El Regreso

Everyone went out for the last time that night. We all met at the plaza mayor in front of the clock like always. Some people were planning to stay out all night and go out with a bang. I was not in the mood to feel like crap traveling all day tomorrow, so I was not planning on getting slaushed. The los tres pilares was picking everyone up at their houses tomorrow morning. We has one of the first pickups at 5:40 in the morning. Mary and Karen who lived right down the street from us also had the same pickup time. Mary and I decided we wanted to get at least a two hour nap before the bus came in the morning.

Everyone decided we would go to the same bar we all went to on the first night. Atawalupa, or however you spell it. All I know is it has 3.50 euro for cervesa and 6.80 euro for copas(mixed drinks) all you can drink of course. Mary and I danced it out on the one last time, making sure we broke it down hardcore to all the outdated pop music. We left around two. Walking back up to the plaza mayor I spotted a Telepizza that was still opened. Telepizza has really cheap pizza, one euro for a slice. Not the best pizza ever, but I had been wanting to try it all semester. What better time than the last night I was in Spain! After our slice of Telepizza Mary and I walked back to our apartments. I shoved my bar clothes in my over stuffed suitcase and took my two-hour nap. The alarm went off at 4:30. I jumped in the shower, got dressed and moved all my luggage by the front door. Madre and Isabel woke up early to help us get everything down to the bus on time. It was quite a process moving everything. Madre could not believe how much stuff we had. She had mentioned in the past that out of all the ninas she has had, we bought the most clothes. Not a total shocker for me, after all I am an admitted shoppingaholic.

I think I made about 5 trips up and down the elevator to the fifth floor because Madre was worried that we would get stuck in the elevator if we put too much luggage in. Once all our stuff was down in the lobby we thanked Madre for everything and headed to the corner with all our stuff to meet the bus. Sarah started crying as we said goodbye to Madre. For some reason I could not muster up any tears. I think I was just ready to be home. I hope this did not make me look like an unemotional and cold-hearted but the tears would just not come.

We met Mary and Karen along with her padres at the corner where the bus was picking up. They were in tears now too as they said goodbyes to their padres. I really felt heartless still not being able to even force one measly tear out. The bus came right on schedule at 5:40. Jesus was on the bus to help everyone load their stuff. As we loaded our luggage underneath the bus, the handle on my carryon suitcase got stuck. The handle refused to go down, so for the rest of trip home the handle would remain sticking up. Luckily I managed to get it all the way home with no complaints. The bus drove through the quite streets of Salamanca, picking everyone up along the way. Everyone was really emotional and tears were streaming everywhere. Now I felt completely soulless. I almost felt guilty that I was the only one who was not crying, except for the boys.

After everyone was on the bus we left our beautiful city and headed for Madrid. I turned around for one last glimpse of the city, but sadly the cathedral lights had not been turned on yet so I could not see the baroque bell tower. I just might have shed a tear if I had seen the cathedral one last time.

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to get checked in. The flight attendant did not seem to mind that my luggage was well over the allowed limit. I had a combined weight of 50 kilos for my checked luggage, which is roughly 120 pounds. I believe you were only suppose to have around 40 kilos, but no pasa nada.

Once we were through security we all sat around at our gate and stared everyone who was wearing facemasks. The swine flu was in full swing so paranoid Spaniards were covering up with makes. I felt like a leper with out a facemask.

The plane was long and boring, and extremely long. I watched three movies and still had time left over, so I took a few laps around the plane. Finally we landed in Philadelphia, where I had a four-hour layover. The next plane took me to Baltimore where my parents greeted me with balloons and bubbles. Yes, my dad was blowing bubbles at me while I walked off the escalator down to baggage claim. I guess that’s what I get for asking for a parade! I was so exhausted that I was just happy to see them. We got all of my luggage and walked to the car. I was not really hungry, so I did not have an exciting meal planned for my return. Instead I ate a couple bowls of cereal. Not very exciting but god I missed cereal!