Friday, June 09, 2006
Between Continents
So it’s been a very interesting couple of flights thus far, towards my ultimate destination of Milan, Italy! I am writing on my laptop on the plane, but won’t be able to upload this to my blog until I land, and find time to get to the internet.
I arrived at BWI around 4:00P.M. local time. I was scared out of my mind. My dad was telling me all of this information and I was so scared I was going to forget some of it. Luckily, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was, but no thanks goes to the workers at the check-in point at U.S. Airways. I had already checked in online, so all I had to do apparently was check my luggage, and work my way to security, and eventually my gate. However, the woman at the check in point had no desire whatsoever to let me know this information. I was lucky enough to meet a woman in the line next to me, and she helped me get right on through. She asked where I was going and I told her and she was surprisingly very proud of me! I love people that are open minded and don’t act like the world is coming to an end because a first-time-flyer has a very simple question.
Onward I go, to security. My dad told me to make sure I have my laptop out because they apparently scan that separately for whatever reason. Of course, I forgot. So I had to hold the line up, because the man had to reverse the conveyer belt to get my laptop out of my bag. No biggie.
Finally, I am past security, and looking for my gate. I am looking for D24. I found it, and I go over and get my boarding pass signed and that’s it! That’s all there is to it. After the woman signed my boarding pass, I was ready to roll until they called my flight to board. I was just in such a rush all day I felt like there should be something I should be doing.
After all of the runaround, I decide to sit down just for the sake of sitting. I sit across from this middle-aged man, who is attempting to be an easy traveler by talking via his Bluetooth headset. I’m unimpressed. Behind me is a woman, her daughter, and younger son. They are from Phoenix and are heading to Ireland. Later, in Philadelphia I see them heading towards my gate, and hope that they are going to Shannon as well, but alas they keep heading forward. I watch a few jets fly away and purchase “The Five People You Will Meet In Heaven,” and attempt to read it. Unfortunately, I haven’t met any of the five people thirty pages in to the book, and even on a five and a half hour flight, I don’t have patience for that. It’s still in my carry-on. I use the excuse that my zone was called to tuck it away in my carry-on, and off I go to Philadelphia.
This is where it gets fun…or not. I am flying over the Chesapeake Bay, in awe because the sun is setting and illuminating the clouds a fluffy pink. I sit back, and relax because I am finally 1/3 of the way to Ireland, where my pot of gold Rachel Dillon, awaits me. No sooner than I relax after seeing the Chesapeake Bay, the captain comes on and says, “Welcome to Philadelphia!” I forgot that planes go like 700000 miles per hour, and that Philly really isn’t that far in the first place. We got to Philadelphia from Baltimore in literally half an hour. It was amazing.
So, we land at the C terminal, which is good news. Brent, who is a flight attendant for US Air, the company with which I am flying, told me that I may end up at the F terminal, and have to take a bus from the F terminal to the main terminals. This made me feel uneasy. So I get off the gate at terminal C, and start heading my way to gate A8. Now, keep in mind I have a carry on which includes my laptop, 3 Propel water bottles, 2 cameras, batteries, random snacks, an “O” magazine, a sweatshirt, and all of my hygiene products (because Nexus shampoo isn’t worth the risk of losing). In other words: it’s heavy. So I lug my ass down to A8 (which feels about 10 miles away, and at the other side of the airport) to find out that the gate had been switched from A8 to A18. No, this wasn’t a lapse in concentration on my part. In fact they did it about 2 minutes before I got to A8, and hadn’t made an announcement yet. SO…I have to track another like 2 miles to get over to A18, where I finally sit my luggage down. My flight appears to be on time and is set to leave at 8:55. I make some last minute phone calls and try to read a little more of this book that is going no where, before I get bored. Then, I notice it’s 8:30 already. The flights usually board about half an hour before take off (take off in my case was supposed to be 8:55). Then around 8:47, the schedule on the flat screen TV’s (which are the bomb) change to have the flight scheduled to leave at 9:24. Everyone is annoyed, but kind of relieved too because it means they can go eat or something if need be. So, I am just sitting around, hanging out….watching this girl across from me read “The Devil Wears Prada.” Something was telling me that she is an English major, and I later find out it’s true. Then, at 9:26 the flat screen schedules change again and say that the flight is scheduled to leave at 9:45. This time, it is followed up by an announcement saying that the reason that the flight has been delayed is because the caterer for the plane had to take all of the food off of the plane, drive it 6 miles some place, and then drive it 6 miles back. Somehow 12 miles takes an hour!
At any rate, they started boarding us right around 10:00 or 10:15. I wanted to act annoyed but at this point I was just hoping to get on the plane and get situated. I notice that the girl in front of me is the same one that was reading “The Devil Wears Prada.” I’ll be honest and say that I was looking to catch a glimpse of her ticket stub to see which seat she was in. It turns out, she is sitting right next to me!! I follow her and she turns to me and we both just smile and laugh one of those laughs to be courteous, when really there is not a single thing humorous enough to be laughing about…we just sat in an airport for an extra hour. I say, “I’ve been following you around this whole time, and you’re sitting right next to me!” I laughed again. We asked each other what we are going to be doing in Europe. She is studying abroad in Limerick, Ireland which coincidentally is where Rachel is. Rachel is not at the same college that she will be going, but still very interesting nonetheless. Oh yeah and she lives in Indiana. Her name is Judy, and she’s a literature major! How perfect!! So, we had some small talk before the plane took off, and we both said farewell to America for the next three weeks. Once the plane started cruising and people at least tried to stop using the bathroom, we both sort of fell asleep. She had been sleeping the entire time, but I only slept for an hour…or something. This time change is stupid because I don’t know if I was sleeping for an hour or like 6 hours. Duh.
They served this pasta on the plane that I was expecting to be really disgusting but it turned out to be really good. I’m really excited about the food in Italy. Food is a big part of my life, and a big part of why I am big. Does that make sense? Did I mention that it’s FREEZING on this plane? Judy and I got lucky and got in an Exit row, so we had a lot of room for our feet. But, I think the doors are slightly ajar or something because there is a draft in here that’s make me think we’re heading to Iceland instead of Ireland. There is a man sitting to the left of me with an Irish accent that asked how long I was going to be in Europe and for what reason. I told him I am actually connecting in London, and then to Milan to work as a camp counselor to which he replies, “They’re just a bunch of brats. Have fun!”
A flight attendant just came on and said that we will be landing in 30 minutes, so I have to sign off for now. I just looked out of the window and see nothing but clouds and blue ocean below! I am getting excited! Day 1 of Europe begins NOW!
I arrived at BWI around 4:00P.M. local time. I was scared out of my mind. My dad was telling me all of this information and I was so scared I was going to forget some of it. Luckily, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was, but no thanks goes to the workers at the check-in point at U.S. Airways. I had already checked in online, so all I had to do apparently was check my luggage, and work my way to security, and eventually my gate. However, the woman at the check in point had no desire whatsoever to let me know this information. I was lucky enough to meet a woman in the line next to me, and she helped me get right on through. She asked where I was going and I told her and she was surprisingly very proud of me! I love people that are open minded and don’t act like the world is coming to an end because a first-time-flyer has a very simple question.
Onward I go, to security. My dad told me to make sure I have my laptop out because they apparently scan that separately for whatever reason. Of course, I forgot. So I had to hold the line up, because the man had to reverse the conveyer belt to get my laptop out of my bag. No biggie.
Finally, I am past security, and looking for my gate. I am looking for D24. I found it, and I go over and get my boarding pass signed and that’s it! That’s all there is to it. After the woman signed my boarding pass, I was ready to roll until they called my flight to board. I was just in such a rush all day I felt like there should be something I should be doing.
After all of the runaround, I decide to sit down just for the sake of sitting. I sit across from this middle-aged man, who is attempting to be an easy traveler by talking via his Bluetooth headset. I’m unimpressed. Behind me is a woman, her daughter, and younger son. They are from Phoenix and are heading to Ireland. Later, in Philadelphia I see them heading towards my gate, and hope that they are going to Shannon as well, but alas they keep heading forward. I watch a few jets fly away and purchase “The Five People You Will Meet In Heaven,” and attempt to read it. Unfortunately, I haven’t met any of the five people thirty pages in to the book, and even on a five and a half hour flight, I don’t have patience for that. It’s still in my carry-on. I use the excuse that my zone was called to tuck it away in my carry-on, and off I go to Philadelphia.
This is where it gets fun…or not. I am flying over the Chesapeake Bay, in awe because the sun is setting and illuminating the clouds a fluffy pink. I sit back, and relax because I am finally 1/3 of the way to Ireland, where my pot of gold Rachel Dillon, awaits me. No sooner than I relax after seeing the Chesapeake Bay, the captain comes on and says, “Welcome to Philadelphia!” I forgot that planes go like 700000 miles per hour, and that Philly really isn’t that far in the first place. We got to Philadelphia from Baltimore in literally half an hour. It was amazing.
So, we land at the C terminal, which is good news. Brent, who is a flight attendant for US Air, the company with which I am flying, told me that I may end up at the F terminal, and have to take a bus from the F terminal to the main terminals. This made me feel uneasy. So I get off the gate at terminal C, and start heading my way to gate A8. Now, keep in mind I have a carry on which includes my laptop, 3 Propel water bottles, 2 cameras, batteries, random snacks, an “O” magazine, a sweatshirt, and all of my hygiene products (because Nexus shampoo isn’t worth the risk of losing). In other words: it’s heavy. So I lug my ass down to A8 (which feels about 10 miles away, and at the other side of the airport) to find out that the gate had been switched from A8 to A18. No, this wasn’t a lapse in concentration on my part. In fact they did it about 2 minutes before I got to A8, and hadn’t made an announcement yet. SO…I have to track another like 2 miles to get over to A18, where I finally sit my luggage down. My flight appears to be on time and is set to leave at 8:55. I make some last minute phone calls and try to read a little more of this book that is going no where, before I get bored. Then, I notice it’s 8:30 already. The flights usually board about half an hour before take off (take off in my case was supposed to be 8:55). Then around 8:47, the schedule on the flat screen TV’s (which are the bomb) change to have the flight scheduled to leave at 9:24. Everyone is annoyed, but kind of relieved too because it means they can go eat or something if need be. So, I am just sitting around, hanging out….watching this girl across from me read “The Devil Wears Prada.” Something was telling me that she is an English major, and I later find out it’s true. Then, at 9:26 the flat screen schedules change again and say that the flight is scheduled to leave at 9:45. This time, it is followed up by an announcement saying that the reason that the flight has been delayed is because the caterer for the plane had to take all of the food off of the plane, drive it 6 miles some place, and then drive it 6 miles back. Somehow 12 miles takes an hour!
At any rate, they started boarding us right around 10:00 or 10:15. I wanted to act annoyed but at this point I was just hoping to get on the plane and get situated. I notice that the girl in front of me is the same one that was reading “The Devil Wears Prada.” I’ll be honest and say that I was looking to catch a glimpse of her ticket stub to see which seat she was in. It turns out, she is sitting right next to me!! I follow her and she turns to me and we both just smile and laugh one of those laughs to be courteous, when really there is not a single thing humorous enough to be laughing about…we just sat in an airport for an extra hour. I say, “I’ve been following you around this whole time, and you’re sitting right next to me!” I laughed again. We asked each other what we are going to be doing in Europe. She is studying abroad in Limerick, Ireland which coincidentally is where Rachel is. Rachel is not at the same college that she will be going, but still very interesting nonetheless. Oh yeah and she lives in Indiana. Her name is Judy, and she’s a literature major! How perfect!! So, we had some small talk before the plane took off, and we both said farewell to America for the next three weeks. Once the plane started cruising and people at least tried to stop using the bathroom, we both sort of fell asleep. She had been sleeping the entire time, but I only slept for an hour…or something. This time change is stupid because I don’t know if I was sleeping for an hour or like 6 hours. Duh.
They served this pasta on the plane that I was expecting to be really disgusting but it turned out to be really good. I’m really excited about the food in Italy. Food is a big part of my life, and a big part of why I am big. Does that make sense? Did I mention that it’s FREEZING on this plane? Judy and I got lucky and got in an Exit row, so we had a lot of room for our feet. But, I think the doors are slightly ajar or something because there is a draft in here that’s make me think we’re heading to Iceland instead of Ireland. There is a man sitting to the left of me with an Irish accent that asked how long I was going to be in Europe and for what reason. I told him I am actually connecting in London, and then to Milan to work as a camp counselor to which he replies, “They’re just a bunch of brats. Have fun!”
A flight attendant just came on and said that we will be landing in 30 minutes, so I have to sign off for now. I just looked out of the window and see nothing but clouds and blue ocean below! I am getting excited! Day 1 of Europe begins NOW!
# posted by John Thrasher @ 7:58 AM 
