Really early in the morning (3ish maybe?) we had to be up. We brought all our luggage out in front of the kitchen where it was loaded on to a bus by the driver. Our final goodbyes were to Anna, who we all loved, and the guard dog Bolt. (Bolt followed us everywhere and was truly loved by most of us). The bus ride was bittersweet. Unlike when we arrived we knew the roads we were taking. We knew some of the houses we were passing. We were leaving a piece of our heart there in CalaCali.
I remember standing in line to check our bags and then standing in an even bigger line to start through security check points. On the plane we settled in for the first flight. I remember talking to Allie and bit and laughing with her over pointless stuff, probably inbetween sleeping. That basically means it was a good flight.When we got off that flight we were back in the United States. And let me tell you, right when you step our of the plane you can feel the attitude difference. It's a whole different atmosphere. It's hard to explain. Anyway, being back on US soil meant everyone's favorite things, customs. It was the same exact customs line that I went through coming back from Guatemala.
From that line we found out that we had a pretty far hike to our next flight which was leaving reallyreally soon. Like minutes soon. A few of us literally ran to the gate which was already empty. The lady at the desk asked who we were and so we explained that we had a group coming through customs. She was really nice, but informed us that if the group wasn't there in exactly 3 minutes they would have to close the doors and leave without us. She suggested those that we were there to get on without them, but we quickly shut that down. We do things as team even if that meant missing a flight. Luckily everyone got there right as they were about to close. We were the last ones on, but we were on. I don't really remember that flight at the moment except for a rude flight attendant throwing our stuff around.
Off of that flight now, we were in the JFK airport (I think?) and since we were actually leaving the airport we had to go through a different customs thing. Or maybe that was before, I don't know. But we had to individually talk to some guy and say that we really were who our passports said we were. Through there we were greeted by a professor that came to drive us home in a PBU van. Then we went to get our luggage. We found our carousel and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally we went over to the desk and asked if they could locate it. It turned out that customs and almost missing our flight made our bags miss the flight. They would be there for at least an hour or two. We debated between having just delivered to us or waiting and finally decided to just wait it out. The food court was near by so we all went there and got some good pizza or Mexican food because that's all that was still open that late at night. The team made the most of our extra hour together. (:
Finally our bags arrived and we smushed back into a PBU van where we all promptly fell asleep. We attempted to talk to the professor, but we were just too exhausted. Back at the school, all the families were waiting. We had to say goodbye to one family to go with the other. The team had done so much together that we were like a band of siblings. It was definitely bittersweet.
The next day was the first day of classes. That's right, no break for us! We were throw right into a new routine of schooling.Talk about reverse culture shock. It was kinda hard to assimilate ourselves. The day before we were in a completely different country, a completely different culture.
Since then we had 2 reunion dinners and we presented our trip to the school in a chapel. But it's not the same and everyone wasn't there. Because we were just thrown right back into life I feel like I had no time to really just reflect on the trip. Every time I see a team member I get excited because we have a unique bond, but ultimately it's all different. Once again, new people have taken a chunk of my heart.
Our group update page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/257699264289961/]
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