So I’ve left the nest many times in my day. I left for college when I was only 17 to go to Pittsburgh, I left for Ireland when I was 20, and went for my first round in Madrid when I was 22. So why then, do I find myself emotional when leaving this time? I didn’t even know that was possible. I’ve already been thru this and while I was enjoying my last night at home with my dogs and not packing, I hugged both their necks as hard as I could and when I tried to speak to tell them to be good for Mom and Dad while I was gone, I realized that there was a frog the size of a bowling ball in my throat prohibiting me from speaking. I got really hot, had trouble breathing, and I could feel my face turn red as my eyes filled up with a watery sting. What the heck was happening?? I’ve heard of this before, I believe it’s called sadness and I never thought I’d be a victim of this debilitating state. But, I suppose we all have to go thru it. I found myself violently bawling in the fur of two very confused labs. Both my puppies, Marley and Murphy, are basically the same size as me and although SOME people think they are no more than animals dependent on humans for survival, they’re much more. They are the creators of happiness, a soft pillow on the floor when I’m watching TV, and the only souls in this world that I can trust with every secret I have ever had. They are part of our family and we treat them as such. And when I was spending my last hours with them all I could think about was not being able to run my fingers thru their hair for the next ten months. I miss my family so much, but they can talk to me on the phone and on skype. When my parents put the dogs on skype, they just think it’s like the TV and look aimlessly at it. When they hear my voice they automatically look up at my room, sometimes run up there to see if I’m there, and then that’s it. They don’t see me on the computer. Heartbreaking, really. And so I sat there, like a 5 year old crying.
The morning that I left I went and got breakfast with my Auntie Joyce and Uncle Bill at steak & shake. Seriously, their breakfast is pretty good. Who woulda thought?? They brought me a book and a really sweet card and I found that darn frog resting comfortably snug in my throat once again. I was holding it in pretty good when I was hugging them good bye but inevitably later when I was reading the card that I couldn’t finish at the burger joint, the tears started rolling.
When we finally rushed out of the house with my poorly packed goods for my 3:00 flight, I was completely frazzled. I waited to pack my bags the morning I left which in hindsight wasn’t the best of ideas. So we finally were off to the airport and about 15 minutes into the 30 minute ride I realized that I had left my spanish cell phone at home. While a mobile phone sounds rather insignificant in the big scheme of things, when you are traveling to a different continent and have no place to live, getting in touch with your friends is the most important thing and that cell phone is like my lifeline. We didn’t have much time so I called Sean (another source of my tears. I gave Kyle a hug the night before who also made the frog return. I’m turning into a blubbering baby these days, I’ll tell ya!) to have him meet me at the airport with it. We got to the airport at about 1:45 and when we finally got our heavy bags checked it was around 2:00. Perfect, we still had about 40 minutes to hang out with my mom and dad before we had to go thru security so dad was outside at the curb waiting for sean and my mom and I made our way to wendy’s for my LAST frosty in a long long time. I checked the boards to make sure that my flight was on time and it was. But the funny thing was: the flight said it was leaving on time...at 2:19. Weird, why would it say that our flight was on time at 2:19 when it wasn’t leaving until 3:00?? Oohh, riiight, I read the itinerary wrong (i swear that has never happened before!) and I now had 19 minutes to get my phone, get thru security, and catch my flight. Dad was still waiting outside and I talked with the security who said that they could let me thru and then send my phone thru when it came to meet me at the gate. Perfect except I didn’t say good bye to my pops yet. AAAAHHHHHH. Panic ensued as my mom starts to hug me with her quick good byes trying to push me to security. I held my ground and at 2:07 (i checked the time every 5 seconds) I saw my dad running towards me with my bright orage covered phone in his hand. He shoved it in my bags, gave me a kiss and a squeeze and I ran thru the security line, got thru and made it to my gate at exactly 2:09. 10 minutes before the flight takes off, JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME!! and everybody on my flight was still there waiting. No one had boarded yet. How thoughtful waiting for me, right?? SIKE. They were all waiting because the flight coming in was delayed, in turn delaying mine. So I still got there with about 40 minutes before we boarded. AAAHHHHH again. I rushed for nothing? No wendys??? Son of a...!!!
After my layover in Atlanta I made it to Madrid with a warm welcome from a family of one of my students who picked me up and dropped me off at Beléns (seriously, it’s good to make the right friends, huh?). I got to her house jet lagged and tired and ready for a nap. Cecilia, Belén’s daughter, helped me with my smaller bags down to the basement where my room is. You have to go down a set of winding brick stairs to get there and while a coherent, sober adult would have no problems getting down the stairs in one piece, of course I would have difficulties. I grabbed my huge bag and started to walk down the stairs and about two steps in completely ate it and fell plunging head first over my bags and down the brick stairs. Welcome back, Brenna!!
So what have we learned?? Pack before the morning you leave, check and recheck your flight times, I’m a REALLY ugly cryer, and under no circumstances is it okay to lug a bag bigger than yourself down winding brick stairs. EVER. It’s going to be a good year guys, there is no reason for it not to be :):)
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