The Travels Home

Home at last. On the last day with my Indonesian family, I had some photos printed and framed, and also wrapped Hershey's chocolates and fruit snacks I had brought with me to share. I think and hope that they liked the gifts. For all that they had done for me, it was not nearly enough. I will be forever grateful for their kindness. Thankfully getting home was not nearly the hassle like going to indonesia was. I actually made all my flights and got home in two days instead of four. It was interesting observing the changes in security from the primitive airport in Malang to the uptight US security. In Malang, I didn't have to take my shoes off, my liquids weren't in a bag, my iPad wasn't out, and I didn't have to dump my water out. In Tokyo it was a little tighter security, and in the US a lot more so. I forgot to dump my water out and I had this rock plaque from the school, so they made me dig it out and then go back out of security to empty the water. When I came back through again, I was randomly selected for the personal scan. It was definitely a new record for the longest time through. From Malang to Jakarta, the flight was about an hour and a half. From Jakarta to Tokyo, it was over 7 hours and from Tokyo to Chicago it was 15. Then I had just a short flight back to Cedar Rapids. I didn't have the pleasure of a business class seat over the pacific like I did before, but it was still manageable. I am pretty sure I suffered through my third case of food poisoning though. I had to flag a flight attendant down for a barf bag. Within a few seconds I had four flight attendants surrounding me, rubbing my back and giving me cool wash cloths. I just wanted to puke in peace, alone. Luckily, I never needed the bag, but I sure had the passengers around me a little nervous! I went through I think five cold rags, and even today I am not completely over it. When I arrived in Jakarta seven weeks ago, my suitcase was ripped along the side and in a plastic bag. I was forced to buy a new one in Malang. When I arrived in Cedar Rapids yesterday, my new one was already busted. A wheel was missing along with two little nobby things, so screws were sticking out. International travel is not very friendly to baggage, that is for sure. It is good to be home, and handling the jet lag from a 12 hour time difference has actually not been too bad so far. I have a few more stories I haven't shared yet...so one more blog yet to come!