Second Partial Update

So then after I finished downloading the cd’s onto my itunes me and Lenni went upstairs. So then at about 12 I packed my luggage. It took about 10 minutes over all. I just had lenni open the suitcase and then I opened my drawers and just randomly threw stuff into the suitcase. Then after all the clothes I needed were in there I got all the presents and started to try and get them in there. My host parents gave me some things to give my mom and my grandma. So I rapped the two wine bottles in shirts then in jeans. The Bolo Rei (a cake) I placed in all the socks. The other things like the tiles were just placed randomly between clothes. And then I shoved the thing of truffles in my backpack. So then me and Lenni just sat listened to music, and played a game on my computer. At about 1:30 in the morning he left to go home. I said by then just sat in my room on my computer. At 2:30 I went downstairs and called my mom and my dad. Then after, I printed out my ticket. Then I just sat on my computer and waited. At about 3:15 my volunteer showed up and I just pulled my stuff outside and put it in her car. The house was silent. And I just left. So then me and Rita just drove to the airport. Once we got there we walked to the British Airways desk and we checked in my bag. After that we had some coffee. Then she said goodbye and I headed through security. So It was about 4 at that time and I just had to sit there in the lobby for 2 hours. I was the first person there but after about 5 minutes another lady sat down. I started talking to her and I found out she was in the air force and worked in the Azores. So we just talked until they opened the sitting area infront of the gate. Once they did we both walked in and fell asleep on the benches in the waiting room. At about 5:30 they started to board. Once they opened the plane I just got on and got into my seat. I ended up sitting next to a British couple. So the flight was pretty uneventful. Once we landed, at about 8:30, I just headed from our gate to the security. That’s where everything went wrong. So I put all my stuff through the security belt thing and then when it came out I put my passport and boarding pass on the security table so that I could put on my jacket. But once I got my jacket and my scarf on I looked up, and it was gone. So I alerted the security and the looked all over the area. So by that time I’m not freaking out I’m just in that unattached phase that you get in when something bad happens. So I talk to the American Airlines desk and tell them. They tell me to wait there and that some officers from the Heathrow Police will be by to take a report. Once they come over I tell them what happened. They said that because of the reasons I’m going back I should be able to get back in to the states. But if I wasn’t going back for an emergency I would probably have had to sit in the American Embassy in Heathrow for 2 days.  Everyone was being really helpful and nice and the British accents on everyone helps you calm down too haha. So then the American Airline lady calls me over and tells me that one of the American Immigration Agents will meet me in Terminal 3 (I was in Terminal One) and that he would try to get me onto the flight. So then I go down to the place where the terminal buses are and I catch the one to terminal 3. On the ride I figure out that I still have free texting to tmn so I start texting people and I have Lenni text my mom and tell her what happened. So then once I got to terminal 3 I waited for the guy and he came over and introduced himself. He was actually from San Pedro! But he had a Long Island accent from living there. So he talked with the American Airlines desk in that terminal and they got me a new boarding pass. Then he cleared me through without my passport. So then I ran to my gate (I had 5 minutes before they closed the doors.). Once I got there I explained that I didn’t have my passport and they let me through. So I sat down and thank god there was no one in front of me so the chair was up and I could put my feet under without being afraid of kicking their feet J. So I was sitted next to a British family headed to San Diego for vacation. I just spent most of the flight watching movies, I watched Stardust and Daddy Day Camp (the latter was TERRIBLE). I didn’t really sleep on the plane because I was still WAY too wound up with the whole passport thing. So after a really really long flight we finally flew into L.A. it was really strange seeing it again so soon. So I just got off and went and walked to Immigration with everyone else. Once I got up to the desk I had to explain what happened and they brought me to the Secondary screening room. Then I explained again there and showed them my California I.D., thank god I had it or things would have been a lot harder to get through. So then they stamped my paper and I got my luggage and went into the line for Customs. Customs was easy, even though I didn’t bring my passport and I got through fine. I was shocked it was so easy to get through. So as im walking out I see my mom and I go to her and then we walk to the car.

So we walked to the car in the rain and then when we got in she told me to call the AFS lady so that she knew that I got through ok and everything. So then after I left a message we drove to the hospital do go visit grandpa. So we just talked on the way there. When we got there he was asleep so we just sat for a while till he woke up. Since it was later in the day he wasn’t really alert so it kinda freaked me out. So then after we said hi, we said bye and we left and headed home. So once we got home I took my crap upstairs and then went back down stairs and I sat on the couch watching TV. So then at about 7, Rachel got home from work. So after she changed out of her work clothes we got into moms car and we all headed to Pronto’s so I could have some good Mexican food. So I got the El Padrino burrito and some ice tea and we just sat and ate and talked. So after we just went home and we watched TV till about ten when both me and mom went upstairs.  I don’t remember when I woke up, but after I did I went with Bonnie to Costco so I could go get my passport pictures done. After we finished up with that we went to the hospital  to say hi to grandpa. We went but he didn’t wake up the entire time we were there so we just left. Then she dropped me off at Erik’s house. So me and him just hung out and played WII for a while. Then later we decided to walk over to the Starbucks by the school. SO on the way there we decided we would stop off at Symone’s house on the way( I didn’t tell anyone I was coming other than Rachel). So when we walked up her sister was just driving up and she said, “Wait aren’t you supposed to be In Europe or something, OH you are going to surprise her? THAT’S SO SWEET!” So we knocked on the door and Symone yelled “Make me get up for you! Did you forget your key again?” (I guess she thought we were her sister.)So I just said “well you better get up to come say hi to me,” and she just screamed. So then we hung ou tin her room for a while and then we walked up to the Starbucks and I got my first Starbucks since being back. It was really really good. So then after that me and Erik walked back to his house.  So then his mom drove me home. And then HE drove back to his house. Yes, that’s right, Erik can DRIVE. So then the next day I don’t really remember anything except that mom called and said I need to go to the hospital with Bonnie to go say hi to Grandpa. So we drove over there and then we sat and talked with him and I showed him some of my pictures from Portugal. I think he enjoyed that, even if they were mainly just pictures of the million churches in Evora. So then at like… um 1 I think the Radiology Guy, John, came in and got grandpa so we left. Bonnie took me to Panda Express for lunch because I was saying that I was craving it earlier. So I called Rachel, asked her what she wanted then we got to the place and we ordered. I got double orange chicken and half chow-mien and half fried rice, and a chicken egg roll. Amazing. So then we went home and ate. So then the rest of the time I don’t really remember what we did or what not, Well other than what we ate (don’t remember the days we ate it but just that we did) and then of course the important days like Christmas and stuff. So one day Bonnie, Mom, and I went to the Macaroni Grill and had dinner. It was amazing. I miss American food so much, its not that Portugal doesn’t have good food its just that after a while all their “unique dishes” start to taste the same. They all have the same base meals: Some meat (usually beef or fish, and sometimes a sausage that the call corizo)pasta or rice or potatoes (or sometimes 2 of those), salad or tomatoes with olive oil, abobora soup (pumpkin) or, in the summer kale soup, and then fruit for desert. It just all tastes the same after a while. I miss the way that at American meals one day we can have like Mexican food, and then the next meal have Chinese, something with just a totally different taste.  Anyways, so at the restaurant I got this dish with like a sample of the three most popular dishes which were: Chicken Parmagian( how do you spell that?), Lasagna, and then something else I don’t remember, but they were all amazing. So three days before Christmas,  Brittany, Brittany’s boyfriend, and his best friend spent the night and then the next day (the 23^rd) they went to Disneyland with Brittany. That night they spent the night.  Then on Christmas Eve Victoria and I went to the P.V. mall and we went and saw, “I am Legend.” I thought it was good but Victoria HATED it. So then after we met up with her mom in the Borders under the movie theater and after she got some books we headed back home. For Christmas Victoria and her mom made me a big plate of cookies (they were really good). I would have bought books at Borders but I had already bought 4 books at Barnes & Nobels the day before.  Then at about 6 Grandpa came home on hospice and we put him on the medical bed in the Dining Room.So then that night nothing overly interesting happened other than Nana, Rachel, and I found the NORAD Santa tracker and started laughing hysterically because Santa was like flying around like he was on crack, he went from being in Detroit to Vermont, then to Georgia then to Rhode Island. It was hilarious. So we decided that we would wake up at 8 to do presents, because Rachel had to start to get ready for work at 9:30 (yes she WORKED on Christmas morning, she finished at 2 though). So we went down stairs and started exchanging presents, I got a lot of candy (Nerds, Ghiradelle, Fruit by the Foot, Altoids, Tic-Tacs) and I was happy with that, then I got Itunes cards from, almost, EVERYONE (Rachel{friend}, Mom, Nana, Erik, Sheri) In the end of the break there I think I had about $160 in Itunes cards. Bonnie got me Ratatui(yah I know I spelled it wrong, I just know that way because that’s how they put it in Portuguese) and Harry Potter #4. So then I gave out my presents, To mom I gave a bottle of Port and some bon-bons (from my hostparents) and then a shirt from Hard Rock Café; To Rachel I gave a shirt, some stickers, and a poster from the NOFX concert in Carcavelos; to nana I gave a Mariza (a fado singer) CD its very good; to Bonnie I gave a Lisboa Guitar Pin from Hard Rock Café; and to grandpa I gave a Lisbon Calendar. So then after that we just had our normal cinnamon rolls. The rest of the day was random cooking. At about 2 I started to make my brushetta. Then we had our Christmas dinner and it was amazing. Did I mention I love food in America? Haha I think I gained 4 pounds when I was home. So then Christmas night nothing overly exciting happened. The next day Cheri picked me up at 1 and drove me over to her house in Manhattan Beach. Then Mike, Matt, and I headed to Best Buy to go waste our Christmas money J.I ended up getting computer games (what a shock) and a $15 Itunes card(an even bigger shock :p)  with my money. Then at about 5 Cheri drove me home.  At around 6 Rachel showed up. I said hi to her parents and they welcomed me back. Then they left to go to their hotel (they were staying in Pedro for the night so that Rachel could spend the night and then see me off at the airport in the morning.) So after me and Rachel ate dinner with my family we headed to Starbucks and we grabbed some coffee then walked to Coldstone and Rachel got some icecream. Then we just went back home and hung out. At 9 I started to repack. I finished at 10:30. Then we took all my stuff downstairs and we went to sleep. At 5 we woke up and I went to go take a shower. Then we left the house at 6:15 a.m. and headed to Denny’s . When we got there there I called my host parents house to wish MatilDUH happy birthday, but they didn’t answer. Then I called the Dane, Katrina to wish her happy birthday. Then I called ally to let her know I was heading back. So I got the American Slam and then we left at about 6:45 and headed to Long Beach Airport. On the way there I found out about Bhutto’s assassination. I checked in as soon as I got there and then said goodbye to Rachel and mom. Then I headed through security. My plane left at about 8 I think. I was actually sitting next to a Pakistani Couple who were heading home, so I explained what happened because they didn’t know. And they actually decided to get on a plane in Boston and head back to California and wait out the riots. So I landed in Boston at 4:25 local time and got of the plane and got a Starbucks. Then I headed to go check in my luggage so I could go spend my 6 hour layover in the city. So the stupid people who desighned the airport decided not to connect the domestic terminal and the international so I had to WALK in the snowy slush, dragging along my 44lb bag for five minutes so I could get to my terminal. Then when I got there I found out that the SATA desk didn’t open till 7 or 8 so unless I wanted to drag around my luggage with me in Boston I would have to stay at the airport. So I just sat and waited for the desk to open. So I ended up spending an hour talking on a payphone to mom and Symone. Then I sat down again and ended up talking to the lady next to me. It turns out we were both heading on the same plane to the Azores. She was a New England Native but owned a house on one of the Islands. We ended up talking the rest of the time, then her husband came and starting asking me questions about the program and stuff ( I guess he went for a year in college to Coimbra to study). They were really nice. At about 7:45 they opened the desk and I checked in my luggage and then went through security. Then I went and got a slice of pizza at Sabarro (again AMAZING) and ANOTHER white mocha at Starbucks it was my 6^th that day (5^th just in that airport.) Then I just read my book that I started on the first plane from Long Beach. Then we boarded the plane, and to my luck the person who had the seat next to me didn’t show up so I got to spread out and sleep. So I just turned on Jack Johnson and read for a while. About 3 hours into the flight I tried to sleep (didn’t work), and I didn’t actually go to sleep till the last 20 minutes of the flight. When we landed 7 a.m. local time we had to walk from our plane to the customs place. I showed them my passport and walked straight through. So I had 8 hours there and I just got a taxi and had them drive me straight to Ponta Delgada (the biggest city in the Azores). But the fact that it was the biggest didn’t mean much. I was done walking around the entire city in 2 hours. So I just decided I would rather sit in the warm airport that in the rainy city center so I went and bought some ice tea at the grocery store and then got another taxi back to the airport. It was 6 euros. So then I just sat down at a table and slept.  An hour and a half before my flight I checked in and then went to the waiting area and went to sleep again. Then I boarded the plane and ened up sitting next to a little kid, which wasn’t that bad because since his feet barely made it to the end of the seat I got more leg room J.  Then we landed in Lisboa after a 2 hour flight. It was 6 when we landed. I didn’t have to go through immigration because I had already done it in the Azores so I went straight to get my bags. Normally it would have been really easy but the brilliant minds at the airport decided to book THREE different flights on the same baggage claim. There was a flight from L.A., Paris, and then us from Ponta Delgada. So I ended up not getting out of the Baggage claim at 7. So then I met up with my host dad and we got into the car and headed back to the house.