No Rainbow Without a Little Rain

Newark Airport, New Jersey

These past few days have been long and tiring. We boarded a flight that took us straight from Chicago to Newark, NJ on Saturday. Surprise, surprise, because O’Hare was packed and our plane was delayed an hour, we didn’t make the connecting flight in Newark on time. United Airlines didn’t help in any way whatsoever. They only contributed to the mess.  The fact that the airplane hadn’t taken off yet, but we still weren’t being given the chance to board is what made the situation even more frustrating.

New Jersey laws concerning minors are odd; they make it impossible for minors under 21 to be alone by themselves in a hotel room. The problem with these policies was that they didn’t consider school trips and student-teacher traveling groups. Deven was not allowed to stay with us under any circumstances unless he wanted to lose his job, so we were handed a bag full of toiletries that we couldn’t use and taken into an office to spend the night. I had a couch to myself, as did Noor and Robson. Maybe it was the cold temperature or the fact that the Airport was blasting music, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t sleep. Eventually I did sleep, but it wasn’t exactly comforting or relaxing in any way.

The couch I slept on.

It didn’t end there for me. The next day, I went to claim my baggage and instead found out that it was still in Chicago. Noor, Robson, and Deven’s bags had been shipped to Ithaca airport, but that didn’t help either, because we were landing in Syracuse. At this point, I gave up trying to be positive. You could spot my bloodshot eyes and oily hair from a mile away and that I had been wearing the same outfit for two days straight. It could have been a lot worse. I’m very grateful that it wasn’t, but I really didn’t want to be in an empty dorm room without everything I had carefully packed for my days at Cornell.

Do I look tired? I was.

The plane ride from Newark to Syracuse was short and sweet. I caught up on sleep for the most part.

We faced troubles with United Airlines in Syracuse as well. They wouldn’t pay for our shuttle (which we missed because of them) unless we handed in money to get reimbursed later.

And then came the best part of the day, the ride from Syracuse to Ithaca. It was breathtaking. MD, our driver, was such a nice guy. He told us that it was his last fast before Ramadan. That’s when homesickness set in for me. I was more than thrilled about attending Cornell, but also really wanted to be home celebrating the night before Eid (chand raat) with friends and family. What helped a lot however was the absolutely stunning ride there. I rolled the windows down and let wind rush into the car and my hair, best feeling ever. To top it off, we found out my bags had arrived in Ithaca after all!

happy with the wind and scenery!

The campus for Cornell is stunning. I’m in love with the architecture, natural beauty, and support that is offered here already. A student guided me to my dorm room, a single, as soon as we arrived at South Balch Hall. I really was hoping for a roommate to develop a bond with, but the privacy and extra space is a nice thing to come back to. My dorm room is on the 6^th floor. Not even the elevator goes up that high, but taking the stairs is what I probably would have done anyways. The elevator at Cornell is ancient. It actually has a caged door and looks like something straight out of a medieval prison.

Syracuse to Ithaca is pure beauty.

My neighbor Ariel is from Long Island and will be studying Veterinary Medicine. We both grabbed lunch at the Robert Puracell Dining hall. I had pizza and a salad. Surprisingly, the food tasted a lot better than I thought it would and there were many options to choose from.

Robert Puracell Dining Hall

At around 7:30, there was an ice-cream party in the courtyard and later at around 9:30 we had a residence hall meeting. I can be reserved at times, and really did try to push myself to interact and be open with others. The result was positive; I ended up meeting and exchanging contact information with amazing people from all parts of the world. In fact, I’m having breakfast with my friend Julia tomorrow morning!