Honey, I'm Home!

A Week Back in the Land of the Free

One of the many souls I am so happy to have met during this program, Kassidy. 

At 4:20pm a week ago I was landing in good ole Lincoln, Nebraska anxiously waiting to give my Mommy, Brother, and Grandma huge hugs after three months of running around Europe. I had been gone for 85 days, seen 19 cities, and experienced 10 different countries. My time in Europe was absolutely life changing. I read all the silly buzzfeed and TSM articles about coming home completely changed from your experience abroad, but I could not have ever imagined what I would see or the experience at the beginning of my trip only 3 short months ago. I have rewrote this blog over and over in my head this past week, and at the beginning wanted to claim that I hadn't changed from my experience in the Czech Republic, but after my week at home I am slowly realizing that I have. My brain will forever have the countless memories from my time in Europe and I know they will continue to shape me in the future. I know that I can survive a day without wifi(but even after being disconnected those were still rough days), I'm not intimidated by traveling, and I'm not as nervous to receive a menu in a foreign language and just point at something and hope for the best. During my time abroad I noticed the different ways our group embraced the culture. The thing that saddened me the most on our trip was how much we all seem to talk down on this wonderful country. A foreign friend simply mentioning something unique to Europe immediately enduced a response from some about how horrible that thing was in America. I found myself discovering things I loved about Kearney and this beautiful country, not that I want to stay in Nebraska forever, but just recognizing what I actually do love about it was refreshing. During my flight home Sami and I sat next to a couple that spoke almost no English, due to the flight being United States bound the flight attendants spoke only English so they were next to no help for the poor couple. Being the person who had just been the outcast who didn't know the language of the country I was visiting I was concerned and frustrated with the couple as they tried to communicate what they wanted to the flight attendants. I slowly realized how difficult their trip the United States would be. As much newfound love I had found for our country while I was away, it was brought to my attention how un-foreign friendly we are. Landing in Minneapolis all signs were in English, there was absolutely nothing to help anyone who spoke any different language. The people that worked in customs only spoke English and when they were addressed in a different language their only response was to talk louder to the person who didn't understand our language in the first place. Experiencing this made me so very grateful for the numerous signs I was able to follow while making my way around Europe, and the kind souls we found everywhere that spoke our native tongue. I completely understand that the United States truly doesn't have to be as diverse due to our country being the size of Europe and all of us speaking one language, but I truly hope that other international airports(maybe bigger ones) have a little bit more assistance for our kind visitors from other countries that just want to experience our wonderful country. 

Adjusting to Being Home.

Ryan, Mommy, and my Grandma Eunice greeting me at the airport

In my time home I have attended five musical rehearsals, worked 10 hours at Old Navy, and choreographed two numbers short of an entire show. Typical Brianna jumping head first back into my crazy theatrical life. My first two days home, and through this  first week, I was asked numerous times 'How was your trip' and 'Hows being back in the US?' I apologize if you have been someone to ask me these questions, because they are incredible difficult to answer. My trip was indescribable, there were ups and downs, but I wouldn't trade those three months for anything. I'm not sure how I feel about being back, yet. I love being home in my big bed and seeing familiar faces, but for some odd reason I feel like I am outside looking in. I somewhat feel like the new kid at school. I think I expected that life was just on hold here while I was gone and that I could just jump back in to everything like I had never left. I feel a little like I wasn't welcomed home. I didn't' expect a big welcome home party or millions of people waiting to greet me at the airport, but it's strange to me that everyone wanted to say their goodbyes but not many has wanted to say their hellos. Please don't take this the wrong way(for the 10 people that read this) I'm only reflecting on my one week home and I know the world doesn't revolve around me, it is only an observation. While I was gone I also realized how much I value my alone time and the support of my Moms (shoutout to my real Mommy, and LB) and of course the ever snapchat famous Dayna. They were always up for hearing a 'cool' story or letting me vent a little bit. Constantly being around twenty five other peoples personalities and feelings was an adventure, but it was so amazing to have created a life long bond with such a large group. It has only been a week I'm still not 100% sure if I've realized that I'm actually not on another weekend trip to a foreign land, and I know I will go through so many more emotions as I adjust back into my wonderful life here in The States, but as of now this is what's circulating in my brain. Ask me tomorrow and it could be totally different. As I have stated so many times I am forever grateful for the experience I had and it has inspired me to look into MFA programs overseas so maybe next time you see pictures of me running around a foreign country I could actually be living there! Until then I can't wait to find fun and new experiences here in the land of the free and the home of the brave!

European traveler Brianna signing off!

Sunburnt Goodbyes

Grecian Getaway

Our cool ride. 

Fira

Open Air Cinema

'Our Beach' in Crete

Skala Friends!

My last European hoorah was in a place I never thought I would visit in a million years, Greece. If you follow me on any form of social media or read the above title you probably already knew that, but I still can't believe I just spent 9 days in such a magical place. My first stop in Greece was at the Athens airport for a 9 hour slumber party in the McDonalds and then finally got to board my early morning flight to the island of Santorini. I hate mornings, but it was very magical watching the sun rise over the water and the clean white Grecian houses. Preparing for this trip I envisioned a strange hybrid experience between 'Mama Mia' and 'Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants'. This wasn't my reality while I was there, what I experienced was even better. The entire trip was spent mostly just lounging on the beach, which was really nice after our crazy go go mentality every other place we visited, and exploring the islands of Santorini and Chania. Santorini was a magical fairy land. It was a small island that Sami and I were able to go in to the capital, Fira, by renting an ATV for the day.      Fira was a fun little town full of shops and the typical loud and loving Greeks filling the streets. Speaking of the Greeks, they are the nicest people we have met on this trip. Anywhere we ate or stopped by someone would genuinely ask how we were or help us find something. I would go back to Greece again and again just for their loving nature. One of my favorite Greeks in Santorini was our waiter Illias. We stayed only a five minute a walk from the black beach and Illias was the greeter at one of the restaurants  on the beach and he kindly welcomed us into his place which was 'the best'. When I say 'greeter' I should explain. Someone stands outside of every restaurant and when you walk down the street you get stopped many times with someone telling you they have the 'best fish' or the cheapest cocktails to entice you to come in to their restaurant instead of the competitions. Anyway, we ate at Illias' place for breakfast two days in a row and now he holds a little piece of my heart(also helps that he gave us free ice cream). Another fun thing we did while in Santorini was visiting an open air cinema. This attraction popped up on my Trip Advisor, which obviously means its top notch, and had excellent reviews so we gave it a shot. This was another trip that we got to take out trusty ATV on to the town of Kamari. The fun part about not having data or internet access on our phones during this trip has been navigating. Most of the time we preload a route on our phone and it will stay up even when you aren't on data, however for this trip Sami and I weren't as prepared and just decided to wing it. Happy to say we found Kamari and the open air cinema on our own intuition and on our first try. 'Hail Caesar' was the movie that was playing(a little disappointed we missed 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2' by a day) and it wasn't the greatest, but it was  the coolest experience and a fun night! After our magical stay in Santorini we took a ferry to the island of Crete. Another adventure in Europe has been figuring out public transportation in new countries. Crete was a hard one. After a three hour bus ride from Heraklion to Chania, where we were staying, we were put on the wrong bus (which luckily went past our stop), missed our stop because of horrible communication, had to take a bus back in the right direction, and FINALLY reached our hotel an hour and a half after we said we would be there. However, we were greeted at Atlantida Mare our 'home' for the next five days with the loving Greek  hospitality. We spent our first day in Chania being lazy at 'our beach' or the stretch of sand right outside our hotel and soaked up some sand. The next day we met up with Molly, Clark, and Adam and drove (in their rented car) to the famous Elafonissi Beach. This when Greece turns out to not be so fun. Vampire Brianna forgot her sunscreen and fell asleep under the sun for an hour. Needless to stay I was thoroughly fried. Good news is it was only a day and half of discomfort and now I am just peeling for my flight home. Molly turned 20 in Crete so obviously we had to celebrate! We enjoyed drinks and a little birthday treat for Mollz at a cocktail bar. We also went to dinner and after leaving we ran into a little tavern named Skala. The first thing the drew us in when two precious puppies running around and then the owner offered us free shots... which actually led to five free shots but these people quickly turned into more Greeks that stole little pieces of my heart. Our last day in Crete Sami and I decided to ditch the beach and head to the water park about 20 minutes away. IT WAS A BLAST! It was so much fun to run around like little kids and just have fun instead of laying on the beach like boring adults. We went down water slides, swam in the lazy river, went down the crazy river, and Sami even zip lined into the pool!  That night we had dinner with our new friends at Skala and ended the night sitting by the ocean before bed. My stay in Greece was pure bliss and I'm so happy that I ended my time in Europe in such a happy place. As I post this I have nine hours left in the Prague airport(another sleepover) and then 16 hour day of traveling. What does that mean you ask? In a little over 24 hours I will be back in NEBRASKA!! It's a very bitter sweet feeling to leave my 'home' to come home, but I can't wait to be back in the good life and to see my friends and family. Yay! See you State Side in just a day!