Day #1: Jet Lag

While not being able to sleep on the plane, I decided to write a blog entry that I am just now being able to post. Here it is...

I am currently sitting on seat 44G of Northwest Airlines somewhere crossing the Atlantic Ocean. I am not really sure what time it is or where we are or how much longer we will be flying for, but I am beyond excited. I am really tired but I am too excited/anxious/cramped in my center coach seat to get any real sleep…tomorrow should be fun. It’s weird to think that I am finally on my way to Europe after what seems like a lifetime of waiting. I have known about this trip since about November of 2006 and I have not stopped thinking about it since.

My adventure started last Friday afternoon after some very stressful packing. Honestly how do you expect someone to pack EVERYTHING they will need for four months into two suitcases weighing no more than 50lbs each (PS We figured out that 22.4 kg…Hooray for the metric system!) We drove up to Cape Cod with my luggage in tow late Friday night and spent a few nights there visiting my family whom I love (Especially my cousin’s new baby Jack who I was thinking about stealing and bringing with me).

After some very relaxing (and fat) days at the Cape, it was time to head into the hectic world of Emerson College on Tuesday night. It was very weird to be at the place I called home for eight months last year and not be able to get in anywhere. I wasn’t allowed in the dorms, I wasn’t allowed in the dining hall. I felt like a lost lamb. However I did get to stay with Mary Cait (I love you MC) as well as seeing almost everyone who I really care about back in Boston. It felt amazing to be back in Boston but weird to think about how I would only be there for two days. All I could think about for that whole time was how excited I was to be in the castle and it felt like the day would almost never come.

But it did…

This morning was…no comment. We had to be in the dining hall by 9:30 for an informational meeting which Blake and I were too distracted with our maps of Europe that they gave us so we barely payed any attention to what they were talking about. After the first meeting we had about an hour and a half to go do what we needed to do (I went on an adventure with some people to find a bank to give us Euros as well as had a WONDERFUL lunch with some of my favorite people) before we had to come back and listen to a lecture for an hour and a half on Anne Frank. Yes you read right. I guess we didn’t learn enough about her in history class all throughout middle school and high school, so they felt the need to explain to us who she is…I woke up from a nice little nap in there and started getting very giddy and excited. We got our luggage and started loading up the busses to take us all to the airport.


The first picture of the trip. Sam, David, Lauren, Me and Blake on the bus.


Me and Blake singing on the bus.


Upon our arrival at the airport we were directed to stand in an absurdly long line to check our bags. The silver lining though was that the two people checking our bags (I don’t know who’s brilliant idea it was to have only two people there to check in 80 people) were both incredible. There was a woman named Gerry and a man named Quan (I think I misspelled that) but he went by Stan. Blake went to Gerry and I went to Stan/Quan. After many hours of worrying about how much my bags weighed I found out that one was about 48 and the other was exactly 50. Then Blake and I asked Stan if we could sit next to each other on the plane and he worked his magic and got us two seats together even though the flight was full.

Almost two hours later we were finally done checking our bags. When we boarded the plane, we found out we were in the last row in the middle section. At first it appeared that maybe the seats were the worst on the plane, but we soon found out quite the contrary. We can hear all the stewardesses gossiping in the back. One of them is really bitchy and hates her job but is hysterical. She yelled at some woman for not speaking English behind her back and also murmured about how people are incapable of flushing the toilet. We are also sitting next to a man from Holland who instead of a carry-on, he has his little dog in a coach carrying case under his chair.


Blake with the dog.

I am very very anxious still and I just want to get to my room. They told us that we are going to be staying up and doing things all day tomorrow so we don’t have jet lag, but I am going to be staying up and literally be running on about 5 hours of sleep that I got last night. Oh well. I live in a Castle.