Good Omens Turned Ugly

Yesterday was an amazing day with my parents. I spent the morning finishing packing, getting one last tanning session in, and we left for Chicago around noon. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express at I decided that it would would be awful to try to get around the airport with 2 suitcases and a carry-on... I could barely make it in the hotel!! So, I decided to take one suitcase and one carry-on with me to Cairo to live on for two years. Yes, I cried when deciding what I had to leave behind. It was the only stuff I had that I knew that was coming with me... if that makes any sense. But I sucked it up and decided it would make me a better person.

There were 2 omens of the night... omens that I believed to be good. We had "Wheel of Fortune" on in the background, and one of the puzzles was "Final Boarding Call." Weird, right?! And, we stayed in room 522. My address in Viroqua with my parents is 522 S. Washington Ave. Again, weird. My last American meal was at TGI Friday's.

I woke up at 4:00 AM this morning, and we got to the aiport a little after 7:00. But, not only was my flight different... I didn't have a ticket number with either of them!! My flight was changed from American Airlines to Delta, which is fine. But neither of them had a ticket number. Delta had be booked on their flight, but no number. Then I had a panic attack. I had no way of getting on the plane and getting to Cairo. I called the only number I had... the superintendent of the school. I finally got ahold of her and she called people in Egypt. She called me back around 9:00 AM and told me to have my dad buy me a new ticket, and the school would reimburse them. So my dad charged a round-trip flight to Cairo for $2700. But I had a ticket number and a flight! The only kind of bad thing is that the flight changed, so I am currently sitting in JFK airport on my 7-hour layover. It was VERY dramatic. I didn't think I was actually going to make it to Cairo.

My goodbye with my parents was very fast. We suddenly realized that they couldn't come past the security checkpoint, and we said a quick goodbye. I was also frantically telling them to call the superintendent and tell her that my flight had changed so someone would be in Cairo at the aiport to pick me up! When I walked past security to find my terminal, it was a strange feeling of being on my own. I realized that I wouldn't see a face that I knew for the next 10 months or talk to a familiar friend in person. I felt incredibly sad and alone, but also like I was starting an amazing adventure and changing already.

Let's hope there's no more airport drama because I want everything else to go smoothly! I'm currently reading more about Cairo, my school, and listening to Arabic. Keep good thoughts!