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Journey to the Borderland

May 27

Posted by Lindsey Whissel on 05/30 at 07:58 AM

Farewell Ukraine!

We arrived at the airport around 12:30am and proceeded to shuffle our luggage around using my amazing hand-scale to ensure no over-weight charges. We also had to divvy up all the vodka Mark received to make sure we were in accordance with the allotted customs amount.

When Ashley went to repack her carry-on, tragedy struck—Vlad, the epic ceramic dog bank given to Ashley, lost a foot. We screamed and cried (with laughter) as I put a band-aid on the poor little guy and Ashley dug for the remnants of his broken paw (we’re going to try a reattachment operation upon arrival in the US).

Since we had a few hours to kill, we scouted out a nice piece of floor space and did the luggage-snuggle. I actually managed to get more or less comfortable and was able to catch a few zzs before it was time for check-in.

Vlad continued to make friends everywhere we went when security found him in Ashley’s bag. Reactions ranged from a Dutch attendant exclaiming “Oh, funny!” to the guy in Detroit who petted him on the head and called some of his co-workers over for a look.

We hit some pretty nasty turbulence coming into Detroit (understatement since it was the scariest experience of my life and people were screaming out loud on the plane), but made it in safely. After a few delays, we arrived in State College and were greeted by a wonderful welcome committee comprised of Rotarians Kat and Dave Snowe and Ashley and Carrie’s significant others. After a few final photos, the GSE experience officially ended.

Once the jet-lag has worn off and I’ve had a few days to reflect, I plant o post one final entry summarizing my experience in Ukraine (not to mention giving a proper thank you to everyone who helped make it happen).

Word of the day: благодарность (bla-gahd-arn-ost)- gratitude.