Finally my adventure begins. I’m typing now from a hotel in New York near JFK Airport… I left this morning around 11:00 Pacific Coast Time after a rapid unpacking and repacking in a different carry on bag.  The flight was rather uneventful.  JetBlue really is a nice airline, though… each seat has televisions and around noon I found a special airing about Atlantis and Greece on the travel channel. Weirdly coincidental, no?

I do have to mention, though, that on the way to the airport, my mom and I stopped at a Radioshack in search of a cell phone charger for the international cell phone that Greg Hall so nicely passed off to me.  I have been searching high and low for a charger and have been unable to find one.  We thought we found one last night, but the tip to insert into the phone was too big.  To make a long story short, the worker at this Radioshack, Eduardo (I swoon!) researched the different tips online and actually tried one that worked!  He made my day, and I enthusiastically told him so!  I figure when I get to Greece, I shall have to sacrifice something of importance to the Greek gods in his honor.

In any case, I got in around 7:15pm East Coast Time… I’m still adjusting to the small time change.  Hopefully the red-eye to Heathrow tomorrow will facilitate an easy transition to Greece’s time.  In any case, I had been somewhat laughing at my mom for printing out maps of the JFK airport terminals and AirBus system, but man, was I glad to have those sheets when I got off the plane.  JFK is huge and I almost got lost on the way to the baggage claim.  It tooka while to get my giant black monster of a suitcase from the baggage carousel, and of course, I feared it had been lost even though I logically knew it had not.  From there, it was down several hallways and up an elevator or two to the AirBus, which took me to Federal Circle (lame name for a lame cul-de-sac where all the free hotel shuttles go).  I guess I had that “deer-in-headlights” look because this really nice African-American man helped me haul my luggage around and up onto my shuttle and told me to “Calm down and relax, hun, you look like you’ve had a long flight.”

Got to my hotel and checked in only to find that I was considered a “preferred member,” so I was put on the “preferred member” floor (Floor 6) and am greeted with a, “Hello Miss Riggio, what can I do for you?” whenever I call the front desk.  There’s a king bed with downy bedding and a giant plasma flat-screen television.  I really would have loved to spend my last night in America in my own room, but I can hardly complain about this.  I ordered room service since there’s nowhere to eat for dinner around here and might have to do the same for breakfast since I don’t know if I’ll be able to cook the instant oatmeal I packed along with me just in case…

I have to check out by noon tomorrow and be at the airport at least by 4:00pm.  My flight leaves at 7:00pm and gets into Heathrow at 7:00am. Then it’s on a flight to Athens from there. By Sunday, 2:00pm Greece time (4:00am for Pacific Coast and 7:00am for East Coast), I should be in Greece and soon on my way to Athens.

So those are the gritty details of everything… I suppose it wouldn’t be my blog if I didn’t include what’s going on mentally and emotionally for me.  I am not, as was feared, breaking down in the least.  I don’t know… I feel like I’ve been waiting for this for so long, watching my friends take off one by one. It feels good to finally be going somewhere… even if I’m still only in New York.  It still feels a little unreal, but I know the path is set. I think I’m excited… no, I am excited. More than I have been in a long time… my anxiety has turned more into a caution, if that makes any sense.  My main worry is communication, actually.  I’m not so concerned about not knowing Greek, nor am I concerned about my disdain for their food staples (feta, lamb and olives).  I am a little wary of how the new time schedule will work out, but really, I’m most worried about not having connection to those I love and care about.  It seems stupid, but that’s what I’m worrying about.  My mom isn’t going to be just a cell phone call away anymore, per se… between all the time differences and probably limited Internet access, keeping in touch seems like it will be difficult.

I do recognize, though, that with this “problem” comes the opportunity to really grow (sounds cheesy, right?).  I am hoping that out of this whole adventure, I learn to become more flexible, more willing to adapt to new surroundings and sudden changes.  I hope I learn to be more spontaneous.  And I hope to learn to become more independent… emotionally, I mean.  I consider myself a pretty independent person, no doubt, but I find that I have a hard time detaching myself from people sometimes.  I let my moods and happiness be influenced by other people too much.  Hopefully this is the opportunity to wean myself off of some of that because though it’s nice to feel connected to people, I think it causes more harm than good sometimes.

So that’s all. I really can’t wait. And I’m finally getting sleepy even though my computer only says it’s 8:40pm in California. I hope to post as soon as I can, but I don’t know how the Orientation schedule will work out… but next time you hear from me, I’ll be in Greece for sure!

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Only this song can capture the bittersweet (happy-sad) feelings…
Chantal Kreviazuk – Leaving On A Jet Plane

But this one matches my frame of mind, I think…
Seal – Rolling

And I have no idea what they’re saying, but it’s Deep Forest and Peter Gabriel and it’s AMAZING!
Deep Forest and Peter Gabriel – While The Earth Sleeps