Alaska, Days 1-3

At the university I attend, we are required to take a cross-cultural trip before we can graduate. They offer trips that are in your major, since we have to take classes while on these trips. I am an Education/English major, so the only one I could find at the time was Alaska. I signed up, paid my hefty deposit, and started classes for the trip. Little did I know how stressful and crazy this would end up being. 

We left at 5:00 am on a bus headed for Atlanta, since that is the main hub to fly anywhere. On our way, we ran into traffic that had been stalled for over an hour. Our leader jumped out of the van and asked a driver next to us. A tractor trailer had overturned and they were trying to clean it up, so our driver decided to go the other way. He found a drive between the north and south-bound lanes, and he turned. We heard something grind and bump, but figured it was just the tire. A little way down the road, the engine started to run hot. We pulled into a service station and he filled it with water. The driver got us back onto the highway and continued down the road. Within 5 minutes, the engine had overheated again. This time, it was starting to burn the hood. We pulled into another station, and when they lifted the hood, the underside was black. The radiator was steaming, and when they tried to put water in it just shot back out. They put as much as they could in, and we continued to the highway. By this time, all of us on the bus were pitching a fit. Why in the world would they continue to drive a bus that could blow at any time? We were scared, and wanted off ASAP. Our driver made it onto the highway, but within a mile of getting on our bus died and we had to pull on the shoulder. They called for backup, and we had to sit there for 2 hours and wait. We had many people come by and offer to take us to the airport, which was only 30 minutes away, but our driver and leader refused. Crazy right?? There was even a guy who owned/worked at a Cadillac dealership that wanted to send a fleet of Escalades to take us. He did bring one, and took us to McDonald's to eat, but brought us back to the bus. Finally, our back up arrived. It was one of the best buses our university had, and it was awesome. We made it to the airport, but we had missed our flight. This meant that the airline canceled every flight we had scheduled, which we have quite a few. We sat in the airport lobby for at least 2 hours trying to figure out everything. Finally, our leader found a flight that left at 5 pm, but could only take around 15 passengers. Nine of us had to stay behind and leave the next day on another 9 am flight. 

My comrades and I were then bussed back to the University to start all over the next day. Luckily, I was able to stay at a friend's house again and got a little bit of rest. The next day, we were on planes for around 12 hours total, with short connection times in between. Our group finally made it to the town we were supposed to stay in, and we've been here since. We leave out of here on Thursday to fly back to Anchorage, where we will stay one night and then fly to another town. 

Yesterday we walked around town to eat and sightsee, which was fun. Unfortunately, there are inches of snow and ice everywhere, which means I really should not be walking around. Clumsy me managed to slip and fall on the ice on the sidewalk and had to be helped up. We had to walk at least 2 miles through town, and my knee is absolutely throbbing today. I knew better than to come up here like this, but I already paid my money to come. I was left behind today while everyone else went out to look around. I hate being injured, I feel so weak and helpless. At least now I can get caught up on homework and my blog. 

I believe my train has crashed....

Today, to be honest, I feel like curling up in a ball in a corner somewhere and hiding for a while. I swear, I don't think I will make it out of college alive, and I'm on my (hopefully) last year. I just want to go home to the fields of green grass, round bales everywhere, my horses and dog, my family and old friends, and just RELAX. All this stress has taken way too much of a toll on my body. I need my small hometown life back, along with my accent which seems to have been diluted since leaving home.  There are a lot of things I wish I could take back, things I should have done differently or acted differently, but I cannot. There are now things I have to do over and things I need to start and finish by this weekend. Can I do it? Honestly, I have no idea. Today, in order to survive, I am throwing whatever is holding me back aside and crawling forward. Think positive, happy thoughts and smile while I enjoy my Chamomile Calm Tazo Tea in the back secluded corner of Starbucks. I must take my own advice. Oh, How much easier it is to help people get through their problems than it is to figure out my own! I must bite my own bullet. Ok, I'm done with all this self-talk. 

I met a new professor today that lectured in my 8-hr class who immediately knew what I was going to school for. He asked the class who all was going to teach K-6 grades, and I excitedly shook my head no while whispering to my neighbor, "No way, not me." He saw me, and said "No? Let me guess, you want to teach twelfth grade, maybe college English right?" I just stared at him, with my mouth gaped open, and nodded a yes. Wow, this guy is good. Then, he asked if anyone was thinking of coaching later on during their career. Of course my friend and I raised our hands. He looked at me and was like," Ok. Softball right?" Did I mention how awesome this prof was?! I mean, I really would like to get rugby started up back home, but I also love softball. He just read me like an open book. It was later that I realized I wore my glasses instead of contacts to class, and I've always been told I look like a teacher/librarian when I wear them, so that was probably what gave me away. Typical, natural blonde me. 

That's all for today! I'm pretty sure I am forgetting to say something, but it can wait.