My
emotions as I left the Yale campus for the last time were mixed. On one hand I
was excited to go home and see all my family and friends, but on the other I
was leaving the group of “Young Scholars” who I had become so close with over
the last two weeks. I will go in to more detail in my reflective blog, but how
sad I felt was definitely a shock.
After
leaving Yale we dropped our bags off at Tracey’s hotel and went out to lunch
right across the street. The place we ate at was tasty, but the portions were
HUGE. They had single and half options, although I think they realistically
should have been named single and double. I had some of the calamari appetizer
and half of my enormous “single portion” of chicken parmesan. We then collected
our bags and took a taxi to the train station.
While
waiting for the train my exhaustion hit me and I fell asleep at the station,
when we actually boarded the train however I felt completely awake and could
not sleep (not for lack of trying however). I will count myself as fortunate
that I could not though; I spent the ride to Providence watching the beautiful
East Coast countryside go by. It was truly a spectacular sight.
We
arrived in Providence and took a taxi to the hotel. After dropping our bags off
and checking out the “awesome” view from our rooms, we went out to dinner. We
ate our final dinner with the ILC at a restaurant called the Capital Grille. It
was amazing, definitely one of the best meals I have had in my life. We had
crab and lobster cakes and a shrimp dish as our appetizer, which I followed up
with steak and lobster tail for desert. It was masterfully done. The steak was
tender and juicy and the lobster was infused with a buttery taste. Finally our
waiter brought us a crème buille and chocolate cake dish for dessert, free of
charge I hope (since we did not order it). It was an amazing meal, which we
followed with an unexceptional movie.
We went
to the local cinema to see Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters. The people who
made the movie really messed dup. I read all the books of the series and felt
similarly about the first one. Many things were wrong, down to even the feel of
it. The books are comedic, with a series undertone that develops a little more
as the series goes on and the world comes in to danger. The movies take
themselves too seriously, that is without even mentioning the discrepancies in
plot. I find that most movies based off books end up this way, so I try to
watch them as if they are completely separate from the books. Even so I was not
that impressed. One good thing I could say however was that the animation and
effects were very cool. I am amazed how realistic CGI has become.
We
returned to the hotel after the movie where I expected to get some work done on
this blog. Plans change however. I walked in the door, made a bee line to bed,
and immediately fell asleep in all of my clothes. I woke up about twelve hours
later at eleven thirty in the morning, feeling refreshed, just in time to get
ready to leave for lunch. We had lunch at a restaurant called Local 121, known
for serving only local foods. I had half of a prime rib sandwich and gave the
other half to Liam, not because it was not good, but because I was not hungry
for some reason.
We
finished lunch, grabbed our things, and took a shuttle to the airport. We all
thought we would be early and waiting for a while, but there were many complications
in security. First off the family in front of us each had a huge (definitely
way oversized for carry on) bag which each had some sort of prohibited liquid
in them. That took a while to sort out. Then when we went through Damian had forgotten
to empty his Yale water bottle and Tracy had an unopened coffee beverage in her
bag. She also had to be patted down. That delayed us another five minutes. We
ended up being only half on our early, which was perfect. Just enough time to
get snacks and drink for the plane.
We were
among the first to board the plane and I managed to get a seat in the very
front, which, as a tall person, makes a huge difference. I room to fully extent
my legs and was quite content for the entire plane ride. I did not sleep at all
but instead spent the entire time working on my post-departure ILC responsibilities.
That included this blog, my reflective blog, and my post-mortem questionnaire.
All in all it was a lot of work, that I still had not completed after a seven
hour flight. I think this was mostly because it was a little too early to write
a reflective blog. To truly reflect I need time to process the last few weeks,
and actually reflect, not just recall.
My mom
picked me up from the airport and let me drive home, which was exciting as I
had never driven from SFO before. I got home and after spending some time with
my family updated and posted this blog then went to sleep.
Disclaimer: This blog is only about the day
and half after Yale that we spent on the East Coast. All details about Yale will
be covered in my final, reflective blog. Coming soon…
