5:00 am, put on coffee, packed my toothbrush, and eventually i stumbled down the hill, through the darkness, with my bags. as i passed francine’s gate, i ran into brusha and he laughed as he took up one of my bags and helped me carry it down to marie. the house eerily quiet, like it usually is at that hour on a weekend. all i found was mama in the kitchen, putting on water to boil… then the sound of marie coming downstairs. the kids soon woke up and rolled out of bed and with that kera, rat rat and asha soon reached from rocksan’s. all of the kids, still wearing their night clothes, piled into the bus and we were on the way, picking up a few passengers along the way. i was bombarded with hugs and kisses mixed with a sad undertone as everyone wished me a safe trip and a speedy return. i ended up waiting for about 1-2 hours after i passed security, but i didn’t want to chance missing my flight if i had headed out to marie’s house with them. so i waited and waited, passing the time. eventually they began boarding and before i knew it we were flying over miami and soon landing. i was greeted with a big hug from my brother and then we stumbled upon my parents and megan. we all headed down to baggage claim and they questioned me up and down while my mum repeatedly kissed and hugged me. all of us starving, decided to stop for some food… little did we realize that it was going to lead us on a never-ending road trip. finally, we ended up in winter park, walked around looking for somewhere that had veggie options and took a seat at a thai restaurant. we caught up on everyone’s life and the moments from when we had last spoken. a few stops here and there along the way and we were soon home. home. a familiar place, but always a strange experience to be back.