Journey to Germany

  Upon arriving at the XNA airport, a volatile cocktail of emotions stirred inside of me. I wanted to jump for joy, scream, run, practically swim across the Atlantic Ocean; I wanted to be there the moment my journey started. However like with most things, I look too far ahead and don't take as much joy in the now, losing some of the best aspects of of life. Truly it was the path our GAPP group took to get here which kick-started an amazing life changing experience.
   The first flight taken on this trip was to Chicago from our small airport in Northwest Arkansas. Despite my better judgement and a minor case of claustrophobia, I made like the good little sardine I was and begrudgingly found myself in a metal can that would soon be thousands of feet above everything I knew. As this flying steel tube made its way down the runway, I grew more and more weary with each passing moment. "In case of an emergency, your seat can be used as a flotation device." Very helpful, I thought. We're only being propelled into the air over mountains and fields with virtually no bodies of water in sight. Fantastic. I really feel safe now. 
   Don't mistake my thoughts for doubts about the trip. This did not, in fact, perturb me from being  elated with my first international experience. Instead I would say that it made the trip much more memorable. After panicking internally during take off and landing in a seemingly rickety death trap with wings, I was impossibly more excited. Believing that we had only a few minutes of layover, we all made our way around the enormous airport to our next gate. In those first few moments I had made it my mission to get across the ocean. I wanted to be there in that moment, and with all of the adrenaline coursing through me after getting out of the first plane, I was certain that if I had to I would do anything to get there.
   After another long, frigid flight, our GAPP group finally landed in Düsseldorf. The only problem with this was by the time we had landed our next flight had already started boarding. Because we had also landed in another country, we would have to go through customs, check our passports, pick up our luggage, make sure everyone had gone to the restroom, and make it to the gate with all twenty-four of us together. I guess you can already tell where this is going.
   We missed the last flight to Berlin. 
    And so the waiting began. Together, the twenty students in the program ended up creating a make shift caravan of suitcases  and carry-ons and backpacks. We had no idea if there was any way to get every member on another flight any time soon, so our teachers searched desperately for a solution. After six hours, we finally found a way to Berlin: by train. A four hour train ride. Yikes! So instead of finally arriving to meet our host families at the airport at ten in the morning, we ended up meeting them at a train station at eight in the evening, but all was well because we had finally made it. The next two weeks, despite being somewhat planned, would have a lot more in store for us than just what was written our on a single sheet of paper, and I loved every second of it.