The Long Journey Home

Per request from Helene, here is a recap of my long journey home.

This tale begins the morning of June 30th at 7 am in Madrid, Spain.  I awoke in my hotel room and promptly began assembling my things for departure. At 7:45, Ben, Amanda, and I set out for the Madrid-Barajas airport via Madrid's metro system -- one of my favorite means of transportation.  Two metro lines later, we had smoothly arrived at the airport at 8:50 am.

Amanda and I said goodbye to Ben at Terminal 2 and headed toward Terminal 1, quiiiiite the walk from the metro stop.  We were greeted by an alarmingly long check-in time....good thing I was 2 hours early! I waited and eventually got through the check-in process and security.  Only 100 feet later, Madrid felt the need to check my boarding pass and passport AGAIN. You never can be too safe, I suppose.

I was lucky to have Amanda by my side, who had access to the VIP lounge, where we got food and water before our trans-atlantic flights.  It was there that we parted ways and I headed for gate A2. Unbenounced to me at the time, A2 is literally the farthest point in the airport from the metro station. FANtastic. One more security check (seriously, Madrid?) and several moving sidewalks later, I was just in time to board my flight to Washington, D.C.

Flash forward 8 hours....

Upon arriving in D.C., I did the traditional customs, luggage pick-up and immediate drop-off (why? I wish someone could explain that to me) and then yet another security line.  All the while, we heard the following message on repeat: "May we have your attention please. The alarm that has been activated is being investigated by the fire department. Please stand by for further instructions." This continued for literally hours. I kept looking around to see if anyone else was slowly going mad with me, but there were no signs of mental deterioration.  

My flight was set to leave at 4 pm, but luckily was delayed a bit so I had plenty of time to eat a good ol' chicken burrito.  Plus, I knew I had a scheduled 4-hour layover in Chicago that I could chip away at if my flight from D.C. was a little late. Theoretically true, right? Except that upon arrival in Chicago, my final flight had been delayed a little over an hour. Right back to where we started. 

Now, I feel it will be helpful to do a little round-up of the time-difference conversions and such.  In Chicago, it was 6 pm.  That means it was 1 am Madrid time, meaning I had been awake for 18 hours with no sleep in the foreseeable future. Things were looking bleak....

Surprisingly, those 5 hours in the Chicago airport were not terribly bad.  I had a nice sandwich, talked to two of my siblings, got plenty of texting time in, etc. The airport itself was really nice, with one caveat: no free wi-fi. What century is this, Chicago? Every Starbucks around the globe has free wi-fi and you can't give some sleep-deprived travelers free access to their Facebook newsfeed? Although, maybe I am the sucker for not having a smartphone (update: just got a smartphone!) 

The bad got worse when my flight was delayed yet again to 2 hours past the original departure time. My spirits were shockingly high for those conditions and I viewed all the trouble as worthwhile for the wonderful month I'd just had in Spain. 

In hindsight, I cannot believe I survived it. 

My dad and sister, the troopers, retrieved me from the airport at 2 am on Sunday morning about as jet-lagged as I've ever been. For those following along at home, 2 am in Sacramento is 11 am in Spain, meaning I'd been awake for 28 hours by this point.  I made some small talk and dolled out souvenirs when I got home, but quickly retired to bed.  

If you've read my past posts, you'll know I compared my bed in Salamanca to a wooden plank (a comparison I stand by).  When I returned home, I found my bed had not one but TWO memory foam covers, making it officially the softest and most heavenly rectangle in the world. Its awesomeness was heightened by its difference from my Spanish sleeping conditions, of course, but I still give major props to Helene for the set-up.  Seriously, I have never been more comfortable than in my first night home.  

I've been back for about 48 hours now and it feels great. I am excitedly awaiting the return of my best friend from Italy (3 weeks and counting...) and look forward to reconnecting with all my friends at home. 

My final post (coming soon) will be the only actual "postcard" on Postcards from Far Away, so stay tuned!