home!

Whee, I’m back in the States! Though it was not without its difficulties…

It started with one last taxi drive, starting at 9am. I took some pictures with my host family and then I was off! Got to Montego Bay at 11:30 for my 3:15 flight, and I was thinking all would be well and I could change the last bit of Jamaican money back to US and get a good lunch and be ready to fly home. I should have known better! This was Jamaica we’re talking about after all.

The computers were broken. They had to check us in manually. The line, which I was near the front of, took 3.5 hours to get through. The girls in front of me were going to Newark and the family behind me to LAX via Houston. The Houston flight departed first, then Newark, then my flight to Dulles. I was literally the first person in line when they started calling for the Houston flyers—so I let the family go, and then I stood there with a pitiful look on my face until they checked me. They had to label my bag by hand and give me a physical receipt for the cash—no credit card machines.

I got through security after a bit of a laugh—I set off the metal detector, and when they scanned me with the wand, it turned out that it was the underwire on my bra that set it off (way to go, Victoria’s Secret!). 

Grabbed some snacks and found my gate, still optimistic at this point. The computers can’t be down all day, can they?

Oh, they can. The 3:15 flight time passed without any announcement from the staff, but an enterprising traveler asked—there were still 89 people waiting to be checked in. They had filtered through the Houston and Newark travelers, so all the Dulles ones had been waiting in line.

We finally took off at 5:15 or so (which is 6:15 Eastern), and landed at 9:20. They made up a lot of time on the flight, but my connection was departing at 9:50. I hurried off the plane, tapped my foot through the bus trip to the customs terminal, and dashed down stairs in my platform sandals. I was at the front of the line at customs when I saw this:

I took the photo Sunday morning, so don't mind the time at the top.

 

It left EARLY! So there was no rush anymore. I called my mom to see if she wanted to drive up, and she suggested renting a car. Mostly because I was this close to home after six weeks, I wasn’t letting anything hold me up. The lady in front of me was shocked to hear I had been gone that long and gave me a hug for all my troubles after all. She was really sweet, and wanted to hear all about my experiences. They missed their connection to Syracuse, their plane also taking off early.

I had a hotel voucher, but ended up with a rental car instead. It was a miracle I had my driver’s license with me, but I did. Also a miracle—I ended up in a Corolla, which is the car my mom drives some I’m family with its size and the location of all the buttons. It was a 2014, which was weird for me with all the technology.

Let me tell you—after six weeks of no driving AND being on the wrong side of the road, DC traffic at night is not the best way to reacclimate. Seven lanes merging…lights…rain…65mph…good times.

I made it home at 2am. Hot food and mommy hugs were waiting. The sad part is that my internal clock was still going strong—I woke up at 6am.

The carpet feels odd under my feet…I’m so cold in the 60 degree weather…and the food tastes different! But I’m so happy to be home.   

United says I'll get a refund for the missed flight--it's apparently $240 to fly from Dulles to Richmond which is simply ridiculous but I'll take it. :) Plus a potential refund for the rental car. It would come close to totally the entire round trip tickets if I get that all.

Regardless, this is what I got to come home to, so I'll just be grateful for everything that I have.

Off to the UK Wednesday!