October 1st had to be one of the most emotional days of my life! To start the day off, I woke up at Matt's apartment around 4:30am, right before Matt had to leave for work. When we both woke up Matt jumped in the shower and came back and sat on the bed, the room was completely silent. We both knew I was leaving but neither of us said anything. We just sat there on the bed until I broke down and started crying. I hugged him for the longest time but was finally forced to let go when his ride to work called to notify him she was downstairs. I was almost positive I wasn't going to get on the plane at that point. It was the most heartbreaking thing to walk away from him knowing I wasn't going to see him for months - we've never been apart more than 14 days since we began going out 5 and a half years ago. I just sat in my car after he left and cried for a good half hour.
As if that wasn't enough to stop my heart right there, I still had to say my good-byes to my family. My mom and my grandma drove Brigit and I to O'Hare Airport. We left the house around 10am and got to the airport around 11. Mom and Gram came inside to see us off and to help us check our luggage. As we waited for Katie and her family to meet us, we all sat and joked around deliberately ignoring the blatant, hindering presence of Brigit's and my impending departure. The time finally came, however, and I remember sneaking one last peak of my mom before we passed through security. I bet the TSA handling my identification thought I was mentally disturbed but I couldnt' stop crying when I left. It was like I was leaving for years! But standing in the airport after that, I couldn't help but feel like the journey was going to take forever, that I would never get back home! I'm such a homebody naturally so taking a humongous step like this was just too much to bear . . . my reaction? I ate the first Big Mac I've had in over two years. I'm normally not the type to eat fast food, especially since I was a vegetarian for over two years before this but I needed something heavy in my stomach! Something meaty! lol.
Matt was upset, I was upset so naturally we started arguing as I waited in the terminal for my flight:( My flight plan included one stop in Detroit - my first visit to Michigan . . . the plane ride to Detroit killed me. I hated it. I wanted to go home. I wanted to chicken out. I wanted so badly for the whole thing to be over. But I forced myself to sit still. I distracted myself. I even managed to crack a few jokes, such as . . . when the plane was on the runway, Brigit, Katie and I couldn't help but notice that it was taking forever to lift off the ground so as we neared the end of the runway, I exclaimed "Wingardium Leviosa!" I then discovered that I do, in fact, have magical powers -- Harry Potter has taught me a thing or two ;)
When we got to Detroit, all 3 of us, Katie, Brigit and I, just sat there, somewhat anxious, somewhat scared, confused, excited, surprised at ourselves for being so brave :) I got a call from Matt and he managed to calm me down and make me feel more secure. He got the gift I had left on his bed before my departure (a PS3 with Madden 2010 because I'm the best girlfriend ever :) ) and we talked about the days to come.
It was a total of 8 and a half more hours after we departed from Detroit that we arrived in London at Heathrow Airport. The plane had televisions on the back of each seat and although mine didn't work for the first half, by the second half of the flight I had figured out how to watch movies and television shows. (I watched Sunshine Cleaing which was very good and I watched Will and Grace which is always good!) I was tracking the exact location of the plane on one of the applications also, so I watched as we neared England growing more and more antsy as we flew over Dublin, then northwest England, central England, LONDON!
When we made our way out of the terminal, Brigit, Katie and I then had to go through customs and that took a longgggg time - and all that paperwork I had prepared for it? I needed two letters, one from NCC, one from Essex. From there we collected our luggage and took the Underground to our Hostel. NEVER, EVER do what we did! NEVER, EVER take 3 months worth of luggage on the Underground! We encountered AT LEAST 15 sets of stairs as we made our way to St. Paul's Cathedral (our hostel was around the corner)! Thank God for the nice gentlemen who all stopped to help - it was completely humiliating stumbling through like dumb tourists . . . but also memorable I guess :)
When I finally made it to the hostel I was completely relieved we had arrived with everything we'd brought in tact! I had a small breakdown when I realized we had to put our luggage in a public place with no security until our room was ready (a staggering two hours away!) and when I realized there was no turning back, but I managed to pull it together in time for lunch! We ate at a small restaurant down the street from our hostel called "Fuzzy's Grub"! (haha!) I used pounds for the first time and bought myself a grilled cheese ("toasted cheese") . . . the ultimate comfort food! We went back to the hostel and settled in and I had the most glorious nap of my life! This was the longest day ever! Actually, it was October 2nd due to the time change - we arrived at Heathrow at 8:30am London time!
After our nap, Brigit, Katie and I walked in the area immediately surrounding our hostel. We got a closer look at St. Paul's Cathedral (the place where Princess Diana was wed), we wandered through random convenience stores looking for phone cards and finally stumbled on a place to eat. Some place with a French name . . . "Le Pain Qu..." something or other. We each had bread and soup, paid the bill, returned to the hostel, showered and slept. I remember falling asleep listening to the bells of St. Paul's just after talking to Matt in a room full of girl's from all over the world with the encouraging words of my family still rolling around in my head. The room was dark and somewhat chilled but my bed was warm and comfortable and I had my sister and best friend on this adventure with me, they were just laying in the beds below me . . . I couldn't help but mentally note how wonderful I felt and I wondered if life got any better than this . . .
So that was day 1/day 2! I think I grew more as a person that day than any other of my life . . . It really was a test of strength to push myself to go . . . but at the same time, it felt like I was on some sort of tram moving me forward without my knowing where to get off . . . that was probably one of the hardest yet most rewarding experiences of my life :)
KISSES POODLE!
Brittany
(Pic from the airport in Detroit after I talked to Matt :) )
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