The Journey Home.

So getting back to Oregon was a 3 day process. When we originally planned it, it wasn't going to be too bad. We would have a few nights in hostels in between traveling, and getting to the US wouldn't be too stressful. However, I had my mom try to cancel my flight from Oviedo to Madrid about a month ago so that I could just fly out of Madrid to go home. Since she bought all 3 flights home together, they wouldn't let her just cancel the first leg. Therefore, I had to go back to Oviedo after Greece. Booo.

Emily and I divided our journey into stages. Mine was a bit longer, and there were 9 stages total. We parted ways after stage 5. Here's the schedule:

1. Ferry from Mykonos to Athens (6 hours)
2. Metro to Athens Airport (2.5 hours)
3. Athens Airport (9 hours)
4. Flight from Athens to Madrid (3.5 hours)
5. Madrid Hostel (10 hours)
6. Bus to Oviedo (6 hours)
7. Flight back to Madrid (1.15 hours)
8. Flight to Dallas (11 hours)
9. Flight to Portland (4 hours)

So if you read the last post, you read about stages 1-4. Stage 5 wasn't bad. The hostel was fine, and we immediately showered and took naps. I thought we were in a room of all girls, but turns out it was co-ed and we were with 6 guys. And let me tell you, these guys all looked like models. In fact, Emily and I walked in to check in and saw a bunch of attractive men sitting around, and just gave each other a look saying "OMG what have we stumbled upon?!". They were tall (which is VERY rare for Spain), and half were American and half were Spanish. All the guys in our room were Spanish, and although I didn't talk to them too much, one of them kept smiling at Em haha. I had to leave around 10pm for my bus, leaving Em alone with them. Here's to hoping she made some friends! Haha :) I went to the bus station of the airport and got there about an hour early. I saw the bus that was supposed to leave before mine for Oviedo, so I asked the bus driver if that was where I was supposed to wait and he told me yes. So I waited. Buses came and went, and I sat there for an hour. My bus was supposed to leave at 11:59pm and was a "Supra" bus, one of the upgraded ones. At 11:55 it wasn't there, so I asked another bus driver about it. His bus was labeled as going to Asturias and Galicia (Oviedo is in Asturias). He looked at the schedule, looked at my ticket, looked at the schedule again, then told me there was no bus. IM SORRY, WHAT?!?! He said it doesn't exist, but I should go to the info desk and ask. He gave me 5 minutes, and the info desk was on the opposite end of the airport, so I ran. I hate being that person, absolutely hate it. But I had no time (despite being there an hour early) and was panicking, so I ran. I asked the lady and she said "Well you have a ticket so it has to exist. Let me stamp your ticket to make it official". Thank you, lady, because you stamping my ticket is going to make my bus appear.... I ran back, the guy looked at it and said that there was still no bus (no, duhhh) and told me to get on his bus. I tried to ask what was going on and he just told me to get on. So I did. He said he would drop me off at the station (I asked which station and he didn't answer...) and so I sat in the front and kept on high alert for something to happen. He just went to the Madrid Station, said Oviedo is number 32, so I went to 32 and got on. It was a Supra bus, so that was promising. I still don't know how my bus was waiting there (my ticket definitely said the airport) or even if that was my bus. But I got on and just prayed that I would end up in Oviedo. Lucky for me I did, although it was about 30 minutes late. I ran to Marisa's house and grabbed my things, leaving a note so I didn't wake her. Then I ran back to the station and got on the next bus to the airport. From there, the rest of the way home was pretty easy. However, on the Madrid to Dallas flight there was a group of about 20 middle schoolers, and when I heard them mention Oaks Park I knew they would be on my next flight as well.... Little did I know I would be sitting next to 2 of them... Oh well, I got home and was greeted by my parents and Mike, holding a lovely sign! After getting my bags, I was welcomed by my dogs waiting in the car haha.


Adjusting to life in Oregon has been a bit rough. I am so glad to be surrounded by my lovely family, but I really miss the Spanish lifestyle. I woke up Friday morning feeling like it was all a dream, and that scares me. I miss all my friends from Spain so much already. I have some great friends here, and I owe my littles and big so much for being so awesome! Spain really taught me a lot, it taught me how to deal with the unknown, how to accept people from all sorts of backgrounds, how to be independent, a new language, and how to cope with just about anything. I learned who my real friends are, and although some positively surprised me and some let me down, I have realized how blessed I am with great people in my life. I love Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, and I am so lucky to live where I live. I miss Europe and Spain greatly, but all I can say is..

Until next time, España :)