paige.yelvington.com

Friday September 12, 2008
It is just now sinking in that I really get to go to India. I remember when my dad first got invited sometime in March, and I was so jealous. I just begged offhand if I could go, and at first my parents laughed and said, "I don't think so." I kept asking and then my dad found out that he would be going in September, so he told me that I would not be able to go anyways because I would not be able to be excused from school for that long. But after a little more begging, a few more conversatons with my dad, and some emailing to my counselor and principal, somehow I am no on an airplane headed for India. But the past couple of weeks I have found it a little hard to explain why I am going. Most people assume mission trip, but I am not going on a mission trip, and I am not going just for the fun of it either. India is my 16th birthday present from my parents, and my dad has to go to a conference for a small part of the trip when we get to Goa, but I do not think of it as a vacation, I think of it as a learning experience. I definitely do not think of it as a vacation when I think of all the school makeup work I already have, jjjust for the four classes that gave me work to do. I believe it is worth it though.

Last night Emily Buck came over to give me a brownie and a small journal before I left. The brownie was really good. I am glad I got a chance to say goodbye to her. Then I went over to Kayla Rodger's house and I was over there for a little while while my mom ran errands. I collected some of the stuff I had accumulated over there, as well as my ipod which I needed desperately for this trip. Kayla was at dance and not at home, so I talked to Mrrrs. Rodgers and Kayla's little brother Craig, who is in 6th grade, and helped him with his home-ec homework. Craig said he was really going to miss me, and he told me not to die in a plane crash or to contract a rare disease and die, though I was never planning on doing either of those. Then Mrs. Rodgers gave me a hug and told me the car rides to school in the morning were going to be quiter without me singing in the car, which I do a lot, badly. Then I came home and had to finish packing, which I waited until the very last moment to do. I talked to Kayla on the phone, and got on facebook, and ended up staying up pretty late. I was really tired in the morning when I had to say goodbye to my mom and sister Marta before they left to go to school, and I also talked to Kayla on the phone before going back to sleep.

When I finally got all my stuff ready and was dressed, I realized I didn't have a pencil. Then we had to search the whole house to try to find a pencil, and I only found one low-quality one. So I hope we can find some sort of pre-sharpened pencil when we get to Mumbai.

Then we drove down to the Augusta Airportt and checked in and went through security. I did not know the rule about not taking gels in my carry on, but all I had was a small tube of sunscreen so they let it slide. The security lady in Augusta kind of knows my dad since he travels so much, and she asked me if I was his daughter and then told me he goes through a lot. We sat on the rocking chairs in the waiting area and got on our flight to Atlanta a little after noon. For that trip we rode in a small airplane, with two seats on each side.