The flight and a night in New York

I remember walking passed security and wishing I had turned back one more time thinking I didn't properly get to say goodbye, my family was just behind a simple screen, why had I walked so quickly? Should I have hugged them one last time instead of the slightly jokey farewell? Then past security it was spot the green T-shirts and grit your teeth introduce yourself and try and find others going to the same camp (I was in luck half the people there were coming to my camp). The flight was surreal I was sat next to a boy who didn't speak for the whole plane ride and I watched crap films and had a beer (it was free) the food was classically awful and then we were in New York, JFK airport, it didn't feel real. A confusion of baggage finding the bus and half of us were at the hostel ready to sleep but insistent we spend our one night in New York doing something worthwhile. We browsed round the streets near the hostel, a trip to a slightly creepy corner shop where we all peered at the strange food like it was a museum exhibit 'How Americans Eat' with more sugar, e-numbers and colour than we get back in Britain. Then a classic pizza trip with slices as big as half a pizza back home. We inevitably ended up in McDonald's which is where we decided there was nothing around the hostel that was that interesting so it was time to brave the Subway and go to Times Square, it had to be done. Twelve in the morning and 4 jetlagged girls emerge from the alien subway and are (to go with the cliche) blinded by the lights of times square so bright it felt like it was still daytime (even though our bodies were telling us we really should be asleep). We wandered enraptured by this strange place past a man with a sign that said "I need money to buy weed, at least I'm honest", street venders trying to attract our attention and musicians trying their luck in the big apple. Pictures were taken, we danced, we sang and then we decided the night was over we had only a few hours to sleep then breakfast, a 7 hour bus that lost a tire so they replaced the bus and we arrived at camp tired and sticky with just enough energy to conjure up a dazed smile.