i made it.

well, i'm finally home. it was a long trip. it was an emotional trip. it was a sleepless trip. but i finally made it. i arrived in chicago to receive a voicemail from american airlines that my flight was canceled and rescheduled for the following night. begin tears. i make my way to the AA counter, at the same time saying goodbye to good friends, and ask them to explain. she says, "we've booked you on an earlier flight with united airlines. today. in an hour. please go to their counter to print your boarding pass." at this point i jump across the counter and give the woman a hug. i was so excited. i get to united airlines and they print my boarding pass. no problems. i also give the united man a hug. i'm on my way home! i get to security and they choose me for additional screening. clearly, i am a terrorist carrying a bomb on my being. but i don't care. i'm going home. i tell the security woman to have a "very merry christmas" and i mean it. i get to my gate with half an hour to spare and a gentleman on my flight asks if i'm headed to harrisburg. he then tells me that the flight was canceled. world comes crashing down. i make my way to the line of people trying to reschedule flights and find out that i'm on a flight the next day at 130pm. they ask if i would like to be on standby for a 730am flight. of course i do. i say goodbye to the last of my friends and snuggle in to the chair for a good night's sleep. only the airport speakers were playing christmas music (not my favorite) and it wasn't tuned in right so there was a lot of static. i rise at 5am from my cold, hard, uncomfortable bench and start to walk to my new gate. on the way i see a cinnabon with its lights on. i am the happiest kid ever. i love cinnabon. but as i get closer i realize that they are not yet open. i should have known better. i check in with the woman at the counter and she tells me they will call me if my ticket is chosen for the standby seat. two hours later, my name is called. i am going home! for real this time. i make it in to harrisburg despite the ice storm that is blanketing the region. my parents take me to taco bell where i consume two beef baja gorditas. life is good. i will miss spain and the people i met, but i am so glad to be home.

say what?

last night we had a good talk with miguel (our spanish dad) in which he informed us that he knows lots of english phrases. here are a few of the better ones:

sank you bery much.
zhour welcome.
meddy chrishmas.
happy babay.
zhou ahre my destiny. (learned from the song by paul anka.)

each phrase was followed by maría luisa trying to repeat it and then giggling at herself like a fool.

it was hilarious and sad all at the same time. i´m going to miss those two.

this is basically what i know now.

add to that list:

ricochet - karen brown. not a good story at all, but the characters really got me.

the poisonwood bible - barbara kingsolver. one of the best novels i have read in a long time. everyone should read this one.

i can now count the days i have left in spain on two hands. one week from today i'll be back in the good old US of A. weird.