It's Official

Well, the big day finally came. (And went!) I am writing this blog from the confines of my own room in Madrid. Which, as I type this, I am now happy to report that I am writing this from my air-conditioned room in Madrid. Hallelujah! For those of you who don't know, I suffered from lack of AC during the summer of 2008 when I was here the first time. That summer, I lost around 7 pounds (which I have since then put back on, added more, lost again, added more, etc, etc.) and I'm fairly certain 6.5 pounds was sweat. 

I'll start from the beginning. I started my day off (Tuesday), by stopping by the school where I always subbed last year, to have breakfast with my dear friend, Jessica. After that, I went home and Mom and I went through a hilarious, yet successful class of Skype101. I am thrilled to tell you that she passed with flying colors :) Then, I decided to take my suitcases to the airport, because Daddy had told me the night before he thought I was overweight. Sure enough, one suitcase was 57 pounds. I got it down to 53 pounds. Who would have thought that a bottle of Clinique Facial Cleanser, a pair of flip flops, and four scarves would have weighed four pounds. Thankfully, the guys at the counter let me check both bags at 53 pounds each. Although, the second guy tried to make me get it at 51, and I pointed out that his co-worker had told me it needed to be at 52 pounds. At least I wasn't traveling with 67 pounds like I did on the way back from Serbia!

I only had one fiasco before I left the house. I couldn't find my glasses. They literally disappeared into thin air. My friend and I both swear up and down that I put the case in my backpack Monday night. No sign of them whatsoever. At least it wasn't my passport. Speaking of which, I almost left that sitting in the scanner of the printer, along with my Visa travel card. That would have been ugly.

Mom, Dad, Mimi, and I went to the airport - sadly, I only had time to have them drop me off at the entrance, because I thought I only had 20 minutes to get through security before I started boarding. Of course, the plane was delayed. My flight to Philly was late, and as a result, I had 25 minutes to de-board the plane, take the shuttle from Terminal F, all the way to Terminal A, then proceed to walk down 20 gates. Oh, and I also had to call Mimi to let her know I made it, and use the bathroom. By the time I reached the gate, they were boarding first-class and my calves were screaming. The flight went well. We left an hour after we were scheduled to depart, but we made it on-time. I guess airline companies factor in time spent on the tarmac into the total flight time. I was unable to fall asleep - I don't know what was wrong with me! The blanket they provided us with wasn't even worth me taking it with me. (Most of you don't know, but I have a thing for walking off with blankets from airline companies when flying international. What I pay for the ticket is more over-entitles me to a blanket. These however were thin and cheap - not even worth my time trying to stuff it in my backpack.

I went through customs without a hitch, and Elena, Luna, and Dan were waiting for me at the terminal exit. I cannot believe how big the kids have gotten. Elena explained to me that they were playing a game everytime the door opened, to see if it was me. A woman even came over to us and said, "Ahh, Sarah esta aqui!" Luna just turned seven and Dan is four. Luna has barely let me out of her sight since we got out of the van. Dan is full of energy, and like any four-year-old boy, he is quite the mischief :) There is also a housekeeper, Isabel, who I remembered from my first trip. She has two daughters, ages 25 and 26, and she wants me to meet them.

The food is amazing, just like I remembered. After we left the airport, we stopped at a bakery and got a loaf of bread and some croissants. I promise these croissants were on steroids. And to top it off, they had just a hint of a buttery-ish drizzle. When I saw it, all I could think of was, "How many calories are in this thing?" But it was worth every single bite. After that, Elena had me try a "Mediterranean breakfast" - toasted pan (bread), with sliced tomatoes and olive oil. I was in heaven. For dinner, we ate lentil soup and salmon. And I've already guzzled down two cans of Fanta Limon. I figure I'll give myself two weeks to drink all the Fanta Limon I want before I switch over to the diet kind. After all, I have been depriving myself for two whole years.

I unpacked after a short nap. Dan and Luna both commented on how many pairs of shoes I brought, which wasn't that many! If they could only see my closet at home! Dan said, "Sarah, tienes milliones de zapatos!" - you have a million shoes!I already have realized how much I miss the shower at home. I have a bathroom to myself, but it is just a standing-room only shower - no tub and no shower curtain. Just the shower head that you have to hold while you're taking your shower. Tomorrow is going to be a hot day - 37 degrees celsius, which is 100 degrees farenheit.

Elena is already talking about going up to their vacation home in Cantabria in October, and then possibly taking a trip to London in November. I am so excited!

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers as I left for my journey. It is so unreal to me that I am back in Madrid. I know today's blog entry was kinda boring. But I'm glad that the few of you who are reading this, care enough about me to want to read boring blogs, about my life in Madrid.

Hasta luego,

Sarah

This is what my closet looks like. I know my poor clothes were ready to get out of those suffocating space bags!