Home again

I realized that I never really wrapped up my travels and adventures in Europe, and figured it was time!

My last few days in Glasgow were strange... I felt like I was living in a dream and everything just when by so fast in a rush of goodbyes and packing, where everything I did and saw was for the last time. And so suddenly I found myself sitting outside my flat, dear old 85B Gibson street atop a hill in both directions, holding onto my suitcases and backpack, waiting for the cab to come. It was late. I started to get really nervous and called the company at least a good three times; turns out the poor driver was lost! One last drive through Glasgow, another conversation with a Glaswegian cabbie (this one wanted to visit the Bronx) and I was at the airport just on time!

I was exhausted, having run from Belfast to Edinburgh and getting very little sleep in between and then packing like mad and running out to meet friends in Glasgow. So the plane ride was mostly me sleeping and watching films and chatting with the Scottish girls from Aberdeen next to me, savouring their accent a little bit longer! One of the biggest changes from Glasgow to the US? The weather! I left Glasgow that morning wearing jeans, boots and light long-sleeved shirt, sweater, scarf and coat. Newark, NJ was sweltering! I'm in Scotland gear and people are wearing shorts and tank tops! The time zone change was odd, flying for like 8 hours, but I got to Maryland 2.5 hours later? Weird.

I surprised my parents. Walked out and they were checking the board for my flight arrival, so after nabbing my ridiculously tall brother, we sneak-attacked them! It was so good to see my family, six months is a long time! Just being in my own house was amazing- I wandered around for a good hour, just taking it all it- changes. A new deck, clearing out ugly wall paper in the bathroom, bushes planted outside. But next to all the new things, my gaze thirstily soaked in everything familiar that I’d missed for so long- the piano, my violin, our living room couches, the red kitchen, my bedroom in a splash of green color, brilliant and vivacious after having lived in a sparse, barren, white flat for so long. I touched things everywhere: chairs, railings, walls, pillows, my mom, dad and brother. It was if I had this weird sensory need to make sure this was real, that I was actually back.

It wasn’t all that long at home though, I always seem to be on the move and this summer was no exception. Within 4 days of being home, I had unpacked and packed again and was off to Sandy Hill Camp to work as a counselor once again, on of my favorite places in the world. Summer flew by and soon I had a week at home to find all my random, yet necessary college things and head back to McDaniel!

And so I have come full circle, from one side of the Earth to the other, acquiring a ridiculously international group of friends, beautiful photographs, and some of the best memories of my life.

From here to the end of this semester, I will continue to blog as a student at McDaniel college, but these will be through the McDaniel website at this link: http://admissions.mcdaniel.edu/Blogs/tabid/3520/BlogID/311/Default.aspx

Thanks for sharing in some of my adventures- I hope you got a feel for just how incredible my semester abroad was! Ciao.