SIXTEEN HOURS

I’ve always loved airports and planes. The thought of seeing people arriving and departing to and from different places around the world is magical. It’s such a great environment and everyone’s on the go.

Flying is a fun thing but when you’re on a plane with 30 screaming babies it’s a different story. My 9 hour flight from JFK- New York to Moscow, Russia was the longest flight I’ve ever taken. First of all, our plane was late which led us to board the plane an hour to two hours later than expected. It was 3 AM and we were in the air. Sidebar: who would ever make their babies fly for 9 hours? I think they’re crazy people that crave inflicting misery on innocent victims. But that’s just me. So getting back on topic, I somehow fell asleep and I also got myself moved up to first class which was HUGE! The powers of Okna at work. During the last hours of my flight I was freaking out because I had to transfer flights. I didn’t know what to expect. Are Russians nice? Could they speak English? So many questions were rushing thru my head. Anxiety was setting in.

Transferring flights is probably the most stressful thing ever. Gates change, times sometimes don’t correspond and it’s just a lot of people running from one place to another. Being in Russia I didn’t have any service or wifi so I just relied on the people around me. With my luck my gate changed and I rushed thru security and speed-walked to my gate. Prior to my trip my dad freaked me out about how little time I would have to transfer planes but thankfully I had time to spare. I was so happy to arrive at my last flight and I could finally breathe. It was weird not being able to call my family and telling them I was safe and alive. But the idea of my dad always tracking my flights kept me protected. Sometimes he can be excessive but I’ll always love the crazy stuff he does for me. Shoutout to Josh! You’re the best. So back to my gate, I was very surprised because I didn’t expect so many Americans to be going to Mongolia. I thought I was going to be in a pool of Mongolians and asians but it was a very diverse group. I guess Mongolia is a popular place to travel to.

My last flight was during sunrise and showed the best views of Mongolia. The mountains were gorgeous and they surrounded everything. The birds eye view of Mongolia showed how much larger the countryside is compared to the towns and cities. As we were flying you could see the windows getting frosty with snowflakes, illustrating the crazy temperature changes in Mongolia. It was surreal that I landed in my homeland and it was scary entering into a whole new world.

JUNE 24 AT 9 PM

The actual significance of my trip to Mongolia hit me really hard and fast. The belief in everyone’s head was that my flight would leaving on June 25th at 1 pm but thankfully my dad scrutinized the itinerary and realized that it was 12 hours earlier at 1 in the morning.  This gave us a limited time to get to the airport. That moment made me so stressed and scared because of the lack of packing I had done and also the thought of not having time to say goodbye to all my friends. I had to rush and text my goodbyes which made me feel homesick even though I was still in my house. While getting texts saying “have a  safe flight” and “miss you already”, that was the first time I actually felt alone. I realized the amount of independence I was getting on this trip and I was scared to accept it. Who let me, O.L.F., travel alone to a different country! My parents have always told me that I’m capable of anything but sometimes I don’t always believe that because I’m insecure and afraid of change. I HAD TO CHANGE AND BE AN ADULT. Now that’s some scary shit.  6,289 miles away from my home, family, friends, dog and my life for 46 days. Get ready for the biggest roller coaster of a lifetime.

JUST THE BEGINNING

Hello friends!! If you didn’t already know I’m Okna Freeman and welcome to my blog. I am 17 years old (almost 18), I live in a small town in Westchester, New York and I have the best and most supportive family and friends. This is my first blog ever and it’s dedicated to my 2017 summer adventure in Mongolia. I’m going back to my roots and visiting old friends and volunteering at the Lotus Center which is an orphanage located outside of the capital Ulaanbaatar. This is going to be a sentimental trip because I was born in Mongolia and was adopted at the age of 3. I have lived in America ever since and I have a great life with so many opportunities and it’s everything I’ve always wanted. All thanks to my amazing family and they’re encouragement and endless support. Come on this adventure with me and explore my past!!