I woke up at 3:00 AM, completely disoriented at first, and I barely managed to drag myself out of bed without understanding what was happening and quickly in realised I need to catch a flight to Tenerife . However, a quick shower helped me wake up a bit. Subsequently, I dragged my suitcase and all my belongings out into the hallway to pack everything. I really did not want to wake the others in the room, though only one American roommate was sleeping while the two British guys were still out wandering the town.
I had some pretty funny interactions with that girl from the USA. I was quite confused by her because she could not understand a single word I said, despite claiming to be American. Moreover, I noticed she could read and write Chinese, and her English accent was incredibly thick. Eventually, I realized that she was just an international student who had been living in the US for a while, rather than a native citizen. Nevertheless, it felt bizarre to hear her confidently say “back home in America” when she struggled with basic English words. In addition, I had to explain exactly where Lithuania was, which led to her pronouncing it as “Litvana”—sounding hilariously close to the band Nirvana. She also mentioned that she met someone from my country once in London.
Once everything was packed, I rushed off to the airport. First, I checked out of the Mad Hostel, a place where the intense heat could truly drive anyone crazy. By pure chance, I discovered the night before that the receptionist spoke Russian, and during checkout, I learned he was an immigrant from Ukraine. I was told by him that he absolutely loved living in Spain, and he seemed genuinely happy to chat in Russian, probably because very few people speak it there.
I made my way toward the bus stop through streets that were absolutely packed with people. I was running a bit late, as I planned to leave at 3:30 AM but did not actually step out until 3:35 AM. While walking, I quickly realized I needed to speed up significantly if I wanted to catch the 4:00 AM bus. Since the schedule at the stop indicated a 40-minute journey to the airport, I practically started sprinting. My suitcase rattled so violently against the pavement tiles that it felt like it might burst open at any moment. Furthermore, the sidewalks were so crowded that maneuvering was difficult, and the road was too full of taxis to even step off the curb. I tried taking a shortcut, but it only made the route longer, and I feared getting lost. Thus, I just kept running. With 10 minutes left, the town hall finally came into view, offering a much wider sidewalk. At 3:56 AM, I reached the traffic light only to see a bus pulling away, which made me curse out loud. Luckily, another airport bus was parked right behind it. I asked the driver, “Viaje de Aeropuerto?”, and he replied, “Si, Aeropuerto.”
I felt an immense wave of relief. I handed him six euros, but he said something in Spanish and firmly pushed two euros back into my hand. I was still half-asleep and could barely comprehend what was happening, so I just took my seat as the bus departed. During the ride, a woman asked me a question in Spanish, and I managed to reply, “Aeropuerto Terminal uno. I think.” She gave me a warm smile.
Remarkably, we arrived at the airport in just 15 minutes. Consequently, I cursed again, realising I had woken up incredibly early for no reason. The terminal was completely overflowing with people, and many travellers were spotted sleeping right on the floor while waiting for their flights. Huge lines had formed at the check-in counters, but luckily, domestic and international flights were separated. The international Ryanair line looked like a massive one-hour wait, but my specific line only took about 20 minutes, so perhaps arriving early was a blessing after all.
When going through security, I had to take off my shoes. Plastic foot coverings were provided so that my socks wouldn’t get dirty, which made me smile since back home in Lithuania, nobody cares if your socks get dirty on the floor. However, the strangest part was the layout. The area where you grab the plastic bins was located surprisingly far from the actual conveyor belt, meaning I had to awkwardly carry three separate bins and my backpack across the floor myself. My laptop had to go in its own bin, of course. It is no wonder photography is banned in that zone, as the entire setup looked entirely ridiculous. The same chaotic process happened on the other side of the scanner, where I had to carry everything away to pack it back up. I carefully guarded my passport and tickets during the scramble to ensure nothing was lost.
Finally, I made the long walk to my gate, arriving at 4:15 AM. I sat down to listen to some music, and boarding began shortly after. Most passengers had lined up way ahead of time, and because I stayed seated for too long, I ended up near the very back of the queue. Since it was a Ryanair flight, the rush was typical, but I managed to secure a row of three empty seats at the very back of the plane. As a result, I stretched out comfortably across all three seats and fell fast asleep for the entire flight and woke up before landing in Tenerife.
