THE ONE WITH THE SUITCASE - PART 1

Want to know what happened to me less than an hour after arriving in Sevilla, Spain? Well, I’m going to tell the few people who are actually reading this either way.

After we deplaned, I got my bag from baggage claim and then walked through the airport exit doors.

A couple of people on my study abroad program were on the same flight as me, and since everyone on our program had to meet at the same hotel, we decided that it would be cheaper to take the airport bus than split a taxi. (Looking back, that was not the move, but hindsight is 20/20.)

THE ONE WITH THE SUITCASE - PART 2

So, for those of you who are dying to know how I dealt with my suitcase when it was time to fly home at the end of my summer of a lifetime in Sevilla, I will tell you.

Now, the normal, and probably easier, thing to have done would have just been to toss my one-wheeled suitcase and buy a new one, but did I do that?

THE ONE WITH TWO YOUNGER SISTERS

This past summer, I au paired from June to August in Madrid, Spain. I lived with a host family, which included my host mom and dad and their two daughters, Eva and Ana. Eva is 9 years old, while Ana is 7 years old, but they both enjoy doing arts and crafts (or as the parents first said to me, “handy crafts”), watching TV, playing with their friends, swimming, singing and bugging the crap out of each other.

THE ONE WHERE I FINISHED A UNC ART CLASS IN SPAIN

Last summer, I took a five-week UNC online art class. Not only did I give my all to each project, but most projects had multiple parts. Then, I had to take each one a step further: take multiple shots of each project and edit every photo. The photos were how I had to submit my work.

The last week and a half of the class overlapped with my first week and a half that I was au pairing in Madrid. So, for that week and a half, after my long weekdays of au pairing from 9am-4pm, I was working on art projects in my room.

THE ONE WITH THE CATS

I hope a theme that you’re starting to get from my blog is that while traveling isn’t always easy or perfect, it’s worth it.

This past summer, my friend, who goes to my college and who was also au pairing in Madrid, and I flew to Ibiza, Spain one weekend. We booked an Airbnb to stay in (which is usually the move when you’re trying to find an affordable place to stay).

I’ve stayed in a handful of Airbnbs, but this experience was a first: we had a private room in a woman’s apartment, while she was staying there. I had never had to interact with an Airbnb host before. While this lady was sweet as could be, she had not one, but two cats.

Every cat-lover always gasps and gets defensive when I say that I don’t like cats, but I have two valid reasons: