Monday, Em and I packed and cleaned our room. took down all our posters, maps, letters, and postcards. I took a final walk through the city centre, and when I came back, it was time to go to our Pub meal at the SIN with our Professors. I was happy to be able to talk to Professor Griffiths and to be able to say goodbye. Em and I turned the music up LOUD and danced like maniacs in our room. Kristi joined us. I wasn’t ready to leave, but, boy, was I excited to see my other friends and family again!!!
Tuesday morning, Andrea, April, Emily and I walked to Castle Hill to watch the sun rise. It was COLD, but I’m glad we did it. When we got back, I showered and got ready to take the bus for our flight home. While I was in the shower, I silently cried. didn’t bother to stop myself. It was such an odd sensation: five months had gone too fast, and at the same time, felt slow at times, but now it was over. Tomorrow morning I would wake up in America… that sentence felt so foreign. Kim- my youngest sister- and my Mom were going to pick me up from the airport, and though I was anxious to see them again, I just couldn’t shake that incomplete feeling. I’d done so much, yet there was still more to do, but we had our tickets for our flight back home, and our time was up. I don’t mean to make it sound like I didn’t take advantage of my days there- I certainly squeezed in as many additional activities as possible including trips to the market, college visits, performances, independent films, and lunchtime concerts- Cambridge just has so much to entertain! but I digress. At any rate, I got out of the shower, got over it, and got on the bus. Our flight was delayed when we got to the airport and so we sat… for hours. but that was okay. Abby played with Kristi’s hair, we prattled on, played silly ‘car games’ like patty-cake and the alphabet game, and confessed what we were most excited about going home for, as well as what we would miss the most from England. One universally agreed-upon topic was a food: pasties. We were really gonna miss those ‘hand-held pot-pies.’ haha Eventually it was time to board, and Brian and I were seat buddies. We watched ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and then read books, slept, and ‘chewed the fat’ for a while. Brian is great.
After sitting on the tarmac for half an hour, we de-planed, went through customs, and were greeted by faces full of anticipation when we walked through the international arrivals gate. Beleaguered, I lugged my suitcases and backpack past the customs security guards, and looked up. Mom’s eyes started tearing a bit when she saw me, and Kimmy gave me the tightest hug I’d gotten in a long time. When we let go of each other, she looked at me curiously and said, “You shrunk.” “Naw,” i said, “You just grew up.” and Mom, overhearing us, gave me a hug and said, “You certainly have.”
