I’m not good at saying goodbyes, but for some reason, it wasn’t a challenge. Some people cried and some people said a temporary bye. When I got home the day before I was leaving I had on my first friends come to my house to say goodbye (and steal half my clothes) all I said " I see how it is using me like that!" but I was joking. My mum was stressing me about packing, but the funny part is that it’s 1 am and she hasn’t even packed her dresses. I knew that I was going to forget a lot of things that day because I like to do things last minute, well only packing and sometimes homework. December 16th, 2019, 4:30 am. My alarm went off. I was surprised the tears didn’t come down, because usually, they do. I think from the past 3 years I developed a coping mechanism that when I’m about to cry I start smiling or having a giggle that if someone saw me they would know I’m sad. I had to tell myself everything is going to be ok and it's just for a few months which could possibly turn into a year, and that you are going to visit them 100%.
My driver that had for 2 and a half years was there and came to drop us off at the airport. On the way to the airport, he began saying that he was really going to miss me and that almost ignited some feeling in me that was making me remember all the events I had, all the good times I had. It was hard not to cry. I might have shed a tear, but that was the limit. To get me out of this feeling would be me thinking about my future, how my life in Kenya will be, how will it impact me, and will I be comfortable. Obviously, I thought about the positive so I assumed that it was going to be amazing, but before that, I had to make a 3-week pitstop in Tanzania.
We arrived at the airport and my mum went to check in while I wrapped the suitcases. My mum said that before we arrive we were going to have to go to South Africa to deal with some passports and stuff like that. This had to be one of the worst days because being patient requires skill, but today, today patience is out of context. We didn’t succeed in doing what we wanted so we just gave up. We were leaving the next morning and I had no outfit to wear for tomorrow and my mum refused for me to remove the plastic seal that protects the suitcase. My mum bought me a few clothes and we went home. It was finally time to go home. The excitement got to me. But not too much. I told myself to not get too cocky and start feeling to fresh!
We arrived so early that we were able to do our usual routine. What we do is basically buy chocolate for the family and also alcohol (but that’s on my mom). The airport in South Africa just looks nice but it isn’t really helpful (just for decoration). Me and my mom were about to miss our flight because of being distracted (something we're good at) and because of how they don’t announce flights when you’re about to board. We thought we had time until we looked at the time and realized the gate was about to close. We arrived at the gate, they called our names and we said ‘yes’. Once we entered the plane I said to my mum.
“This is how we start our new adventure!”
