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The Meltdown --You knew it was coming--
I was told a day would come when I would have a complete meltdown. But I thought, whatever, I'm great under pressure. On top of that I've got a bottle of valium in my bag in case I'm not so great under pressure...On my trip from Sevilla to Barcelona, things didn't go as planned; there were no seats on the direct train with no connections. So I was booked on a train through Madrid where I had less than 10 minutes to make my next train.I was flustered and tired so I showed my passport at the boarding ramp in Sevilla, got on the train and I was asleep within minutes.An announcement over the intercom woke me up. I couldn't tell the announcement was, but I was afraid that I had slept the whole trip and I had to pull everything together so could make I got to my next connection.So I went through my normal procedure. Checked for my Eurail pass, ok I have the pass.I check for my cash and credit card, cool they are where they are supposed to be.Grab for my passport.No passport.I immediately went into complete (but silent) panic. The last time I had seen the passport was on the boarding dock in Sevilla.Did I drop it?I dumped out my entire purse and went through every scrap of paper, no passport.I look on the floor around my seat, no passport. (Now I've got the attention of everyone on the train around me)I dump my purse one more time and go through that whole process again.Just when I was really about to lose it, the lady in the seat behind me pick it up from the floor where it had slid between the seats (probably when I was dumping my purse all over.)I was so relieved.Then I was so embarrassed.And I realized that everyone in the area had been watching me and they had these horrified expressions on their faces. Even though there was no crisis, I burst into tears and cried all the way from Cuidad Real to the Madrid train station.Now remember I only had 10 minutes to catch connection. I was prepared to sprint across the tracks to get to my next train.What I was not prepared for was the fact that I had to exit the security area, cross the terminal and stand in line to go through security again.I made the train at the last minute.But I was a wreck.I packed the Valium inside my backpack.The backpack it took me 20 minutes to get closed.I tried to calm down by drinking 2 glasses of champagne.I think that made it worse.No matter how many times I told myself "ok, pull it together Daina, PULL IT TOGETHER" Nothing worked.So I spent most of that ride from Madrid to Barcelona crying on and off.That's a 5 hour trip.
By the time I got to Barcelona, my eyes were virtually swollen shut, I was exhausted.I checked into my hotel and slept for 15 hours.I woke up with a whole new outlook.
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