The recap, part I

First off, I can feel the prayers. Keep doing what you're doing, friends and family! Really, I feel so much support and ecouragement from back home as well as from the people here.

Here we go!

Wednesday night, Mom made a special family dinner-- Korean and a few cheese/cracker combos. My favorites! Tried bulgogi beef (not tofu!) for the first time ever since I was vegetarian every time previous. Then Mom and Dad spent hours repacking my two checked bags. Problem was the Medium bag was full, but it weighed under 50 lb. The large bag had space but was at least ten lb over the limit. Not matter how I tried, I couldn't balance them. Eventually, they got them perfect-- one bag almost ripping at the seams, thile the other tempting me to take more -- just one more pair of shoes? You'll need a bath towel! How about some face wash?-- Well, I resisted, but we'll come back to that...

Next day was my last in Maine-- the highlights were visiting with my old piano teacher and dear family friend Marita Gould. She turned 100 on Jan 18th (my mom's 60th birthday) and is still in great health all over. I got to play a piano piece for her, which she recorded, and then went out for coffee before walking Scarborough Beach with my mom and Kairi. 

Later, I went out for dinner at my favorite restaurant, which doubles as my place of work for the past few months-- Pat's Cafe. After eating, some friends came in for a drink and the night ended with dancing and karaoke at Old Port Tavern. It was such a fun night, but I was sad to say goodbye. Crystal drove me home and slept over, just like old times.

The morning of my flight, Jake came by and Mom made breakfast, complete with Gluten Free toast!! J and C helped me finish my last minute tasks, another friend stopped by, and then I got in the car with my parents with C following behind us. We remembered last minute to pick up Ellie from school on the way and arrived at the airport just on time.

So at this point, everything's smooth. Too smooth... Remember that perfect 50-50 pound balance I swore not to upset? Apparently I gave into temptation at some point because, after paying the $70 extra for checking a second bag, they tell me I still owe $200 in overweight charges. I look at the scale and my second bag is over the limit by eight pounds. No way I'm paying $270 on top of my ticket! We push but United won't budge. So my dad and I dissect the 8 lb out of the bag one sweatshirt at a time which means I've gotta figure out how to carry-on 8 more pounds of stuff.

The whole crew helps adorn me like a packrat's Christmas tree, clipping hiking boots to backpack and stuffing umbrella in the side pocket. Ellie's speaking words of wisdom like, "you can buy scissors there! Why do you need TWO purses? You have too much stuff."

In my defense, last time scarred me when I tried the "buy it when you get there" method. Remember the umbrella incident? When it turned inside out during the rain storm and my purse flooded? Argentina, please don't take offense, but most of your products are bad quality.
Also, if I already own something, I might as well use it or give it away, not inherit a cheap replica.

That being said, I did over-pack. 
I panicked. I bogged myself down with baggage, making the trip pretty uncomfortable-- physically and emotionally. I won Most Obnoxious Traveller that day, but the point is I made it. The bumbling American who bought an expensive airport dinner and then promptly spilled said airport dinner in the plastic carrying bag when transporting it onto the plane even got to see the Empire State building and the Statue of Liberty before leaving the country. It gave me a taste of nostalgia that lasted me the rest of the trip. A card from my parents, the original bucket list from Crystal, and a hilarious quiz from Emy and Onycha didn't help either..

I think this was the first time flying where I was pulled almost equally between old home and new home. Departure and Destination held equal weight for me because I've grown to see the beauty of home. I love Maine and the people in it. It's a beautiful state and I appreciate it much more as an adult. I also love and already MISS my friends and family there. But the great thing is that they won't be taken away.

And actually, God forbid some part of home be taken away, I've learned that the end of somehting doesn't take away from the beginning or middle of it in any way. All time is all time. In other words, something good that's existed will continue to exist.

(yay for you, ex-boyfriends! Kidding, kind of.)

My computer is dead and I've no way to charge it so... To be continued..