The Long Awaited Spain Update: Day 1

So I know I went to Spain about three months ago (it's so ridiculous how fast time flies) and that I've been promising an update and here, finally it is.

We left in the same flurry of sleepy, slightly hungover excitement that had proceeded our Italy trip. However, due to my inability to properly time the bus ticket, we got to the airport about twenty minutes before our flight was about to take off. I got stopped at security for having face moisturizer in my suitcase and then we ran, slid and slipped down stairs and hallways and somehow, even though we were about half an hour late at this point, managed to get on our flight.

We landed at Barajas, found the always helpful underground map and headed off in the general direction of our hotel. Here is where I made my second mistake of the day. I had forgotten to look up the address for the hotel. Not only that but I had forgotten to remember the name of our hotel. All I had was: Parque de Retiro, which was a park I knew our hotel said it was close by. So we walked. And walked. And walked until miracle upon miracles, we found it chilling out on a street corner. The hotel itself, Once it was found, was wonderful. We collapsed on the bed and fell asleep for a little while before heading out to explore the city.

We didn't know quite where all the restaurants were so we wandered until we found a place that looked decent enough. We went in and looked at the menu. Now let me tell you, I'm a Spanish minor. I like to think I know Spanish pretty well but I'll tell you, I did not understand a single thing  on this menu. I ended up ordering strips of Iberian ham. And potatoes. Which you might thing doesn't sound so bad and you're right. J on the other hand, decided to order something he was seeing on all the suggestion boards: caracoles. Which in English means....

We both ate it, just so we could say we did but Spanish snails, for those not well-versed in the finer foods, are pretty nasty.

Stay tuned for Day 2! Coming to a blog near you :]

Dear World,

I know I still owe you all a Spain recap and a France recap as well as an account of my hellish trip home and J's impending return back stateside and I promise I'll get to all of that. Life's just been hectic and I'm on the strangest sleep schedule.

Anyway, what I intended to say was that, after those recaps, this blog will be done. I will be back home and not abroad which means that an Ally Abroad is no longer relevant. It'll still be up but for the remainder of my college career (and maybe law school? fingers crossed), posts can be found here: Ally Escapades

Tell your friends :]

Oh, The Snow.

The snow that's been attacking London for the past few days caused a massive meltdown in Heathrow, meaning that flights were disrupted beyond belief. And now, while I'm going home tomorrow at 11:40 am, it will be a 10 1/2 hour flight that I am taking alone for poor J is stuck here until December 26th. DECEMBER TWENTY-SIXTH. That means Christmas. In London. Alone :[ I want nothing more than to stay here with him but if I were to make that call now, chances are I wouldn't get on a flight till the 28th or later.

Why you may ask? Well, all the flights that have been cancelled these past few days have passengers. And these passengers have now been put on every available seat from here till after Christmas. It makes me sad to even think about, but hopefully, these next six days go by fast. For J's sake.

On a brighter note,

Merry Christmas :]

The End.

Going to bed tonight will be weird. I'll lay my head on the pillow and nestle under the blanket like always but when I wake up, my flat, for all intents and purposes, will be empty. There's no chance of running into someone when I'm making my morning toast or if having someone to talk to over lunch. No meetings in the hallway to plan our night or wine time and storytelling in the kitchen. There won't be people over and we won't stay up until obscene hours of the night watching old, British TV shows. While everyone else can seek solace in the fact that they'll be back and up to their old shenanigans in a few weeks, I hold on to every moment knowing that this is it for me. Tonight's fried chicken is my last Mile End fried chicken. No more Drapers. No more flatmates, who I've come to know and love.

Everyone but J and I it would seem, leave tomorrow or early Sunday morning and will spend tomorrow packing. I would rather have left when everyone else did, I think. Being alone these last few days is going to make me sad. Still, it can't be sadder than closing my door tonight, knowing that this will be the last time I fall asleep in the company of these great people. Knowing that the people just two steps across the hall will be an almost unbelievable 5000+ miles in a few days. Knowing that there is always that possibility that we'll never be able to see each other again.

As I try to sleep tonight, I'll try to remember what it is that Lewis Carroll once said: "There are better things ahead than any we leave behind." Mr. Carroll, I'm putting my faith with you on this one. Don't let me down.

The End Is Near

Only one essay, a trip to Winter Wonderland, and an End of Term Party stand between now and the flatmates leaving. Add one trip to Covent Garden and Oxford Street and suddenly J and I are leaving. Where in the world has the time gone? Wasn't it just yesterday that I was posting a 40 day till I leave countdown on here? So many emotions but first and foremost is stress for the essay due at 4:30 tomorrow that I still haven't started. As soon as that gets done though, I'll be blogging my recap and my impending 10 1/2 hour flight. Ick.

If J and I were on a game show...

We would completely dominate. Let me break this down for you.

Objective: Get donuts.

Mission:
-J will take the Tube to a place he has no geographical knowledge of.
-I will sit at home on the computer, Google maps at the ready
-He will tell me hat he's looking at and I will find it on the map, then give him the direction to go in, based solely on sights (because London doesn't really believe in street signs).
-I will have to adjust for wrong turns and for things not on the map.
-The mission must be completed in 10 minutes as that's when the store closes.
-J's phone will run out of minutes. Communicate solely through text.
-Try to navigate him in the dark, when most of these places are closed and don't have illuminated signs.

Can we do it?

Yes. We did. It may have been incredibly stressful but I feel like we can now compete successfully on those couple game shows and maybe for a bigger prize ($$$) ;)

So Weird

I know I'm still one Spain recap behind but I'm going to go ahead and save that for another day. Today, I've realized that every time I talk to a friend from back home, it makes me a little sad. It's so weird to hear how much everything is changing and how much I'm not able to be there for. I know that my closest friends are going to be there to welcome me home and catch me on all I missed out on but for a while, I'm just going to be hopelessly behind.

I knew it would take adjusting when I first got to London but I never thought about the amount of adjusting I would have to do when I get back home, which, coincidentally, is in twelve days. That's right. Only twelve more days of these crazy adventures before I go back stateside and pick up where I left off. If that's even possible. I doubt where I left off even exists anymore.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that it'll probably be harder to adjust to going back home and realizing that everything's moved on without you. I know it'll be an adjustment that takes significantly less time than culture shock, but it'll still be a hard one nonetheless.

Has anyone else been away from home for a really long time? How long did it take you to get back into the swing of things?