Two Days After

"Home! Let me go home!
Home is wherever I'm with you"
        ~Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

And now I am. I am home. We left at 4:20 am from our house in Kelowna and split at the airport. I said hello to Kamloops (the group formerly known as Levis) and Vernon. New friends, old friends and roommates mingled on the greyhound bus till we inevitably split, bit by bit into our new adventures. In the airport, where I had to say goodbye to the ragtag family of Katima-survivors, I was unprepared for the last bit of adventure Katimavik had in store for me.

The plan was supposed to be Kelowna-Vancouver-Montreal-Fredericton all in one day. While Mariah, Sandy, Nicole, Allana and I waited in the airport as the last of the katimakids to leave, Mariah, Sandy and I watched as our flight got more and more delayed. So delayed, in fact, that Mariah and I started to worry about making our connecting flight. The agent assured us that there was no reason to worry, and that the connection will most likely be made. So we sat back down and awaited our flight. Eventually our boarding call was made. We filed on like good little passengers and flew out to Vancouver.

After I woke up, and we landed in Vancouver, Mariah and I booked it to the gate for Montreal. We found it. About two seconds to late. They had just pulled the corridor away and were preparing to taxi to take off. I felt like crying. Again, we talked to an agent. He took our information, gave us tickets for free food and told us to return after we had a bite to eat. When we did, he gave us each a ticket to the next flight to Montreal. A flight that left at 4 and arrived at 11:45. We were also given hotel and meal vouchers. That`s right. A free night in Montreal, Quebec. I contacted Élie, my katimavik boyfriend, and told him of my predicament. Before I knew it, I was in the Montreal airport, waiting to be picked up by the boy I haven`t seen in months.

Eventually, I returned to the airport. I had one flight left until I got home. I boarded the Air Canada Jazz, I was filled with the strangest emotions. I wanted to cry because I was leaving,  I wanted to dance because I finished it, I wanted to scream because I was heading back to the real world and I wanted to sleep because i hadn`t in three days. Coming over Fredericton, I watched for the river. When I saw the great white streak cutting through the dark green forests, I knew I was home. This time coming home felt much better, much more right. I smiled as I came off the plane.

The last  piece of Katimalife was the lost luggage that was found by one of the agents who spied the katima-tag on my suitcase. She heard my telling my Mum the stories of my six new bracelets, and recognised my vocabulary or houses, house managers and protocols, and brought out my suitcase. Might have been one of the best coincidences in a while.

I am home for real this time. This is the end of an adventure but the start of an unwritted chapter. Lets see where this one takes us, shall we?

Everyday is a new adventure, so No worries

Day One Hundred and Seventy Six

The number of days astounds me. Especially when you consider that at 4am , I, along with the Kelowna group, Vernon group, and Kamloops group, will get on a bus that takes us to our last stop as Katimavik Participants. Its scary to think that as soon as we step off the bus and into the airport, we will become Alumni. We are the new Past Participants that will be the newest out come of the program. Terrifying.

Today is our last day and it is spent filling paper work, finishing cleaning and then going out to eat. Looking around this house, it reminds me of Quebec. How all the walls were bare and all the bunks were stripped. Its a strange sight. The girls' room, which held 6 girls lives, is now emptied. We talk about what we will do when we get home, and what we will miss about life in Katimavik. As Nicole so eloquently put, she will miss "Hair in the sink, curfews, unauthorized rides, CCK and protocols." We clearly do not use sarcasm in Katimavik.

Fun fact of the day is that Levis became Kamloops and now I get to see them again. A little visit back to my old cluster in Quebec is very much welcome right now. I will be able to talk to people who know my group, my real group. I love Kelowna, but I left my heart in Vanderhoof. As boring as Vanderhoof is, I miss it dearly. Just going to the Bean, and Fields and regular trips to the Post Office.

Now I'm looking at heading home. I know that my friends are missing me, and I can't wait to go back to them. Through this program, I learned who my real friends are. The ones that like me enough to go out of their way to see me and keep me updated. I can't wait to get home.

Everyday is a new adventure, so no worries