Goodbye Doesn't Mean Forever

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I am finally home...well it has been a week but I am still recovering.

My last week in Spain was pretty chill. After MM left Lidia and I just kinda hung out and started packing. It was so hot and most of our friends had already left Spain so we just stayed at the apartment. We were both kinda ready just to be home.

The journey home was the longest 36 hours of my life. I flew from Madrid to London on Tuesday, the 5th, at 9 pm. My flight was supposed to be at 8 pm but it was delayed. I got to London at 10:30 pm, which was 11:30 pm Madrid time since London is an hour behind. I spent the night in the Gatwick International airport because my flight was at 9 am the next morning. As crazy as that sounds I was no where close to the only person doing it. I was so worried about falling asleep and missing my flight to Atlanta the next morning that I stayed up all night. I know it was like 10 hours but I didn't want to chance it. I wrote the blog for MM's visit and read an entire book online. Finally at 5 am I was able to check in and then, lucky me, more waiting. I went to the gate my flight was leaving from at about 8 am and waited some more. Then, of course, this flight was delayed as well. We didn't leave Gatwick until about 10 am or so.

The flight wasn't bad and I even had a seat in the middle of the plane behind the bathroom so I had a lot more leg room than most (which is usually a huge problem for me on flights). I sat next to two Mexican guys who had been on vacation and they were nice but at that point I just wanted to sleep and be home so I only spoke with them a little bit. Because the flight left an hour late, I was worried about making my connection from Atlanta to Charlotte on time. I was supposed to have a hour and a half between the flights but thanks to the delay I had 30 minutes to get off the plane, go through passport control, pick up my luggage, recheck my luggage, go through customs and get to terminal A, three terminals away from where I was. Needless to say, by the time I made it to the gate I was about to fall out because my carry on was so heavy. I was tired, sweating and hungry but thankfully I made it. I got lucky again with the seats and sat next to the emergency exit where the flight attendants sit so I had a lot of room to stretch out. Even though it was only a 40 minute flight, it was still nice.

I was so relieved and happy to see my mom, sister and brother waiting for me at baggage claim I could have cried. My mom; however, had that covered for me. The drive from Charlotte back to Columbia felt like it took the longest it had ever taken and MM and Winston were so hyper. After visiting my granddad at Agape, I went home and at about 10 pm, I finally passed out. Thanks to jet lag, and Winston and MM, at 9 am the next morning I was awake. But I was able to get a few naps in through out the day. I still am not quite back on schedule but it is starting to get better.

Overall, this was one of the best trips of my life. I know that this trip changed me and will continue to change me for the rest of my life. Not only the school I attended, or the apartment I stayed in but more importantly that people I met, or got to see again, the trips I took and the things I learned have all influenced me in some way.

I thought I had kept up with everything going on back here pretty well but seeing all of the changes here make the five months seem so much longer than they felt in Spain. It is good to come home and be surrounded by familiar things again but I know that I will definitely go back to Spain one day.

Things I will not miss about Spain:
1) Using converters to charge my computer or do my hair
2) Slow internet

Things I will miss about Spain:
1) The people
2) The food ( cheap groceries)
4) The sites
5) And basically everything else!

I know the first list is short and that is because I learned to love everything that I lived with because I either couldn't do anything about it or I discovered some charm about it I didn't realize existed. Some people that came and visited didn't feel the same way but even though I sometimes complained, I loved my life there and wouldn't change it for anything.

So, for now at least, this is my last post. But knowing me, I will be on other traveling adventures soon enough. Thanks so much for everyone who has either followed me from the beginning, occasionally read my posts or just reading me for the first time, I hope reading about this has been entertaining and/or informative or that you at least got something out of it. ¡Hasta luego!

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