Arrivals? There goes the neighborhood...

The most recent time that I can think of being in an alien situation was this summer. In july this year I went on a backpacking trip for ten days in New Hampshire. The only problem was, i have to get there by myself. So I was taking a flight to Boston to get picked up and brought to a summer camp. Great. This was the first time that I'd ever flown by myself and I admit I was pretty nervous.

The day finally comes when I am to leave for my flight. Tossing my bags into the car I convince myself this is the same as always. Just be cool. The car ride is pretty standard, my mom is quizzing me on items I may or may not have for my trip and telling me the importances of each one. She likes to talk about her trips and what she knows about the New England area. I can tell she's nervous too but I would never tell her that. Instead I say "Mom. I'm going to be okay, i promise you." My guess was right and she relaxed a little for the rest of the car ride. Once we pulled into the airport i knew there was no getting rid of her. I kept telling her i was fine. (A reassurance for myself more then anyone) Once we had checked my bags with skycap i hugged her. She composed herself fairly well. I was proud of her and I tromped threw the terminal to my gate with a peace of mind. The plane ride wasn't too long so it flew by quickly and I had landed in Boston before 10. As I got off the plane I surveyed my surroundings with a curious eye since I'd never been this far east before. I was getting picked up by three guys who I had no idea who they were. They said they worked for the camp and that they would be wear a green Camp Joslin shirt. As you can expect, walking threw uncharted waters so to speak was nerve racking. I looked over at some of the people who had been on my flight wondering where they were headed and if they were new to Boston too. I kept walking threw the now fairly empty terminal following the stream of people from my flight. Finally we all came around a bend and i saw a couple of younger guys all of which i was taller than leaning against a wall obviously waiting for somebody. I walked right towards them seeing the green shirt I walked right up and stuck out my hand in greeting. Before shacking my hand one of the guys asked "Jake O'Hagan?" I was able to come up with "Uh, Yeah." which seemed alright to me. We then shook hands and I realized that I had known what they looked like but they didn't know what to expect from me. I shook my head realizing my awkward greeting and the four of us walked in complete silence towards the sign marked Baggage Claim.