It was the next day late afternoon, Friday afternoon, and I was sitting in the hotel lobby in tears. I was so exhausted from my farm leader’s arguments and also very upset that volunteer program was unsuccessful, and I was unsure about my plans in Bayonne as everything got messed up. I was supposed to be at my girlfriend’s, Anais’, home that night and until middle of the week, but because she was in the hospital, it was impossible to know when she would be out. My guy friend, Jean-Victor, gave me his wrong cell phone number and so, he was unreachable and even his sister, Marie, who was still at home, was not responding nor returning my call as I left a message.

The minute the hour hand turned to five o’clock on my watch, the time that the holocaust survivor, Serge, told me that I could come over, I asked the hotel to call the taxi to head to the holocaust survivor’s home.

Within half hour, I was at the holocaust survivor’s home. He greeted me with excitements at the front door and gave me a big hug. He brought me a big glass of water to drink as he saw my red and tired face. We sat down and talked about my incredible adventure.

Then, Serge made a wonderful dinner – veggie omelet and homemade bread. It was certainly a very deserving dinner. This man is 86 years old and can still cook!

“Rrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnng” my cellphone rang and it was Jean-Victor’s and Marie’s mother. Finally, I heard something from someone. She apologized for all the chaotic and of course was very concerned about me and what happened the night before. She spoke to Anais’ mother and Anais just got out of the hospital, and they got everything worked out and planned for the rest of my trip. BUT! I changed my airfare from Friday to Tuesday as I was very exhausted and didn’t want to bother my friends since it was really discourteous to drop this bomb at the last minute, and I also got a good deal airfare change. They had planned that I was going to Anais’ the next day and stay there until Wednesday and head to the Maublancs that day as they were still out of town until then. The minute I told the mother that I changed my ticket, she was so PISSED! I explained to her that I felt badly for bothering them at the last minute, and of course, she said that it was not my fault at all, and they were sorry that they weren’t there for me. She tried to make me change my airfare ticket back to Friday, but I already paid the change fees! UGH! Well, I was going to be back next summer anyhow, and of course, that’s what I told them too. Soooo…..here was the sweet deal. Jean-Victor and his father would come back early JUST for ME! So, they planned that they would come back on Monday and so, I would head to them on Monday and stay there that night, and the father would take me to the airport on Tuesday. Whew! Now, I was completely relieved that everything worked out.