Oct 12th & 13th Update

Oct 12 and 13 Update

The day finally came to leave. The days before my trip, I spent packing my kids and myself. I also packed a huge duffle bag of all of the donations. Rhonda, I got all your stuff packed in there. And Mel, I got your cute rag quilts.

The day finally came and I was ready to go, but not emotionally ready to travel alone. My husband took me to the airport and was allowed to go through security and wait at the gate with me. My cute bugs were there to see me off. When the time came to board the plane, I almost lost it. I cried and felt like I had been blown to bits. I didn’t want to leave my babies. I cried all the way to my seat and then some. I cried while staring out the window. And then I stopped crying. I knew everything would be ok. But I already missed my babies. I only had a 50 minute layover in New Jersey and my flight was late. I literally got off my gate and ran to my next gate and boarded. I was able to call my husband when I got on the plane. I cried. I’m such a baby sometimes. This particular flight is the longest and my least favorite. For a claustrophobic person like myself, long flights are grueling. Luckily I had books to read and no one was sitting next to me, which meant I could sleep.

The time zone is a killer. I left New Jersey at 7pm and arrived in Frankfurt at 9:30am the next morning. From Frankfurt I went to Bucharest and then finally to Suceava. My flight arrived at 6:40pm in Suceava the following night. I was dead tired. And for many reasons, I had not been able to sleep on the long flight. I got slightly lost in the airport in Bucharest and was completely stressed out with no one to talk to. It was stressful but I finally managed to find my gate and board the flight to Suceava. It’s about an hour flight to Suceava and I kept falling asleep. I finally landed in Suceava at 6:40pm. We landed on the running and had to get off there. It was freezing cold and all I had on was a shirt dress with leggings and a thin cardigan with flip flops. Not the smartest outfit for freezing cold weather, but it was comfortable on the flight.

From the plane, you get off on the runway and then head into the small airport. As I was waiting to get my baggage, I saw Albina peek her head in, and it was such a relief to see her face. Everyone waiting for their luggage must stay in one room, while all those waiting to greet someone, stay in the other room. Albina kept peeking her head in. I just love her. I was relieved that all of my luggage made it there, especially the huge duffle bag of donations. I was greeted by Albina, Ionica and Razvan. Ionica laughed at my choice of clothing and Albina was clearly worried that I was going to freeze to death. The airport is about 20 minutes outside of the city, and I practically fell asleep on the ride home.

It was so nice to finally arrive home. I was so excited to have made it through all of that grueling traveling alone and to have reached my destination in one piece. Albina’s home is a comfort to me and I was so happy to have finally arrived.