Prepare for departure-Day 21 and Day 22
I was very ready to go home. It was a long and stressful journey but I was happy to meet the finish line. I skipped breakfast for some some extra sleep and met with everyone in the computer lab for confirmation of our tickets online. Once everyone was squared away, the professors discussed the leaving procedure in packing the bags and checking in. They also discussed the final that will be taken back at school on Tuesday of June 24 at 11:45am.
After the meeting we had lunch the dining hall which would be our last here at the school. After lunch we had a chance to run to the city. Elliot escorted Gia, Sarah, Shevy. Adele, Katherine, Lilliana, and myself to Cindy’s - diner imitation in the Chur rail station that had pretty good burgers and tasty hot wings. Everyone got their food and reached the bus on time.
Once back at the the school, we ate and had some time to chill out and relax. I went back to my room and had a rousing conversation with a few of my classmates. After taking pictures and waving to Sophie one last time, everyone started trickling back to their room. I took a small nap until it was time for the BBQ. I went to the dining hall to enjoy the wonderful spread of the Swiss style cuisine. Once some of us settled at the table I noticed that all the tables in the hall had two bottles of wine on the tables. I was enjoying the ambiance of everyone being in positive vibes when I see Prof. Garely walking to our table and silently removing the wine not only from our tables but from her own. I was stunned that she wouldn’t even allow us to enjoy our last day, even when we just had a wine tasting in my tour. I relaxed because soon we could eat and I could forget that moment. Much to my delight – the wine was returned to our table..and we all had a glass to toast our Swiss experience.
The food was ready and it was incredible. They had veal sausages and pork sausages as well as pork ribs and baked chicken. They provided salads of lettuce aand tomato and onion. The spread was gorgegous. After eating we took some pictures and got involved in a game against the european kids. We played a game which involed racing around the school holding a tray with a full glass of water.
Our team of Sasha, Andy, Curtis, and Katherine didn’t win but they but up a good effort. Sarah, Lilliana and myself got involved in the next one. We had to guess which food was what and the was literally a piece of cake. I identified (blind folded) asparagus and sage herbs. We won this time around and had a rousing game of soccer in the front. I bucked my toe about five times and was crucial for me to sit down for once.
Later one, the Europeans students had a party in the disco and all of us attended for the most part. We danced till the music was cut of at 1:45AM when we were promised 2 AM. I left and went to bed to get some shuteye before I leave the next day.
Day 22
I see Curtis walking through my door calling me to wake, then I looked at my left to see it 4:30 AM. I pulled myself out of bed and showered. I groggily go through the motions of getting ready for trip to the airport.
Adrienne helps me with removing my sheets from the bed and runs downstairs to see if everyone is there. Both Adrienne go through all the rooms to see how everyone is moving along. Eventually, we all are downstairs and we grabbed a packed breakfast of the usual two sandwiches plus fruit and box juice. I was very tired and slept in the school bus after about 20 minutes. I woke up and took some pictures with my phone of my last ride in Switzerland. I slowly bite through my breakfast and contemplated on my trip in general. I see a lot of good time and very bad moments. I was just glad to be going home.
We reached the airport, most of us had a very tired and drawn look but energized real quick once they recognized the parking lot. Sasha, Shevy, and myself went ahead to find carts for the rest but only found one. We came back and everyone placed almost all of the luggage on carts that must have been just placed there. We pushed ourselves to the airport and through gate 2 for the American Airlines departure.
We all did four persons group at the check in and had a bathroom break before we entered the security gate for passengers. We walked passed the gate then reached the part where the tram took us to the other part of airport for the gate ticketing.
Once all of us went through the screening, we reached our gate and waited for the plane to be ready for loading of passengers. I talked with Gia, Adele, and Lilliana about the return home and what would we do once we reach back.
It was then soon time for us to load the plane round 10:45am. I got a window seat this time around and was happy about it. I watched the plane take off from Zurich airport swiftly and and start its journey to JFK in New York. I put on my headphones and went to sleep but woke up just in time for the meals which were not that bad for airplane food. The last meal was pizza and that brought a nostalgic piece of New York right to my mind.
I was soon walking with Sarah after the plane landed and we were walking to customs. I reached practically bubbling with joy to see the ‘Welcome To New York’ sign. My number came up soon to have my passport stamped and the officer teased me for not writing my passport number and said that I gave him work to do.
I laughed mostly because he spoke English with a New York accent. All of us reached the baggage claim and waited as our bags slowly came around. I hugged and kissed my short term family members as my brothers and sisters. I walked through the gate to give my card to the officer and pulled my bags through to see my sister waiting for me. I gave her a hug and kiss and said waved bye to Prof. Garely. I was finally free.
