Maked Territory: To Europe and beyond!

Nervous, complete with sweaty palms and brow, still in disbelief that I was on a plane, let alone travelling in business class, I fumbled with my seatbelt. I was on my way to a conference in Canada via Amsterdam.
Unlike the very small airport back in Zambia, Schipol was huge! I took a deep breath and even the air felt different! I felt a little lost in the shuffle of airport and began to walk around, almost confused. Being the food lover I am, I wanted to try everything; the smells of freshly baked breads, assorted cheeses and the very fragrant handmade Swiss chocolates. I am even almost drooling as I recall the feeling. Food-gasm! I took out my camera and started taking pictures of everything that caught my eye; vivid colours of the tulips that were on sale almost at every corner, the colourfully painted cows, milk maidens and of course the occasional selfie.
Waiting to connect to Canada was going to be a long wait... or so I thought. I was not conversant with the AM and PM way of telling time. The boarding pass said 12:15 PM for boarding and to me that was midnight. I looked at my watch and it was only 11 in the morning, I relaxed and continued to explore the huge airport. By the time it was 10:00 PM, I had probably been around the whole airport five times exploring and tasting as much as I could get for free. The once busy airport was all of a sudden quiet. I walked to the gate and it was closed! I felt my heart sink. I quickly looked for an information desk and the lady there asked for my boarding pass and then she began to laugh. She told me that I had missed my flight and the only next flight was the next day at the same time I missed it; 12:15 PM.
I stood looking confused for a few seconds before she suggested that I look for somewhere to sleep but all the hotels I could afford to stay in without breaking my bank were all full. I was panicking. I walked to a bathroom and stuffed my passport, boarding passes and cash into the leg of the tight blue jeans I was wearing. I settled in a hidden corner scared to fall asleep.
It felt like the longest wait of my life! And my sleep deprived and now hungry state was not helping at all! In the morning, airport was alive again! They announced my flight and I started getting excited about my trip again. I slept practically the whole flight. Almost 10 hours later, I was in Canada being picked up by the mentors along with some delegates. Like a dream!