Estoy aqui!

So much has happened, and my internet access has been extremely limited since I arrived (20 euro for internet? Seriously?) so I haven't been on facebook or even e-mailed my family since I got in. One girl let me use her phone to send a text, which was an absolute godsend, because otherwise I am convinced that my parents would have called the Madrid Police (or, as another girl suggested, Scotland Yard). There's so much to fill everyone in on, but I have a limited amount of time, so I'm sure I won't be able to tell it all at once. I guess I have to start all the way back before I left home. . .
So. Sometimes I make poor time management decisions (my mom is thinking right now that that was the biggest understatement in the history of everything). Basically, I went up to Jewell Monday night as planned, and I got to see the Life Preserver, my Smasny, and several others who shall remain anonymous (mostly because I am too tired to think back and remember who they were). Anyway, I'm glad I got to see all of you and I will miss you tons!
I also picked up my new phone from Bethany, who was the unfortunate middle-woman in a long, drawn out phone exchanging process. That phone should come in handy later, whenever I decide to pay to put minutes on it or whatever.
Well, it's an hour to Jewell and an hour home. I also stopped at Target on the way up there, and basically got home later than I wanted to.
The inevitable result was that I stayed up all night packing.
Normally, that would be cool. But I had only gotten two hours of sleep the night before, and I don't even remember what I did Saturday or Friday nights, so it is safe to assume that I didn't sleep enough then, either.
I pretty much got everything packed, but I had to leave behind my bathrobe and a dress. Those both made me really sad. [the bathrobe because it was warm and fuzzy and if we ever wanted to start a fight club or an underground boxing circuit all I would have to do is iron on my last name on the back and I would be good to go.] I also forgot my towel, and nearly forgot my webcam.
We made good time to the airport, and the AirTran baggage checking process was pretty convenient, except for the part where they charge you $20 for a second bag. One of my bags was a few pounds over 50, so I moved a pair of shoes and my dvds to my other suitcase and carry-on bag, respectively.
Then my mom came in to sit with me while I waited to go through security. This was when I started crying. I'm not going to lie, I definitely cried. My mom was all, "nbd, you're going to have a great time," and I was doing that sad-happy face, where I was crying but I was saying, "I know, I know," and trying to smile. Then I went through security, and next thing I knew, I was on a plane bound for Atlanta.
My seatmate was a redneck smoker from Arkansas. Long story short, I read Teen Vogue the whole time and we did not talk. I've got music playing in my head almost all of the time, and on this flight it was Starlight by Muse. If you want to keep track, I think I am going to start a soundtrack of my European adventures. That's track 1.
Ah, the Atlanta airport. I have been there many a time, but I am ever in awe at the multitude of dining options available there. This time, however, I was not hungry, and instead spent my hour-long layover trying to get wireless, but I didn't feel like paying $7.95 an hour for it. So I waited patiently to board my AirTran flight to Boston.
[Can I please just add that the coolest-looking guy was on this flight? I saw him around the gate before we left and kept staring. His hair was pulled back, he wore sunglasses everywhere, and he had a hat on. His belt was awesome too. I'm pretty sure he was actually a rockstar in disguise. That made two of us.]
I was seated next to a younger girl who did not talk at all on the flight. I thought about giving her my TeenVogue, CosmoGirl, and Seventeen, because I'd already read at least two of them cover to cover, but I thought she might think that was weird.
[Track #2 on Liz's European soundtrack has to be Shipping Up to Boston by the Dropkick Murphys. I highly recommend this song; it is one of my all time favorites. ]
I think this was the first flight that I started to drift in and out. I would be reading a magazine and suddenly, a bunch of time had passed. I never remembered going to sleep, but I seemed to realize that I had woken up. One of the times when I woke up, we were flying over Philly, then we went over NY. Finally we made it to Boston.
It was a long, confusing walk from the terminal I'd arrived at to the baggage claim area and then on to the next terminal. I went up the wrong escalator and took several wrong turns. Eventually I arrived, and discovered that security had cut the lock on my smaller suitcase (apparently, a glass bottle of barbeque sauce looks suspicious on an x-ray?). Anyway, I was just heartbroken to lose that little lock. It was pink and I'd picked out the combination and everything.
But I guess I got over it. After all, I had another flight to catch [six hours later]. I saw signs telling me that walking to the next terminal was not recommended, but when I asked at information, I was told just the opposite. It was probably a quarter to a half mile walk. Remember, I'm wearing jeans and a heavy jacket, and I'm towing more than a hundred pounds of luggage. I passed the on-site office for the state police- the Staties- and all I could think was, "Leo DiCaprio? Matt Damon? The Departed?"but they weren't there.
I checked my luggage again- no problem this time, and settled down near the Aer Lingus gate with my compy and my copy of She's the Man, anxiously anticipating an hour and a half of non-stop laughs.
This was when I discovered that my compy is currently unable to play dvds or cds. Fabulous!
With nothing else to distract me, I decided to call home. I went to the airport Borders and bought a fifty cent postcard with a five and asked for the change in quarters to make the call.
After that, I mailed some cards and waited for the plane.

I've got to go take my language placement test now- more later.
Besos!
Liz