Thanks to my step-dad Jevan, we had finally arrived at the
Amtrak station in Champaign. The car ride to the station was uneventful. Jevan,
Karissa, and I chatted about the trip, ate at Taco Bell down the street from
the station, and Karissa and I were dropped off. The Amtrak waiting area was
nearly empty when we arrived, with the exception of our classmates and two
older adults. The man had a long, gray beard, and he wore black slacks, a white
shirt, and a hat with a wide rim. The woman wore a simple long, black dress
with long sleeves, and a white bonnet covered the top and back of her head. Her
head was bent over a thick book with yellowed pages. I looked up at them
occasionally, and caught the man’s eyes once or twice. He watched us as well,
and he smiled when a few of my classmates took a group photo together.
I have been on a train before, but always by myself.
Boarding the train with twenty-two people was an entirely different experience.
I was toward the back of our group, and by the time I got on the train it was a
little chaotic. Multiple conductors were attempting to find seats for everyone
so we could all sit together, but that did not happen at first. The last few of
us kept moving forward, but we were then directed to move backward because
there were no seats left by our group. I could feel myself thrown a little off
balance because the train had started to move. My eyes were struggling to
adjust to the sudden dimness of the train as I slowly walked toward the back.
We found two available seats, but not even five minutes later we were told to
move back up by our group. The conductors had moved some people around for us,
and we were finally able to settle into our seats. I could feel sleepiness
tugging at my eyelids, and a slight ache in my head was beginning to get worse.
With the smell of some spicy food behind me, and the sound of a Pac-Man game
starting up, I fell asleep.
I have never slept on a train before, and I fell in and out
of sleep all night. It felt as though as soon as I found a comfortable
position, I would wake up with a pain in my back, shoulder, etc. At around four
in the morning I was suddenly awoken by seemingly nothing. It was eerily quiet.
The only sounds I could hear were the wheels of the train scratching against
the tracks, air coming into the car through the vents, and the muffled sound of
a thumping bass through someone’s headphones.
This was also my first experience eating in the dining car
on a train. It was nothing to brag about, a little pricey, but it was warm food
which was nice. Karissa and I split a mini pepperoni pizza, and I got a Pepsi. My
favorite part of the train ride has been the observation/lounge car. As I write
this blog I am sitting at a table in this car. There are windows everywhere,
and the sun has finally stopped hiding behind the clouds. It is very refreshing
after being in a dark car for fourteen hours.
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| Dining Car |
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| Observation Car |
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| Karissa and I's Gourmet Meal |
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| Poster in the Observation Car |
I remember the first time I took a train and saw Amish
people on the train with me. I was confused and curious. Their lifestyle
fascinates me, but I always got the feeling that they looked down on people
like me. Or I got the feeling that I was doing something wrong in their eyes
and I should be wearing a turtleneck and a long skirt that doesn’t show my
ankles. I know that is most likely not the case, and that was proven to be true
in some aspects in the Champaign train station. As the Amish man occasionally
watched us have fun and just be college students about to embark on a trip, he
smiled. This surprised me and shattered my stereotypes about the Amish. I have
only ever seen Amish people look stern, and usually avoid eye contact. This
older Amish man watched us, almost the completely opposite as him and what he
believes in, and smiled. As with many occasions before this one, this taught me
to be watchful about how I initially perceive people by what they look like,
how they dress, etc.
As described before, boarding the train with a group of
twenty-two people turned out to be much more chaotic than we thought it would
be, and what it needed to be. I felt so stressed and anxious just trying to
find a seat. It was made worse by the fact that there seemed to be so many
people, it was dark, and the train had already started moving. When I made it
to my seat by the rest of the group, I felt much better. All that stress and
worry was for nothing.
I had trouble falling asleep at first, and when that happens
my mind tends to drift to oftentimes bad places. My mom was texting me, and I
felt a sudden sadness from being away from home. I know, twenty-one years old
and still uncomfortable with leaving for a few days seems pathetic, but that is
how I have always been. I love to travel and experience new and exciting
things, but I always miss my home in the beginning and towards the end of the
trip. I’ve gotten better over the years, but it still nags at me. In a text my
mom told me “It’s only a few days. Enjoy it! Not everyone has this opportunity.
You are lucky!” and she is definitely right. I am so very lucky, and I cannot
let sadness over being far away from home for a few days ruin this opportunity
of a lifetime. Speaking of being far away from home, this is the farthest I
have been away from home without a family member with me.
With so many different people on the train, I can’t help but
wonder where they are all going and why. There was a woman sitting diagonally
behind me and she asked about our group, where we were going, what school we
were from, etc. She had a southern accent, and she also shared with me that her
daughter is a registered nurse in eastern Mississippi. To me, this is a place
that I am just passing through. But to others, these small towns are their
whole lives. I know life cannot be that much different for them as it is for
me, but I am still curious to know about what their lives are like and what
brought them to this train.
