Departure: Friday September 2nd (part 1)

       The day I feared the most arrived: here it was, Friday September 2^nd. Before that, I wished the days would go as slow as possible, but my prayers were left unanswered. I tried to enjoy the most of my days left in Amsterdam then in Paris with my family and boyfriend.
It was no surprise that the last days in France were extremely stressful because of my lack of organization. Had my mother had not provided me a gigantic help regarding the packing up, I would have been quite in trouble. I will never be thankful enough for her packing skills, something that I wish I had. As she is very fond of travelling, I suppose it is normal that she gained a lot of practical knowledge in that field. Even if my mother was very helpful, the problem was that there were too many things for so little space. I ended up with the big square-shaped suitcase which is by the way, very inconvenient to carry, as you have to grab the tiny handle (instead of a long handle that makes it easier). Needless to say, this whole process was more than stressful, and I shall learn my lesson, for the evening before my departure, I was still not done with the packing-up.

Fortunately, my boyfriend was here to provide a moral support, which was more than welcome for a lot of stress was aroused by my family. He did not hesitate in comforting me and taking me in his arms while I was sighing and quite in panic.

The last night arrived. They say that before taking the plane, you should have a night full of rest. In my case, it was totally the contrary. After I was eventually done with the packing-up (after midnight), I watched the last two episodes of Pushing Daisies with my boyfriend. We basically wasted ninety precious minutes, for it was crap. Brian Fuller got us twice. The first time, he disappointed the both of us with a terrible ending in Dead Like Me. If I remember well, we slept around 5am. We actually took a nap, because we had to wake up at 7am. Needless to say, I was more than exhausted. I could not believe the day had finally arrived and that I was to leave everybody behind. I said goodbye to my brother, sister and grandparents, already feeling sad.

My parents and my boyfriend accompanied me to the airport. I already started stressing out about the luggage. Even if my suitcase is checked-in until the final destination, i.e, Burlington, I would have to pick it up again at Philadelphia, for it needs to go through the x-ray process before putting it back on the conveyer. I know, I am the kind of person who tends to worry about a bit of everything. My bad. It was around 10.15am when time to say goodbye arrived. I surprised myself by not shedding any tears, whereas deep inside me, I knew I could suddenly burst out in tears. The escalator was waiting for me, and I had no other choice than to reluctantly take it, while looking behind me one last time. I actually kept trying to see them until I went through the customs.

Here I was, all alone, all by myself.

The rest was a piece of cake though. I went to the right gate and waited. Same old, same old. Then I went into the US Airways plane. It was such a downgrade from Air New Zealand, an airline I took this summer to go to California (new plane, all comfy seats, more space, tons of new movies, etc). I was so tired I did not plan on doing anything than sleep, which I did. Time went by quickly, and eight hours later, I landed in Philadelphia.