Almost home...
Tomorrow, I leave London for Atlanta, USA. I must say, I´m the most homesick I´ve been all year because I know that tomorrow I can give my mom and my dad a hug. I can sit at my kitchen counter and talk to them about stuff. I can sleep in my bed and wake up the next morning in my home.
Quickly, I will recount the past few weeks. Session 2 was a breeze. It went quickly and we all knew the program from having done it the first time around sothere wasnt as much work to do. As a result, Glenn gave us extra time off. I rented a car with Rob, Erin and Catie and we drove around the Dingle peninsula, dipped our feet in this side of the Atlantic and hiked around the rocky hills and cliffs. The staff party was fun. I was in Dublin airport all day doing escorts so I arrived late and absolutely exhausted. Packing up camp was easy and we enjoyed sleeping in and eating well. Each day there was a new group of staff to say goodbyes to. I thought goodbyes would be getting easier after all the practice I´ve had but it just hasn´t. The final goodbye, back in Temple Bar in Dublin was a lot of fun, allthough, Erin, Catie and Julien didn´t let me escape without shedding tears. Sometimes I think the only difference between friends and family is that I know I will see my family always and consistenly, but with friends, its easy to spread out over the world and not see eachother for a long time. And that makes the goodbyes really hard. I don´t really know how to explain how special the people I´ve known the past year have been. They took care of me, like family.
I left Dublin and went west for a few days to relax, read my book and reflect on things. I spent two nights in Achill Sound on Achill Island. For 15 euros a night I had my own room with a double bed, at The Railway Hostel, right on the sound. It was amazing. I hitchhiked around the island one day and met many really nice and friendly people. One old fellow gave a great tour, telling me all the history and he even recommended a House of Prayer in case I needed rescuing. I made it as far as Keel before a young Swiss couple took me back to my hostel. It was a great day. (I didn´t know it until just now, but this was also the day my cousin Steve and his wife Laura had a new baby, Gabrielle!)
I spent the next day in Westport, which is a pretty city, fortunately the weather was a typical summer day in Ireland, raining, windy and cold. (As a side note here, the Dublin weather center reported 59 straight days of rain this summer, there was a 2 day break, which I remember, it was a Monday, Tuesday during the start of session 2, and then it has rained every day since then.) What a summer!
On Saturday the 18th, I flew to London where my good friend Carolina, met me at the airport and brought me to her home in Crawley. She´s been taking great care of me, cooking for me and putting up with my usual nonsense, and usage of inappropriate Spanish. Yesterday we met Chris-tina and Tim in London, had lunch and pounded the pavements a bit.
Today, we are just relaxing a bit, watching movies and eating. Life is hard.
So folks, that pretty much covers it. Almost 14 months away from home and tomorrow I return. There are little things that excite me, like spending 1 dollar bills, and peanut butter, my Mom´s cooking, Duff hour at the Needs, driving, etc. And then there are big things, seeing my parents, roadtrip to moedown with J, seeing Kelsey, meeting my baby cousin Melanie, reunions in Burlington, etc. I have to go now. Carolina has whipped up something yummy. You have to love the Spanish.
Well, I´ll catch you on the flip side of the Atlantic.
Quickly, I will recount the past few weeks. Session 2 was a breeze. It went quickly and we all knew the program from having done it the first time around sothere wasnt as much work to do. As a result, Glenn gave us extra time off. I rented a car with Rob, Erin and Catie and we drove around the Dingle peninsula, dipped our feet in this side of the Atlantic and hiked around the rocky hills and cliffs. The staff party was fun. I was in Dublin airport all day doing escorts so I arrived late and absolutely exhausted. Packing up camp was easy and we enjoyed sleeping in and eating well. Each day there was a new group of staff to say goodbyes to. I thought goodbyes would be getting easier after all the practice I´ve had but it just hasn´t. The final goodbye, back in Temple Bar in Dublin was a lot of fun, allthough, Erin, Catie and Julien didn´t let me escape without shedding tears. Sometimes I think the only difference between friends and family is that I know I will see my family always and consistenly, but with friends, its easy to spread out over the world and not see eachother for a long time. And that makes the goodbyes really hard. I don´t really know how to explain how special the people I´ve known the past year have been. They took care of me, like family.
I left Dublin and went west for a few days to relax, read my book and reflect on things. I spent two nights in Achill Sound on Achill Island. For 15 euros a night I had my own room with a double bed, at The Railway Hostel, right on the sound. It was amazing. I hitchhiked around the island one day and met many really nice and friendly people. One old fellow gave a great tour, telling me all the history and he even recommended a House of Prayer in case I needed rescuing. I made it as far as Keel before a young Swiss couple took me back to my hostel. It was a great day. (I didn´t know it until just now, but this was also the day my cousin Steve and his wife Laura had a new baby, Gabrielle!)
I spent the next day in Westport, which is a pretty city, fortunately the weather was a typical summer day in Ireland, raining, windy and cold. (As a side note here, the Dublin weather center reported 59 straight days of rain this summer, there was a 2 day break, which I remember, it was a Monday, Tuesday during the start of session 2, and then it has rained every day since then.) What a summer!
On Saturday the 18th, I flew to London where my good friend Carolina, met me at the airport and brought me to her home in Crawley. She´s been taking great care of me, cooking for me and putting up with my usual nonsense, and usage of inappropriate Spanish. Yesterday we met Chris-tina and Tim in London, had lunch and pounded the pavements a bit.
Today, we are just relaxing a bit, watching movies and eating. Life is hard.
So folks, that pretty much covers it. Almost 14 months away from home and tomorrow I return. There are little things that excite me, like spending 1 dollar bills, and peanut butter, my Mom´s cooking, Duff hour at the Needs, driving, etc. And then there are big things, seeing my parents, roadtrip to moedown with J, seeing Kelsey, meeting my baby cousin Melanie, reunions in Burlington, etc. I have to go now. Carolina has whipped up something yummy. You have to love the Spanish.
Well, I´ll catch you on the flip side of the Atlantic.
posted by emily at 12:15 PM
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