-One 50lb. bag is allowed on United Airlines international flights for free.
-If you go overweight on that one bag it will cost you $200. ($200!!!)
-If you add an additional bag and it goes overweight (so you have one under 50lb bag and one over 50lb bag) it will cost $400!! $400!!!
-However, after the last call I had with customer support they finally said, well, if you divide your one overweight suitcase into 2 suitcases under 50lbs each it will only cost you $70.
Problem solved. I don’t like it, but I can fork out $70 to have an extra suitcase. It’s hard to pack for a year in one under 50 lb suitcase!
So after I was packed mom and I tried to use the home scale to get an idea of how much the suitcases weighed. I was positive that they were overweight but wasn’t sure by how much. We decided to go over to Evergreen and use their freight scales so we knew for sure when we went to the airport the next morning the suitcases would be perfect. I made sure everything was packed (even the stuff I would need to get ready in the morning) and we headed off to Evergreen after our other errands. The scale sat in front of her office with my 2 open suitcases sprawled out on her office floor…me frantically trying to figure out what I could live without for the next 9 months. My mom’s co-workers took turns giving me their advice on how to make this embarrassing quantity of stuff fit, follow all the rules and be underweight. It certainly wasn’t easy, but we finally got it down to 50lbs exactly on one suitcase, and 50.6 lbs. on the other. I figured if they gave me crap at the airport about that 0.6lbs I would take one shirt out and be fine. (Later I realized that the jeans I was wearing needed to go in the suitcase…dang it! Almost perfect).
Funny side note: I’ve started to read the New Testament a little each day. One of the parts that I read in the midst of this packing craziness was “Do not pack a bag with clothes. Do not take sandals or a walking stick. You must embody simplicity.” Haha. Oops. I think I failed.
After we got done at Evergreen we headed off to get my 2nd mocha of the day, pick up Laura and meet my dad down at the Mariner’s game. They were playing the Oakland Athletics and absolutely got their butts kicked, but it was a fantastic night and a great last Seattle/family thing to do before I leave for Spain. I got home and had high hopes of getting a couple other things done, but finally decided they weren’t crucial and went to bed. I really wanted at least one last small nap in MY bed before going to Spain and being in whatever random rental apartment bed I find.
Mom woke me up at 3 (since I didn’t wake up to my alarm) and I got ready so we could head towards the airport at 4:15am. We got coffee, got the the airport and mom came in to help me with my bags and make sure I didn’t have any problems with checking my bags. I weighed the first bag and it was 52.5. The lady told me I need to get rid of a few extra pounds. Dang it! Then she said, “Well, put the other one on the scale” and it was exactly 50lbs. She told me nevermind, don’t worry about it. Heck yes!
We got money exchanged (the one thing I forgot to do ahead of time) and then I headed through security. Mom and I exchanged looks and waves while I waited in line, then she stuck around until I’d gotten through security. It’s been harder to say goodbye this time. It’s for a mixture of reasons, but one of which I’d say is because not much time has passed in between my Siles trip and this one. I planned for SO long in advance for my Murcia trip, then a couple years had passed by the time I got accepted for my Siles trip, but now I’ve only been home for a couple months and there wasn’t any waiting and wondering about whether or not I would get to go. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I really haven’t been away from Spain long enough to truly miss it. A few tears escaped as I headed through security, then a few more when I read the card my parents had snuck into my backpack, but I tried hard to hold it together. At least I’ll be home for Christmas, so it’s only 3 months until I will see my family again.
I made it to my first flight without any problems. Security didn’t even hassle me like I thought they would (all my camera gear, external hard drives, etc, usually makes them suspicious). When I got to my gate they needed volunteers to check their carry-on bags. I took a few things from my carry on, stuff it into my “personal item” (aka backpack) and let them check it all the way to Madrid. One less thing to deal with. Yay! I was a little worried that it wouldn’t get all the way to Madrid, since it was separated from the others, but I ended up having no problems. There were only 10 empty seats on the whole flight, and one of them was right next to me! I enjoyed the extra space and slept the entire flight.
I landed in DC, updated my family and Facebook to let them know I’d survived the first leg of the trip, got some food and my final Starbucks for awhile (so long salted caramel mochas!) and met another auxiliar…Lindsey. Lindsey and I were on the same flight and it’s her first time doing the program and being in Spain so we chatted about everything auxiliares-related. She is from Portland and has never really been abroad. Her placement is in Madrid, so I assured her that her experiences would be vastly different than mine last year. The second flight was not crowded at all. Too bad on this one there WAS someone next to me. The flight attendant said one of us could move and have a row to ourselves, but I was already on the inside next to the window, and he apparently didn’t feel like moving (I think he liked having someone to chat with). I would have moved but I liked being next to the window to rest my head on and sleep. I slept through majority of this flight as well, and only woke up to have dinner and breakfast, and for the last hour and a half of the flight.
As I was getting off the flight I was introduced to Chris, another auxilar that was on our flight and had been seated next to Lindsey. He’s from Nebraska and will be teaching in Palencia (north of Madrid). We all got our bags (I combined my checked “carry-on” into the already checked bag) and headed out. Lindsey is staying with a host family so her host dad was there to meet her and pick her up. Chris and I debated taking a taxi, but it was going to be like 30 euro, so I decided to brave the metro again. Chris and I parted ways, but he has a friend in Jaén, so he’s going to come visit. I headed through the airport to the metro station and when I was on the metro I had a weird realization…the lines between “cultural shock” and “reverse culture shock” are becoming a lot blurrier. This time it was weird knowing where to go, the metro routes to take, the language comes more naturally…that everything seems so much the same, but so different at the same time because of how I’ve changed…what they usually tell you about normal culture shock. I’ve bounced back and forth between Spain and the US enough times now, that I feel relatively “at home” (in very different ways) in both places.
By the time I made it to the bus station it was 9:15am. I found the company with a route to Jaen and I had missed the bus by 15 minutes. So close! The next bus is at 1:30….so here I am…chilling in the bus station for the next 4 hours. I was hoping to find an apartment today, but it looks like I’ll probably have to book one more night in the hostel since I won’t even get to Jaen until 4 or 5. I stopped at one locutorio to call my parents and let them know that I arrived, and chatted with the two women working there. One commented on my giant suitcases, and then they tried to help me figure out if there was a train I could take that leaves sooner (There isn’t). After that I went to another locutorio to use the internet. I was able to interpret for a British guy that was there and I asked the lady working there if she would mind watching my things for a few minutes so I could go use the restroom, brush my teeth and throw some deodorant on. I also grabbed something to drink and set to blogging. I’m getting better at this whole blogging thing every time I come over here. My Murcia blog lasted a couple postings. My Siles blog lasted about half my stay. Now my goal is to blog my entire stay in Jaén. It’s not just for you…I’ve realized my memory kind of sucks and this is my way to remember all the fun, quirky things that happen too. So, enjoy! Hopefully blogging with stick with me this time!
One more random side note: I lost 25 pounds last year living in Siles. This summer I gained all of it back. Saaaaaaaad day. My mom and I are in a competition with each other to see who can lose the most before I get back for Christmas. Help keep us accountable and on track! Jaén is basically one giant hill, so at least I have that going “in my favor.” :)
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