I'm HOME!!!!

Okay, I realize this is a bit overdue since I have now been home for over a week... but late is better than never, right?

Well, my flight on the 9th went pretty well except for the initial checking in. Because of that $75 fee that I went to the airport to pay a bazillion times (and they never knew how much to charge me), there were problems in checking in. I ended up having to pay a $200 "penalty fee" for not paying the changing fee before the day of my flight! Needless to say, I have already filed a complaint with Air France and am waiting for a response so that I get my money back. After yelling at the Air France lady for about 30 minutes at 5 in the morning I finally just paid the money and checked in. My flight to Paris from Barcelona was not very pleasant because there was a loud child sitting behind me who thought it was really fun to kick my seat. However, once I got to Paris, I walked quickly through the airport and found my gate for the long flight. After getting through the passport check and security, I really only had about 20 minutes until they started boarding my long flight. While waiting to board, I realized that there weren't a whole lot of people sitting in our area, meaning our flight may not be full. Once I got on, I asked a flight attendant and he told me that the flight was only about half full, maybe even less. YAY!!!! So, I was in a window seat with the seat next to me open, meaning I got to stretch and have a very relaxing 9 hour flight! I watched two movies, tried to sleep a bit, and just sort of stared off into space for a while during the flight, the whole time trying to convince myself that I would not cry when I saw my family in the airport. Once we landed in Detroit, I quickly got off the plane, got through immigration, luggage claim, and customs. It really only took about 45 minutes to get through all of that, which surprised me. As soon as I walked out, I saw my mom and Meghan (my older sister) and immediately started crying! Yeah, it was just a dream to think that after so long I wouldn't cry!! We left the airport pretty quickly and got on the road for the 4 or 5 hour drive back home from Detroit. By the time I got home, I was pretty tired since I was going on 20ish hours without sleep. I said hi to Emily (my little sister) and my dad, ate some pizza, took Meghan to her boyfriend's house, and then came home and attempted to watch a movie with everyone. It was a great first night back!

Since then, I have been searching for a job, catching up with people (I feel like my phone has not stopped ringing), and trying to adjust back from the time difference as fast as possible. I've been driving my sisters around to school and work, which has been fun, and spending lunch breaks with my mom. This weekend I went up to Manchester to see some of my friends and to be there for graduation. It is still sort of unreal to be back, and hard to believe that I've really been gone for so long. So many people have said to me, "You haven't changed a bit...," and I think that may be true. Yes, I have had a lot of new experiences and lived for 9 months in another country, but I am still the same 5-year-old Melissa who loves Disney and junk food. As time goes on I'm sure I'll see more changes in myself from my time abroad, but as of right now it seems that I'm no different than I was when I left at the end of August. The hard part about this going to be seeing how others have changed while I've been away and how that might factor into my return to Manchester. It will all be fine, I know it will, but I just can't help but think about everything... especially after watching graduation yesterday and realizing that it will be me next year up there!

Anyhow, so now I am back to Noblesville, looking for a job for the summer. The good thing is that I have two very real possibilities! Last week I started calling around to counseling centers in Hamilton County to ask if they might need any sort of summer help in the office. One of them said it was a very real possibility and had me fax my resume in. He said they have team meetings on Tuesday mornings and they would discuss the possibility of hiring me at the next one. So, I am waiting to hear back from them tomorrow after their meeting. The other wonderful thing is that I received an email this morning from a family that I nannied for two summers in a row during high school. She asked if I had found a summer job yet, and if not might I be willing to nanny for their family again this summer. Yay again!! I don't particularly love nannying, but it pays well and every once in a while you see the angelic sides of the children. So, we'll see what all comes of this and maybe I'll be able to do both jobs (if I get offered both) and make enough money for my Hawaii trip next January! Alright, this has become super long, so I'll spare you all anymore details from the last week and a half of my life. I'll try and write again soon because I really would like to keep this going at least through the summer... Okay, bye for now!

2 days

I´m sitting here in the lab, 20 minutes before my lit exam and can´t seem to make myself study for it. Granted, it is an open notes exam, so it shouldn´t be difficult, but still... I should at least re-read my notes, right? I will...

Anywho, I leave in two short days, which is really only one short day because I have the rest of today, tomorrow, and then my host parents and I are leaving the house at 4:30 in the morning on Friday to get to the airport by 5 for my 7 AM flight. After the whole fiasco with the Ireland flight, they don´t want to take any chances with me missing this one! It´s gotten to a point in the last few days that I´ve realized how much I really will miss my host parents. I wish that I would have gotten the email address of one of their children or children-in-laws so that I could stay in touch that way. I may still ask for one, but it is just hard at the moment with David still being in the hospital and all that. By the way, David is doing really well. The surgeries a week and a half ago went well and he is recovering quickly. He got bored in the hospital room the other day and called our apartment just to tell us that he was sitting in a chair... that is really amazing progress considering his pelvic bone was broken in 3 places and dislocated a short week and a half ago!! Ana, David´s youngest daughter, just turned 1 on the 1st of this month, so that is exciting. She is at our apartment right now because my host parents took her to the doctor this morning for her 1 year checkup. He said she is a healthy little girl! I´m really happy that I got to see her again before I leave.

Oh, for those of you that know me and my procrastination skills when it comes to packing, you will be happy to know that I actually started packing last week when I was procrastinating from studying for finals! So, each of my suitcases is half full, and I am waiting until tomorrow to put the rest of the shoes, books, and other random heavy things in. Here´s to hoping that none of the suitcases are overweight...

Hmm... lets see, what else.. I have too many thoughts flowing through my head right now to even focus on putting any of them in words. So, I guess for now this is all I´ll write. I´m going to try and keep blogging (probably less frequently) once I get back home, at least for the summer. After that, we´ll see what happens. Anywho, I´m out for now. Wish me luck on this exam!!!

One Week

Well, my time here is officially coming to an end. I fly home next Friday, a week from today... and I am super super excited. I am also really sad...

My host mom and I were sitting on the couch together lastnight watching our favorite game show when she asked what time I had to be at the airport. I said, "5 in the morning" and made a scrunchy face because it is so early. She said "te llevaremos..." meaning "we´ll take you." How sweet is that?!? The thing is, I am afraid for my host parents to take me because I know I will be even more of an emotional mess if I have to say goodbye to them at the airport rather than in the house the night before I leave. My host dad even looked at me the other day and asked me not to leave yet!! We´ve really become family to eachother this year, and to say goodbye is going to be so hard. A very wise professor told me just after I got here that I would cry when I left to come here, and cry again when it was time to go back... he was right! Back then when he said it, I missed home and everyone there so much that I didn´t think I would really let Barcelona become a new home to me. But I guess you can´t stop that from happening when you live somewhere for over 8 months! In any case, it is going to be hard to leave, especially since I don´t know the next time I´ll be able to come back and visit.

However, I am going home!!!!! I get to see my mom three days after her birthday and I´ll be there for Mother´s Day! I get to take my little sister out to breakfast and drop her off at school! I get to meet my older sister for her lunch break! I get to go to choir practice with my dad and talk him into stopping for ice cream on the way home! I get to watch my Manchester friends who are seniors graduate on the 18th! I get to spend hours eating junk food (which I´ve not had enough of here) and watching movies and talking and laughing and crying with my best friends who I´ve been away from for so long. Sure, I know things will be different and I am a little worried about reverse culture shock... but overall I´ve learned that I can adjust and I can handle change, no matter how much I hate it. So, for now I am just absorbing the bittersweet emotions running through me and taking advantage of the sunshine and beach and time with my host parents and friends here in Barcelona. I´ll worry some other time.