Home Sweet Home

So I am officially home in wonderful Pennsylvania. We left our apartment at 5am for Athens International Airport, waited an hour to check in, and boarded the plane around 8. We left at 9am, Athens time. It was a 3 and 1/2 hour flight to Heathrow Airport in London. Well, I knew we had a six hour layover until our flight to Philadelphia, but...there was a 2-hour delay due to plane problems. On top of that, there was a problem with the landing gear on the replacement plane we were on, so we had to sit on the plane for another 2 hours while it got fixed. Thank the Lord that the problem was caught before we took off. Customs took forever once we got to Philly, ugh so long. My dad and Issac picked me up from the airport, I missed them both so much. I finally fell asleep around 3:30 that night and woke up around 9:30 that morning. Crazy, I know. I should have slept in! Lol. A few of my dad's friends came to the diner for my dad's name day celebration and we had cake. However, I had no clue there was a surprise in it for me. I turned around and there stood my mom, brother, nana, and stepdad. I cried!!! I couldn't believe it!!! We shared tears and jokes and cake, and then I took my nana and Jared home; mom and mikey drove separately. On the way home, a deer decided to run into the passenger side of my newly fixed up car. Thank God there was no damage, not even a scratch. We made it home safe and I received quite a warm welcome from the animals. The puppies got so big!!!! It feels so wonderful being home, but I am definitely experiencing reverse culture shock. I miss the food in Athens, the weather, some of the people, the frappes, the bakery, the gyro place, the kiosks, all the walking, and the chocolate. I catch myself talking about Greece a lot; I wonder if it's getting annoying. I don't want my parents thinking I'm unappreciative of everything here, but it's only been 3 days, and I miss there. However, on the bright side, I do love home. I missed my family and pets soooo much. I had my laundry washed in a WASHING MACHINE, it was so wonderful :-) Plus, I am seeing my LVC loves on Thursday, and then Conrad Saturday morning and am spending all next week with him in Rochester, New York. Words can't even express how much I miss that boy, so excited to be with him again. It's weird, you know? This Greece experience taught me a lot about who I am and my faith. I know who my true friends are and I realized how fake and phony people really can be. I realized that true love really can stand by you and support you. I realized that my family is incredible, and I couldn't have done this without them. Greece is more than just my place of ethnicity now, it's a part of me. I fell in love with its beauty and discovered more of who I am by observing those around me. Greece, I miss you. Thanks for a life changing semester.