From Home to Home

By the time I landed in the U.S., I was exhausted.

After more than 20 hours of traveling, I still wasn’t actually at school yet. I ordered an Uber from the airport, loaded my two blue suitcases into the car, and started the final stretch of the journey.

It was about a three-hour drive.

I wish I could say I spent the whole ride staring out the window, taking in my new country and thinking deep thoughts about the life ahead of me.

I did not.

I slept for most of it. 😂

At that point, my body had completely given up on trying to understand what time it was. I remember waking up here and there, looking out the window, and realizing I was still driving through a place that was now supposed to be home.

After all the flights, airports, waiting, and nerves, that quiet three-hour Uber ride was the final stretch.

And when I finally arrived, it hit me all over again:

I had really done it.

I had left Zimbabwe, crossed the world with two suitcases, and arrived in the U.S. to start graduate school.