I meant to do this when I got back in December. Once I made it home, I got busy being with my family and catching up with my friends. Then I started school and got even more busy. But for the sake of having this memory forever (as if I could EVER forget), I want to write down the craziness of my return to America. As I mentioned I got snowed in. This is something that,being from Texas, I never thought I would have to deal with. The worst part was that there were no cabs running on Saturday morning. So me and one of my roommates decided the only thing to do was to drag our stuff to the train station to catch a bus. Man was that a sight. We finally found a cab after at least (and probably more than) a hour. After I finally got issued a new ticket and spent the night in a hotel, I went back to my apartment to wait it out with 2 roommates and a couple friends. We spent from Sunday-Wednesday morning in Florence. Since we didn't want to spend too much more money we got minimal groceries and shampoo/conditioner to share. We watched movies most of the time and went to dinner out every night. Wednesday morning comes and I got a cab to take me to the airport. After checking in, I got on the plane and to London Gatewick with no problems. I was so relieved and hopeful. I spoke to soon. I had to take a bus from Gatwick to London Heathrow which is about an hour away. I got there and it was complete chaos from all the missed flights over the past weekend. I made it to the check in desk 5 minutes after the plane had started boarding. The very impolite (to put it nicely) british guy at the desk would not let me go. Needless to say, we did not get along and I cried. The best he could do was put me on standby for the same flight the next day. He told me to get in line around 8 to get on the list. After I was on this list I would just have to wait and hope that I actually get on the flight. If not, the next flight was the day after Christmas. I spent the day in the london airport reading, eating, and trying not to freak out. The good thing about the airport was they had a place for stranded people to sleep and eat. I met many nice people there trying to help. These friendly faces just about made up for the jerk from us airways. I slept a grand total of an hour! There were constantly people in and out of this room, the lights were on,and there was a baby crying all night. I woke up at 6:45 and decided to just go ahead and get in line for standby. Well God must have been smiling down on me that morning. I had forgotten this slip of paper they gave me to get on the standby list and couldn't get out of the airport to get it. Well that ended up being the best thing that could happen to me. I had to go back to the ticket desk (where the mean guy was) and ask them for another. The lady told me that she would just go ahead and check me in. {What they hadn't told anyone is that we were supposed to line up at the ticket desk and not the baggage check. There were tons of people just in line at the baggage claim.} So then she tells me that I'm first on the standby list. Which means I'll get a seat before anyone else!!! If there wasn't a desk in between us I would have hugged her! I checked in my bags and then waited for my gate to be announced. After it was announced, I waited some more to see if I could get on the flight. After abotu 30 minutes I heard my name being called. I made my little way over to the desk to get my TICKET HOME! I immediately emailed my parents that I was coming home! Again, I need to keep my mouth shut! The flight crew announced that there was trouble with the engine and our flight would be delayed 2 hours. UUUUUGH! We finally get to Philidelphia and I had missed my connecting flight which meant I wouldn't be able to go home until the next day. After a hysterical (a girl can't keep it together all the time) call to my mom and a frantic attempt to find another way home, I accepted my fate. The airline put me up in a nice hotel with a free dinner. I relaxed in my room, slept in a comfy bed, watched tv, and ate some yummy cheesecake! I woke up super early and caught the 7 am flight to charlotte and then on to Austin. I finally made it home at noon on Christmas Eve. I speed walked through the airport, dodging slowpokes and smiling with excitment. Then I finally saw the 7 most beautiful faces in the world! I waved like a crazy person and then made my way down the escalator. As soon as I hugged my mom, I just started crying. It was the best moment ever. I was so glad to be home. That night we did our usual Christmas eve things but jetlag showed its ugly face and I fell asleep at 7:30. It was such a wonderful feeling to be home and safe and not longer dragging around 100lbs of luggage.
The saddest part was missing my party! I have always wanted a suprise party. Unfortunately, I am sooo nosy and my mom felt (rightly so) that the only way it would work is if I was out of the country. I {stupidly} thought that no one but my family cared that I was coming home or that I was stranded! What I didn't know was that my besties were helping my mom plan a part for me. They ordered a cake and everything. This party was rescheduled everytime I missed my flight. Unfortunately it never got to happen since I got back on Christmas Eve. It was still a nice gesture and the cake was oh so yummy!
