26.09.15: Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and Final Goodbyes

Hey guys,

it's been while since I posted something. I've actually been back in Germany already for about two months now. In my last few days in the US I didn't really have time to post something and when I came back home I wasn't sure if I should keep on writing now that I am in Germany again. But when I looked through my old posts I realized that I atleast should write one more post just to have a nice finish.

So on the last weekend before I left California my hostfamily and I went on a trip. First we went to the Grand Canyon. It was a whole day carride and because we mostly drove through desert it was really boring. We spend the night in a hotel and the next day we went to see the Grand Canyon. When I first saw it, I was mesmerized by the view. The Grand Canyon is so huge I can't even described it. Unfortunately we've only been there for 10 minutes when it started raining. As if this wasn't enough a few minutes later it even started hailing, not small hailstones, no really big ones. They really did hurt. So we ran back to the car totally soaked and waited there. About 15 minutes later it stopped and the sun came out, so Ahnwyn and I went back and took some pictures.

After that we drove to Las Vegas. On our way there we made a stop at the hoover dam. We didn't stay there for long because it was really hot.
We stayed in Las Vegas for 2 nights. Our hotel was huge. The hotel even had a rollercoaster. Inside it looked like an own little city. Many restaurants, stores and bars were in there. No matter where you wanted to go you had to walk through the main hall where the casino was. One night we went to a show which Adam and his friend really wanted to see.

After that we met Barb and her family who were staying in Las Vegas the same weekend. It was nice to see Barb again but it was so hard to say goodbye for a second time.
When we came back home from our trip I only had a few days left before I had to go back to Germany. So I spent most of the time with friends and my hostfamily.
And then the day came that I had to leave. I can't really explain how I felt that day. On the car ride to the airport I felt so sick. "Fortunately" we were late as usual so we didn't have much time to say goodbye. That was good because I think a long goodbye would have made it so much harder. It didn't really sink in that this was goodbye until I landed in New York where I was staying for a week with my mom. When I saw my mom on the airport it just made it so real that my exchange year is over and that I might not going to see my hostfamily in a very long time. Even though I was really sad my mom and I had an amazing time in New York. It is a beautiful city. 

Now it's been about two months since I've left the US. I am still getting adjusted to my old life. It is not easy and there are many days where I just want to be back in Lancaster. But even though I was put in more difficult situations than ever in my life before, I don't regret it any minute that I went on this exchange. It might not always have been perfect but looking back at it in the end it was one of the best years of my life so far.