Coming Home...

It was last Thursday night, and I was up until 2 am talking to Jimmy about how I should come home but I was so torn about leaving this (french) chapter of my life and the permanentness of leaving France to come back to the States. It was difficult to make a decision because I genuinely don’t see myself living in France probably ever again (but really who knows). Of course I am going to visit but living there is a much different experience. I was up until 5 am when I decided to text my mom and tell her the words...“Mom, I need to come home.” It was in one hour that I booked a plane ticket for Sunday March 22nd, a train ticket, and a hotel for my next 2 days of travel. I had 1 day to head back to my apartment from my friends place and get the rest of my things.

I woke up the next day, wrote my “Attestation” (which is the form that lets you leave the house for essential outings) and I packed up my things and said bye to my roommate Ruben who is from Spain. He currently can’t even return back to his home country of Spain. I felt lucky to even have the choice to go back to the USA.

I spent the rest of the day trying to get my stuff in order then I enjoyed my last night in France with Madison and Aubin (who I was staying with for the last 4 days) and we ate raclette and I drank my last bottle of cheap French wine. We played catan and I won (twice!!) and we enjoyed every last bit of company together. I can’t say enough how much I loved spending my last 4 days in France in lockdown (yes I’m crazy I enjoyed it) because I got to spend 4 days hanging out with Madison and Aubin. I am going to miss them so much, and I feel so lucky to have met them during my time in France. It was refreshing, fun and interesting trying to fill our time and minds up with things to do but it was always always a good time with those two. I will always cherish the many conversations and moments we had together over the past 6 months (mes amis toujours <3)

The next day, I woke up and said my goodbyes. I took the metro to the train station and took the only train (usually there are like 27) to Charles de Gaulle Airport and I had my hand sanitizer and alcohol wipes in hand. I got to the airport train station and it was totally empty and my train was the only train arriving all day. Everything else was cancelled. I walked to my hotel, and I was greeted by a worker in a mask and he asked me to stand 2 meters away as I checked in and he gave me gloves and a face mask.

I went to a little shop and I bought snacks then I turned on movies and relaxed in my hotel since we couldn’t go in the lobby or outside without a purpose. I checked into my flight and I was all set to go for tomorrow.

Around 8 pm. I received an email saying that my direct flight from CDG to Chicago was cancelled. This was my worst fear. Now that I’ve made my decision to go home, I wouldn’t be able to. I sat on the phone for 2 hours with Air France and I didn’t get through to anyone. I decided to go to the airport at 9:30 p.m. It was only 17 hours before when my flight would have been.

Luckily, the process of finding the Air France service desk wasn't too difficult, and it took 5 minutes to rebook on a flight from Paris → Atlanta → Chicago. I was just hoping this one wouldn't get cancelled last minute either. It was the only flight that day from Paris to anywhere near the midwest/east of the United States.

The next day, I showed up at the airport plenty early and checked both my bags for the flight. Throughout security we had to stand 1 meter away from everyone and some people were even wearing hazmat suits. I was wearing my gloves and a mask. We waited in the boarding line for an extra 45 minutes waiting for the plane to be gassed (disinfectant gas I believe) and cleaned completely. Then when we boarded, everyone pulled out clorox wipes, gloves and masks while settling in. I was careful not to touch my face. The flight was about 65% full and pretty much everyone had spots next to them open. I had no one next to me on either side or behind me. The flight was an extra hour (now 9 hours and 30 minutes) because New York City had closed massive amounts of airspace around them including JFK so we had to take a longer route.

When we landed in Atlanta, we waited on the flight for 20 minutes then border patrol and members from the CDC came on the plane to tell us the process of getting checked. Everyone had to fill out a form and people were randomly chosen (yours truly was chosen) to get their temperature checked. After about 50 minutes, we were allowed to deplane. I had 45 minutes to go through customs, get my bags, recheck my bags, go through security then go to my gate for my domestic flight from Atlanta to Chicago. I texted Jimmy that I might miss my flight to Chicago, which was the last flight that hadn't been cancelled going to Chicago from Atlanta that evening.

I made it just fine with minutes to spare, and I boarded the plane and sat near another assistant who was leaving France as well. I was shocked to still see restaurants and the airport still just as busy. I did notice on the departure board that several fligths had been cancelled however. When I boarded, I noticed that maybe only 3 or 4 people on the flight had masks or gloves. It was much different than my flight from France when everyone was wiping down their seats.

Once we landed, I got off the plane and quickly went to baggage claim and only one of my bags made it from Atlanta. I wasn’t upset because I was just so happy that I had even made it. About 24 hours ago, I had no flight and I wasn’t sure if it was even a possibility to get back home. I collected my bag and Jimmy picked me up from the airport with Culvers waiting for me in the car! It was the perfect way to start acclimating back to life here in Wisconsin. Immediately, I took my sweatshirt off and put it in a trash bag, and rubbed hand sanitizer all over my arms. I was headed straight to quarantine at Jimmy’s because I didn’t want to get my parents or my family sick in case I had picked up COVID-19 during my travels back home (Thanks for sacrificing yourself Jimmy!!)

Currently, I am in quarantine for the next 2 weeks and I will not be interacting with friends or family. My birthday is on Friday, and I really never thought I was going to spend my 23rd birthday separated from family and friends. But despite this, I am so thankful to have made it home and to be safe and sound back here in the states.

I’m sure I’ll make a longer blog post reflecting on my time in France since it ended quite suddenly. I feel a lot of different emotions right now, as I am happy to be back in America but I feel saddened about the potential trips that were lost but all I (and everyone else for that matter) can do is stay positive. These past 6 months in France really allowed me to seek discomfort and see parts of the world I had never seen before. I gained a new appreciation for teachers and I loved sharing a new culture with my students as many of them had never left their little French towns before. I made some amazing friends whom I can’t wait to see in the future and my French improved to new levels. Happy social distancing everyone, and this concludes my blogs about my year in France! À bientot France, pas adieu <3