18 June 2011
13:02
Right now I’m sitting in Madrid-Barajas airport, just chillin. We wanted to make sure we got here early in case something went wrong. Well, I got here around 11:30 for a 3:25 flight. (Amanda’s is at 2) It didn’t take long at all to check my baggage and get through security (even in Spanish) and now I’ve just been boppin around the terminal tryin to figure out where I need to be. Amanda was in a different terminal so even though we’re on the same airline, we’re going to different countries, so we got separated. It’s scary to travel by yourself. Lots of prayers have been sent up today. I guess it’s kind of odd that it’s so intimidating for me to travel by myself, because I do it in the States all the time with no problem. I suppose it’s just the unfamiliarity of the situation. I have to figure out what puerta my flight leaves from. On the printed ticket it just says “AB” so I'm at terminal one, which has A and B gates, then they put it on the monitor. I’m so early that my flight hasn’t been posted to the monitor yet. Hopefully, it will be soon. There’s no internet in the airport and I can’t text. You’d be surprised how boring it is to kill hours without electronics. Thankfully, I remembered to charge my ipod last night. So I’m just listening to some music and people watching. As long as I can find my gate, I’ll be a-okay.
This morning I woke up and we walked down to the plaza after breakfast so I could buy another smaller suitcase. I’m so glad I did. My suitcase weighed in at 24 kilos. 24 kilos happens to be the max weigh before you go over. I keep getting real lucky with my baggage weight. I get to take the small one and my bookbag on the plane with me. I will probably go find something to eat then go find the gate and sit around there. Once I’m on the plane, half of the hardship is over. England shouldn’t be too bad. I get into London Gatwick and there’s supposed to be a train called the Gatwick Express that takes me to London Victoria, where I should be able to grab a taxi to take me to my hostel. Before I do all that, I have to switch mu Euros over to pounds. I only have about 60 Euros left. Even less after I go buy some food. Good thing I have some American money to exchange. Except, the exchange rate there is even worse than with the Euro. I didn’t think that was possible. Well, it’s now after 1pm so I’m going to go attempt to navigate myself into the right place. Oyyyyy, here I go! Buen viaje para mi!
14:11
I found my gate! Once they posted it up on the monitor, it wasn’t hard to find at all! Now I’m just chillin at the gate. They’ll probably start boarding around 2:45 or so. I’ve now gotten a new high score on brickbreaker twice. Playing games is all my phone is good for right now. I ate a bocadilla and some jamon flavored chips for lunch. Oh boy, am I gonna miss Spanish food! Soon I get to enjoy fish and chips, hope it’s as good. My clothes will probably appreciate the fact that I’m not eating Spanish food anymore, they’re probably tired of being stretched. I can’t believe today is really my last day in Spain. Forget last day, I’m into my last 2 hours. The last 4 weeks went by so incredibly quickly. I feel like just yesterday I was wandering off the plane in Madrid thinking “what the hell have I gotten myself into?” and wondering if I was going to be completely miserable for the next month. I wasn’t. A week from today I’ll be back in America. I have such mixed emotions. I think by next Saturday I’ll be ready to be home. I didn’t get homesick in Spain because I had my American friends, my Spanish friends and family, I had an actual home, I lived in a town and had a normal daily routine. I think being a tourist in London is going to make me feel more like I’m traveling. I just got to take it for what it is and try to enjoy every minute.
15:34
My flight has been delayed 40 minutes and I’m still bored out of my mind. I am spending some quality time in the Madrid-Barajas airport. It gave me more time to spend my Euros though! I bought a candy bar and some bifrutas which is leche y zumo (milk and juice). I love that the chocolate bars here all have hazelnut. It’s like we use peanuts/peanut butter in the USA. But hazelnut is way tastier. What’s weird about this airport is that nobody gets off the plane at the gate. Like the people get off wherever arrivals are, then the plane comes to the gate. So bizarre, but I guess it works. I also realized that when I get to London, I’ll actually have gained an hour back into my day. That’s nice. Except everything I own is set to either Spain time or American time. Actually, I think everything is in Spain time. Sorry, America. The plane just pulled up to the jet way but it doesn’t seem like anything is happening. I guess I’m going to go hover near the boarding gate anyways. Better safe than sorry.
19:41 (Spain time)
18:41 (Britain time)
I made it! I’m sitting on the Gatwick Express, which is a train that goes directly from Gatwick airport to London Victoria, which is the main metro (excuse me, tube) stop in London. From there I begin my terrifying taxi adventures. My flight wasn’t bad at all. Of course, I’m a little upset at myself for falling asleep before takeoff. I wanted to see Madrid while we flew away. The seat that I was in was in front of the emergency exit row and didn’t recline. There’s a nice knot in my neck now. It’s real gloomy here in London. The sun is shining but there are still a ton of dark clouds hovering. I don’t get it. I miss the Spanish sol. The exchange rate here is 1 pound for a little over $1.60. I pulled out 200 pounds from the ATM and it probably froze my bank account in America for taking out so much in American dollars. Everything went really smoothly when I arrived though. After walking 10 miles to get to customs, I filled out a little card, waited in line, handed it to the guy and had a nice conversation, and went on my way. He was asking what I was doing in Madrid and when I told him studying he turns to the guy next to him (who is struggling to communicate with a Spanish speaker) and asks if he needed help. We all just laughed. The people here are nice too, I guess. The biggest shock for me is hearing English everywhere. It’s really weird. That and when I go to communicate with somebody, I’ve got my brain trained now to think in Spanish. So now I have to translate my thoughts from Spanish to English. Weirdest thing ever. Well, my battery is dying on my computer so I guess I’ll just stare at the window and take in London. Going real fast and backwards, of course. Brilliant.
22:09 (British time)
Of course things were going WAY too smoothly. At the London Victoria station, I got off the train and went up to the taxi line up thing and got in a taxi. I give the guy the hotel’s address and he looks at a map and starts driving. Turns out he didn’t really have a clue where he was going. We had to pull over a couple times to look at the map again (with a magnifying glass) and he even had to run into a place and ask where my hotel was once we were in the right district thing. When he pulled over I could’ve sworn that I was about to be murdered or sold into slavery or something. He picked a nice quiet alleyway to check his stupid map. Finally he found it and dropped me off. The price was like 60 pounds but I bargained down to 40 (I was expecting to pay around 35). Then I get in my hotel, which is really more of a bed and breakfast, and go to check in and my credit card won’t read on the machine. They tell me they don’t want to waste my time (waste my time?) and they’ll give me the key and we’ll try again tomorrow. Uhhh, okay? I bring all my stuff up THE STEPS to my room and it’s about half the size of my dorm room freshman year. Literally, with my suitcases on the floor, there is no floor. I share a bathroom with the other people on the floor but at least I have my own room. The bathroom also doesn’t have a lock…interesting.
I get all set up and finally figure out which converter plug goes with Great Britain and decide to blog because well, everyone is waiting to see if I made it here and of course the internet cuts out. I’m eating the rest of my jamon chips and the other half of my candy bar for dinner. It’s dark out and there’s nothing immediately next to the hotel I’m in, so I’m not really game for venturing, even if it is for food. I will probably buy some dry foods tomorrow and just keep them here for instances like this. Also, there is a kitchen downstairs that I’ll be investigating in the morning. Well, I suppose this post is long enough and I should stop rambling. In the morning I’m attempting to figure out public transportation and meet Kate. And by figure out transportation, the hardest part will be to get to a station from my hotel, the rest will be okay. I’m gaining confidence in my navigational skills. I reckon I’ll go enjoy some good ol uncensored British television and chill in my bed. Hopefully no one’s in the shower when I wake up in the morning. That’d throw off my whole day. I have a good feeling about tomorrow. Gotta embrace my last week abroad!
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