It's 11pm back home, and I am sitting in the airport in Bogota, Colombia waiting for a plane that was supposed to be leaving now. Apparently our plane was struck by lightning, and they are repairing it. The earliest they hope to have us leaving is 3am.... Oh the joys of travel!
It's been a busy day so far with wake up at 5:30 for a 6:30am departure from home. We got to the airport and I got through security without any problems. My bag was overweight by 13pnds, but the most I could have lost was a couple pounds. They said it would be the same price for a third bag (I think this is mostly because the Latin American airlines go more by total weight of luggage, not number of pieces and weight) so I had no choice but to pay the $200 fee.
My flight from Detroit to Washington, D.C. went well, and once I got there luckily stumbled upon the gate for my next flight in my search just to find information about what gate I was supposed to. This took all of 5 minutes, so then I got to wait... and wait... and wait some more until finally about 1:15 before the flight was supposed to leave, representatives finally showed up and I was able to check in. I had to check my backpack, because they only allowed one carry on, no matter it's size, and I had to keep my laptop bag with all of my valuables (laptop, ipod, etc) with me. Luckily I wasn't charged anymore. Jose, the guy at the desk even gave me a better seat. I ended up with a window seat, with an older woman on the aisle seat with a free seat between us. That was nice to have!
My flight from D.C. to Bogota went well, though it was a bit long. It was my first time being fed anything that could be considered close to a real meal on a plane, with a small salad, a small main dish (The choices were beef or pasta, I had beef and it was relatively good), and a dessert. I'm not really sure what the desert was, but it was really good. Later on they also gave us a small sandwich. I mostly slept, listened to music, and watched an episode of "House", "Glee", and part of "Man vs. Wild", before we landed. Overall, I was quite impressed with the service.
Once we landed we ended up sitting waiting for our gate to open up for about 20 minutes. I was starting to get a little nervous because I was supposed to be boarding my next plane already. I did still have 30 minutes until departure, however. Once off the plane I had to have my bag sniffed by a dog, a first for me, and then walked to gates over only to discover that I'm not going anywhere anytime close to now. Well, at least I made it half way there!
A Stranger for a Year (My Adventures in a Land Called Argentina)
3 comments:
Hi Ben! It's nice to see how your trip went so far. I'm anxious to hear that you arrive in Argentina safely! Love you lots!!! Mom :-)
Since I'm reading this about lunch time on Thursday, am hoping you made it the rest of the way by now! Praying for your adjustment! Sorry you had to arrive on such a cold, rainy day :( Watching the news this morning I saw that in parts of Buenos Aires the streets are flooded because of all the rain. Thankfully you won't be near those areas :) Hopefully you'll be able to settle in and get some rest today!
Getting a meal on a plane is definitely an interesting experience. Flying international is way better than flying domestic, the service is better, the chairs are bigger, and you don't feel quite as cramped. I as well am anxious to hear to you arrived safely. Looking forward to catching up with you this weekend. Love you, bro!
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