Round trip

7/18- 7/26

- We spent this lovely last week in Castricum with my grandma and Stan. It was a great way to wind down, pack up, be with family, and prepare ourselves for the scary yet exciting trip back home after SEVEN MONTHS.

- Unfortunately, our immune systems finally found time to attack us. Almost instantly we had runny noses, coughs, headaches, and sore throats. Thank goodness we had ample time to relax (it really is the best place to relax) and grandma made sure to take care of us. Lots of yummy food (we all even made delicious enchiladas one night).

- Although we didn’t feel 100% ourselves, we were still able to get in a few good bike rides around the dunes and the cute city, as well as going to the beach (with the rest of Holland) in the extremely nice weather (pouring the day we got there, 80’s the last few days we were there) and visiting Amsterdam one last time (and meeting up with a family friend of Katie’s).

7/26:

-  I write this as I sit on my flight from Washington D.C. to L.A. We have already been travelling for roughly 18 hours total (we left Holland at 7am, had an 8 hour flight, a 3 hour layover, and now this flight) and I can definitely feel the exhaustion creeping up on me. My eyes are bloodshot and my body is tired of this airplane food (okay its actually much better than I thought it’d be).

- At this point I just really want to be home already. I will have to miss my original flight from LA to SB because the current flight we are on had all these issues, but all is still okay. Soon enough, soon enough!

- A little about my feelings. I am very mixed inside!! I am constantly flip flopping from excitement to see family and friends (I just will randomly start smiling and can’t stop) to sadness because my time in Europe is officially over. I know I can always come back, but never quite like this. It is something so unique that can really only be done at this age and I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would. The biggest problem is that it was all so easy. I never noticed exactly how wonderful of a time I was having until it was gone. Another emotion that I’m having difficulty with is my criticism of America. I have this annoying tendency to think of Americans as disgusting. Lazy. Sloppy. Too stressed and fast paced. Red necks. Frat boys.  If you can’t tell already, I much preferred making friends with foreigners (and thus learning about their extremely interesting culture and background) and I really do feel that most are much more open than Americans.

- I really, really, REALLY need to open my eyes more and see that I am unfairly generalizing and that many Americans are not like what I described at all. I feel that once I am with family and friends in beautiful Santa Barbara, all of this will go away. This is going to be a hard next few months….