Since check out at 1pm, I have been running around like crazy trying to figure out what’s going on in my life. It was much more difficult to find people than I had originally planned, but I got to see the majority of people that I had really wanted to. A few of my friends gave me forget-me-nots, as if I would need something to not forget them. But I will cherish their farewell gifts very close to my heart, and every time I look at them, my friends will always be remembered.
I trudged over to campus one last time to hand in my books and go last minute shopping. And then James and I cooked our last meal in Lithuania: dumplings. It was only fitting as dumplings were one of the first things that I learned to cook. After dinner I rushed back to Karklu to reorganize everything, and then Mike, Steph Shelly, Steph Mings, Melissa (Shelly’s roommate), Mārtiņš and I rolled all our huge suitcases down to the bus station, which is about a 15 minute walk in normal conditions. It was a workout to say the least, but at least we didn’t have to pay for a taxi.
Calvin and Gabby along with Nastya and Anya (Gabby’s roommates) were already there waiting for the rest of us to arrive. We had a bit of free time before we had to go, and it was a surprisingly wonderfully happy 10 minutes. It was a scary situation trying to fit 5 full suitcases and 3 smaller ones into the bus. Thankfully the bus was not full, so we were able to take up two seats to pile up all our bags. And then to sit through the four hour bus ride to Vilnius, one that Gabby and I slept through while Calvin and Steph chatted away. Getting to the bus station, the four of us looked at each other and laughed in total confusion of where to go. We managed to get through the second door we tried into the bus station, and walked towards a center circle to pick a taxi. I am so thankful to have taken Lithuanian as it was pretty simple for the taxi drivers to understand me, give me a price to get to the airport, and help all of us throw our bags into the trunks.
We arrived safe and sound at the airport around 11:45, and breathed a big sigh of relief at the thought that we only had to wait 6 hours until we could board our plane (well… Calvin and Gabby had about 11 hours). It was a fun time of reminiscing about all our favorite times during the course of the semester, and hearing crazy, completely surreal stories. Though, perhaps the funniest part was Calvin and Gabby staring at the clock, waiting ever so slowly for 5 minutes to pass as every minute felt like an hour.
Dec 18
So this was my second time sleeping in an airport, but it was definitely a different experience. There was no man cleaning the floors when I was trying to sleep, and I actually got to sleep on connected chairs instead of the floor. What an upgrade, huh? With another round of laughs, Steph and I went off to check our bags in hopes that they weren’t overweight. Everything went smoothly, and we even had some extra time to help Gabby weigh her bags just in case. And then it was time… with a sad farewell, but high hopes of seeing each other again (since Steph and Gabby both go to Eastern, and Calvin goes to Messiah [2 hour drive away]) it wasn’t as heartbreaking as all the others I had endured throughout the week.
My flight from Vilnius to Copenhagen was uneventful as I pretty much slept through most of it, waking up just in time for the plane to land. I had plenty of time to get to my next gate and we got boarded on time. Unfortunately, I had the pleasure of sitting on that plane for an hour and a half before finally taking off. Good thing I had an hour and a half after landing in Manchester to catch my next flight back to Philly. Needless to say I was completely mentally freaking out, and the only information that the flight attendants could give me at the time was nothing, because they could not see anything about planes that were not SAS. At the time, my I-pod was playing ‘Believe’ by Yellowcard, which the chorus sings “Everything is gonna be alright (x3). Be strong, believe”. A few minutes later, the flight attendant that I had asked walked over to me and told me that US Airways flying from Manchester to Philadelphia has an hour delay, so I will be good to go. I smiled and took a nice deep breath, and fell asleep for my remaining hour flight.
As promised, my flight was delayed by an hour, and a little bit longer as apparently the day before the plane was having some engine problems. Thank you security lady, that makes me feel tons better. My flight ended up leaving 2 hours later than originally planned, and now I had an 8 hour flight to look forward to. I slept on and off, always managing to wake up just in time for when they were serving our meals. And then to celebrate my 2 remaining hours on this plane, I decided to watch Taken. I will give you one guess at what the lead girl’s name is :). It was a good movie, one that probably would have made me more paranoid about my trip around Europe if I had watched it before going.I got off the plane and rushed to get through security and get my luggage. I wasn’t quite sure where I was suppose to meet my parents, so around every corner I was keeping my eye out to see them. Unfortunately, I kept seeing other people, especially my friends who were still in Lithuania. When my luggage came around, my one bag’s zipper had popped open, but nothing looked to have fallen out. But now, if I had forgotten to get someone’s Christmas gift, I have an awesome excuse for why ;). After getting through customs, all I had left to do was find my parents. I saw my dad’s head peeking out from the crowd and rushed over to hug him over the barrier. At this point, I see my mom walking away from me to which I just laughed. After hugging her at the end of the barrier, I spot my little brother walking towards me! It was a great surprise, and to reward him for coming, I passed off my luggage for him to carry :).
After this point, it was a quiet day. My parents went off to some show with my grandparents in Pitman, so I pretty much had the house to myself. Mike came over to keep me company/ keep me awake and I ended up staying awake until 11pm (felt like 6am), and fell asleep no problem.
Dec 19
Why I would ever wake up at 8, I don’t know. I felt very sluggish and slow and kind of out of it. The entire day was spent doing laundry, attempting to unpack, wrapping some presents, and make up for lost time watching Spongebob. But perhaps my favorite, “welcome back” that I received is from the Eagles beating those Giants. Talk about an epic comeback!! My dad was threatening to send me back to Lithuania because up until this point, they were playing really well and then I return and they start playing poorly. Tonight I went to church for an early Christmas service. I got to see a lot of people and only briefly share my experience from my entire trip. It was a wonderful welcome back :).
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