Volé con las aves

So I apologize that it has been so long; I got really frustrated because I spent about an hour trying to get pictures to post here but it didn't work, so you're just going to have to put up with a pseudo-journal.

I flew with the birds. So we got on the plane at 12:10 pm Utah time and flew to Dallas. There we hung out for a while, meeting up with nuestras amigas and about 11 of us flew to Madrid together. I remember watching people get on the plane thinking, wow, that lady has awesome stretch pants...yep, my plane buddy! as I later found out. She was probably 55 years old, and she works for the US Department of Defense. She was going to Sevilla to do therapy with the families that live on the military base there. Interesting, no? We talked a little bit off and on, I was mostly asking her questions. Goal met=I even got her to smile a few times. Little did she know that I totally won our dinnertime competition. The competition entailed utilizing the space on your tray table to the best of your abilities--putting certain napkins in other containers when you're finished...cutting your plasticky but still semi-normal-looking chicken with a spork (haha, kidding Ty--I wasn't even in the middle of 9 people like the Brian Reagan skit)...eating your brownie with the fewest crumbs...whatever it entailed, I won it all. :)

Anyway, the flight to Madrid wasn't even that bad...yes, 9 hours is quite a long time, and we even left an hour late, which meant that we were on the runway for an extra hour. Americans are very impatient. I don't want to be a typical American--especially because I know that sometimes I have the capacity to wait for things for probably less than negative 2 seconds because I'm always in a hurry.

I kind of slept, kind of didn't, but mostly kind of didn't. The thing that interested me the most was to watch the little video of where our plane was, what time it was in Madrid, and what time it was in whatever place we were flying over. The coolest thing was to fly through the night...I could see the sun setting behind us while the night crept upon us. All of a sudden, we were leaving the night behind while we flew into the morning. If I were to time it, I think our darkness lasted 5 hours or so. Talk about weirding out your internal clock.

I had a cool experience on the plane though, there was a guy, Eugenio, from Austurias, which is in northern Spain. He said that he lives in California because he came to the US and fell in love. And now, he just goes back and forth sometimes (he's a doctor, therefore not exactly lacking). He was very patient with me in trying to speak, and it was a quick thrust back into Spanish, which was very good for me since I haven't used it for a week or two since school's been out. Yep, made him laugh too (thanks Dad :) He told me that I have the face of a little conniver, more or less, so I told him that in all reality I was an angel--I don't like to lie. But he was awesome, to say the least.

We got off at Madrid-Barajas and didn't take any wrong turns (¡Que milagro!) for 40 minutes, including getting our bags and taking a bus to the right terminal. And most importantly, we had two excellent landings that we could walk away from. Actually, I lied. The most important thing was GETTING A STAMP IN MY PASSPORT. It's so beautiful. What a way to start my adventure; I flew with the birds--or felt as free as one, at least.

Finalmente estoy en mi casa

Well, this has been a 30+ hour day for us...trying to sleep on the plane was difficult, but Maddie and I crashed for an hour or 2 before unpacking and eating dinner at 9. But I just wanted to say one thing...I´ve already lived April 29, and not that I´m a fortune teller, but this day has potential to be one of the best days of your life. It can be a beautiful day if you let it--I know it was one of the best for me :)

Voy a encontrarme en Madrid

In approximately 45 hours I will board my connecting flight to be shipped out of the country. I am going to Madrid, a place that for years has only existed in my textbooks and fantasies. I can't help but compare my situation to the 1995 movie "Sabrina." Although I'm sure this movie was considered to be quite modern when it came out, unfortunately I do not plan on getting a perm, working for a fashion company, or even learning French in Paris. But I do plan on finding myself in Madrid, in a sense, as I meander throughout Picasso's original artwork, step into the Mediterranean Sea, or learn the flamenco. But seeing as how this is one of my absolute favorite movies, I'll begin my adventures with an opening quote, "And life was pleasant there and very, very simple. But, then one day, the girl grew up and went beyond the walls of the grounds and found the world..."