I'm alive and I'm free, who wouldn't wanna be me?

Katie and I (and the gang) and the "trouble" we cause!


Hey DUDES!

Well, in keeping with my new years resoulution, I'm updating this thing.

As you know, my friend Katie got here on the 5th. Now Katie and I have been best friends since something like the 7th grade. Imagine, your best bud in the world for years and years and suddenly God plops you in not just the same country, but the same city and school?!?! (and we didn't plan it either! honest) The combo has already been unforgettable.

It started about 10 am when I got to the airport to pick up Katie. She has given me the wrong flight number so I couldn't tell if her flight has landed or whatnot. After almost 2 hours I was sure something was wrong so I called her parents to say that her number was wrong and she wasn't there. Good thing I feel comfortable calling their household at 5am US time because we soon figured out her flight was cancelled from Italy. There was no way to figure out what flight she would be on, etc. so I had to wait it out at the airport calling every major airline, etc but to no avail. After a total of nearly 8 hours, I got a call from Katie saying she was in terminal 4 in Madrid....when I finally got there she was nearly in tears (she'd been up 24 hours and paid $100 for her new flight) but it was sooooo good to see her! As I have had a killer high fever the past couple days, we were both pretty out of it but did manage to pull an "us" when the bed we were sitting on came crashing to the floor while we were chatting. We sat there laughing and crying as that was pretty much the way the day had gone for both of us!

She's been at orientation this week but I did bump into her in the hall at school today. Ok, doesn't sound that cool considering we were "locker buddies" in Brookfield but PEOPLE, we're talking about bumping into each other in the 100,000 student Universidad de Complutense de Madrid in SPAIN.......that's pretty amazing! Anyways, it's back to classes today and it was good to see all my other American friends and catch up with them. BUT I do miss my friends back home. I got a package from one of my "real" American friends today who sent me a Christmas box with my favorites: Chex Mix, Andes Candies, and even better a green football t-shirt with my number, 45, on it. Talk about putting a big smile on my face....the same friend who sent me a package in Africa last year so with postage as it is, it was so sweet! Makes me really miss my friends back home!


Hope your 2008 is off to a great start...much love!