There's always a story: That one time I was begging for change....

So due to wanting to spend all my time at home with family and not attached to my computer, and the arrival to Spain without internet there was some writing the I wanted to do that isn't getting done until now.

This particular story of my impressive bad luck takes place back in August when I was leaving Madrid to head to California for my wonderful 3 week stay back home. I was staying the night at my friend Kirsty's place, my flight was at 10am so had to be at the airport by 7ish (in order to ensure I jumped through all of the security hoops on time.) I set my alarm for 6:15 and I had set an alarm for 6:40 to let me know "Hey Cathy it's time to get moving out the door." Well for some reason I didn't

notice that my 6:15 was accidentally set to only be for MONDAYS which didn't help my Friday morning flight. So I woke up to my alarm on my phone which had so conveniently decided to fall in the crack between the wall and the bed. I jumped up and tried to turn it off as soon as I could because I didn't want to wake other people up so early. I saw the time and ran for the bathroom to brush my teeth put on clean clothes and bounce. I said a quick goodbye (see you around) to Kirsty and headed to the airport. 

When I went to check-in and leave my bag, I was informed that the flight was delayed so instead of leaving at 10 we'd be leaving at 12. (Gee thanks I would have had time to shower if I'd known that...) I got my tickets and went to sit with my headphones on and wait to board. As I was was thinking that my layover had been cut immensely cut down that I'd be running for my life in order to catch that plane. What I failed to realize until I was in the air half way across the Atlantic was they changed my second flight so I wouldn't have to bolt through customs (as if that's even possible). So now I was faced with the challenge of making contact with my parents to let them know that I was arriving at 8pm and not 6pm. I thought no worries even though a few of my tech friends have recommended against connecting to the internet at the airport

No sorry fool I don't have 10 cents...

because of security reasons, but desperate times call for desperate measures (little did I know what this really meant). So I arrived to JFK went through customs and back through security now on a mission to get in contact with my parents because my Spanish phone didn't work and I didn't have a US phone. So I tried to connect to Wi-Fi so I could send a message via whatsapp or facebook or email. anything. Then I was hit with if I wanted to get online I would have to pay $15 to get online for an hour?! I didn't need an hour I needed 1 minute to say "home at 8 not 6" so I spent a while trying to see if there was another network to get on a cheaper rate but nada. So I looked in my wallet and all I had was 65 US cents so at the payphone I looked and it said 50 cents local calls $1 long distance. I thought about calling a

distant family member to call my cousin to call my mom, but I wasn't even sure that the number i had was still valid and I didn't want to waste my chance so I turned around and hoped I'd racked up enough good karma to have people give me the 35 cents I needed. I figured I may have had a better chance getting the money than I did asking people to borrow their phones which they were either talking on or playing on since they were waiting around. Not surprising l was met with lots of dirty looks and "I ain't got no change" exchanges. A group of girls travelling together were able to give me a quarter, but that still left me 10 cents short and after a few more unsuccessful attempts I ran out of time and had to board the plane. I saw a sign that said Wi-Fi available on the plane (yay!) but when I sat down and tried to log on I was hit with the same red screen (no!) that wanted to bankrupt me from the few USD that I had so my last resort was to ask the nice lady sitting next to me if she'd let me borrow her phone. I called... no answer... called again and left a message with the situation hoping they'd listen to it before driving 2 hours to arrive 2 hours early :-/  

At least this way I could rest easier on the 6 hour flight from NY to LA, with the luxury of a window seat I did just that and knocked out almost the whole way. I arrived got my bag and now in California I had enough money to make the local call. So I headed to the payphones and called my mom to be

met with the voicemail again?! I left a message saying I'd arrived and went outside to watch the cars drive by to see if I'd see them. After over a year of being away from my family and the month of August bouncing off the walls from living all I wanted was to be with family. Feeling alone with my suitcase, my mind going a mile a minute thinking they left hopeless and I was stranded and even though I didn't have cash I had a credit card to get a hotel room and there I'd have Wi-Fi and I could get in contact with them. All of those thoughts happened in about 30 seconds cause then I heard a man's voice yell "Catita!" and I turn around there there's my Mom and Dad smiling not worried at all because they'd heard the messages and right when I'd called 2 minutes ago was right when my mom went to the bathroom and didn't hear the phone... my impressive bad luck strikes again. Overcome with emotion I just broke down in tears and hugged them, and we hopped in the car and headed back to our quaint desert home.

Oui, what?

Hey Hey Everyone, 

   Spring break has come and gone, along with my birthday, and now I'm left with a few stories to share with you all. 

    My sister and some of her friends came for Spring Break with the incredibly horrible mediocre trip planner I am the itinerary for the week was as follows: Friday-Sunday Madrid, Sunday-Wednesday Paris, Thursday-Friday Malaga, Saturday- ship the girls back. All of this meant a lot of early mornings, a lot of packing and repacking, but overall it was an adventure.

Since so much time as gone by I've decided to share this post in comic-ish form. Enjoy.

Hopefully that was a breath of fresh air, I actually had a lot of fun creating these. Until next time!

~Cathy

The Moment Has Arrived

Hey Hey Everyone!

    So the time has finally come, I am here in SPAIN!! After a long while of not having internet due to waiting on buying a EUROPE/US power adapter, I can finally give a semi update of life on the other side of the world. 

The adventure started Monday as I was nervously packing my two suitcases with clothes I would have for the next year in Spain, tearing heartstrings as I saw the things I was leaving behind (and asking to have sent to me later jajaj). And of course since I leave everything to the last possible minute, I didn't get to sleep more than 45 minutes before it was time to make the trek at 6am from Palmdale to LAX. 

My nerves were on pins and needles as the Air Canada employee checked the scale as I put my bags on. The first 51 pounds (AHH!), but she let it slide... (that would be due to my shoes lol)...the second 45 lbs, I guess Top Ramen weighs less than flats.  After that I was reassured my luggage would be waiting for me in Madrid, and that I wouldn't have to spend my 2 hour layover in Toronto running around from baggage claim and customs and such. Speaking of customs... what disorganized mess in Canada (no offense) they were taking a random 10 people in at a time and trying to calm down people who weren't even complaining lol.

So after a 6 hour flight to Toronto and an 11 hr flight to Madrid (which ended up being longer because there was traffic at the Madrid airport and we circled in the air above it for half an hour). I didn't have much luck sleeping on the plane, after sleeping what I thought was a good while, I would wake up and convinced that we had to almost be there because I slept so long, only to find out that I'd only slept 50 minutes and we still had four and a half/ seven/ two hours left. I did end up watching Water for Elephants, and was too tired to watch anything else but apparently not tired enough to fall into a deep sleep jajaj.

I was also blessed to have the help that I do here in Spain. The coordinator for my school had told me she would pick me up from the airport, and arranged for me to rent a room from her sister (her neighbor) while I did my apartment hunting. When I told other auxiliares of this at the seminar at USC everyone was like WOW so lucky...and I truly am...I arrived in madrid, got the stamp on my visa, and went to get my luggage. As I passed through the Arrivals threshold I saw people holding little white sign's with names of those who they waited for, but my name was not there. I waited around in the crowd for a little while before panic started setting in. Since the plan the whole time was for me to go with my coordinator, I didn't have any place to go, or any idea of how to find an alternative. Since the last few days before leaving were crazy I didn't get around to sending the email that I wanted to get her phone number and give her mine, and just double check on all the details. The only number I had was for the school (which was on holiday the day that I arrived so that wouldn't have done any good anyway, lol figures...) So I went into freak out mode for about 2 seconds until I saw a machine that  I could connect to the internet with. Sending her an email was my last resort,. The machine charged 2 euros for half an hour, more than enough to do what I needed to do. There was no card slot, only for me to enter the information for my card, so I did...and it was rejected (Major Freak Out Moment!)  Another Blessing... my mom when I had got accepted into Spain gave me a 2 euro coin she'd had saved in a drawer. I put it in the machine and jumped right on my email. She'd already emailed me with her number and that she was at the airport.

We finally united and she took me to the cute room that would be my own for the next two weeks or so. Not too much adventure/exploring has gone on as of yet, since I'm still a mess with the 9 hour time difference and allergies, but I'll update soon.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to check out this month's Reader Spotlight if you haven't already, next one gets chosen Oct. 1 :)

<3 Cat