OMG... I'm here!
I would have written last night... but exhausted. I made it through customs, my luggage arrived (soaking wet... but it arrived, so I can't really complain)... and, not to be super bragidocious, but the customs guy spoke to me solely in Spanish and I understood everything and responded back in Spanish.
Little pat on the back to me.
Of course, it wasn't like we discussed molecular science or tips on climbing Everest.
I think the questions were"What airline did you fly? Is this your first trip to Ecuador? How many days are you here?"
... but I'm proud.
The actual journey to get here was not too bad, I have to admit.
A friend of mine poured me in to Vancouver International on Saturday night and I slept on the bench seats for a few hours until I had to check in.
Check in was interesting. The first thing that I told the girl was that I had tried repetitively to check in at home, but it wouldn't let me.
Delta Girl:"Where are you flying to?"
Me:"Vancouver to Minneapolis... then to Atlanta and then on to Ecuador."
Delta Girl:"What time?"
Me:"6:30"
Delta Girl:"Sorry ma'am but there are no flights to Minneapolis today at 6:30."
This is the conversation that ensued...
I BEG to differ... mild heart attack... slight panic overtakes...
Calm down... relax.
I pull out my printed itinerary (keepin' it old school)
See?????
Delta Girl:"Oh... that flight was changed to Salt Lake City. ha ha... sometimes they do stuff like that."
Super cute.
Like jokesters.
Nice of them to let me know.
I then ate the world's worst ham and cheese sandwich. KIND of ate it. More like tore it apart and spread it all over the seat...
The flight was all ok. It was actually good that it got broken up so much. I think I need to write more about the annoyances of the flight LATER.... and I will.
There was this kid from SLC to Atlanta that was playing a video game and his volume was on LOUD. I can not even believe that his mother didn't smack him. It was making me crazy and I almost snapped. I actually stopped the stewardess and BOUGHT headphones for $2 US to ease my pain.
I'd accidentally packed my headphones in my backpack...
Funny that they were $2 US and I was only allowed to pay with my credit card... cuz they were handing them out like free pancakes on the following flight to Quito. Delta, as well, I might add. Seems like a case of 'preferred customers' to me...
When we arrived in Atlanta, I was starving (seriously) and all I wanted in life was some nachos and a glass of red wine. But sometimes dreams don't come true. I tried going in to TGIF and waited... waited... waited... no one helped me :-(
I finally had to leave there cuz I was going to miss my connecting fligh
t if I waited anymore. So smart me, popped in to some food court Mexican outlet and these are the nachos they gave me...
Some kind of liquid cheese that tasted like it almost had broccoli in it.
"Can you please add jalapeños?"
"No... we don't have that."
"Tomatoes?"
"No."
Pretty high class Mexican food court restaurant.
Half way through eating it, it suddenly dawned on me that perhaps this might not have been the best choice for a meal right before a 5 hour flight...
I did survive though without one emergency trip to the airplane toilet.
But I do have to mention the funniest and most embarrassing thing about the flights. THIS happened to me...
I GOT TRAVEL CANKLES!!!!!
I just kept thinking "WHY are my shoes so friggin' tight?"
Finally I looked down and OMG... I have stump leg foot...
Am I going to be like this forever.
People kept giving me advice that when I got to my hotel, to raise my feet up above my heart, for a long period of time.
There's a visual.
I'm going to hope that the swelling subsides over time... but until then, my motto is "Thick is the new sexy"...