Look, I know. My posting schedule is anything but up to date.
Exactly 12 days ago I caught the last flight that could bring me back to Hungary. Catch flights, not feelings, am I right? Well, not this time.
It was a very sudden decision and nevertheless one of the hardest ones but there was not time for hesitation. It all started the day before I left Lisbon. I was waking up for what I consider to be early for the quarantine time to make myself some British breakfast before my online class would start. My parents called me, and told me I need to go home. I was left speechless from the pure reason of not expecting such claim. We were all crying. My parents because they were nerve wrecks from all the worrying what could happen to me and I was crying because the last thing I wanted to do is to leave this city.
I didn't expect this, even though I am mostly prepared for the unexpected by not really planning ahead. When I arrived, I arrived with clothing that lasts for 4-5 months, not one and a half. I wanted my shampoo and skincare bottles to be empty by the time I check in for my flight back. I planned many more adventures that this time would have allowed me to take.
And here I was packing my things, calling the embassy and finding out that in fact this is the very last chance to go back.
Knowing my decision, my roommate decided to follow my path so at least I knew I wasn't alone in this situation. We had a really hard time saying goodbye to the perfect flat we could only dream of in one of the most popular neighborhoods, a flat that only became ours circa two weeks ago but already felt like home.
On the day of our flight we feel overwhelmed and tired from the previous night because we stayed up way past our bedtime. Could check off one more thing from the bucket list, but I'm not going into those details.
I found out that my flight from Budapest to Tirgu Mures got cancelled so I might have the last chance to return Hungary but lost my chance to reunite with my family.
Welcome to my life, where hard decisions are just not hard enough or at least that's what my destiny writer thinks. Cause you know, ruining my erasmus semester for what I was only waiting for 7 years will just not cut it, not enough to burst some laughs from the spectators of whatever this show would be about.
I can only be thankful for my roommate who was an absolute angel for dealing with my upcoming and inconsistent mood swings and tried to come up with a solution. She's an absolute mom. We ended up agreeing in the outcome of me staying at her place in Hungary for two weeks and then I'll figure out a way to travel home.
Did it work out this way? Of course not, cause it just wouldn't be me if I would settle for one decision. Before boarding, I decided that I will give it a go and I will try to get to Romania no matter how late we will arrive in Budapest. ...and that's how the real roller coaster of this story begins.
We arrived at 2 am. I took two buses to get to the train station. I'm not the best orientalist so of course I got lost. I'm not gonna lie. Crossing a subway having some weird homeless people around staring at me was a really scary experience. Why were they staring at me? I think it was because I kinda looked like I could be one of them. The typical airplane story. I might have bought some clothing items so my suitcase might have been so full that I couldn't fit more in it so I might have put those clothing items on my body. I looked like my destination would be the Woodstock festival but that's not like it would be any news for anybody who knows me (or at least knew me when I was in high school).
After this, I took two trains and a taxi to get to the border where I walked right through it. If this wouldn't impressive enough already, I would like to underline the fact that I was doing this while
1. I was looking like a hobo;
2. I had a broken 30 kilo heavy suitcase which happened to have 3 wheels instead of the four it had when I got it;
3. I didn't have my Romanian ID.
I have no idea how they would let somebody looking like that in the country, but I was reunited with my family on the other side who were supportive enough to go a long way to bring me home where they remind me daily how grateful they are to know and see that I'm alright and I'm with them.
I don't know yet if this is a happy end or the tragedy of my long-waited Erasmus semester, but I'm curious and hopeful about what my destiny-writers come up next to torture - or who knows, maybe surprise me