Flying Cacti

The last two days have felt like one big mush of time, and I am SO excited to sleep on a bed tonight haha! So yesterday (Thursday) morning I tried to wake up at 6:30 AM to get out of the house by 7:30. I was really nervous so I stayed up until about 3 AM talking to friends. They did a really good job of calming me down but I only got a few hours of sleep - so I woke up at 7:20! I packed the rest of my stuff really quickly, grabbed a piece of raisin bread, and stuffed everything in the car. I said bye to the puppies, baby J and Ingrid (the Guatemalan nanny I had been staying with). Then we headed out quickly and missed a bit of traffic (thank goodness for HOV lanes!). I got through security lines just fine and even had time to pick up more gifts for my host family! I had gotten them a gift bag and USA cup the day before, but then I also got them a Grand Canyon postcard, an AZ magnet, and a mini cactus (pictured below)! It has a magnet on the back so you can stick in on your fridge. I wonder if Chilean’s have magnetic fridges…

I got on my flight and fell asleep the whole flight to Denver. Then I grabbed some trail mix and a granola bar and got on my flight to Houston. I sat next to a burly man who squashed me against the window but I just colored in my coloring book and slept some more. I had a few hours of a layover in Houston so I called my parents and friends to de-stressify.

I have traveled quite a bit recently - but for some reason this trip has been a lot more mentally stressful than the others. I think it’s because I’m traveling alone to a place I’ve never been, where they speak a language I don’t know. When boarding the plane i heard some people talk about the program I was in, so I walked over to meet them. There were three students - Logan, Ashley, and Jacob. We all laughed at how nervous we each were that same morning, and we told each other a little about ourselves. I made friends with Ashley quickly and we walked down the jetway together. We ended up being in different rows - but the girl who sat next to me, Sidney, ended up being in my program as well! She is part Chilean and said her relatives (relatives she had never met) would be meeting her at the airport the next day. We ate sticky pasta for our “airplane meal” and fell asleep watching movies.

Love,

[CHAR]