Hour of need, or just another gormless ‘me’ moment?

Sadly, my time at home for the Christmas break had come to an end. My flight was at 7:15 pm. After the long 3-month term, I had no idea just how homesick I had been and how much I’d missed home. I guess the whole moving overseas and starting a new job had kept me busy and my mind occupied. Moving abroad has been a bit tricky to adjust to, but I’d say a good experience so far. I’m settling into the routines of a new and different school. Management told me, before the holidays, that they were happy with my teaching and that the children and parents were happy. But, I guess going back home after these past few months has made me appreciate family and home more.

So, after completing my first term of teaching and living abroad, it was time to go back and commence term 2! I’d had a great holiday catching up with family, including meeting a new member of the family who was born two days after I left for Spain. With jokes and family banter as always, it was time to pack my bag once more. Passport and boarding pass ready, it was the moment I was dreading. Why can’t these holidays be just a little longer? They always seem to go so fast!    

We arrive at the airport with plenty of time to spare. So I know I have lots of time yet to get a coffee and go to the loo once I have dropped my bag and gone through security.

We get to the departure lounge and I say my goodbyes to mum and dad. I feel emotional but manage to hide it. I start walking towards the security gates promising that I’ll text to say all is well and I’m through security and then again once my plane has landed later. Then give them a call once I’ve gotten back to my apartment. My mum likes to be kept well-informed!

My flight flashes up on the board to inform everyone that it is now boarding. I begin to make my way to the gate. I can feel myself welling up. There are tears in the corners of my eyes. I just feel like I’m going to burst into tears at the thought of not coming back again for another 3 or 4 months. I wish my flight could have been delayed so that I could have stayed just a little longer. But, I know I’m being silly. If anything those three months will soon go by! It’s going to be another busy term which will help to keep me occupied, and there are all the little trips and sightseeing to look forward to in between! So I suck it up and make my way to the gate.

The flight and train journey back to the city go pretty straightforward and I arrive back at my apartment late in the evening as expected. Even though the journey went ok, I’m tired and fed up. My hair is all matted and fuzzy from travelling and all I want to do is fall into bed and leave the packing and my fuzzy hair until tomorrow. I’d come back a bit early so that I had a couple of days to organise myself and just chill before the start of the new term, so plenty of time to sort my fuzzy hair!

I get to the apartment building. Go up the lift and finally arrive at the door. All I want to do is throw my bag down, put the heating on, curl up under the duvet and watch Corrie.

There are two locks on the door. A latch that goes across the top and a main lock at the bottom. Usually, we only use the main lock at the bottom, but before Christmas, the elderly lady from across us was broken into. One of my housemates had also heard of another neighbour a few floors down who had had something stolen as well, so we were just being cautious by using both locks. I don’t know my elderly neighbour that well. But, I did feel quite sad and angry when I heard what had happened to her. And although we are barely able to communicate, we always say ‘Hola.’ She always gives me a little grin and points her finger at me as she says something in Spanish and finishes her sentence with ‘espanola!’ Basically, telling me to hurry up and learn Spanish so that we can actually have a conversation! I can only imagine that we’d have quite the chinwag! She comes across as quite a quirky character in her brown fur coat and clickety black shoes with matching handbag.

So, because of this recent unfortunate spate of break-ins, we had been using both locks to secure the apartment. On my return, standing there at the door, I remember that I need to use both keys. I unlock the main lock at the bottom and proceed to unlock the one at the top. I turn it twice, hear it move across the door and then proceed to take the key out. Only, the key doesn’t come out, nor does the door open. My heart sinks as I feel the panic start to set in. I say to myself, ‘Please don’t do this now! I just want to put the heating on I’m stone cold!’ I try again and still the same thing. The only way I can get the key out is by locking the latch at the top again. I try ringing the doorbell with the hope that one of my housemates might be in, as the latch can be locked and unlocked from the inside also. But, I know one is out of the city still visiting her family over the Christmas break, and the other is out with friends somewhere in the city this evening. With that and realising that the door isn’t going to unlock, I start scrambling around in my bag for my phone. I’ll have to call my housemate to see where she is, or when she will be back. I feel terrible as she’s on a night out but I’m not sure what else I can do!

I call her and she is surprised by my call. It is a bit random to be fair! It is a tricky conversation with the language barrier with my broken Spanish and her broken English. Me in a panic and her a little tipsy. Plus, all the noise in the background as she is in a bar somewhere in the city. I try to explain that I am back from England and somehow locked out. At first, she is confused and asks why I am phoning her from England. I try to explain again that I am back from England. That I flew to Spain today and now I can’t get into the apartment. Then she says something really fast in Spanish and all I manage to get is ‘Colegio.’ I think, why is she asking me about school? She then goes on to ask me if I have left the keys in school over the holidays. I say ‘No.’ I am still trying to explain that I am outside the apartment and can’t get in. I’m in such a panic I don’t think about using Google Translate, or anything that could possibly help us right at this moment. I just say to her, ‘I can’t get in and you two aren’t here. What do I do?’ I have friends, as well as colleagues, who would let me sleep on their sofas, but most are still out of the city for the holidays and it’s really late now!

I ask her if she is close by, or will be home soon. To which she replies, ‘No.’ At this point, I completely melt down. A bit overly dramatic I know! And really not like me. I think with all the sad goodbyes earlier in the day and travelling back, it all just got on top of me! I just end up crying down the phone! ‘What do I do, you two are not here and I am stuck outside!’ To which she replies, ‘I be there in few minutes.’ Turns out she was with a group of friends in a bar just a few streets away. She arrives back at the apartment. I am thankful, as well as stone cold and feeling quite foolish as I begin to calm down! She puts the key in the lock, turns it twice as I did and then gives the key a little jiggle before pulling it clean out of the lock! Then, with that, the door opens! As we never use it, it had just become stiff and needed oiling. Thankfully, my housemate wasn’t too annoyed with me! She said good night and made her way back to her friends. Probably to tell the tale of her gormless housemate! Needless to say, I didn’t live it down for a while with either of my housemates, and I certainly owed her one!