Jet lag, unforgettable taxi rides, and the loss of Emma

It has been a really long week! A week ago today I left the United States for Sweden. It was a rough adjustment to the time there because it is almost never light out, yes mom and dad, I will attest to that for you.  Friday morning mom and I headed out in a taxi to get our flight out of Stockholm.  Dad wasn't able to come because he got sick, but I'm glad that he had time to get better :) The trip that followed was something like this: throwing up in the taxi, flight delayed, tight connection to next flight, made it to Madrid, and suitcases no where to be found. Made it to a nice hotel in Madrid and mom and I walked around el Puerto de Sol, which is apparently the center of Spain, and also saw a grand palace. Very luckily my bags got there that night and we got some sleep.  The next day ensued with lugging two suitcases through the center of Spain, train, devour sandwich, high speed train, taxi, then we arrived at the hotel in Segovia! We got to walk around Segovia and see my school, the plaza mayor, the aqueduct, and where I would be living.  We then met Gladys for dinner and followed up with drinks and tapas at the Juan Bravo(?) bar.  A night of much stressing and little sleeping was to follow.  The next morning we woke up and walked to Alcazar and then quickly retreated back to get warm tea.  It was snowing so much by the time we left, bags in hand, to meet my group and host mom.  Fifteen minutes after arriving at the designated meeting spot, we were worried we had missed the group because we didn't see anyone.  Stress. Stress. Stress. Lots of snow. Cold. Wet everything. We then found the host mom's together under the awning of Burger King and that is when we met Puri. She had mom over for lunch which was wonderful.  Mom helped me unpack and then headed out with a tearful goodbye and a hug from Puri with a reassurance that I would be well taken care of.  I got some time to relax and was extremely tired and after a while, starving! Eventually Puri and I had cena a las diez, much later than I am used to. Puri is an amazing cook and is so accommodating to my likes and dietary needs.  It was after dinner that I got the call that Emma was going to be put down and that I should write a goodbye.  I sat on the bed sobbing as I tried to form words that could express to Emma how much love I had for her.  I didn't sleep much.  I woke up early to read a text from Kristin, "Emma went in peace, in my arms." I disregarded my shower time in order to pour over photos of Emma on my computer and Facebook. I then got ready quickly, ate breakfast, and met my group. To my surprise, I started crying again the second I saw a familiar face and it took me some time to pull myself together. This group is full of caring people, and I was checked on throughout the day. We then proceeded to have a full and overwhelming (at times) day where my mind didn't have a chance to think about Emma.  We met our profs, toured the school, and learned the rich history of our school (it was a church, then convent, then jail, then orphanage, then nursing home, and now a university).  We then also saw the city and bought all of the stuff that we didn't have including school books. I went on an adventure to a store next to my apartment where I successfully purchased a princess notebook and colorful pens :) With much time to kill before dinner, several of us went to a coffee shop (la colonial) where I strugglebussed to order Earl Grey tea (lots of pointing, a la izquierda, un poco mas, no, no, SI!).  The group, including Gladys, then went to a bar called el Oso Blanco before going home for dinner.   Despite being in a constant state of hunger (because the meals are so far apart) I am pretty positive I am going to leave here fat. Tonight for instance we had Spanish tortilla and I wasn't even finished with one piece when Puri said "more?" and I was like ok a little bit..... HALF the tortilla later (quiche sized) I was given a break from being unwillingly served more. Very delicious though, so I can't complain! Tonight, I sleep (ojala) :)