Let’s rewind one day. I have never taken so long to pack my bags before! I didn’t know what I should and shouldn't take and got in a massive pickle when I realized that all my coats were still laying on my bed! On top of that, my bag was severely overweight. My mission was to take all the stuff I would need so I wouldn’t have to buy much, but that’s easier said than done.
Fast forwarding now. When the evening came to leave and drive to the airport, mom and I watched one last nostalgic movie before we said goodbye. That movie was, of course, A Cinderella Story, AKA the BEST remake of Cinderella ever! The night before we had watched 17 Again, so A Cinderella Story was just the cherry on top of an ice cream sundae.
Saying goodbye was hard. I didn’t want to let my mom go and I still don’t think my brain realizes that I’m not going to be seeing her for three months, unless she comes to the States with my dad next month, which is highly unlikely.
The drive to the airport was surprisingly good as well. It was as if my dad and I were taking a late night drive, instead of dropping me off and saying goodbye. I’m not gonna lie, I definitely had some teary eyes when I walked away from my dad. I tried to say I wasn’t going to miss him, but who am I kidding, he’s my annoying big brother, with a serious dad side of course. :P
Getting on the first flight was easy. I was one of the first one’s on and was able to get comfortable before take off. I was also able to sleep most of the way and felt very relaxed, that is until I noticed what time it was. To my dismay, my plane landed at 10:15am, the time my next flight was supposedly boarding.
I started to panic a bit but then learned that the hippy girl in front of me was also getting on the same flight. After leaving the aircraft me and eight others, including the hippy, were met by a man who was going to take us to our next flight. Unfortunately, when we arrived, the shuttle had already left and there was no way we were going to make the flight!
By this point, I got really nervous because I had never been in this situation before. Never! I told the lady with American Airlines that I couldn’t stay overnight in a country I didn’t know and needed to get on another flight that same day. To which she replied that I, and the rest of the people who had missed the flight with me, had to go to El Al’s desk and sort it out with them. This is the time the hippy girl started having a meltdown at the American Airlines woman.
Once her meltdown was over, we all followed the same man who had taken us to the flight to the El Al desk in order to sort out new flights. I called my parents at this point and everyone, including Leona who had woken up after hearing Elohim’s voice, started praying.
I waited for almost an hour but it was time well spent. I got to know this Ethiopian El Al worker and find out how she came to live in Germany (her family left when war broke out in Ethiopia). When the hour was up, the Ethiopian got a call that everyone’s flights had been taken care of and that we needed to hurry to make our new flights!
It was a long trek to the gate, but praise Yah my head wasn’t too sore and my shoulders stayed intact with the heavy weight of my backpack. When I got to my gate, I checked in and asked the lady if there were any good seats available. Amazingly, there was plenty of space on the flight and she sat me on a four seated row that was completely empty!! I went from almost getting on a packed plane with very little space, to a semi-empty plane with four free seats! If that’s not a blessing, I don’t know what is!
The second flight was a long one but I kept myself busy by writing, reading, sleeping, and watching some shows I had downloaded. It was a nice and quiet flight, and there were no screaming babies!
I’m very thankful that a bad situation changed into a blessing. I’m also super proud of how I handled everything. I prayed the whole time and had peace about the entire situation. Everything happens for a reason, and in this case, I’m glad it did. I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have had four free seats on my original flight, so I’m definitely looking at this situation as a positive!
Unfortunately, that blessing only lasted the rest of the flight, because from there it was obstacle after obstacle! At border control I was taken to the naughty room, my bag didn’t make the journey and is still in Tel Aviv, my last flight was canceled, and when I was put on standby the plane was full! To say the least, it was a mess!!!
When I got to passport control at the Philadelphia airport, I remember thinking to myself, “It would be really interesting to see what happens when someone gets taken to the ‘red room.’” That was the worst thing I could’ve thought because guess who that person was? Me, you guessed it! The officer who questioned me thought that my stay was too long (just under three months) and that I spoke too American to be British!
Waiting in the ‘red room’ was a bit nerve-wracking but I somehow kept my cool and still had peace, like I did in Germany. When they called me to the front, they asked my why I was staying, how much money I had, and what visa I had when I lived in the States with my parents seven years ago. Once the officer found my dad in the system and found out I was also going to get chiropractic treatment, he let me go!
At this point, I thought things were going to be smoother, but I was wrong! When I went to pick up my luggage, I couldn’t find it. After asking, I learned that my bag hadn’t made it and that I would have to make a claim for it once I got to Harrisburg.
After that, I went through security again in order to get to my connecting flight. I was almost sent away at the security because I didn't have a correct boarding pass. But, thankfully, there was a machine close by that printed off my ticket and the man let me come back and skip the line after I’d gotten it.
As I went through security and looked for my gate, I was talking to my parents. My dad was looking at the flight I was about to get on and sent me the picture that it was on time. Not more than three minutes later, I found my gate and looked at the departure board. To my dismay, my flight had been canceled!! I was very upset and asked the lady at the desk if she could get me on another flight.
This is when I was put on standby. Unable to get a pass for the lounge after all the trouble I’d had, I was forced to eat this kinda gross sandwich and wait for the next flight to come in. Praying the entire time, I hoped that I would get a seat on this next flight. But, it was as if the devil was out to thwart everything and the next plane was full!
By this point, I was ready to scream or cry! I had been traveling for over 24 hours and wanted to be done! Thankfully, the Smith’s only lived one and a half hours away from the Philly airport so Leona and Steve drove to pick me up. While waiting, I put in my claim for my bag and prayed that it would make it to the house on Saturday, which it didn’t.
When Leona and Steve arrived, relief washed over me. I had made it! We talked the entire drive home and when we arrived, I had a quick shower and collapsed into bed, exhausted and sore from all the walking I had done.
The next day was Shabbat. Ryan came home from Jacque’s house and wanted to make a big breakfast, so we had a feast! This feast consisted of pancakes, eggs, potatoes, turkey bacon and fruit. It was a grand spread, and very delicious. I also felt like I was already becoming a part of the family.
That afternoon, we went to their fellowship. I knew some of the people there and started catching up with everyone, but was still nervous that I wouldn’t fit in. Thankfully, I was warmly welcomed and my worries were for nothing.
When the service started, Steve asked me to come to the front to talk about why I was here. So, I explained how I had come to have more of a life with like-minded people and to get chiropractic treatment on my neck. I was amazed at how calm I said all of it, I didn’t shake at all!
Then, after explaining everything, people came around me to pray for me. It was really awesome to see people I barely know just pour their hearts out with love and concern for me. The group here is incredible and very spirit-filled!
After the prayer was over, the rest of the service turned into a time of prayer, intercession, and worship. It was super awesome to see the Spirit move and be involved in everything going on. I really enjoyed the service!
Saturday evening, my friend Sofia drove me home. We hung out for a while, eating some peanut butter and celery, and then got in the hot tub. It was really nice to talk to someone my age who is in a similar place to me.
While we were in the hot tub, we were joined by Justin and his friends. The hot tub went from having two people to seven! For the first time in a while, I looked around me and took in my surroundings. All around me were people my age who were all talking and laughing together. I haven’t been a part of something like that in a long time so I definitely filled my love tank and made me smile.
We ended up staying in the hot tub until 11:30pm! By that time, we were all too hot to stay in the water and also really wrinkly, haha. When everyone left, only Justin and his friend Aaron remained. I was going to go to bed at this point, but then Justin asked if I wanted to play Super Smash Bros, aka my favorite childhood video game! How could I refuse?
I agreed to play one game, but about twelve games later I was still sitting there. I never won, but I did get close. Justin was just too good! By game fifteen, my eyes were starting to hurt so I called it a night. I was shocked to see that it was 1am at this time!
The next day, today, I didn’t know what I was going to do because all of the Smiths were going out. I knew I had to run to Walmart to get a couple things, but that was only going to take an hour.
Before leaving for Walmart, however, I got a message from my friend Larry, asking if I would like to go to a party at Jason and Landon’s house. I told him that I didn't want to intrude since I wasn’t invited but he said it would be fine. At this, I texted Sofia, Jason and Landon’s sister, to see if it was okay to come and if she could pick me up.
So this afternoon, I went to Jason and Landon’s house for an end of summer party. I didn’t know what to expect but it was a blast! We played horseshoe and corn hole, which I was terrible at but had a lot of fun. Then, we made a fire and had burgers and hot dogs. It was great to laugh and talk with everyone. I got on really well with Jason, Sofia and their sister, Lily.
Today was definitely a great day! I’m loving my stay in PA more and more! Just when I think I’m not going to be doing anything, plans start to form and I get to fellowship with people close to my age. I’ve been really encouraged this week and can’t wait to see what the next week will bring!