Let's just say that the past 24 hours have been one of those humbling, come-to-Jesus days.
Back-track, background information:
Wednesday, March 28, 2012:
I have a paper due on Thursday at 11AM. True to old-fashioned, very-typical Sarah ways, I procrastinated a bit on this assignment and began research for it on.. Monday.
I should probably note that the assignment was a 3000 world paper on social media and how it is used in governmental and political situations. I should also note that at MTSU, I receive paper assignments with a page count, not a word count. For whatever reason I just assumed that 3000 was a mere 5-6 page paper.
Boy! Was I wrong... 3000 words is more along the lines of 10-12 pages. Never in my life...
Back to the story. So Wednesday I am in pure journalist mode; I researched and typed the entire day away.
Thursday, March 29, 2012:
The LAST day of work and class before Spring Break!
I wake up slightly stressed because I still have to neaten up my paper a bit and print it off between my 8AM and 10:30AM classes. I quickly get ready, throw my computer in my bag and rush at the door.
Paper turned in, success. All my travel information printed, check.
And here is where everything gets a bit interesting...
for those of my readers who do not know, I live with 3 other girls. We have a blast together and mesh so well, it must have been a divine culmination of people. I know myself to know that I don't get along with just anyone, let alone 3 anyones. However, for Spring break, we all made different travel plans. Charlotte jetted off to the Bahamas with her boyfriend for 3 weeks. Riikka hopped on a plane to Ibiza, Spain on Thursday morning for a week. Annelise is headed to Paris on Friday evening, and then on Wednesday she leaves for Norway for a few days. I am headed to Paris on Saturday morning where I would meet up with Yonseili and Kyle and continue on to London, Edinburgh, and Dublin.
More to the story, the 4 of us girls share 3 keys.. we have had minor slip-ups this semester where one without a key comes home to no one and has to sit patiently in Exki for another roommate to come home.. certainly not the end of the world.
Except this time.
One of our keys is in the Bahamas, and one in Ibiza, leaving one for Annelise and I to share on Friday until we headed off for vacation.
On Wednesday evening I had decided that AnneLise could take the key for the day, because I had work at school to do and plenty of errands to run to keep myself busy all day, and AnneLise had left the key for me because she would be at work all day. Except there was a slight gap in communication.
So, on Thursday afternoon, I text Annelise and tell her to let me know when she arrives home so that I can get it and I get the response... "you are keyless? I have no key. I left it for you." Uh oh.
Well, being the bright individuals we are, we coordinate for a locksmith to come and open the door and concur to split the charge among the 2 of us. So, we sit outside and wait for the locksmith to come and he arrives with a piece of flimsy paper (so THAT'S how they open doors here...hmm). He tries and tries for about 20 minutes then gets angry with us for deceiving him because this door is a high-security door, not a slap-shut door. He says he has another appointment, but he will come back and drill the lock out, replace it, give us 1 key so we would have to get 2 copies made, and charge us an evening service charge for a small fee of 500€.
500EURO!!!
No, no.. that just won't do. We brainstorm.
Landlord? Now, we have enough trouble communicating with him because he old speaks French, and we only speak un petit peu of conversational French. Certainly not enough to explain that we have no key available to us. But, we manage.. only to find out that he has no spare.
Break a Window? No, then we'd have to pay the price for a brand new specialty window and miss out on our vacation because of waiting for someone to order and fix window.
Then, light-bulb.
Riikka can overnight her key to us!
So, we call Riikka, who should be relaxing on the beach. However, she is a bus ride away from the main city center and it is too late in the afternoon. Shipping will have to wait until tomorrow morning, still a weekday, no problem.
Oh, except Spain is having a GENERAL STRIKE this weekend, slowing down every industry. We find out that even priority, overnight, express, quick as you freakin can still won't arrive until Tuesday.
Deep Breathe.
Both of our bladders are close to bursting, so first things first... we ask our only French-speaking neighbor to use her restroom. SUCCESS. Both of us even have a small conversation with her about losing our key and the landlord not having a spare. Yeah, we're basically fluent. (eh..)
So, Annelise and I drag our exhausted and distraught selves to her friend Jean-Remy's house who is gracious enough to host us for the weekend. Between the two of us we have 4 pairs of tights, 2 pairs of socks, a dress, 2 sweaters, a leather jacket, 2 pairs of underwear, a toothbrush, deodorant, a laptop with charger, an iPhone and charger, and all of my travel information for 2 weeks.
Impressive, no?
The only thing we lack is Annelise's phone charger and both of our passports. Oh.. and enough clothes for a week or two.
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| sometimes all you can do is laugh |
We make drinks, Jean-Remy makes dinner, and we watch a movie. Despite the circumstances, we had a splendid night together making hilarious memories.
Friday morning:
I wake up and go shopping: 1 dress, 1 sweater, 2 pairs of underwear, and a few toiletries later and I am set to go to Paris for the weekend, return to Brussels on Monday and Tuesday and catch up with my friends in London on Wednesday to enjoy the rest of my Spring break.
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| making the best of the day stranded in brussels |
EDIT: Annelise would also like to update the world on her Friday as well...
"Oh, and fun fact: Today, TODAY of all possible days, today when I am feeling fresh as our yellow kitchen cloth wearing the same outfit for the third day in a row, TODAY is the day we are going to take photos of the editorial team for Internal Voices, the UN interns' magazine which is to be distributed to all UN offices world wide. Fan-freakin'tastic."
Such is life of young women, exploring the world on their own. You take the good and the bad, and make the very most of everything!
My grandchildren will love my story of being Stranded in Brussels.
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