So, I had just come back from from shower. Karen and Mariam were packing. So much for an evening in the lounge. But I understood that they needed to pack. I went ahead into the lounge. Karen and Mariam came a bit later just to hang out...but they both went to bed fairly early that night. We were all sad. We didn't exactly show it...but it was there.
I tried not to think about it. Honestly, I never wanted this night to end. And in a way, it didn't. So, I am in the lounge. After Mariam and Karen go to bed, it was a pretty dead night. Caleb and Trey went to bed early because tomorrow was a big day for them. Tomorrow they would become interns!
Priscilla stayed up later than usual, so I helped her put pictures from her camera onto her computer, and then I uploaded them onto her facebook. After that was accomplished, I walked to the dorm so she could get her toothbrush. Mariam was still up and on her laptop, so I told her I was going to go count the bathroom showers.
There were several, and I had always wanted to do it. So when I walked Priscilla to the bathroom, I also counted the showers. 85 in all. That's a lot of showers. So I take Priscilla back to the dorm, and go into the lounge. No one was there. Great. Now I had to go back to the dorm and try to fall asleep. And I really didn't want to do that.
But then Ulises and Philip came in. Philip was leaving at 5am to go to the airport, and Christa was going to go with him. It was 2am. But he said he couldn't sleep. So they were just going to relax in here for a bit. Ulises brings in all of his luggage.
He goes through some of it, organizing it. So then he goes to close it. And it won't close. He is struggling. So he asks me to go over there and help him. It is like in those cartoon, where they have to sit on their suitcase just to close it. Yeah. It was a cartoon in real life.
So after we successfully close his suitcase, we sit back and rest. And then I ask him if he had his clothes for tomorrow. He looked at me, smiled and laughed, and unzipped his suitcase. So he pulls out some red pants, and then one black and one white shirt.
He asks me which one, and I choose the black one. So once he has his outfit ready, he closes his suitcase yet again. This times, it seems to close much easier. So he and Philip are talking and stuff, and the lounge door opens, and Andrew comes in. It is 2:45pm.
Philip had just turned some music on, so he and Ulises start dancing around the room, dancing to the music. I recorded them...and I am pretty sure they didn't know it. After dancing, they thought it would be funny for Ulises to throw skittles at Philip, while Philip was running around the room, and he would try to catch the skittles in his mouth.
Skittles were everywhere. This lasted for several moments. Then they started throwing skittles at me, which I did not appreciate. Afterwards, they pulled out the vacuum and cleaned them up. And then they decide to go play some video games.
I go and sit with them, and I get onto facebook. Suddenly, Ulises stops what he is doing, and looks very closely at the floor. He pointed something out. A scorpion. But all Ulises did was went, got a knife, cut the stinger off, threw the stinger away, and then resumed his game.
He said they have a lot of scorpions in Mexico. So I watched the injured scorpion run away. Next thing I know, it is 4:30am. And Mariam comes into the room. She sees me and asked me if I had gotten any sleep, to which I replied no. Obviously.
Mariam comes and sits next to me, and we talk for a bit while the boys play their video games. Philip walks over a bit later, and I get a picture of him with Mariam. It was their first picture together. Philip turns his music on again, and turns the volume up.
Christa has come into the lounge, because she is going with Philip. Only, it is 4:50am, and the van hasn't arrived. Mariam gets in contact with the driver...and it turns out he has overslept. So while we are waiting for the driver to show up, Philip dances to more songs.
I wish I had gotten pictures or video. We have the lounge door propped open so we can watch for the bus. It is pouring down rain outside. I was living in a dream world. The van would never comes. The sun would never rise. We would never leave this room.
I have this memory forever branded in my brain...and I thought it would never end. Philip dancing. Andrew walking. Christa sitting. Mariam recording Philip and us. Ulises straightening his hair. This was one of the most special of nights...one of my favorite nights...
The song Call Me Maybe was playing, and Philip was dancing around the room. Mariam was recording. And I was standing watch. And then the van pulled in. I told Philip, and he turned off the music and got his things. He packed them into the van, and he came back in to say goodbye. It didn't feel real. But it was.
I watched as he and Christa got into the van. I watched as the van pulled out and left the parking lot. I knew they were gone...but for some reason, I didn't really feel it. I was numb. Mariam asked me if I missed Philip, and I said yes...but I kind of lied. Not that I wasn't missing him.
I think I was. But everything felt fake. Like my whole world was about to come crashing down on me. He left. I expected to cry...but surprisingly, no tears. It was a very strange emotion. So now it is about 5:45am. Almost time for breakfast. Caleb and Trey had woken up to see Philip off, and now we were all just standing around awkwardly.
So we decided to go to breakfast. It was raining, lightning, and thundering. Very normal for Texas. But Mariam was scared to walk in the storm. I told her there was nothing to worry about. So, on our way to breakfast, we all decide to stop by the restroom. Mariam stays outside and records the storm, and I walk into the restroom.
There was a puddle of water on the floor, and I slipped and nearly did the splits. It was very embarrassing. Thankfully no one had seen. On my way out, I carefully walk through the puddle. I got this. Ok. So I am walking down the stairs and get to the ramp, when I completely lose my balance. There was another puddle of water that I hadn't seen.
One leg slips out in front of me, the other legs rolls behind me, and I land on it with my body. I roll to my right and just lay there for a few second, and then sit up. Thankfully no broken bones, sprains, pulled muscles. Just a sore body. And then Mariam sees me.
She is running over with her camera, still recording. Apparently, she had been recording the storm when I fell. She rushes over and says, "I should have been there to catch you!" Like she had known I was going to slip and hurt myself. As I watch the video afterwards, she was recording the lightening, and you can hear me squeal as I slip.
Then she recorded me as I was laying on the ramp. I could't stop laughing. She thought something was wrong with me. But I usually laugh when I am in a lot of physical pain. Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying, right?
The others have just returned from the restroom, and I think they thought I was crazy because I couldn't stop laughing. As we are walking, the rain becomes harder. We walk under the pavilion, a nice relief. When we come from under the pavilion, it seems as if the rain has gotten even harder.
Andrew and Trey stay under the pavilion while Mariam, Caleb, and I trudge on. Ulises had stayed in the lounge, straightening his hair. We arrive in the caf, and they are serving cereal and muffins. That's ok with me. Andrew and Trey meet us in the caf, and we all sit in a booth.
Caleb and Trey share stories of life back home, of their friendship, of their future. The rest of us just listen, and laugh, because Caleb and Trey are hilarious. We heard some pretty great stories. We sat there for an hour, just listening. We decide to head back to the lounge.
It is 7am, and the sun is up. Well, it is still rainy and cloudy. We are talking all the way back. Caleb shows us some awesome videos on the way. We arrive at the lounge, and Ulises is sleeping on the couch. We don't bother being quiet though. But, because this was a new day, everyone splits up and does their own thing.
I was sitting on the couch talking with Ulises, who had woken up, and Caleb comes into the lounge. My back was facing him, so I couldn't see what he was doing. He takes a sharpie, reaches his hand around my head, and starts drawing on my face. With a sharpie!
And he gets frustrated because he can't see, so he comes around an faces me, and writes "Cool!" on my forehead. I thought about stopping him, but he would just fight me, and probably make it worse. So I let him. I should have taken it picture, but I didn't.
I went to the restroom and washed it off. It is about 9 o'clock, and Trey and Caleb come into the lounge and say their goodbyes. Caleb came and slapped my foot and said "see ya". I couldn't look him in the face, because I knew I would cry. Trey came and shook my shoulder and said "see you later". It was very emotional.
Once they left the room, I was sobbing. Mariam and Ulises were both surprised. Mariam told me she didn't think this goodbye would be hard for me...but it was. In more ways than one. You see, Caleb and Trey were staying on as interns.
I knew in my heart that I was going to be an intern one day...I suppose I was a bit jealous because they were going, and I wasn't. I will, just not now. Plus, they were good friends. I was going to miss them. Because I live somewhat local, I had invited Trey and Caleb over for Thanksgiving.
Mariam too. So hopefully, they can all come and visit... I stopped crying, and was able to regain my "composure". At 9:19am, I get a text from my mom. "We are on our way". This was a very heartbreaking text. Not because I don't like my mom. I love my mom.
But it meant that I was leaving this place. This place where my heart was. It still is. So I had only a couple of hours before my summer would officially end. When I would be forced back into the "real world". And I wasn't looking forward to it. Not one bit.
But, I go to my dorm and start packing anyway. Karen is awake, packing her things. Everyone knows what is coming, but no one wants to talk about it. I get all of my things into an orderly fashion. Beside my suitcase, I found a shirt. A napkin was on the shirt.
It read "To: Mikayla, From: Your Heavenly Father". That made me want to cry even more. This was a shirt that I had been wanting from day one. And someone knew about it. I had only told one person, but they had already left...so I have no idea who could have possibly given this shirt to me. But it was a blessing.
So I change into my outfit for the day, brush my teeth, do my hair. And then I go to the lounge where everyone is. Mariam has all of her things spread out across the floor, and she was organizing her suitcase. We all sit around and talk. About what happened this summer, about our future.
We watch some of the videos we had taken. We laugh together. We just...are. Being together. What we like to do best. It is about 11am, and I get the phone call. My family is here. They hadn't arrived in the Village...they were still at the gates, so I still had a few minutes to pretend like nothing was going to happen.
It was just going to be a regular day. I was going to go to work with Karen and Mariam, and we were going to hang out in the lounge later. But nothing can stay the same. Everything changes. And so did time. My few minutes were up.
I watched as the van drove into the Village, and parked. I watched my family get out and look around at what I called home. I walk up to them, hug them, talk with them. I bring them into the lounge to meet my other family. They all exchange pleasantries. Everything was ok, I told myself.
Just 10 months. 10 months and I would be back. Andrew and Ulises were no where to be seen. I went to their dorm and knocked on the door. Nothing. So I go back to the lounge and wait. And as I was talking with my families, I see Ulises through the window.
He sees me and smiles back. But when he opens up the door, I saw the look of surprise on his face when he saw my family. He obviously wasn't expecting them. He awkwardly goes to sit down on the couch. I introduce him to my family.
Karen had arranged lunch with the caf, so at 11:30am, she needed to go over there and pick it up. My parents offered to drive everyone to the caf. On our way to the van, I spot Andrew coming up the rode. Yes. I had really wanted my family to meet him. He comes up, and talks. My family really wanted to hear his accent, haha.
Other than Andrew, all of the other volunteers pile up into the van, and my dad drives us to the caf. I get out with them, and walk with them to the caf. Even though we are all together, just us volunteers, everything feels so different. Like my world has just turned upside down.
We are only in the caf for a few minutes, and we get back into the van and drive back to the Village. We only just unloaded everybody, when we see the Greyhound bus coming to pick them up. Everyone rushes to get their luggage, and my mom quickly takes pictures of all of us.
I am crying now. Crying beyond all reason. Getting to know people on a deep level, sharing so much time and emotions with them...it bonded us. And watching them get on that bus and drive away was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, emotionally.
I stopped crying long enough to go to my dorm and get my things. Aimee called me, but I had to leave the building to be able to hear. She wanted to see my family again, so we were planning on meeting near the auditorium. After all of my things were loaded, we got into the van and drove to the auditorium. And then I saw Rachel L.
I knew she would be mad at me if I left without saying goodbye, so I rushed past Aimee, telling her just a moment, and I ran to Rachel and hugged her. She told me to stay, but I told her I didn't have the money, or I would in a heartbeat. I hugged her again, and then I left her.
I went over to Aimee. My family was with her now. My mom stopped and took a picture of me and Aimee, and then my family stopped in the restroom. I went with my brother and Aimee to check out her office. I had been to her office before, but she had it decorated differently, and I wanted to see.
My family is waiting out by the van, so I say yet another goodbye, and I leave. I get into the van, heavyhearted. Karen texted me, and we were conversing for awhile. We left campus, and that was that. My parents wanted to take me out to eat, so we drove to the local town and went to a restaurant.
I believe that when you talk about people and stories, it helps to heal, so I decided to share a few stories with my family. I would do so good. I could tell a whole story without crying. But when I started thinking about the story, I would cry. It was embarrassing, crying in a restaurant...but there really was no way to get around it.
I heal by tears sometimes, and this was one of those times. Of course, having been up for over 24 hours also didn't help. I was actually starting to get my days mixed up. It felt like a few hours ago when we went cliff jumping, but in reality, it was a whole day ago.
So being tired, physically and emotionally, was exhausting. The drive home was ok. If I closed my eyes for too long, I would begin to fall asleep. Once I was at home, it was different. When I am doing things, it isn't too bad...
But when I am alone, or my thoughts catch up with me, it gets depressing. So shortly after I get home, my mom goes grocery shopping. I definitely don't want to be alone for too long, so I go with her. Me, my mom and dad, and my sister, all go shopping. It was nice.
I was able to tell stories without getting teary eyed. And after we arrived home, my other sister with her two babies came over. I had really missed them. But, the day is just starting to get...long. I had to wash dishes, and about 10:30pm, I was in bed.
I share a room with my sister, and she told me that I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow. I had been awake for just over 36 hours. It had been a really long day...
Nickel
 |
| Just hangin' out... |
 |
| Desiree and her guitar... |
 |
| Priscilla! |
 |
| This is the bag Karen surprised me with!! |
 |
| Andrew and Ulises playing foosball... |
 |
| Ulises trying to stuff his suitcase |
 |
| Swag. |
 |
| The three amigos. Philip, Ulises, and Andrew |
 |
| Me and Philip! |
 |
| Me and Ulises! |
 |
| Playing video games! |
 |
| Philip and Mariam! |
 |
| Ulises straightening his mohawk... |
 |
| Caleb and Mariam |
 |
| Me and Ulises! |
 |
| My dear friend, Aimee |
 |
| Karen! |
 |
| LC! |
 |
| Priscilla, Andrew, Karen, Mariam, Ulises. My family. |
 |
| Mariam! |
 |
| Andrew! |
 |
| Me and Andrew along with my sister, Hannah |
No comments:
Post a Comment