Things could be worse... right?
So. I missed my flight.
Apparently the check-in closes a half-hour prior to departure, and I got to the airport at exactly a half-hour prior, so by the time I got there, it was half-hour minus 4 minutes. Equals no flight for Carly. We're going to give it another go tomorrow morning at 9. A nifty little delay that's costing me an additional 80something (flight) + 20something (taxi, again) + 16ish (hostel room tonight, of course I'm not IN it) euros. Could be worse, though. I asked SpanAir if they had any other flights today. Sure, at 2pm, for 200something euros. I actually laughed at them.
Really, I'm only losing a half-day, which sucks, yes, but on the bright side I'm all packed and ready to go. I was proud of myself for not crying over all of this, too. Normally, that would be cool on its own, but considering how hard I've been pms-ing, it's a pretty big accomplishment.
Getting back home was a pain, though. I was not about to take a taxi (with 2 today and one tomorrow, that would have been over 60 euros just for a cab... no thanks), so I ran out to get on the bus. Stood in line, got to the door, and the doors closed in front of my face. Thanks, fucker. And then we waited, and waited, and waited. See, it's Feria, and Tussam (Sevilla bus system) has decided to go on a partial strike. So I waited for at least 45 minutes in the cold, concrete airport shade, and I wasn't about to go back inside because in Spain you stand in line for the bus, and people are really anal about it. I was the first in line, and wasn't going to risk not getting on this next bus.
The thing is, I'm not nearly as irate about this as I feel like I should be, or like I would normally be, but I don't know why that is. The only time I got really pissed was at the ticket counter lady repeating to me that the check-in closed at the half-hour mark. Yeah, got that. This isn't an understanding problem, it's an I-didn't-fucking-know problem. Now I do. Now please shut up. Then waiting for the bus I almost cried out of frustration from it all, but then that passed and I was just cold.
It just really catches me off-guard when spaniards are punctual in any way. I'm going to have to get used to that when I come home. Things being on time. Here, if there's homework, the only thing they're really picky about is getting papers in (and that's just in my classes for Americans). In my art theory class, I have homework that was due last week. I'll turn it in after Feria and it won't affect a thing. My teachers show up at least 5 minutes late. I'll be glad to have things work quickly though... like, send an email to an advisor, get an email back within a couple days. That absolutey doesn't happen here. Or, getting your final grades a week or two after finals (on a specified date, no less). Here, I got last terms grades mid-march. Basically, even if I had wanted to contest any of them, I had already long-forgotten my arguments to back it up.
So anyway, got home eventually (about the time I should have been arriving in Barcelona... grr), had a little snacky, and went to sleep for a while. Slept on my face, with my arms up, and really hurt when I woke up, but that's ok. Woke up and made lunch, but it was at about 5, so it was kind of neither lunch nor dinner. The stores are all closed because it's some holiday, so I couldn't buy a pepper, but I still made fajita-type food, and it was yummy. And while I was in the pantry, Jana (from the downstairs piso) walked in and said she knew it was me because it smelled good. Point for me.
I should do something productive today... like work on my paper that I haven't started (one of them). I was going to mail stuff, but since it's a holiday, the post office will be closed. Oh well. Hopefully I'll paint. That would be good, because the sooner I get this still-life done the sooner I can clean up the coffee cup and cigarette butts. The egg is hollowed out, which is way convenient, but there is actually a nasty old-coffee and tea mix in the cup, and even though you can't even see it in the painting, I can't move the cup because it will make the egg fall, and so forth. And I'm pretty sure that the coffee's going rancid, if that's even possible.
Or maybe I'll just get sucked into the fluorescent-lit glow of the internet cafe one last time before I go.
In other news, Denise left today to go back to Germany. It's kind of sad. She was cool. Also makes me realize how fast this year has gone. I mean, sure it's been painful and slow at times, but we're already mid-April. Mid-February feels like yesterday. I have about a month and a week left of classes, then finals, then travel. Then I'm home. Then all too soon I'll be moving to Portland and starting it all over again. Jesus.
Apparently the check-in closes a half-hour prior to departure, and I got to the airport at exactly a half-hour prior, so by the time I got there, it was half-hour minus 4 minutes. Equals no flight for Carly. We're going to give it another go tomorrow morning at 9. A nifty little delay that's costing me an additional 80something (flight) + 20something (taxi, again) + 16ish (hostel room tonight, of course I'm not IN it) euros. Could be worse, though. I asked SpanAir if they had any other flights today. Sure, at 2pm, for 200something euros. I actually laughed at them.
Really, I'm only losing a half-day, which sucks, yes, but on the bright side I'm all packed and ready to go. I was proud of myself for not crying over all of this, too. Normally, that would be cool on its own, but considering how hard I've been pms-ing, it's a pretty big accomplishment.
Getting back home was a pain, though. I was not about to take a taxi (with 2 today and one tomorrow, that would have been over 60 euros just for a cab... no thanks), so I ran out to get on the bus. Stood in line, got to the door, and the doors closed in front of my face. Thanks, fucker. And then we waited, and waited, and waited. See, it's Feria, and Tussam (Sevilla bus system) has decided to go on a partial strike. So I waited for at least 45 minutes in the cold, concrete airport shade, and I wasn't about to go back inside because in Spain you stand in line for the bus, and people are really anal about it. I was the first in line, and wasn't going to risk not getting on this next bus.
The thing is, I'm not nearly as irate about this as I feel like I should be, or like I would normally be, but I don't know why that is. The only time I got really pissed was at the ticket counter lady repeating to me that the check-in closed at the half-hour mark. Yeah, got that. This isn't an understanding problem, it's an I-didn't-fucking-know problem. Now I do. Now please shut up. Then waiting for the bus I almost cried out of frustration from it all, but then that passed and I was just cold.
It just really catches me off-guard when spaniards are punctual in any way. I'm going to have to get used to that when I come home. Things being on time. Here, if there's homework, the only thing they're really picky about is getting papers in (and that's just in my classes for Americans). In my art theory class, I have homework that was due last week. I'll turn it in after Feria and it won't affect a thing. My teachers show up at least 5 minutes late. I'll be glad to have things work quickly though... like, send an email to an advisor, get an email back within a couple days. That absolutey doesn't happen here. Or, getting your final grades a week or two after finals (on a specified date, no less). Here, I got last terms grades mid-march. Basically, even if I had wanted to contest any of them, I had already long-forgotten my arguments to back it up.
So anyway, got home eventually (about the time I should have been arriving in Barcelona... grr), had a little snacky, and went to sleep for a while. Slept on my face, with my arms up, and really hurt when I woke up, but that's ok. Woke up and made lunch, but it was at about 5, so it was kind of neither lunch nor dinner. The stores are all closed because it's some holiday, so I couldn't buy a pepper, but I still made fajita-type food, and it was yummy. And while I was in the pantry, Jana (from the downstairs piso) walked in and said she knew it was me because it smelled good. Point for me.
I should do something productive today... like work on my paper that I haven't started (one of them). I was going to mail stuff, but since it's a holiday, the post office will be closed. Oh well. Hopefully I'll paint. That would be good, because the sooner I get this still-life done the sooner I can clean up the coffee cup and cigarette butts. The egg is hollowed out, which is way convenient, but there is actually a nasty old-coffee and tea mix in the cup, and even though you can't even see it in the painting, I can't move the cup because it will make the egg fall, and so forth. And I'm pretty sure that the coffee's going rancid, if that's even possible.
Or maybe I'll just get sucked into the fluorescent-lit glow of the internet cafe one last time before I go.
In other news, Denise left today to go back to Germany. It's kind of sad. She was cool. Also makes me realize how fast this year has gone. I mean, sure it's been painful and slow at times, but we're already mid-April. Mid-February feels like yesterday. I have about a month and a week left of classes, then finals, then travel. Then I'm home. Then all too soon I'll be moving to Portland and starting it all over again. Jesus.