DAY 14- goodbye isn't forever pt. 2

This day turned out to be a long one; literally and figuratively. In a literal sense, our Thursday June 25th, 2015 was longer than 24 hours. In a figurative sense, it seemed like we crammed so much into that day that it would never end.
Waking up early that one last time was just as hard as ever. Everyone needed to eat, pack, and make sure photos were in the right place. We also had the chance to download the photos of students that Brett and Lisa took, which I love.
Despite the fact that we would be flying out that day, we still went surfing for the first half of it. I couldn't go, due to how terribly my toe was hurting. Instead, I relaxed on the beach with Mariam, Katie, and Alex as we watched the rest of them surf.
The day generally moved by fairly quick, as a lot of what we had to do was just final preparations for leaving. Dinner was at a nice restaurant by Smuggler's, where we had our overall highs and lows for the trip and our funniest moment. I was the last one to go, forcing the restaurants band to wait until I was done to play their farewell song (oops). My low was the amount of injuries I accumulated, which was a pretty obvious answer for myself. But my high, in honor of trying to say more reflective and meaningful highs and lows on this trip, was a bit more complex. My high for the trip was the people I traveled with. Though I tend to be quite shy and not the best at conversation, I felt comfortable with everyone I went with by the end of it. It was a great group of people, who I hope to keep in touch with for as long as I can. I left this experience genuinely caring about everyone there, and loving being with them. And, finally, my funniest moment was the volleyball game on day 11, and all of us yelling at Brett for every ball that came over the net.
As dinner came to a close, we went to the airport. I don't really want to elaborate on any of the airplane misadventures, since I still hate long airplane rides just as much as I did to begin with. In summary, there was claustrophobia, food poisoning, and finally getting to be back in America (all hail cheeseburgers).
Though I'm stoked to be home in a familiar place with my family and friends, I would never trade my Fijian experience for the world. I'm so grateful to have been able to have an adventure like that, and I will never forget anyone I encountered along the way.

photo by Lisa Hornak