Which brings me to Friday morning.... 20 minutes before boarding in Bilbao, they announce that our flight will be delayed because of an "air strike" in Paris. Between Spanish, French, and broken English the only conclusion they had was sit and wait. 1 1/2 hours later, we boarded. They said that they were postponing all connecting flights and we would all make it. Well, they lied. I got to Paris, missed my flight to LA, and stood in a LONG line to get another connecting flight. By the time I got to the front, I had missed the NEXT flight to LA and apparently the remaining flight at 4:30 was full. Their best option was a flight to Newark then LA, arriving at 8:30pm. By that time, I'm crying and a total mess. The lady went to book the flight and realized that somehow, by the grace of God, I had a reservation on the 4:30 flight. She couldn't figure out how I was alread booked for the flight, but what a miracle! Well, that flight was scheduled to arrive in LA at 6:30pm but of course, it didn't. The pilot was an hour late and so once again, we were delayed. By the time we landed, unloaded, went through customs, and was in the car, it was about 8pm (LA time). After LA traffic I was home at 10:15. By that time most everyone was cleared out of the anniversary party but I made it barely in time to surprise my Grandparents. They were SO shocked, they cried, I cried… it was worth it!

Needless to say, all of my plans changed! I didn’t get to see my Aunt Stacy, Grandma Judy or Kim :-( I’m so sorry! I basically had time to pack up some new clothes and food, watch Dave’s games and go to breakfast with my Mom’s side of the family. However, it was all worth it! It was really good to be home (I forgot how much I love my bed).

Only a few hours after I was settled in San Sebastian Monday night, I went to meet my Intercambio for the first time… I’ll explain. It is really difficult to get to know the local people, especially people my age, in Spain because they are very distant to foreigners. However, my program has this thing called “Intercambios”. They introduce us to local students who are learning English and want to get to know American students. You can talk half of the time in English and half in Spanish. It’s an opportunity to meet locals, become comfortable with the language, learn about their culture and make new friends (outside of the USAC group). My intercambio is 21 years only and from Pamplona but lives here during the week to go to school. Last night she had just come from class and her friend was with her. They were both REALLY nice and very talkative. Her friend was looking for something to wear to her Dad’s b-day party so we did a little shopping then had a pintxo to eat a one of the bars. (I don’t know if I’ve explained this, but pintxos are like mini snacks or sandwiches that are served all over the Basque Country. Anywhere else in Spain, they are called Tapas). They are both Chemistry majors and had just come from a lab where they made rubber. They had these little pieces of black rubber in their pockets, it was kind of funny. Haha Well, I’ll probably meet with her again at some point this week or next. It was kind of exciting to be with someone that knew what she was doing in this country! haha.