Thurs. July 1st
Today was the day, my very last morning in Mallorca and the beginning of my long journey back home. I woke up around 6:15 AM, got dressed, and had my last breakfast of Frosties (Frosted Flakes), water, and café. Loli was going to drive me to the airport so I had to say goodbye to Jaime, my padre, and Paca, the abuela, before I left. I hugged and kissed Paca goodbye and told her I was returning home that day. She teared up a little bit and wished me a safe journey home. Then it was time to say goodbye to Jaime. We gave each other a biiig hug and he told me that he hopes that I marry my boyfriend, have lots of babies, and have a happy life. He also told me that I should come back and visit again soon because he is almost 62 and won’t live forever. I assured him that I will definitely try to visit soon and kissed him goodbye.
The airport is only a 10-15 minute ride from their house which was pretty convenient. Loli parked in the parking garage and walked in with me. We figured out where we needed to go to check my luggage and get my 2 boarding passes. I was praying that my luggage would be under 50 lbs. or 22 kg and I wouldn’t have to pay an extra 60 Euros. When the lady placed my luggage on the counter, the scale read 25 kg = 55 lbs. I held my breath the entire time, got my 2 boarding passes, made sure the bag would go directly to Philly, and then she tagged my luggage and sent it on its merry way. After we were far enough away from the check in area, I explained to Loli that my parents would be very, very happy that I didn’t have to pay extra money for the extra weight.
Loli waited with me in the line for security as long as she could before we eventually needed to separate. We hugged and kissed goodbye and then we both started crying. I thanked her again for everything she did for me and for being the best host madre ever, and she thanked me for coming into their lives. I passed through security (and Mallorca doesn’t make you take your shoes off) and kept waving to Loli until she was out of sight. I had a flashback of the same scene happening when I said goodbye to my real mom at the beginning of this journey. I got through security around 8 AM and my flight wasn’t until 9:30 AM and would begin boarding at 9 AM. I learned that they don’t post the gate number until an hour before the scheduled time your flight leaves so I had to sit around and wait till 8:30 AM to know the gate number.
After walking to the gate and sitting around for a little while, I got in line with the rest of the people at 9 AM. Then we saw that the little sign now said that boarding would begin at 9:30 or 9:35 AM. I started getting a little worried because although I had budgeted 1.5 hours between flights, it was going to be cutting it pretty close. We finally boarded at 9:30 and took off around 9:45 AM. The whole not-sleeping-the-night-before thing started catching up with me and I pretty much slept the entire 1 hour and 20 minute flight. Before I knew it, we were landing in Madrid and it was 11 AM. My next flight started boarding at 11:40 AM. I was hoping to find some of my friends from the program that had layovers in Madrid but now had less time than expected and just focused on finding my gate.
I asked a woman on my flight in Spanish if she knew where the connecting flights were (because they were no signs), and she very sweetly walked over with me and pointed me in the right direction. I then had to stop and ask several more people because it turns out I had to get to a whole different terminal. And I was supposed to find some bus to take me but ended up walking instead. And just for the record: it is very, very difficult to run while carrying a lap top bag, a huge backpack, and running and sweating in jean pants. I went through Customs and the guy said, “Filadelfia? Queso con bistec?” which roughly translates to “Cheese steak” and I answered “¡Sí!” I then had to go through another Customs checkpoint because my passport didn’t have the right documentation. I was asked a series of questions like Who packed your bag? Are you carrying any liquids in your bag? Who has had use of your cell phone? What electrical devices are you carrying on you? and such. I patiently answered all of the questions and made it to my gate at exactly 11:40. I texted Loli to let her know that I was at my gate in Madrid, and texted my mom to let her know that I had made it too.
I slept the first 90 minutes of the flight and woke up just as they were activating our personal TV screens in front of us. I was able to watch 3 full-length movies: The Last Song, Date Night, and Alice in Wonderland. I hadn’t seen these 3 movies and thought they were all great! I also watched an episode of “How I Met Your Mother” and listened to some music CDs on the screen. I also watched the first 15 minutes of New Moon as we got ready to land. We were also fed 3 times throughout the flight. Our first meal was lunch and I had chicken and a roll of butter and water. The second snack was a bag of hard pretzels. And our third meal was a turkey and cheese sandwich. The flight was very long but the cool thing was that I was literally going back in time and it was sunny for the entire 9 hours we were in the air. Finally, it was 3 PM and we started making our descent into Philadelphia’s International Airport.
I sent out a mass text to my friends and family telling them I had just landed and was back home! I got off the plane and followed the herd of people to get to Customs. We were given a form to fill out on the plane with our information, a series of questions about bringing livestock and other food products back into the US, and an estimate of the dollar amount of souvenirs and presents we were bringing into the country. I handed my paper to the Customs guy, was asked what country I was in, for how long, what was I doing there, and what university do I go to in the US, and was then free to go onto baggage claim. My bag seemed to take forever and was one of the last ones out of the baggage chute. The most frustrating part was that my boyfriend Josh was right outside but wasn’t able to come into the baggage claim area so I had to “patiently” wait to collect my suitcase. Luckily there was a guy next to me who helped me lift my suitcase off the track and then I wheeled my bag as quickly as I could to the exit.
Josh spotted me first and he was waiting behind a low wall area. I ran up to him and threw my arms around his neck. He told me he would meet me on the other side and then I was able to give him a proper hug and kiss. He was carrying this adorable sign made out of glittery stickers that read “Welcome Home, Lauren!” and was carrying a bouquet of flowers for our 3 year anniversary. He helped me lug my stuff out to the street and we waited for my mom to bring the car around. I hugged my mom and was presented with another bouquet of flowers. (I should try this homecoming thing more often!). There was a lot of traffic on the ride home but it also gave me time to catch up and tell them all about my lovely day of traveling home.
And thus concludes my story about the time I studied abroad in Palma de Mallorca for four weeks and had the time of my life!!!
(In conclusion / Thank you / Final blog entry still to come).
Friday, July 9, 2010
June 29-30 – Last Group Dinner, Beach Day, and Saying Goodbye
Hey blog readers! I apologize for writing/posting this a week after I returned home. I've been pretty busy and didn't have time to complete my final journal entries. But luckily I decided to take some quick notes to remember all that happened those last 2 days and I think I covered everything, with many details. Enjoy reading my last few blog entries!
Tues. June 29th
The night before, my friend Ashley and I had made plans to go to a town called Deià. It’s located about 45 minutes north of Palma. We took a 9:30 AM bus there and explored the town. We went into this really old church and a cemetery. We got to see Robert Grave’s grave…which sounds pretty ironic. We walked by Robert Grave’s house too but you had to pay to walk inside and see the little museum. We got to see the beautiful water in the sea and it actually looked pretty cool because the water and sky were almost the exact same shade of blue. While we were exploring, I found a little herbalist store. I bought a package of jasmine scented incense sticks for my madre Loli because I know she loves burning them and that scent. When I gave them to her after I got home, she said she loved them and said she was honored that I pay attention to the small details. She started burning one in the house and it smelled really good.
For the rest of the afternoon, I worked on the two presents I was going to give to my host parents’ kids: Eva and Toni, and Virginia and Mame. I decided to handwrite each family a letter thanking them for welcoming me into their family and for all of the cool things I got to do with them. I also borrowed some blank CDs from Virginia (without telling her why I was going to need them) and burned the pictures and videos I had taken of their family over my visit there.
Later in the afternoon, Eva and Sira came over. I handed the CD of pictures and the letter to Sira and she looked at me and asked, “¿Por qué?” I told her it was a going-away present and then Eva began to tear up. Sira again asked why her mother was crying and then got all excited when a tear drop landed on the floor. Sira was just too funny that we all began laughing. I gave Eva a big hug and thanked her for everything and she told me she would read the letter later.
I went with Loli, Eva, and Sira to the town of Esporles. Their friend’s daughter is named Úrsula Pueyo and she competed in the Winter Paralympics Games in Vancouver in skiing. Her story is very impressive because she suffered an accident and now has 1 leg. She won a gold medal when competing with all of Spain. Esporles is her hometown and they were awarding her with several medals at the ceremony we went to. The whole thing was in Catallan so I wasn’t able to understand it but I got to meet her afterward, which was pretty cool.
After that, I returned home and got ready because our group was going out to a fancy restaurant together. We decided to get all dressed up since it would be our last dinner together (since we would be eating our very last dinner with our families the following night). We went to a restaurant called Sa Cranca on Paseo Maritimo that serves paella. There were 14 of us there and we decided to split 2 giant paellas. I had a Mixed Blind Paella which meant there were no shells on the seafood and also no bones in the meat. It was very good and we all had a fun time. We walked back home together and made plans to meet up for one last day of fun at the beach the next day.
Wed. June 30th
It felt really weird waking up that morning and realizing that this was going to be my very last full day in Mallorca. And because I had slept in till 11 AM, I realized that by that time tomorrow, I would already be in Madrid waiting for my next flight. I had to complete an evaluation survey that our program director Alice had emailed to us. We were asked to rate our experiences of our 2 program directors, the different excursions, our home stay families, and whether we would recommend the program to future Arcadia students. It was kind of like a trip down memory lane as I reflected on the past 4 ½ weeks.
After completing the survey, I met up with Ashley to take the Bus 3 to Playa de Illetes. Three of our friends were already there and almost the entire group came a little bit later because they had been doing some souvenir shopping. We worked on our tans for one last day and went swimming in the sea. Most of my friends and I knew that the beaches and Atlantic Ocean back home would definitely pale in comparison to the Mediterranean Sea. We had a lot of fun and tried not to think that this was going to be the last day we were going to spend together as a group.
I headed back home around 5 PM, showered, and got ready to go to Mame and Virginia’s house to say goodbye to everyone. I also brought my lap top because my parents wanted to meet Mame, Virginia, Jaime, and Miguel. I was able to Skype with them and we then learned that Mame is able to speak really good English! He talked about what he does for a living and thanked my mom for the gifts she had sent to his sons. I helped translate a little bit for both Mame and my parents. My little brother also got to meet everyone because he too happened to be on Skype. Toni and Sira came over later too and I got to play with all 3 of the grandchildren in their backyard. Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye. We asked the little kids if they understood what was happening (a.k.a. I was leaving), and then asked if they wanted to go on the big airplane with me back to the USA. At first they thought that it sounded like fun, but then realized it would be 9+ hours of flying. Toni and Eva still say they’re going to send Sira to live with me for a year when she turns 15, which means I’ll be 32 and might have my own little children at that point. I gave everyone big hugs goodbye and we all promised to keep in touch through Facebook, email, and hopefully Skype.
After we returned home, I had my very last dinner with Loli and Jaime. Jaime hugged me at one point and said, “No te vayas, No te vayas” which means “Don’t go.” I assured him I didn’t want to leave and would love to stay with them for an extra week, or month, or so. My last dinner was chicken, pasta, and toasted bread: my favorites! After dinner, my real parents wanted to Skype with my España padres one last time to say goodbye. My four parents Skyped together and we learned that Jaime never knew his son Mame could speak English. I translated amongst the four of them and Jaime told my parents that they have an amazing daughter and that they should be proud of raising me well. Loli and Jaime also invited my parents and me to come back and visit anytime and assured us that we would stay with them in their house instead of getting a hotel, which is very sweet and generous. The four parents said and waved goodbye.
I then got ready to go out with my friends one last time to Hogans, which is a bar. Our journey came full circle because Hogans was the very first bar I went to with my friends one of our first nights there. Almost our entire group was there (minus 2 people) and even Jaume, our program director came out to say goodbye. We hung out, talked, and danced to the live band playing. I was having a lot of fun and didn’t want to leave but it was getting late and I still wasn’t finished packing. So we began the very sad process of saying goodbye to everyone. It’s weird to think that just a month ago, we all arrived in this foreign place as strangers, and now we’ve all become friends and have shared so many memories together. I hugged everyone and we all promised to stay in touch and joked about a reunion in Palma next year. Then I walked home with my friend Erica and said goodbye to her too.
I returned back home and finished packing, which took a little bit longer than I thought it would. I was thankfully able to get everything into my massive suitcase and zip it up. I had to wake up at 6:15 AM the next morning and only got 2.5 hours of sleep, but I knew I would sleep on the plane.
Tues. June 29th
The night before, my friend Ashley and I had made plans to go to a town called Deià. It’s located about 45 minutes north of Palma. We took a 9:30 AM bus there and explored the town. We went into this really old church and a cemetery. We got to see Robert Grave’s grave…which sounds pretty ironic. We walked by Robert Grave’s house too but you had to pay to walk inside and see the little museum. We got to see the beautiful water in the sea and it actually looked pretty cool because the water and sky were almost the exact same shade of blue. While we were exploring, I found a little herbalist store. I bought a package of jasmine scented incense sticks for my madre Loli because I know she loves burning them and that scent. When I gave them to her after I got home, she said she loved them and said she was honored that I pay attention to the small details. She started burning one in the house and it smelled really good.
For the rest of the afternoon, I worked on the two presents I was going to give to my host parents’ kids: Eva and Toni, and Virginia and Mame. I decided to handwrite each family a letter thanking them for welcoming me into their family and for all of the cool things I got to do with them. I also borrowed some blank CDs from Virginia (without telling her why I was going to need them) and burned the pictures and videos I had taken of their family over my visit there.
Later in the afternoon, Eva and Sira came over. I handed the CD of pictures and the letter to Sira and she looked at me and asked, “¿Por qué?” I told her it was a going-away present and then Eva began to tear up. Sira again asked why her mother was crying and then got all excited when a tear drop landed on the floor. Sira was just too funny that we all began laughing. I gave Eva a big hug and thanked her for everything and she told me she would read the letter later.
I went with Loli, Eva, and Sira to the town of Esporles. Their friend’s daughter is named Úrsula Pueyo and she competed in the Winter Paralympics Games in Vancouver in skiing. Her story is very impressive because she suffered an accident and now has 1 leg. She won a gold medal when competing with all of Spain. Esporles is her hometown and they were awarding her with several medals at the ceremony we went to. The whole thing was in Catallan so I wasn’t able to understand it but I got to meet her afterward, which was pretty cool.
After that, I returned home and got ready because our group was going out to a fancy restaurant together. We decided to get all dressed up since it would be our last dinner together (since we would be eating our very last dinner with our families the following night). We went to a restaurant called Sa Cranca on Paseo Maritimo that serves paella. There were 14 of us there and we decided to split 2 giant paellas. I had a Mixed Blind Paella which meant there were no shells on the seafood and also no bones in the meat. It was very good and we all had a fun time. We walked back home together and made plans to meet up for one last day of fun at the beach the next day.
Wed. June 30th
It felt really weird waking up that morning and realizing that this was going to be my very last full day in Mallorca. And because I had slept in till 11 AM, I realized that by that time tomorrow, I would already be in Madrid waiting for my next flight. I had to complete an evaluation survey that our program director Alice had emailed to us. We were asked to rate our experiences of our 2 program directors, the different excursions, our home stay families, and whether we would recommend the program to future Arcadia students. It was kind of like a trip down memory lane as I reflected on the past 4 ½ weeks.
After completing the survey, I met up with Ashley to take the Bus 3 to Playa de Illetes. Three of our friends were already there and almost the entire group came a little bit later because they had been doing some souvenir shopping. We worked on our tans for one last day and went swimming in the sea. Most of my friends and I knew that the beaches and Atlantic Ocean back home would definitely pale in comparison to the Mediterranean Sea. We had a lot of fun and tried not to think that this was going to be the last day we were going to spend together as a group.
I headed back home around 5 PM, showered, and got ready to go to Mame and Virginia’s house to say goodbye to everyone. I also brought my lap top because my parents wanted to meet Mame, Virginia, Jaime, and Miguel. I was able to Skype with them and we then learned that Mame is able to speak really good English! He talked about what he does for a living and thanked my mom for the gifts she had sent to his sons. I helped translate a little bit for both Mame and my parents. My little brother also got to meet everyone because he too happened to be on Skype. Toni and Sira came over later too and I got to play with all 3 of the grandchildren in their backyard. Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye. We asked the little kids if they understood what was happening (a.k.a. I was leaving), and then asked if they wanted to go on the big airplane with me back to the USA. At first they thought that it sounded like fun, but then realized it would be 9+ hours of flying. Toni and Eva still say they’re going to send Sira to live with me for a year when she turns 15, which means I’ll be 32 and might have my own little children at that point. I gave everyone big hugs goodbye and we all promised to keep in touch through Facebook, email, and hopefully Skype.
After we returned home, I had my very last dinner with Loli and Jaime. Jaime hugged me at one point and said, “No te vayas, No te vayas” which means “Don’t go.” I assured him I didn’t want to leave and would love to stay with them for an extra week, or month, or so. My last dinner was chicken, pasta, and toasted bread: my favorites! After dinner, my real parents wanted to Skype with my España padres one last time to say goodbye. My four parents Skyped together and we learned that Jaime never knew his son Mame could speak English. I translated amongst the four of them and Jaime told my parents that they have an amazing daughter and that they should be proud of raising me well. Loli and Jaime also invited my parents and me to come back and visit anytime and assured us that we would stay with them in their house instead of getting a hotel, which is very sweet and generous. The four parents said and waved goodbye.
I then got ready to go out with my friends one last time to Hogans, which is a bar. Our journey came full circle because Hogans was the very first bar I went to with my friends one of our first nights there. Almost our entire group was there (minus 2 people) and even Jaume, our program director came out to say goodbye. We hung out, talked, and danced to the live band playing. I was having a lot of fun and didn’t want to leave but it was getting late and I still wasn’t finished packing. So we began the very sad process of saying goodbye to everyone. It’s weird to think that just a month ago, we all arrived in this foreign place as strangers, and now we’ve all become friends and have shared so many memories together. I hugged everyone and we all promised to stay in touch and joked about a reunion in Palma next year. Then I walked home with my friend Erica and said goodbye to her too.
I returned back home and finished packing, which took a little bit longer than I thought it would. I was thankfully able to get everything into my massive suitcase and zip it up. I had to wake up at 6:15 AM the next morning and only got 2.5 hours of sleep, but I knew I would sleep on the plane.
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