We got on the bus to go back to Berlin, and somehow Lucas (our tour guide from the Shrine of Divine Mercy) showed up. To be honest, everyone's first reaction was "They couldn't send Conrad?"
Everyone except for a select few slept. If you know me at all by know, you know that I was one of the select few that stayed up, along with Emily and Hope. In our delirious states, we took selfies with all of those around us who were sleeping.
Around 1 AM, our bus came to a halting stop. We were stopped in the middle of traffic at 1 AM on a Polish Highway. People slowly woke up, because the constant motor of the bus running did not make a noise, and I started to low-key worry that we would miss our flight, but after about an hour of waiting, we started moving, and ended up passing a wreck that occurred.
Everyone went back to sleep, and I started to slowly drift asleep as we crossed the border into Germany. When I awoke, we were not there yet, but we were close. And another few people were awake, so we cut up, and woke everyone else up.
When we arrived at the Berlin airport, we had 3 hours before our flight. We got off the bus, and it was extremely cold, still with 0% humidity. and we were hungry.
I ate a bagel for breakfast, and spent my Euros on a toothbrush and toothpaste, because I was too lazy to dig it out of the bottom of my big backpack, stained with the love of the Lord, the stains of the Field of Mercy, and the rains of Krakow.
After my mediocrely pleasing bagel, and an unending desire for some Tony Chachere's and Louisiana Hot Sauce, I made my way to the bag check-in.
The German security, again, was much more entertaining and speedy than America's. The guy at Security Protocol had very large glasses, and reminded me of Conrad (I am sure also had a gay card stored somewhere in his wallet). HE made fun of the many shampoos and toiletries I had with me (because I stole everything that was provided to us at the hotels in the beginning of the trip. He laughed his way through my Security check and made sure that all of the workers saw my large bag of liquids.
Alas, I made it through security without any problems, and without having to exercise any demons of security officers (see Day 1 if you've forgotten). We boarded the plane, and began our journey back to the USA. On the plane, we traveled against the wind, making our trip longer than the first. I watched many movies, since our flight took place with the Earth's movement of the sun, our 7 hour time change elongated our day to travel with the sun. The first movie I watched was Captain America: Civil War, and upon viewing that dark movie, I decided to go with something lighter, next: none other than Barbershop 2, which was a nice comedy to get me through the flight, and through Emily's constant stirring and awkward sleeping positions on the airplane seat next to mine.
We landed in Newark, New Jersey, and saw the familiar skyline of New York City. Of course I started singing "What'd I Miss?" from Hamilton the moment we exited the plane and worked our way through customs.
We had another 7-hour layover in Newark, fun. But first, we had to change terminals, and re check in our luggage, and go through another Security Check. One of the nuns (I won't disclaim which one) bought a sausage from Poland to bring back to her order, and she didn't tell customs about it, so that we would not be delayed. ("Bless me, Father..") So I helped her by telling her when the sniffing dog was roaming around looking for foreign meats and such, so that we could turn around and walk the other way.
Once arriving in our terminal. We ate, and ate, had mass in the airport, and ate some more. (Because airport food is SO cheap, right? No.)
Our last flight was delayed by an hour, and so was my happiness. When we finally boarded, it was 8 PMish, and I sat down in a window seat, and before the plane took off, or even moved, heck, before the safety, I was out. I slept so hard, and awoke to the shaking of the plane hitting ground in New Orleans around 12 AM. I made it! I was home. We exited into the airport, and I soon realized that one should never fall asleep before a plane takes off. Wait until you are in the air, and then let your ears get use to pressure, then sleep. I learned the hard way. May my ears have mercy on me.
We exited the airport after getting our baggage, and we immediately felt the Louisiana humidity. We boarded the UL bus that originally brought us to NOLA, and after saying that we would all stay up and bond for One Last Time (another Hamilton reference), I fell asleep again, and awoke to the sound of the cheering as helicopter parents (and Sarah EC and Victoria) finally got to see their kids (and friends) again. Praise. The. Lamb.
Jesus, I Trust In You.
Nicholas Scalfano
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