Crack of Dawn

After an INCREDIBLE visit, Tuesday morning came much too early. We “aprovechar”ed (took advantage of) every minute we’d had, so it was a successful trip. Probably due to the aprovecharing (this is some serious Spanglish- blame it on Tania), we hated life at 4:40 when the alarm went off.
I had called my taxi man Fran while we were at Wings on Monday night, so he was all set to pick us up at 5:30, take us to the airport and take me back home. He was early, as usual, which adds to his charm as a taxi driver. He is ridiculously hard to understand at any hour, but 5:30 is an especially difficult time to try to comprehend a mumbler.
We got to the airport without any issues and checked Ashley in. She had to pay for her (my) second bag (I paid; don’t worry). That was frustrating since you get to come down with two. I guess I just got away with it at Christmas. It’s only fair that I had to pay at least once (and I’m sure I’ll have to when I go back for good).
We had a few minutes, so I walked her up to the gate.
It’s a good feeling being the one staying where you are. I mean, it was hard for me to leave both times. When I left in August, I was super tired, had been super stressed trying to get all the last minute (and not so last minute) things in order to be away from my life for a year, and I cried for a good bit of time. I got all nervous and worried on my flights and that added to the need to cry. At Christmas, I was afraid the honeymoon would be over with my friends (What was I thinking?! It had just begun!), but I only teared up as I was dropped off and was good to go by the time I got to security (and they took my toothpaste- anger helps relieve crying any day).
Taking Ashley to the airport, even though I was easily just as tired as I had been in August, was so much easier than being the one to leave. I would be going back to “my regular life” with no surprises. I’m so happy here and have great friends that proved themselves to another great friend (having your two worlds collide is a strange event, but I think it worked flawlessly). I wasn’t even sad to see her go. That’s not true. I was sad, but I guess I was more prepared for this. I knew she’d be leaving, and I also knew she’d be coming back (to Mexico City) to travel with me in April. It’s a strange feeling to be a cry-baby and not be crying.