BITTERSWEET GOODBYE // CHAPTER FOUR

 On September 4th we loaded up the car and headed to the airport.  One of the hardest things I did that day was to say goodbye to my family. I didn’t know when I would be back to see them again. It was a bittersweet moment I was saying goodbye to them but hello to my future. Our flight from NC to Atlanta went off without any problems. Once we arrived at Atlanta airport we started to make our way to the International Terminal. On the way, I couldn’t help but think I had never been to the International Terminal. What does it look like? Where is it even located? Let me tell you what, this terminal was boujee. I don’t know if it is a marketing scheme form the airport but this terminal did not have your average airport feel. All luxury stores and restaurants that served $60 stakes and lobsters. I also noticed how all the people were different. Different races, different dress codes, and different languages filled the terminal. I think this was the first time I was around so many people from different worlds. This really made me excited! I loved the feeling of being surrounded by people who were completely different from me. 

Soon we found ourselves hunkering down on the space-limited airplane seats. Neither my mother or I had ever taken a cross Atlantic flight before. We were not ready for it. The flight was about 9 ½ hours long. I had no idea what a flight like this does to your body. By the time we landed in Munich my poor body had felt like it had been jammed in a washing machine on the high spin for 9 ½ hours. I was so ready to get off the plane. The saddest part was we were only halfway through our travel. We still had to fly from Munich to Zagreb and then Zagreb to Sarajevo. I will save you the boring details with those 2 flights. My main and only objective was to SLEEP.

When we finally landed in Sarajevo the nerves hit me like a train. I couldn’t even let Senadin know we had landed because my phone had no service and the internet connection instructions were in Bosnian. I don’t know about y’all but I don’t do good under pressure. I was a nervous wreck. Once we finally got through with bored patrol we waited for our bags. The way Sarajevo airport is set up is the baggage claim is right behind border patrol. Since Bosnia didn’t have any domestic flights, all flights came from other countries. It made sense but all I wanted to do was get to Senadin. To say we over packed might be the understatement of the century. I had 3 bags and my mom had 3 bags. We had never been light packers. Plus I didn’t know how long I was going to be in Bosnia. I pretty much packed my whole room up to take with me. At the time I had a slight hoarding problem. I was not just going to leave all my pointless nick knacks behind. They made me happy! Okay, back to the story. It took a good 20 minutes for all our bags to make an appearance. Once all 50 bags were loaded up the only thing standing in between me and Senadin was the 2 sliding glass doors that block off arrivals. The closer I got to the doors the faster my heartbeat. At one point I thought I was going to pass out from the adrenalin. What I saw once the doors opened was shocking, to say the least. There was a news channel there camera rolling and about 50 plus people gathered around the doors. The next thing I noticed was Senadin in the middle of the floor. I sprinted up to him….

This was happening I am in a foreign country to meet the man who made me fall in love in 3 days.