visiting amber, humera and haroon's cute baby

sometimes we have artichokes for dinner

kuma chan

He has an overbite.

I wish I was Nineteen

whatever happens....I will nerver chew on tobacco....

little plane taking off....I have not forgotten you

I will be back super soon!!!!!!!!!

leaving on a jet-plane

Missing the Taylor´s + Alex. They left this morning. After 10 days of non-stop activity I feel strange and things seem very slow. We have been all over the place and had a great time! I will see you all very soon! Now more emotions coming up. The Boston Reunion is this weekend in Madrid. I have been really bad about carrying my camera around....I am just enjoying the moment. The sun is shining strong during the day and the nights are beautiful.

sunshine and spare time

(english)
Finally!!!!!!!! Today we arrived in San Francisco. My body and mind needed you desperately!!!!!!!! It is actually kind of chilly and windy here but we are hoping it gets much warmer and brighter as we approach San Diego.

To follow the tradition, the trip to the airport was a complete ordeal. Our flight was at 1pm. It was a domestic flight so we planned to be at the airport one hour and a half before. We decided to take the train (the blue line), because it is one block away from our place and it leaves you right at the terminal of American Airlines. It sounded like a piece of cake. The train ride is like 40 minutes so we left at 10,30am with plenty of time ahead of us. When we were like 5 stops away from O'hare, the train started stopping for like 10 minutes, if not more at every stop. They kept saying there was some kind of technical problem and they had to wait for the trains ahead to clear. After the third stop like that, 3 stops away from destination, the wait became 20 minutes, 25 minutes, 30 minutes....it was already 11:50am!!!!!! and we started to freak out. They couldn't tell us when the train was going to start moving again....I ran outside and literally start screaming at the driver! WTF!!!!!! 5 of us are going to miss our flight to SF! The trip we have been saving up for all year long!!!! This is fucking insane! She tells me there is a shuttle waiting at Cumberland? What good does that do to us? We are not in Cumberland and this old train is not going anywhere for now. I was about to strangle someone. We thought about taking a cab but we were in the middle of nowhere and we needed a huge car because it was five of us with suitcases. Brent tries calling one and he is put on hold. It is getting close to 12 and we ran outside desperate, waiting for a miracle to occur. And the miracle is here!!!! A huge cab, in the other side of the road. We start screaming like crazy, jumping and waving our arms. Here! Here! A veteran asking for money in the middle of the road gets super excited thinking that we are waving at him. This big cab has been sent from an angel!!!! There is another anxious guy going to O'hare that joins us and all six of us fit perfectly. The driver is our hero!!!!! The trip is a super rip off but at this point is all good. Our flight is on time and we make it!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you spirits of the sky!!!!

For CTA, I have to say....we need another miracle...a really serious one....for you.

But there is more travel surprises for me of course. I turn in my boarding pass and my passport and they tell me that my passport is expired. What?????? I usually check when I am in Spain...did I forget this time? They tell me I will be OK, but I need to go through special screening: wet towels to search for explosives in my luggage and a lot of touching from the security girl. It ends up being a cultural misunderstanding. My passport is not expired!!!!!! But 05-11-08 for Americans means 11th of May. For Europeans it means 5th of November, which actually makes much more sense...from smaller to bigger. What a relief!

I have not announced in my blog that I officially earned a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate of Major, which in normal English means a second Bachelor's in Digital Media Technology. My graduation, loooooooooong and cheesy like most graduations, was May 17th. It feels really really good!!!!!! The double life of student/worker was exciting for a while, but it was super intense too. So I am ready to be just a worker and I am super ready to make some money because my savings are running out. I have to wait for my OPT to arrive in July 15th and I should be good to go!!!!! So until then....road trip to the west coast and then my home sweet home!!!!!

(español)
Por fin!!!! Hoy hemos llegado a San Francisco. Mi cuerpo y mi mente te necesitaban desesperadamente. La verdad es que hace frío y viento pero esperamos que empiece a hacer mas calorcito en cuanto nos vayamos acercando a San Diego.

Para seguir la tradición, el viaje al aeropuerto fue una completa odisea. Nuestro vuelo era a las 13:00. Como es un vuelo doméstico, planificamos el estar en el aeropuerto una hora y media antes. Decidimos coger el tren (la línea azul), porque esta a solo un bloque de nuestra casa y te deja justo en la terminal de American Airlines. Parecía pan comido. El viaje en tren es de 40 minutos asi que salimos a las 10:30 con tiempo mas que de sobra. Cuando estábamos como a 5 paradas de O'hare, el tren empieza a pararse como 10 minutos en cada parada. Nos dicen que estan teniendo dificultades técnicas y que tienen que esperar que los trenes que van delante les dejen paso para seguir. A la tercera parada así, a 3 paradas de nuestro destino final, la espera se hace 20 minutos, 25 minutos, 30 minutos....ya son las 11:50! Y empezamos a ponernos nervisosos. No nos podian decir cuando el tren se iba a poner en marcha de nuevo. Salgo a fuera y empiezo a gritarle a la conductora! que ostias pasa!!!! Vamos a perder nuestro vuelo a San Francisco! Este es el viaje para el que hemos estado ahorrando todo el anio!!! Esto es un puta locura! Me dice que hay un autobus esperando en Cumberland, la siguiente parada, y me pregunto....a mi que me importa? Si yo no estoy en Cumberland!!!!! Pensamos en coger un taxi pero estamos en medio de la nada y ademas necesitamos un taxi grande para los cinco con maleta. Brent intenta llamar a un y le tiene en espera. Se acercan las 12 y corremos fuera de la estacion desesperados, esperando que ocurra un milagro. Y el milagro llega!!!!! Un taxi enorme, al otro lado de la calle. Empezamos a gritar como locos, saltando y moviendo los brazos....como unos naufragos en una isla....Aqui! Aqui! Un veterano pidiendo dinero en mitad de la carretera se emociona porque piensa que le saludamos a el. Un ángel nos ha mandado el taxi! Hay otro chico ansioso que va en dirección al aeropuerto que se nos junta y cabemos todos perfectamente. El conductor es nuestro heroe!! El trayecto es un timo...nos cobra un paston...pero a estas alturas ya no importa. Nuestro vuelo sale a la hora y llegamos a tiempo. Gracias espiritus del cielo!!!

Para el CTA (Chicago Transit Authority)...necesitamos otro milagro...uno muy muy gordo.

Y hay mas sorpresas de viajero para mi, cómo no! Entrego mi tarjeta de embarque y mi pasaporte y me dicen que mi pasaporte esta caducado. Qué???????? Lo suelo mirar cuando estoy en Bilbao, pero quizás esta vez se me olvidó?? Me dicen que no importa, pero tengo que pasar por una cola de seguridad un poco más exhaustiva. Utilizan unas toallitas mojadas (para detectar explosivos?) en mi equipaje y la chica de seguridad me toquetea por todas partes. Al final todo resulta ser una malentendido entre culturas. Mi pasaporte no está caducado!!!! Pero para los americanos el 05-11-08 significa el 11 de Mayo. Para los Europeos es 5 de Noviembre. Que sinceramente tiene mas sentido...de pequeño a mayor.....Qué alivio!

Todavía no había anunciado en el blog que oficialmente tengo el título de Post-Baccalaureate Certificate of Major en Digital Media Technology. En palabras mas claras, una segunda licenciatura, en Tecnología de Comunicación Digital. La ceremonia de mi graduación, laaaaaaaaaaaaarga y pelin empalagosa como la mayoría de las graduaciones, fue el día 17 de Mayo. Y ahora me siento super bien! La doble vida de estudiante/trabajadora era muy emocionante pero tambien demasiado intensa a veces. Estoy contenta con la idea de ser solo trabajadora y super dispuesta a ganar dinero!!!! Tengo que esperar a que me llegue el permiso de trabajo el 15 de Julio y ya estare lista para el mundo laboral full time! Hasta entonces...viajecito por la costa oeste y luego visita a mi hogar dulce hogar!!!