This is gonna be a quick jet lagged post as I've got a massive headache and am utterly exhausted. I reached home around 4 pm yesterday and I have never been so glad to be in Jersey. The moment the plane touched the ground and sped down the runway, I exhaled as though I'd been holding my breath for five months. It was a similar feeling to the moment when I landed in Greece after being locked down in Cairo for five days straight during the revolution in January. Pure, utter, unadulterated relief.
After the mad dash around the airport through customs and baggage claim, I found my mother who gave me a huge bear hug and told me it was as though I was returning after being married- I told her I felt more like I was returning from war. When we got home, I met the rest of my family members - aunts, cousins, my uncle. The phone rang and rang with people welcoming me home but all I could think of was a long, hot shower (feeling properly clean for the first time in months) and a long-awaited reunion with my wonderful bed. After sleeping on a tiny, hard couch in a minuscule shared room for months, my bed feels like heaven. As I snuggled under my comforter, I could almost feel all my muscles relax in the familiar surroundings of my bedroom.
For everyone who has asked me to meet up, I'll get back to everyone soon. My globe-trotting days are done for the year and there is a long, relaxing summer of unwinding to look forward to. At the moment, I'm just so relieved to be home and can fully appreciate why people call America the greatest country on Earth. Home at last.
