BARCELONA TRIP - DAY ONE (Part 2)

Arrive at alternate airport, check. International check-in, check. Annoying security check, check. Terminal E16, check. I'm relaxed, check. *smiling* Okay, called all the necessary people - mom, one of my sisters, Linda W. Linda = awesome! I gave her a call initially when I missed my flight, she was so sympathetic; she didn't have to but she was. Well, called her again when I was finally at the terminal - she was happy, I was happy, so whatever happened earlier (thanks a lot Delta, NOT!) this morning didn't even matter amymore. I asked for my professor's cell number so I could get in touch with her when I got to JFK. She gladly provided it and assured me that she would contact her also. Wheww... the world is perfect again! *laughing internally* See you in New York!!!

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Time - 2:35PM

Where - JFK Airport, NY

Hello New York! Finally here; need to go check-in and find the rest of the group. Called Linda again to let her know that I had arrived and was trying to reach my professor but kept getting voicemail. Before I continue, I should point out that there were two groups who went on this trip; my group from one city and the other group with my professor from a different city. We were all supposed to meet at NY. Alright on with the story - then Linda informs me about the second group's (my professor's group) flight being cancelled! WHAT? No way! But they were supposed to be in NY even before my group? So anyway, they got on the noon flight and will get to JFK by 4:45PM. Well that's funny cause that's when our flight to Barcelona starts boarding! Hahahaha... Okay I probably shouldn't have laughed but after the day I just had earlier, I just couldn't help myself. Anyway after getting myself something to eat and very relaxed, i found the rest of my group at terminal 15. Woohoo! Told them about my 'horrible ordeal', the second group issue, and then we just pretty much waited and hoped that we'd all get on the plan to Spain!

A Boeing 767 was going to be our temporary abode for the next 6hours and 50 minutes! It's a huge aircraft; haven't been on one of these since I left Nigeria in 1999. Geez! Hmmm... this should be quite interesting though. Yay, the other group made it into the plane! I could definitely see my professor trying to stop by our seats to say hi. So much for the dramatic effect I was hoping for - Linda had sarcastically told me earlier that if all else fails, I should try to stall the plane so that the other group could catch up. Honestly I don't know why or how she knew I was capable of doing that hehehe.

(That's my professor in black and red!)

So anyway I got myself acquainted with the passenger seating next to me already; she seems nice, I like her cause of her down-to-earth personality. I've forgotten her name now (also positive she forgot mine too!) but I'll be sure to get it again by the time we get to our destination. She's originally from Venezuela but her travel itinerary started from Miami, then Cincinnati, then New York, and finally Barcelona! Wheww! I think it's a Delta airline thing - note to self: try as much as you can to avoid Delta at all cost. So she's on her way to visit her boyfriend who got into a car accident and is in the ICU. I wished him well and hoped he'd have a speedy recovery. I told her I was a student (after she asked me where I was travelling from) going on a study tour with a group of other students. She assures me Barcelona is really beautiful. Well, I can't wait; here I come Barcy! LOL!!!

Come back later for more updates and definitely feel free to leave your thoughts and comments...

BARCELONA TRIP - DAY ONE

Date - Monday; March 10, 2008

Time - 10:05AM

Where - On a Continental flight en route JFK

Right off the bat, let me just express how relieved I am! What a day, oh what a day!!! And to think it's not even noon yet. Ugh... I pretty much had only an hour of sleep the night before (or should I say morning?) because I was busy packing for the trip and for some reason, I just couldn't go to sleep. Don't get me wrong, I was very excited about this trip but I don't think it was the excitement that kept me from getting some rest. I think it was my fear of over-sleeping! Just didn't want to take the chance especially since my professor had mentioned something about the 'every other day' Delta flights to Barcelona. Delta.... ARGH!!! My worst (well almost) nightmare involving flying pretty much just happened - I missed my first flight to Atlanta! This cannot be happening right now. Oh my God, I just cried my eyes as well as all my frustrations out and even took it out on the lady at the ticketing front desk. *HISSING*

I digress ----- I mean it's not like I don't cry... as a matter of fact, I have something to say about that. Some people think that I try to put up a 'I'm tough' front by not always expressing my emotions. First of all who says crying is a prerequisite to show emotion? Anyway, I just think people shouldn't cry at every opportunity they get or else when it really matters, people won't take them serious. Now y'all know it's the truth and if you don't believe me, watch a couple of soap opera episodes or even Nigerian movies lol! Okay back to what I was saying, I pretty much took it out on the ticketing lady and I wasn't sorry cause that's what customer service is all about. And oh yeah Delta ticketing front desk lady - you're customer service skills are terrible! Absolutely failed my test and to think the whole time, she was trying to act like she was helping me. *ANOTHER HISS* Anyway I told one of my sisters, on the phone afterwards, that although I didn't mean to take it out on the lady (yeah right!), what was I to do? Yes I take responsibility for missing my flight (trust me you don't have to tell me twice) but I was still frustrated. Plus, what was she paid to do anyway? I just concluded that her customer service skills had to be put to test and I must say AGAIN that she failed so horribly! Or maybe I'll just take it as a lesson not to allow my mother to drive me on a mojor highway whenever I'm in a hurry to get somewhere! I still love her (my mom, not the ticketing lady) though and absolutely adore and appreciate her.

My alternate flight options were presented before me, without any empathy if I may add, and all I could do was keep my mouth shut (before I said some more things I might regret) and cry some more (I know some people that are loving this part!) because I felt so helpless and terrible, ugh... doesn't happen often I'll tell ya that. Anyway my final and best remedy? Get on a continental flight through the other airport straight to JFK New York and meet up with the rest of the group there. You've got to be kidding me!!! I live 15 minutes away from the alternate airport I have to go to now, drove an hour to this airport, missed my flight, only to go back to where I drove from??? WHAT?!?! This actually works out cause that means I can totally eliminate the layover at Atlanta but okay whatever. "That's fine we'll take that option", I heard my mom say. Paperwork, check. Monetary options, check. Necessary apologies (from my mom anyway), check. And just like that, I had a seat on a totally different airplane, totally different airline, through a totally different airport, straight to JFK! Woohoo, relief...

***Did I mention how much I love my mom? hehehe :)***

Alright that's it for now folks, I'm tired!!! You'd have to come back later for more updates and oh yeah, feel free to leave your thoughts and comments...

MEANWHILE...

OMG! I found this video online when someone sent the link to me the other day. Can I just say: H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S!!! And someone actually thinks I have major anger problems??? These people in the video really need some major anger management classes. Anyway, I had so much fun laughing my eyes out I thought maybe I'd share it with whoever needs a picker-upper.

It's titled "Bad Day At The Office". Enjoy!

OOPS MY MISTAKE

Alright so I know I was supposed to start my journal about my amazing trip to Europe but I woke up today and realized, "Shoot! My professor has my darn journal!!!" Remember I had to turn one in for a participation grade? Argh... my professor said she didn't like sleeping in anything that's suspended in the air for so long (right, lol); just something that absolutely scares her, so if we want her to read our journals on our way back to the U.S. she'd be more than happy to. Ummm I guess not cause I never got the book back. How did I not catch that? Oh yeah I know - all the useless and unnecessary layovers we had totally had me ticked off to think about anything else than just getting home. I'll tell y'all about that later, trust me!

Anyway I thought about just writing from memory but nah, I wouldn't do any justice to the experience. So I'm gonna have to wait until I get my journal back, hopefully it won't be too long but you never know. Ugh, can't believe it. On a sidenote, thank God I've been catching up on my sleep - so so necessary. Now I need to catch up on a lot of food. Not that I used to before but it just feels like I haven't eaten for days! And if I don't eat another sandwich for the next month, I think I'd be mighty alright. I was kinda disappointed with the food down in Spain except for the last meal we had as a group. Of course it had to be the very last day we were going to be there. You would think somewhere like that would have extra spicy food (they are spanish right?) but no, all bland. Incredibly bland. I was told it was normal for their food to be bland. WHAT??? I really should have packed my bottle of Louisiana hot sauce LOL. People who know me know that I could live off of that thing, literally. Huge lesson learned - don't assume. Definitely never assume in this case; just cause they are hot (some of the guys anyway) doesn't mean their food will be hot as well!!! Ay, not so caliente...

Oh wait before I go, I have to say that I just got my copy of Ekene Onu's "The Mrs Club". Yay!!! Woohoo, can't wait to start reading it ASAP cause of all the rave reviews I've been hearing and reading plus it seems like it'll make for a great read. I was kinda disappointed that I didn't get a signed copy though cause I was pretty sure I would (there was this thing about the first 100 copies would be personally signed by the author) unless maybe I was supposed to buy the book directly from the website. What difference does it make? I got mine from Amazon, one of the websites listed as a seller so why didn't I get a signed copy??? Oh please from the time when the announcement was posted on Bobby Taylor's blog to the time I actually read it and went straight to Amazon, there was just no possible way a hundred people bought the book already. Hmmm... I'm hoping Ekene will have a book signing thingy in the U.S. soon; it'll be nice to have the book signed you know, it's just one of those things you want to have. For some reason lately, I've been all for patronizing all things Nigerian - they work so hard and they deserve to earn the fruit of their labor. I still don't mind the shortcuts either :).

Okay, God and my professors know I have a pile of assignments to complete but... yay, can't wait to read the book! I bind the spirit of procrastination this semester...AMEN!

IN THE BEGINNING...

Yay so I'm back to blogging!

Ugh, we'll see how long it lasts this time. I recently went on a trip to Europe and felt like blogging about my experience. I thought about it for a while and figured it'd be better to "chronicle" (lol) the events of the trip. Just look at it as an electronic journal - I had to turn one in anyway for a grade so... why not put one, in more detail, up here? And for those I've invited to follow along, I hope you have as much fun reading as I did actually experiencing every bit of Barcelona, Spain!!!

Hopefully I'll be able to blog about other stuff too cause God knows I'm at a crossroad right now - I NEED A FRIGGING JOB people! hehehe It's not like I haven't been working; as a matter of fact, I just resigned from my job to "focus" on school. Grad school is certainly not easy and my assignments have definitely been piling up since I've been away in Europe. More importantly, I feel like my resume needs a major facelift! Well we'll see... serious divine intervention needed here I'll say. I'm still suffering from jet-lag (yeah only got back yesterday) and an incredibly horrible headache, but still wanted to get the whole blogging thing started.

So Adios my amigos and amigas...