Lost in translation

After an efficient and helpful flight to Barcelona, I leave the airconditioned luxury of Terminal 1 and catch a bus with my luggage in tow to Terminal 2 - and the change from long stretch international to cheap (and not very cheerful) domestic/EU is immediate.

Firstly, unbeliveably long lines of people, moving at the pace of zombies to the front of the queue.

Secondly, a mass of white noise as hundreds of conversations in different languages buzz throughout the arena.

And finally, confusion and inefficency - I booked an Iberia flight, only to find those desks are closed and only Vueling marked booths are being serviced; Veuling honours my booking, but when I get to the plane, it´s marked as ClickAir...? When I land in Seville 1.25 hours later I find out that I´ve beaten my luggage there. Yup, it was still in Barcelona! Ridiculous! (At least half of the plane was affected, we were told that we´d get our baggage this morning, but when I called after my language class, they said it was still in Barcelona and they´d now deliver it tomorrow morning! Grrr).

I´ve been lucky enough to have travelled to many places on this fabulous planet thanks to studiously saving my monies and being pretty organised, but this is the first time this kind of stuff-up has ever happened to me. I guess on the whole I´ve been pretty lucky, but having to live in the clothes you spent the last two days flying is pretty yuk. Not to mention I have the barest modicum of toiletries (just enough for the flights) and had my small bottle of sunscreen chucked in the bin at the security screening in Barcelona as it was over the liquid limit - bloody hell.

I resolved to buck up though, and headed over to my homestay in Seville. I was delighted to find a charming multistorey terraced home, filled with colour and art, graced by a friendly dog and his amiable owner; a little old lady who spoke very little English, but was nonetheless very welcoming and a great cook.

There is also another girl living at Redes 37 who is taking the homestay option - Rafaella, a German student who has already been here for a week, but is not really enjoying her classes and seems to be fast running out of money; but she´s sweet and offers to lend me a few clothes when I explain that my equipage (luggage) is tarde (late). We walked to classes this morning together so I tried to pay attention to all the landmarks so I could find my way back later.

I´m not sure about my language classes, may write more about them later, but I love my flamenco class despite the workout leaving me hot (no fans!), sweaty and without a change of clothes! Sigh...

Fingers crossed that my luggage gets here soon!