Airplane Adventures

Well, its been a ridiculously long week.. I'm sorry I haven't been able to update my blog lately I keep telling myself I need to do it but by the time I finally have time to I end up going straight to sleep. I am finally here in Indonesia and 2 days ago I went home with my host family. :) Getting here was not the easiest thing in the world but it was definitely interesting haha Our flights to get here were about a total of 20 hours but all in all we spent a good 30 or so hours in the airports and on our flights. The first plane took us from New York to Vancouver and from there to Hong Kong. All 9 of us went on to JFK airport and we had 3 hours to spend before boarding so we all went and found some food while our poor chaperone sat down and watched our crazy amount of carry on bags. 

The gate was super packed and we all were surrounding the only charging station they had so we could charge our phones and iPods haha but we finally got on the plane and of course, who was joining us on our way to Vancouver? Bon Jovi. He was sitting a few rows behind us but actually ended up sitting right behind me later in the flight. I felt bad because it seemed like he really didn't want all of the attention so I tried to catch up on some sleep. Apparently by the time me and Emily #2 were dead asleep Mallory and Bon Jovi were having a good conversation. Guess its my own fault I missed out on that one.

 The part of the plane ride that I remember the most was waking up to see Izzy wearing a surgical mask and some flight attendants surrounding the seats Sarah, Ellen, and Bre were sitting in. Izzy walked past us to get to the back of the flight and we asked what had happened, Sarah had gotten motion sick and threw up all over the lap table in front of her and Bre who was by the window had tried not to but soon after Sarah she too puked all over her lap and a little bit on Ellen. Ellen was seated in between the two and completely asleep the entire time. The look on her face when the flight attendant woke her up was priceless. Everybody tried to clean up as best as possible while the attendants sprayed an obnoxious vanilla scented perfume in between the seats. After a few more hours we were in Vancouver, Canada. All of us got up and were getting excited to go out and stretch for a little bit but we were told we couldn't get off of the plane and instead had to wait an hour while the plane was cleaned up and refueled. I finally got around to taking a sleeping pill and was knocked out before we even took off again. 7 hours of sleep later, it as STILL night time and we had 5 more hours to go. It was a constant night time, we left at 10 pm from JFK but with all of the time differences it wasn't morning until we reached Hong Kong International Airport. It was the most terrifying and amazing thing to know that I was already on the other side of the world. We went through some more security and after, a few of us went out to find some food

 This was coconut milk with Sago which is basically like a sweeter and smaller version of tapioca balls.
(P.S. no it was not 38 US dollars it was 38 Hong Kong dollars)

This was delicious!!! It was mango wrapped in some sort of rice flour dough and covered in coconut flakes. 

A lot of us were still feeling a little sick from all of the flying, so we sat back and just talked and relaxed in the airport. When we finally got to boarding for our flight to Jakarta, Indonesia there was a long line of Indonesians watching as the raggedy group of Americans wearing matching t-shirts waited to board. haha that flight was really bumpy at first and we were all a little nervous it would stay that way for the entire 5 hours but it calmed down after a few minutes and a lot of us went to sleep. I will be posting the next part of the past week soon but for today I think this is enough. :) 

-Em

So this week has definitely been a rough and exciting week all at once. Tomorrow morning I will be heading off to New York for my Gateway Orientation with the other 7 amazing girls who will be traveling to Indonesia with me. The past few months have completely flown by and all of my work with YES Abroad is finally coming together. I am so excited to get to be a part of this experience and though its always hard to say goodbye I know that my family and friends are supporting me and will be here when I return. I have gone over my packing a good 5 times today and I'm still hoping that I won't be over the weight limit of only 44lbs!!! Packing lightly for 10 MONTHS is not exactly the easiest thing in the world…Especially for a girl :) I think I've got enough things to keep me entertained for the next few days Im hoping that I can get myself to sleep for a good while on the plane but all of the nerves and excitement might just keep me away from that, so, I have been working on the most uplifting fun songs that will keep me happy on my long flights to Indonesia. This is truly going to be the journey of a lifetime and I hope everyone has a great year. I will keep everyone posted!

Goodnight!
-Em