Timelines

A few days ago, Orbitz sent Andreina and me separate emails informing us that our return flight to Denver was going to be delayed by two or so hours, not taking off from Newark until about 7am (previously 5:50am) and not landing in Denver until 9 or so.

I immediately wrote them that, while I understand the airlines reserve the right to change flight times, especially since our flights were booked so early in advance and that their schedules may have been forced to shift, the time delay was unacceptable. They wrote me back basically saying "sorry, SOL."

See, CU Boulder, like many other schools apparently, also has a mandatory freshmen and transfer student orientation. There are several sessions that they offer throughout the summer for the freshmen students lasting three days, but the one for transfers only a single day of lectures and is explicitly only offered on August 15th. The day we're flying back from London.

As soon as the orientation schedule came out, I wrote to the Dean of Admissions for the Engineering College and explained that I would be out of the country until that very day, but that I'd be flying back into Denver early the next morning and asked if there was anything we could arrange to work out this schedule kink. She wrote back that I could attend certain parts of the freshmen orientation over the course of the three days and that, luckily, the last freshmen orientation was scheduled for the 16-18th of August, fitting my timeline in scary perfect fashion.

I have no idea when the first orientation lecture that I must attend will start on the 16th, but every since that flight change has come in, I've become a bit frustrated in the back of my head to think about it. I'm to write to the dean again when I register for classes on the 27th, reminding her of my special situation and getting a confirmation as to which specific classes I have to attend during the orientation. With any luck, I won't need to be at the campus until late morning. With any luck, I'll be able to get to Boulder in a hurry from the airport -- it seems to be about 40 minutes by tollroad with no traffic. This does mean that, if I have to be there that morning, if I have to book it straight to Boulder upon landing in Denver, that any tearful reunions will have to be put off until the afternoon...and that I'm going to need a driver willing to get me there ASAP!

In the meantime, I'm keeping up my petitions to the airlines that they rebook Andreina and me on earlier flights, if possible. For one thing, we leave from Boston to Newark the night before at 8pm, and the idea of spending another two hours in the airport is extremely disagreeable. For another, I know Andreina will be just as anxious as myself to get home as quickly as possible. With any luck, sometime in the next month our flights will be rebooked onto the same departure time, if not earlier.

It's just something I'm thinking about and needed to vent on. I was texting Jessica about it, but wanted to out the whole things into words for my own satisfaction.

Madrid was very nice today. The temperature was cool throughout the day and only started getting unbearable warm towards evening. I got to walk around with a fresh breeze while I explored an ancient Egyptian temple that had been donated to Spain, removed from the African continent brick by brick, and then rebuilt precisely as it originally was here on Madrid soil. Unbelievable. I also explored the Palace Real and more of the tremendously beautiful and awesomely groomed gardens of the city. You can definitely tell all the touches of royalty here, from the precisely-kept hedges to the decorative street signs. It's so fancy!

I got to text Lucas a bit, too, and missed him. Everyone here in Madrid seems to be walking hand-in-hand with their loved one, spontaneously breaking out into a make out session on the subway, romantically lounging about the gorgeous grasses of these great gardens... It sort of sucks to see them all so happy and in love. I want to magically transport him here for a few minutes, enjoy the view, and then hold my head up to the city as if to say "See, there, I am not void in this romance department, I too can become ridiculously passionate on these graceful streets."