Day 17 & 18 - Monday & Tuesday July 20 & 21

Monday morning, the 20th of July, I woke up with a stomach ache and a weird feeling. The day I had to leave Jamaica had arrived, I could no longer deny my departure, it was truly happening now. The idea of having to leave my host family, Robyn, all the lovely people I met over there and the country itself made me so sad. Reluctantly, I got ready but when Robyn asked me if I wanted to get some breakfast, I did not feel hungry at all. Around 8:30, Robyn's taxi arrived. We said our last goodbyes, hugged each other and she went off. I'll admit, as she drove away in the taxi, I broke down in tears. I'm just not good at saying goodbye, I can be an emotion mess at times. Luckily Unika came into my room to comfort me, and Javier was so worried about me, it was so sweet and it made me feel a little better. By then I could also eat something, so Unika prepared us some fritters and plantains. After breakfast, I continued getting ready, packed my last stuff and double-checked whether I had everything. Then just before my taxi driver arrived at 10 o' clock, Javier came into my room and handed me a letter telling me that he liked the time we got to spend together and that I was his friend and that he would miss me a lot when I would be gone. This letter just melt my heart and I gave him a huge bear hug. I would definitely miss that kid too, he's a good one! Just before 10 AM, I rolled my suitcases into the living room and left a letter for Unika on my bed. There was so much I wanted to say to her and thank her for, but I just knew that I wouldn't be able to say it all to her as we said goodbye, because I just simply knew I would break down in tears and nothing would be able to come out anymore. That's why I wrote her the letter earlier and left it on my bed with a little "thank you and please don't forget me"-present so that she could read it when I was gone and would hopefully never forget about me. It was then really time to say goodbye... (I still get a lump in my throat as I think back to it.) I just hugged Unika, thanked her for everything she had done for me during these two weeks and she thanked me too and said all these sweet things as I cried on her shoulder. I didn't want to let go of her, but I knew that at some point I had to. Bevin, my taxi driver, carried my suitcases into the back of his car and I sat down in the passenger's seat. As he talked some more with Unika, I sent Unika a text message, letting her know that I left a letter with a little gift on my bed. Bevin then came back to the car and started the motor. Slowly we drove away on our way to the airport, and I waved Unika and Javier goodbye for the final time. It was a pity that Russhanya was still with her father, so I didn't get the chance to say goodbye to her. It took a while before I got myself together, but luckily Bevin was really nice to me and tried to distract me from my sadness. After we had driven and talked for about half an hour, and he had even managed to make me smile again, he asked me whether I had arrived at the Montego Bay airport as well. I told him that I arrived via Kingston Airport, and would be leaving Jamaica via the same airport. He stopped the car at the side of the road and asked me if I was sure I had to go to Kingston Airport, since Projects Abroad had told him to bring me to Montego Bay airport (which was where we were heading to at that point) I was completely sure, so he checked it with Projects Abroad and found out that they accidentally had send him to the wrong airport. I was glad we found out then, and not when we arrived in Montego Bay, because that would have meant we would have to drive for about 5 hours all the way to Kingston, which would mean that I would have missed my flight. So we soon turned the car and drove to the right airport. On our way to the airport, Bevin got called by Unika, it was me she wanted to speak to. She was crying on the phone and told me that she had read the letter and she thought it was too sweet and she told me she missed me already. Because of that, I started crying again, I couldn't help myself. Just two minutes after we hang up, Bevin got called again, it was Unika once more. She told me that she reread the letter and that she just couldn't stop crying. This made me cry and laugh at the same time and then we said our final, final goodbye. We drove for about 2 hours with the radio on and the wind in my hair, talking to each other as we passed small towns and even some toll roads and we finally arrived at Kingston. We drove along the water side and reached the airport a couple of minutes later. Bevin helped me with my suitcases, walked with me into the Airport and wished me a safe journey back home. I checked my suitcases in (I was checked in myself already, thanks to my dad) and made my way to the security check. After that I did some shopping and ate some lunch (my very last Curry Chicken) to finish all my Jamaican Dollars and waited for boarding. I was the first to get on board of the since I was an Unaccompanied Minor with a priority ticket. I sat down in the business class, and wasn't even seated for 2 minutes, when the flight attendant already asked me whether I would like something to drink. Well of course I did! After a couple of minutes everyone was on board and we were ready to head off to Panama City. As we flew away, I looked back until I was sure I couldn't see anything of the island anymore. I had a really pleasant flight in the business class, where I got stuffed with snacks, a meal and plenty to drink. The flight took about 2 hours, but to me it seemed way less than that. When we arrived at Panama City, I got guided to the gate from where I would be heading to Amsterdam. I got checked in and waited for a little while before we started boarding. Once again, I was the first who could enter the plane and was guided to my seat in the very front of the plane, in the business class. This flight was about 9 hours long, but it didn't seem half as long as that since I could keep myself busy with watching movies, playing games, listening some music and once more I got stuffed with food and drinks (for real this time). It was an overnight flight so I took a little nap of about 2 hours after I had dinner. I watched another movie and by then it was already time for breakfast. I opened the shutters of my window and I could see the sun rise from above the clouds. At first the sky was still a little purplish, but it slowly turned blue and then red as we flew towards the sun. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It didn't take long before I could recognize the river Thames, saw the Big Ben and the Tower Bridge and we crossed the sea to make our arrival at Amsterdam Airport. As an Unaccompanied Minor, I got guided from the airport to the pick-up point for my suitcases and then to my family who was waiting for me with a banner. My mom started to cry when she saw me (or she already did, I'm not sure), which made me cry as well. I was so glad to see my family again and hold them in my arms after two weeks. I was sad about the fact that I had left Jamaica, but it also felt kind of good to be back home again. And even though I had a huge jet lag, I was thrilled to tell them all about my unforgettable experience in Jamaica, show them all my pictures and videos and give them the souvenirs I had brought for them.

#DepartureArrival #Arrival #Airports #PanamaCity #Taxi #Home #Goodbye