Last hours & return

Hi all!

Sorry it's been a while since my last post! The last few hours of my adventure in Lithuania came to an end last Saturday morning when I boarded a plane at 6:55am! It was hard to say goodbye to some people, but all things must come to an end, and I was looking forward to the next adventure-my trip home! It turned out to be a crazy situation because I had four flights home, and the first two were not connected to the last two, so just to get two pieces of checked luggage I was upgraded to business class. It was great to have access to the business lounge in Vilnius, as well as two hot breakfasts on the flights!! From Vilnius I flew to Copenhagen, and then on to Warsaw. In Warsaw I had to pick up my luggage, and it's a good things I did because only one of my checked bags made it on my flights. Thankfully it was the smaller one with all the more important stuff in! I made a baggage report in Warsaw, and then went outside for a few minutes to take pictures to prove I was in Warsaw, before getting in line to check in again, this time for a flight to Amsterdam. I fudged the carry on a little, but was allowed to take all of my stuff with me, which was nice. In Amsterdam I went through passport control, and then security at the gate before finally boarding the plane home! I kept busy on the plane talking with a woman next to me, working on my photo album, eating lunch and supper (although my internal clock was so messed up that I felt like they were both supper!), and watching two movies! Also, there was another exchanger on the plane who was returning home, so we talked quite a bit. (It's amazing that even though we're complete strangers, we have a lot in common, and can talk for a while!) Before I knew it we were landing in Minnesota, and I kept getting more and more excited (according to the people around me)!! The other exchanger an I talked the whole way to customs, and then went our separate ways. Customs was easy, and then I followed the exit signs!! I was SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited by this point!! A group of eight family members and friends were waiting for me, and I was immediately surrounded by hugs:) I was definitely one of the happiest people on the planet at that moment! I had to file another baggage report in the Mpls/St. Paul airport before we headed home!! Waiting for me in the car were homemade cinnamon rolls and SKIM MILK!! It sure was great to have those again!! 

That evening friends were over at our house for supper, and then the four of us made it to the fireworks for a little bit. I had a difficult time keeping my eyes open, so after just 10 minutes we headed back home. I fell into bed and went to sleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow, which is exactly what I needed after being awake for 48 hours straight! 

The following days are kind of a blur. I went to church on Sunday, but was quite out of it, so apparently didn't make a lot of sense when I spoke. Most of this week was like that. I haven't slept a ton 'cause I'm not really back on MN time yet, but I've been very lazy. I've seen quite a few people around town that I know, but there are still a bunch I have to track down! It's been GREAT to get hugs again!! I really, really missed that physical contact with people, and am absolutely looooving all of the hugs:):)

Yesterday when I woke up I finally felt like I had enough energy to get through the day! I did it too! It helped that I was with kids and college students for most of the day, but oh well, I had fun and stayed awake!! Today I got to see more friends, and loved just hanging out and catching up!

My plans for the summer (besides readjusting to life in the US) are to spend time catching up and hanging out with family and friends, and getting ready for college (which doesn't start for a little under 2 months).

That's my life recently. 

I hope to see (or at least hear from) all of you very soon!!

Love and hugs,

Naomi