Hitting a few bumps in the road

It has been a crazy few days. I write today to tell my story of a few bumps in the road. It began when I decided to get rid of all my Euros. After all, I didn’t want to keep the currency on me. So, I paid the hotel bill and reserved 15 euros for the taxi, which typically cost 12 Euros. I hopped into the taxi, and somehow, my total came out to 16 Euros. No problem, right?

I went to the ATM, and my card didn’t work! What was I to do? I actually just ended up paying the taxi driver off in U.S. dollars, which was a relief. Aside from getting off at the wrong terminal at the airport, the major bump in the road was when I ended up at the desk attendant, and they said that my reservation was cancelled. I asked them what to do, and they sent me to ticket sales. Ticket sales sent me to call British Airways, but as luck would have it, they don’t have any phone assistance on weekends. So, I proceeded to go through orbitz, who said I was confirmed for everything. I thought they would take care of everything, but they didn’t. I was instead left out in the cold with the experience of having no options, as everyone I went to said they could not do anything for me. It was the most frustrating experience as neither British Airways or Virgin Atlantic had people working there who could just give me the ticket or take the initiative to call for me. Everywhere outside Madrid said I was confirmed, but within Madrid, they wouldn’t give me the ticket out.

Luckily for me, after paying nearly $100 in phone calls to get everything settled, I had a family to turn to. They assured that they would try to work everything out on their side. And they did. So, now 24 hours later, I am on my way.

To make light of it though, I ran into other students in the same situation, with mine being by far the worst, but I ended up staying in a hostal, which is a cross between a hotel and a hostel. It was great to just chill and see a bit of Madrid.

I guess the takeaway from this experience is that something eventually does always come out of everything. I learned that family is amazing. I learned that I should not use e-tickets when flying internationally. I learned that if there’s a will, there’s a way. I have faith that I’ll make it through, and I look forward to everything ahead.