Off to Orientation, NYC

Travel Diary

Date: June 20, 1981
Place: New York, Long Island, C.W. Post College

"Well, I made it! I felt a bit sick - nerves, but I did OK. I was at La Guadia for 3 hours. We found ways to amuse ourselves. There are about 20 kids going to Yugoslavia. There are at least 2 other girls that go to the same town as I. Excitement overwhelms me. Here I am, in New York, leaving for Yugoslavia and the summer of my life in about 24 hours. It's unbelievable! I almost refuse to open my suitcase. Everything that I need is in my nap-sak. - If it isn't - I'll do without or ding into my suitcase - as a last resort. I'm really tired. The food here is the PITS - but its only for a few more meals. I already feel like I'm in a foreign country - but it's still the ole' U.S. of A. I'm a little worried about wearing the same clothes over and over - (I refuse to go into my suitcase until I get to my family). No maj.
"I'm here! It's almost too hard to believe."

I remember waiting at the airport with my parents and then suddenly it was time to get on the plane. I recall walking to the plane, with the song, "Sing Alleluia, Come on Get Happy" going through my head. I had a book that a friend had given me and the stewardess, as they were called then, quoted a line from one of the poems and that really impressed me.

I don't recall all that much about the orientation. It was at a college. It had bad food. One of the girls in the group had just graduated high school and had to finish her thank you notes before she got on the plane.

We, as a group, met with someone who had familiarity with Yugoslavia. She taught us that we could call our host moms "Mama" and our host dads "Tata." Wow! My vocabulary nearly doubled by learning that!