problems at home

Things with our senora have been a little tense lately.... let me start from the beginning, hopefully it'll make sense:

About a week or so ago, Elisabeth started asking us about our plans for the upcoming fall break from Oct 12-22. I told her that my parents get here Saturday, we will be in Paris from Sunday-Friday morning, and then back in Barcelona until they leave Sunday morning. Megan's parents arrive Saturday morning, they'll be in Switzerland from Monday-Thurs, I think, and then her parents leave on Friday morning... or something like that. And Carolyn doesn't have any plans, and tells Elisabeth that she'll be here during the break.

Skip ahead a few days to last night... at dinner Elisabeth tells us that she's going out of town next Tuesday-Saturday, and she's deadbolting the door locked with a key that we don't have, since none of us will be around (I guess she forgot about Carolyn??), and says that she'll be home Saturday morning for us to be able to get back in. Meanwhile, Megan is really concerned because her parents leave on Friday morning, and therefore she won't have a place to stay Friday night. Elisabeth tells her that MAYBE she can stay with a friend of hers who also has IES girls at her house... but talk about awkward. Carolyn wasn't even home for dinner so she didn't even know about any of this until we told her later that night...

This morning Carolyn goes to talk to Elisabeth, because she has no idea where she's going to stay for the WHOLE week. Elisabeth tells Carolyn that IES (our program) says that we're "not allowed" to be in the house during Fall Break... that we HAVE to leave, and that's why she's able to go out of town. WHAT?!?! So Carolyn calls us all confused, and decides to go up to IES to talk to them. When she gets there, they ask who our senora is, and they know IMMEDIATELY who she is and where we live, etc. (is this a bad sign?) Anyways, Carolyn asks them about being "required to leave" and they say "absolutely not. in fact, if she's going to be out of town then she needs to cook food for you and leave it in the freezer. she knows this. this is not a new policy." They told her that they'd call Elisabeth and clear it up.

Later this afternoon, I get 3 calls from Elisabeth on my cell while I'm in class and she eventually leaves a message saying "Kristen, please call me back AS SOON as you get this. I really need to talk to you." I called her back and this is what she tells me: "I just got a call from Irene, your RA, who JUST heard from IES that there is a new policy about fall break. You guys will be allowed to stay in the house over Fall Break, so I will have to cancel my vacation." Now I'm just really confused. For one, why did Elisabeth tell us that we were required to leave? And secondly, why is she now telling us that there is a NEW policy, when it's clearly not new? And now we all just feel bad that's she's cancelling the vacation. NOTE: I have no idea why she's calling me, and not the other girls, when I'm the only one who doesn't even have a problem with her leaving. I'm staying with my parents in the hotel until Sunday anyway. She ALWAYS calls me instead of the other two girls for some reason, and I don't get it.

None of this makes any sense! Since that phone call this afternoon, things have just felt a bit tense around here. Dinner was really awkward... she hardly spoke to us and she got up to go call her son as soon as she finished and Megan and I were still eating. I feel really bad, but honestly, this isn't our fault. If it was actually true that we weren't allowed to be here then we could have planned for it, but when she makes up this policy, schedules a vacation, and then makes us feel bad about her having to cancel it, that's just not okay.

WHAT IS GOING ON?!