Flying Solo

Spring Break was full of so many adventures! Which is incredible considering it was just a three day weekend. But hey, you gotta take what you can get. But since there are so many stories, I'll probably end up splitting this up into several separate blog entries.
So to start... Thursday night, three other girls from my trip (Alyssa, Gueb, and Emily) headed to the Dublin airport. The three of them were flying to Scotland for Spring Break. Both our flights left around  6:30am Friday morning, so we decided the easiest (and cheapest) way to get the airport was to take the DART to downtown Dublin, then a bus to the airport. But the DART doesn't start until 6 or 7 in the morning, not early enough for us to get to the airport. So instead, we would sleep in the airport Thursday night. Brilliant idea? Maybe, maybe not. You decide. We got there around 9:00pm and found a spot we could sleep for the night. They were cleaning for about an hour, so we had some time to kill before bedtime so we played a round of Euker. Then we headed to our benches for bed.
That was the loudest airport ever! Considering the fact they have no flights going out in the middle of the night there was so much going on. So we really didn't sleep a whole lot. Plus, we got up at 3am to go check in at the desk and head to our gates. I was just looking forward to sleeping on the plane.
Once I landed in Paris, I had 4 hours before my connecting flight left. So I got through immigration and found a bathroom. I only mention this because there was something a little unusual about the bathrooms in this airport... The toilet paper was pink! It was so weird. I don't know if that is all French bathrooms, or if girls get pink TP and boys get blue? I don't know. I just thought it was weird.
Then I went to the desk to check into my flight. The lady took one look at my ticket and then handed it back. "Why are you here? You are going to Sevilla." "Yeah...." "This is the wrong terminal. You need terminal two." "Ok... How do I get there?" She looks at my like I'm an absolute idiot. "Go out these doors, take a right. You can't miss it." Ok, so maybe that was a dumb question. It really was a huge building right next door with a huge T2 on the front. But hey! I didn't even know there was two terminals!
I walked to Terminal 2 and checked in at the right desk. But was informed, "You are early. You cannot go through security yet." Ok... So I headed over to the bakery and bought a croissant and a croissant with chocolate in it. They were so good! I journaled and read for class while I ate my yummy French treats.
The security opened for my flight a little less than an hour before the gate was to close. But that's fine, because this terminal only had 4 gates, so I didn't have far to walk. But I made my first travel blunder... I got up to security and was taking the liquids out of my bag. I realized I still had water in my water bottle from when I had filled it up in Dublin. But it was too late, and there wasn't anywhere to pour it out; so I sent it through security. On the other side, the guard motions to ask if the water bottle is mine. I nod yes, but tell her she can just dump the water out. Instead of doing so, she makes a thumb's up and points the thumb towards her mouth. I figured out this was the international sign for drink. So I took a sip, assuming she wanted me to prove it was water. But then she does it again, and I realize she wants me to finish it! There are at least 10oz of water in there. I try to chug it as fast as I can, and then she nods that I'm good to go.
So I head to the gates, but I realize my gate number isn't posted. My gate is supposed to close in 45 minutes. At 30 minutes, it's still not posted. At 15 minutes, it's still not posted. At 0 when we are all supposed to be on the plane, it's not posted and there is no plane in sight. Great! Thankfully, at -5 minutes a plane rolls in and everyone quickly lines up to go. We board and manage to take off almost on time. It's a miracle!
As we were descending into Spain, I realized I did not know how to find Libby. I had given her my flight info and she had sent me her school's address. But I didn't know if she was picking me up, where to find her in the airport, what her cell phone number was, where her senora's house was, where to catch a bus or taxi, or any other important information. Brilliant, right? Yeah... well, I walked through the baggage claim and looked for customs- there wasn't one. So I walked through the gate... And there she was! I don't know how that worked out so perfectly. But it did! Best reunion hug ever! And so our adventure in Spain was about to begin.