6.14.04 @ 5:45 Monday
“I may take a holiday in Spain”
So here I am sitting at the airport. I finally made it! I can’t believe I’m going to be spending the next six weeks in Spain. It was certainly a lot of work to get me to this point. It seems like I had been packing for days, but the whole thing really only started yesterday. It was as if this entire trip is doomed to be an afterthought. I don’t think I really wanted the day to come…
Anyway, Brandt had come down Friday night so that he could spend a few days with me before I left. He seemed pretty darn unenthusiastic about the whole ordeal… not that I blame him. I did manage to say some goodbyes to some of my other friends as well. I went to the Grovers today too, and saw Julia and Elizabeth, and I talked to Jess as well. It was nice to say goodbye, in a way. I just needed a little closure before I left. The trip is only going to be six weeks so it’s not like I’m going to be gone forever.
Let’s get back to the airport. Once I got here, the whole experience has been pretty uneventful. It took forever to get my stuff through the x-ray machines, mostly due to the extraneous amounts of film I have with me. That and I just have way too much stuff! The stuff went through the machine without a hitch and I was elated. I didn’t make it much further before being stopped again. This time my film had to be examined. They actually had to go through each and every roll. I guess maybe they thought they’d find some bomb in there or something. The irony of the situation fell to the fact that I’m sure it was just as excruciating for her as it was for me. Unbeknownst to me, I had at some point lost an earring. Thankfully I happened to be waiting not-so-patiently for the rightful return of my film when an old lady even shorter than me came to the checkpoint. She unfolded her hand to reveal my tattered, cheap, broken Walmart earring in less-than-wearable condition. I thanked her generously and quickly returned the earring to its rightful earlobe.
I don’t like my gate. I think they need to spice it up a little. Everywhere I look it is grey. No color, no cheesy flowered fabrics, nothing. They need to get interior designers in here or something. It’s an airport, they can afford it. Seeing as there’s nothing else interesting going on here, I keep reverting to a bistro and wine bar to the left behind me. With is awful music and grungy appearance, I don’t feel that it is an establishment that would normally catch my eye. However, the longer I am forced to remain here, the more I find myself wishing I were 21…
There is a group of girls behind me that seem to be around my age. I keep wondering if they’re going to be part of the program in Toledo as well. There are three of them, and they seem to know each other. I guess they go to the same school. There are two girls to my right as well who seem as if they could be going my direction. One of them seems pretty friendly. I keep catching her eye and she smiles at me. That’s nice.
I don’t know what’s up with this kid sitting a couple seats down from me. He keeps looking at me. Maybe it’s because I’m writing furiously into this little purple notebook about nothing in particular. Maybe it’s because I have like eight bags packing me in. Or maybe I didn’t brush my teeth this morning. On second thought, I think it’s him. He just keeps looking at me. I think he’s creepy. I hope I don’t get stuck next to him.
I miss Brandt a lot already. He has been pretty upset over me leaving the past couple days. He almost inadvertently made me feel guilty for leaving. I didn’t get upset in front of him, but now I am kind of wishing I had. I think he would have felt better. I think I need to work on displaying more emotion. I almost feel as if I come off pretty cold sometimes. For now, I am going to go grab some dinner.