All Hail "Her Ag-Nes"

Matt : "Ladies and gentlemen, the Agster has arrived. So, without further adieux….."

Agnes : "Yes, this is really me and yes, this is the chariot that brought me to Lux! Honestly, a rocking chair tied down with a rope on top would have completed the hillbilly look. My dad and I played with the idea of driving down Michigan Ave but we would have hated showing up the Mercedes and Beamers outside the Ritz Hotel.

So, I did not take too much time from my last day at Lakeshore, to visiting home to moving to Luxembourg. Honestly, the idea of taking days off, waiting around, etc did not appeal to me for several reasons: 1. I would have been more emotional leaving because I would have had time to actually think about everything 2. Everyone else would have been working during the day so what would I have done? 3. I wanted to be with Matt.

So, my “want” was fulfilled but I did have a few “challenges” on the way. Moving your life in 2 suitcases and one carry-on just isn’t possible. (Shoes and coats take up room!) I ended up with four bags and one small carry on. Well, I got to the Cincinnati Airport and the first thing I did was looked for a cart. None were to be found and then one of the airport men came up to our car and offered to take my bags in with his cart. Of course, I knew he wanted a tip and unfortunately, I did not have any money except a few bucks in change with me. (I had just stopped at the bank on my way to the airport and deposited all the US dollars I had left to my bank account b/c it would have been no use to me here…) He dropped me off where one weighs their bags in for International flights and left. Fine. Be a brat.

Well, of course I had to shift a few things around to get all bags at the correct weight, etc. In the process I placed my passport in one of the bags (idiot) so was frantically looking for it for about 10 minutes. Finally I found my passport and got the go ahead (my bags passed the weigh-in). The man looks at his watch and says that you need to check in w/n the next 10 minutes or you will be blocked from the flight. Great! The man w/the cart took off and I have 5 bags to get up to the front desk to check in. This guy was nice enough to help me to the front….Checked in, perfect. On through security with no problems, excellent.
I run to the bathroom and come back about to sit in my boarding area when my name is called to check in at the desk. What?? I just checked in. Now what?? Well, I managed to drop my boarding pass some where along the way and the attendant was returning it to me. I sit for five minutes and we board the plane. Can you tell I was a bit flustered and feeling 100% like an idiot at this point? I began wondering if anything else could possibly go wrong and then quickly erased that thought from my mind….I still had to travel 4100 miles over the “pond”!

On the flight, I had some wine, watched a movie and slept. Everything was going very smoothly and I was starting to feel good about things. I finally arrived in Lux, (lay over for 1 ½ hours in Paris) at 9:30a on Thursday morning. I went to the baggage claim and of course, all 4 of my bags are still in Paris. OF COURSE THEY ARE! So, I find Matt outside and am just so happy to see him. Finally, some familiarity and security is back in my life.

I came back to the apartment and relaxed, went for a run, etc. Matt went on to work. My bags then arrived around 3p that day. The good thing about losing the bags is that they (LuxAir) had to deliver them and carry them up the steps to Matt’s apartment (on the 3rd floor) for me….Woo-hoo!

So far things are going really well! I have been on the autobus, to the supermarche and shopping a few times by myself now. Life is definitely a bit slower here than in Chicago, but it’s a good thing. The area is beautiful! I have been going on walks/runs everyday and exploring a bit. As Matt mentioned in the previous blog, we are going to see my cousins this weekend and stopping in the mustard capital of the world on the way, Dijon, France….which is actually part of Burgundy (a region known for Ron and one of the many types of wines in France)."

Matt : "It's nice to have her here!"