6/15/2022 1 Comment My First Week Living AbroadEmotions are high! I mean the highest highs and some pretty rough lows so far. In some ways, I feel like I am doing so many activities and therefore distract myself from this huge life change, but other times I am sitting alone and feel like my brain is working in overdrive. Speaking with some others here in similar positions, I have decided this is pretty common, so let’s start from the beginning… It never feels good to know you are leaving your family for an indeterminate amount of time. When my parents dropped me off at the airport for the first leg of my 15-hour (supposedly) journey, I was rushed with the same feelings of saying goodbye to board the bus to Semester at Sea, except this time I wasn’t sure when I’ll see them again. The same way I felt in a daze as I drove away from San Diego the first time, I felt lightheaded, my hands shaking, not sure if I felt like crying or throwing up. Immediately faced with a new challenge of a rude gate agent checking me in, my eyes welled up as she made me repack my security alarms (something about batteries in checked bags, I should know this by now). I think she could tell and switched her tone to tell me about how her son uses the same ones living alone and they make her feel better knowing how well they work. I smiled and handed over my large bag that contains all my life belongings for the next ~6 months, praying that it meets up with me in Rio. I’m sure the lady next to me from Nashville to Miami thought I was insane for crying out the window like the main character of a rom com on our little 2-hour flight. After that, the trip takes a turn for the worst when my flight was delayed overnight in Miami. I won’t go into detail as I’m sure we have all had a delayed flight, but the sleep deprivation on top of everything else really got to me. I cried to the Brazilian woman who (for reasons unknown to me) kept telling me horror stories about tourists in Rio. I cried to the gate agent who had to rebook my layover. I cried in line when the only restaurant open at 11pm cut off orders right before me. I cried when I got to Sao Paulo late at night thinking of Ubering alone in Rio even later. In line, I met someone which would kickstart the common theme of just making new friends everywhere. He was from Tampa – what a small world!! And somehow I convinced him to Uber with me so I wouldn’t be alone, and that helped ease my feelings a lot. As soon as I got to my hotel, I felt so much better when I could immediately shower and go to sleep. The next day was even better, when I met another lovely guy my age who invited me to do an entire city tour in my first 24 hours. CLICK BELOW TO SEE THE REST
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AuthorCourtney Golman Archives
September 2022
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