Jakarta to Washington DC Part 1 (Monday 5th of August 2013)

After saying goodbye to our families at Wisma Insan Cita Depok, we were heading to Soekarno-Hatta Airport Cengkareng by bus. I decided not to cry. I wasn't so sad anyway. I was thrilled for the adventure ahead. All kakak Bina Antarbudaya volunteers were also coming with us. We took many pictures with them. We got on a plane on 19.35 PM. What took my emotion control away was when we were entering airport security check, all kakak Volunteers were standing in a line holding a banner that said "Selamat Jalan. Sampai Jumpa Tahun Depan' while singing nationalism songs and some other mellow songs. I couldn't help crying. What i really love about kakak Volunteers is that they are the true kind-hearted & sincere people.I am so touched. I want to be volunteers in Bina Antarbudaya when i go back to Indonesia next year. Gosh I love them!

Our flight was MH 724 Malaysia Airlines from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur. We arrived at KL at 22.35 PM. Then we had to literally run in the airport (in the middle of the night!) to catch the next flight to Heathrow Airport London. It was tiring and my calf felt cramped. Thankfully, we got on the plane safely. I sat near the window with Rana & Dea Devita. My camera was kept in cabin compartment during KL-London flight so i couldn't take any pictures of London view from the air. Too bad uh? Yeah i know.

The good thing was that we arrived safely at London on August 6th 2013 06.50 AM after 13 hours flight. When the flight attendance announced that the temperature in London would be 12 degrees Celsius i was a bit worried because i wore nothing but t-shirt & thin jacket compared to my friends who looked like they were ready to conquer Alaska. It was my fault, though, not to give enough attention to the small details of our journey. I was dealing & thinking over it lightly but 12 degrees Celsius proved to be okay for me. I was glad i wasn't 'saltum' since it was summer and wearing winter coat would have looked ridiculuous.

We waited for transit at Heathrow for 6 hours. I thought i was going to be able to use the internet freely there. Surprisingly, Heathrow only offers free internet for 45 minutes then we have to pay. SERIOUSLY? Even Ahmad Yani Airport is much more generous  in term of free internet connection. So i didn't get the chance to reply my hostmom's email because i was too busy with youtube (the thing i regret the most that day). Using computer there to access internet costs 1 pound per 10 minutes. What an expensive world uh? Jeez, 'abroad' doesn't always mean luxurious i guess.

Erika & i

Btw, my Carolina Herrera 212 perfume has made it to US!!! Yeay! I thought they were going to take it away since it is more than 100 ml. I think God protected it since it was a birthday present from my friend Ifani. The very first friend i made in Semesta.We finally got on a plane at around 12 PM. Our flight was United Airlines 919 Y from London to Washington Dulles. We met fellow AFSer from Kenya.I even sat beside one of them named Ikhwan in the airplane.He is a handicapped student. He was funny & always tried to make jokes. He is also smart & witty in critical kind of way.

Some of us even sang Indonesian National Anthem at the airport

We arrived safely at Dulles airport and i finallt breathed the breeze of summer in US. It was sunny yet the wind was cold (at least for me). I was happy, excited, giddy etc.We even saw Flex group from Germany if i wasn't mistaken. They wore blue t-shirt like my Kenyan friends. I had the feeling that only Indonesian group choose yellow for their t-shirt since we get lost easily -,-"