the last night was a rough one. after spending the day quietly at our home with my roommates we went to magic kingdom to watch wishes for the last time. i went back to my work location one last time, said some more final goodbyes and met up with my friends. we walked together to main street to watch the fireworks and as they set off, so did the waterworks. all the girls were tearing up knowing that it was our last time togther, in this wonderful, magical place that we called home for six months. after wishes, walking down main street usa was hard too. my favourite place in the world was no longer 'in my back yard.' no more can i just go and ride a roller coaster, or watch a parade, or see a fireworks show, or eat at one of the worldwide known restaurants in disney. there was so much we had at our fingertips that people spend years and years and years saving money to experience just for a few short days. after the show, we went back and just limed together for the last time. one by one everyone decided they needed to go home to get some sleep for the long day of travelling the next day. each goodbye got harder and harder. the friends that i made while being here are such wonderful people and not knowing when i'll see them again is something i can't quite wrap my head around. i got home, tried to repack my suitcase (for the fourth or fifth time) to get everything to fit and then after one hour's sleep, it was time to say goodbye to two of my roommates. lord that was so difficult. these girls who became my best friends and my sisters were now leaving. we waited for their bus to pick them up and when it came we quietly walked over, and then it was the moment of truth and it hit me like a brick wall. niza and i went back to our apartment, and it was so quiet. but after a few hours, we had to get ready for our taxi to pick us up and take us to the airport. i had to hand in my disney i.d and my housing i.d and my key and it wasn't a nice feeling at all. while we were waiting for the taxi to come, we were just watching other people say their goodbyes to their friends, and even though we didn't know them it was still so emotional. they were far away enough that we couldn't hear what they were saying, but close enough that we could feel the sadness in their goodbye hugs. after our taxi finally came, we picked up mauricio from his house. there i had to say goodbye to britt one last time, and again, one of the hardest things i've had to do. we drove off and i quietly kept to myself in the taxi while i had to control the tears from coming. when we got to the airport we struggled to carry all eight hundred thousand of our suitcases so we had to get a cart. thank god mauricio was there with us because we probably would have died if it weren't for him. my suitcases were overweight, but the lady i was dealing with was bajan and she let it slide. she also let the three of us sit together on our way to miami. i was fine in the airport, fine when we boarded the plane; it felt as if it was part of our adventure, and we were just going somewhere together for the day. but as the plane started to move, we all just sat there with tears in our eyes, quietly comforting each other, knowing exactly what everyone was feeling. when we got to miami, and got off the plane, i was fine again, knowing that i had a couple hours before the last goodbye came. however, when we got off and the lady was there to direct us, we found out mauricio's gate was in the opposite direction from ours, and so far away. ours was in egypt apparently and we had to take the sky train over to it. finding that out was shocking, and i cried like a baby when i had to say goodbye to him because it was the last goodbye, and he became one of my very best friends. i couldn't stop the tears from coming as we waited for the plane home. and even on the plane, i kept tearing up. i was so exhausted, and so emotional, that i didn't know if the exhaustion was making me more emotional, or if the sadness was making me more tired. coming home felt good as my family was there to meet me at the airport. coming to my house, and seeing everything, and my dogs and my room and my bed and everything made me feel good as well. it definitely felt like home when two of my friends and my brother came home at two thirty in the morning (slightly tipsy) to wake me up and welcome me home. i'm home.
and i just want to thank all my friends on the program for making it the incredible experience that it was. without you it definitely wouldn't be the same, and without you i wouldn't be the same. i've grown to love so many people from around the world and i know i have best friends wherever i go. so thank you. thank you thank you thank you for everything. i love you and wish you the best with everything and look forward to seeing you SOON. always be safe and always be happy and find the magic in everything. i wish you all the success in the world. always know you have a friend in me and a home in barbados. love you always.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
last day
yesterday was the day of many "lasts." it was my last day of work here at disney and although i almost held it together, i broke halfway through my day and realized how much i really am going to miss everything. i heard the three o'clock parade coming by, so i went outside to watch it... and realized it was my last time seeing it. i was being strong, right up until the last float. then a couple hours later, i got handed my last bumpout (which is a piece of paper that the person taking over your assignment gives you, that tells you to go and clock out.) that hit me hard. but definitely not as hard as clocking out for the last time. having to say goodbye to my new friends and family was difficult. not knowing when i'm going to see anyone again is overwhelming because i've grown to love them all dearly.
after work i got my last home cooked meal (out of barely any) since i've been here. my last mexican meal (which is what all my home cooked meals consisted of.) afterwards we were all just liming together. just sitting together on the couch, in quiet conversatoin, simply just enjoying each others company. and it was perfect. i still can't wrap my head around the fact that i only have two days. bleh.
after work i got my last home cooked meal (out of barely any) since i've been here. my last mexican meal (which is what all my home cooked meals consisted of.) afterwards we were all just liming together. just sitting together on the couch, in quiet conversatoin, simply just enjoying each others company. and it was perfect. i still can't wrap my head around the fact that i only have two days. bleh.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
fireworks & more fireworks
everything is always incredible here. tomorrow's a week until home, and i can't wrap my head around it. in fact, technically it's a week until home right now. and like my roommates and countless of my friends, i'm so not ready to leave yet. it does make it easier that the majority of my friends are leaving at the same time, but it's going to be hard to come to terms with the fact that the best thing that's ever happened to me is coming to an end.
the past few days have been great. a few days ago, i met up with a friend at magic kingdom. she was still working, so i decided to go to main street to get my name embroidered on my graduation mickey ears - something i had been waiting to do since the moment i got here. it's such a unique milestone and it's a very special 'souvenir.' on the way, i saw one of my friends crying, and she just found out the sad news that she has to leave a bit earlier than us. it's heartbreaking to have to say goodbye already. obviously i got emotional too and everyone knows i'm not too good at hiding my emotions. i went to my old friends on main street and they comforted me, and gave me treats from the confectionery, and i got my name embroidered on my hat. that just added to the height of emotions. we went and ate a quick dinner together and then headed back to her apartment complex where we met up with the rest of our little posse and we went for a midnight dip in the pool. completely unprepared for this little adventure, we went in our clothes. my phone went for a swim too, but it's okay now. thank god.
the next day, july 3rd, i was upset i had to work a late shift because disney had special 4th of july fireworks on the 3rd and the 4th. i so badly wanted to see them. however, i got the right assignment at the right time and was working outside during the 25 minute spectacular. it was absolutely amazing. they had identical fireworks shooting off from two different locations in magic kingdom - one in their usual spot behind the castle, and one somewhere else (i'm not too sure where it was because our restaurant was blocking the view for me.) at the end, the entire perimeter of magic kingdom was lit up with fireworks. it was the most incredible thing i have ever seen. my shift ended about five minutes after the fireworks, and waiting for the bus was insane. there must have been hundreds of kids on the college program waiting for the bus, which was taking forever due to closed roads for the fireworks. more and more people kept on coming and me and a friend of mine were just sitting there in shock. friends of mine with cars kept passing by, greeting me and i was just secretly hoping they would offer us a lift home. finally another friend of mine from main street came by and i begged him to drop us home. thank god i saw him or we would have been there for another three hours waiting in the confusion. that night i got the exciting news that my good (only friend who visited me haha) (except drew) friend scott tasker and his family were coming up this side for just one day on july 4th. i literally spent all night contemplating whether to call in sick to see them. i asked my managers and coordinators what to do and everyone was telling me to call in.
i couldn't do it, and i went to work. working on july 4th was insane. i was actually afraid of some guests. what made it even worse, was that it started to rain. when it rains, it feels like the whole guest population (about 70,000 people that day) takes cover in our restaurant. i did my best to keep a smile on my face when explaining to people that we simply can't stop serving food, and politely refusing all the other brilliant ideas they were suggesting. i put in the request to leave early so i could meet up with scott but it didn't look hopeful. after about 3 hours of working, my manager told me i could leave. i was so happy. i was just so excited. i got home as fast as i could, showered and got ready in about ten minutes and met them at the gate, since they so kindly picked me up. they took me to old town to this little amusement park. it was just like what you see in the movies. they had been there so by the time i got there they were winding down. but we drove gokarts on a few different tracks, in between laughing at other people having their turns while we waited in line. after that we went and had dinner together and then drove to this town called celebration (which used to be owned by disney.) seriously the cutest little place i've ever been to. all the buildings are perfect and it looks like a town that would be in a tv show. all the little shops are so quaint and sweet. people were riding in horse-drawn carriages and, the one thing i have found an obsession with while being here, is that the lighting was perfect. it didn't even look like a real-life place. we moved through the crowds, past the live concert, to a spot on the lake where the fireworks were being shot off from. there were so many people but we found a spot and didn't move. when the fireworks finally went off it was so exciting. we were so close we could feel them (literally - pieces of ashes kept kitting us.) there were a lot more fireworks than expected, and every time we thought it was done, more were set off. there was one lady a couple people away from us who was so hyper, and was unsuccessfully trying to get everyone to scream along with her - she couldn't get the hint that everyone was peacefully enjoying the fireworks with their loved ones. but everything there added to the perfect little evening. of course as soon as the fireworks were done, plenty people were ready to go home, as were we. they dropped me back home and headed back to their long drive 'home.'
work today was brutal because i was over exhausted, and i definitely did not have enough energy for a twelve hour shift. it was a nice day though. to thank us for our hard work, the managers had a little cook out for us, and they all took turns grilling chicken, burgers and hot dogs back stage of our restaurant and when we had our breaks we went and limed with everyone out there. it was quite nice. i thankfully got to leave a little bit early again, and of course now that i'm home, i'm full of energy. but it's time for lights out and sleep. just one more week. wow.
the past few days have been great. a few days ago, i met up with a friend at magic kingdom. she was still working, so i decided to go to main street to get my name embroidered on my graduation mickey ears - something i had been waiting to do since the moment i got here. it's such a unique milestone and it's a very special 'souvenir.' on the way, i saw one of my friends crying, and she just found out the sad news that she has to leave a bit earlier than us. it's heartbreaking to have to say goodbye already. obviously i got emotional too and everyone knows i'm not too good at hiding my emotions. i went to my old friends on main street and they comforted me, and gave me treats from the confectionery, and i got my name embroidered on my hat. that just added to the height of emotions. we went and ate a quick dinner together and then headed back to her apartment complex where we met up with the rest of our little posse and we went for a midnight dip in the pool. completely unprepared for this little adventure, we went in our clothes. my phone went for a swim too, but it's okay now. thank god.
the next day, july 3rd, i was upset i had to work a late shift because disney had special 4th of july fireworks on the 3rd and the 4th. i so badly wanted to see them. however, i got the right assignment at the right time and was working outside during the 25 minute spectacular. it was absolutely amazing. they had identical fireworks shooting off from two different locations in magic kingdom - one in their usual spot behind the castle, and one somewhere else (i'm not too sure where it was because our restaurant was blocking the view for me.) at the end, the entire perimeter of magic kingdom was lit up with fireworks. it was the most incredible thing i have ever seen. my shift ended about five minutes after the fireworks, and waiting for the bus was insane. there must have been hundreds of kids on the college program waiting for the bus, which was taking forever due to closed roads for the fireworks. more and more people kept on coming and me and a friend of mine were just sitting there in shock. friends of mine with cars kept passing by, greeting me and i was just secretly hoping they would offer us a lift home. finally another friend of mine from main street came by and i begged him to drop us home. thank god i saw him or we would have been there for another three hours waiting in the confusion. that night i got the exciting news that my good (only friend who visited me haha) (except drew) friend scott tasker and his family were coming up this side for just one day on july 4th. i literally spent all night contemplating whether to call in sick to see them. i asked my managers and coordinators what to do and everyone was telling me to call in.
i couldn't do it, and i went to work. working on july 4th was insane. i was actually afraid of some guests. what made it even worse, was that it started to rain. when it rains, it feels like the whole guest population (about 70,000 people that day) takes cover in our restaurant. i did my best to keep a smile on my face when explaining to people that we simply can't stop serving food, and politely refusing all the other brilliant ideas they were suggesting. i put in the request to leave early so i could meet up with scott but it didn't look hopeful. after about 3 hours of working, my manager told me i could leave. i was so happy. i was just so excited. i got home as fast as i could, showered and got ready in about ten minutes and met them at the gate, since they so kindly picked me up. they took me to old town to this little amusement park. it was just like what you see in the movies. they had been there so by the time i got there they were winding down. but we drove gokarts on a few different tracks, in between laughing at other people having their turns while we waited in line. after that we went and had dinner together and then drove to this town called celebration (which used to be owned by disney.) seriously the cutest little place i've ever been to. all the buildings are perfect and it looks like a town that would be in a tv show. all the little shops are so quaint and sweet. people were riding in horse-drawn carriages and, the one thing i have found an obsession with while being here, is that the lighting was perfect. it didn't even look like a real-life place. we moved through the crowds, past the live concert, to a spot on the lake where the fireworks were being shot off from. there were so many people but we found a spot and didn't move. when the fireworks finally went off it was so exciting. we were so close we could feel them (literally - pieces of ashes kept kitting us.) there were a lot more fireworks than expected, and every time we thought it was done, more were set off. there was one lady a couple people away from us who was so hyper, and was unsuccessfully trying to get everyone to scream along with her - she couldn't get the hint that everyone was peacefully enjoying the fireworks with their loved ones. but everything there added to the perfect little evening. of course as soon as the fireworks were done, plenty people were ready to go home, as were we. they dropped me back home and headed back to their long drive 'home.'
work today was brutal because i was over exhausted, and i definitely did not have enough energy for a twelve hour shift. it was a nice day though. to thank us for our hard work, the managers had a little cook out for us, and they all took turns grilling chicken, burgers and hot dogs back stage of our restaurant and when we had our breaks we went and limed with everyone out there. it was quite nice. i thankfully got to leave a little bit early again, and of course now that i'm home, i'm full of energy. but it's time for lights out and sleep. just one more week. wow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)