January 3

January 3 is the day in which I was supposed to go back to Berkeley.  It is also the day after the day in which my Mom asked me if I had everything ready and if I had my passport with me (to which I answered "Yes, I do.").  However, it ended up being the day in which I lost my flight because I couldn't find my passport this morning, before leaving to the airport.

At 6 am in the morning, my Dad drove me to the airport so that I could try not to lose my flight. Meanwhile, my Mom "flew" to Azeitão to check if my passport was in our weekend house.  My Dad and I managed to change my flight to Tuesday/Wednesday, the first date available, "only" paying the regular fee to change reservations.  I called Pedro telling him what happened, and he called me back one minute later saying that my passport was in his bedroom, in Azeitão.  I still tried to catch the flight but all the three flights I was going to catch were overbooked and I lost my reservation.

I felt so guilty and ashamed about what happened that I worked like crazy on my research today.  And that's mostly all I'm going to do till I go back to Berkeley on January 9 (and also when I get there).  I already modeled the first frame of my building!

Besides all the bad consequences of losing today's flights, such as not being surrounded by people who are experts on PERFORM 3D, the software I am using to model my building, losing money and losing the opportunity to say goodbye to my dearest friend Luisa and meet her family and boyfriend, there are two good aspects about it.  On the one hand, I learnt the lesson and I will become the most responsible person in the world concerning traveling.  On the other, I will get to spend a few more days in the best country in the world, with my family and close friends.

Sorry Mom and Dad for what happened.

To finish this post, let me tell you a small curiosity:  I did not enter Pedro's bedroom this winter break.  He's always so miles away that he saw my passport in my bedroom in Lisbon and put it in his pocket to take it home, because he thought it was his...  Are we the most distracted couple in the world?  We're working on improving this aspect, we promise!

Sorry Mom and Dad again.  I know I shouldn't make fun of what happened but I couldn't help it!

Happy New Year everyone.

Love,

Marta