Nostalgic Day For My Arrival Back Home

The last day is what I like to describe it as nostalgic and uneasy. If you notice that a lot of these pictures are similar to some of my old blog posts, you aren’t kidding yourself.

First, we went to the Pancake Pantry, again, for breakfast. The first day full day in Nashville, we ate at this place. Now it was our last full day in Nashville, and so we ate at the Pancake Pantry one last time on our Ivy League Connection Journey. It was weird, because I didn’t want to eat pancakes, which was pretty much why we came. Instead, I had their special hash browns that had all this stuff on and in it, from cheese to eggs to salsa. It was delicious, of course. Anyway, this was the first sign of nostalgia that I was getting on the Last Day. Well, actually, the first sign of nostalgia was probably when I had my own hotel room to myself again.

Embracing  Southern culture one last time

Another sign of nostalgia Saturday was when we decided to go to Downtown. Hannah and Yessenia didn’t get the opportunity to come down here, and Narges wished to buy something for her family, so we decided to go here. I also didn’t mind, because it was really my last look at Nashville. Walking down Broadway, I couldn’t help but feel as if I went back in time to two weeks ago Sunday afternoon, when I was on my Sunday excursion. I couldn’t help but remember all the friends that I’ve made that day of whom I’ll never forget. I couldn’t help but remember all the pictures taken and the fun times I had with all my VSA friends that Sunday. To make it even more peculiar, the weather was probably exactly the same as it was the day I was first in Downtown. The sky was just beautiful, and the heat felt nice and warm, but not “kill-me-now” warm. It truly was a weird and nostalgic feeling being back in Downtown for the last time in our trip.

This picture looks nearly the same as the one I took with some of my VSA friends.

This one also looks very similar to my other picture two weeks ago.

One of the final signs of nostalgia happened inside the plane on our way home to Oakland International Airport. We made a pit-stop that I didn’t know was going to happen; we stopped in Las Vegas to drop off and pick up passengers. Right now you may be wondering why I felt so uneasy about being in an airplane in the middle of the Las Vegas airport. Well, the reason for this was because some of my relatives live in Las Vegas. I haven’t seen them in at least 6 years, and to be perhaps only a 30 minute drive away from them was probably the weirdest feeling I have ever felt. I remember the green lights on the runway when I was about six or seven, and so when I looked at those lights it triggered that memory. I felt as if I was shot back in time, when there were no worries about college or my future—just that I’m on an airplane, and I’m going to see my family. Naturally, as we waited for the passengers to board the plane, I had to call my grandmother. It seems that the nostalgia and uneasiness truly didn’t end until I set foot in the Bay Area.

Backtracking a bit in the day, the fact that we were leaving Nashville and ending our epic adventure after these past four weeks finally hit me when we were preparing and putting our bags in the car to head to the airport. It made me really sad. All the friends that I’ve made at VSA were already gone the day before, yet this was probably the saddest moment. As we made our way to the airport check-in, I only wished that time would slow down so I could get my last seconds of Nashville air, but it didn’t. Time only seemed to speed up, and by the time I knew it, the Vandy cohort was already in Oakland. 

On a side-note, I don't think I've ever been on a more beautiful plane ride. The sunset was beautiful, and all the scenery outside my window really gave me that reminder that I should appreciate nature 

It’s a weird feeling being back home. Absolutely nothing about my house or my family has changed. All the books, the papers, and just everything are in the same place in my room. It’s almost as if I never even left four weeks ago. However, looks can be deceiving, of course. Although nothing here has changed, I as a person have changed a lot these past four weeks. I’ve truly grown up. This trip has been the longest I’ve ever been away without a family member with me. It has reassured me I can absolutely go to college out of California without feeling homesick; I never wanted to leave Vanderbilt! So although my routine and my way of living have come back to me again, I just can’t help but want to break that routine. It seems I’ll truly see how much I’ve changed as the days go by more and more; only time will tell.