By now , you are aware I am sure that I did in fact make it home ; did survive the misadventures in the Argentinian Super International Airport and am now telling the tale.............
Morning dawns early for those that want to sleep and so it did for me as well...........several cups of café con leche later I am ready to head out to the gate and am praying that this flight is still on track for an on time departure. Scared , but knowing it is necessary, I look at the departure board and ... Whoo Hoo!!!! it is here, ready to depart on time and loading in 10 minutes. Can this be true?
Fast forward twenty minutes - no it wasn't true... we are still here and waiting and did I mention that my connection in Miami had 54 minutes between arrival and departure..... What was that? loading the flight for Miami? alrighty..... here we go. Settled in , I get ready to get caught up on movies and sleep , because Heaven knows I do not need bread, cookies, pastries or dulche de leche EVER again ....We go through the obligatory flight safety presentation and once we reach a cruising level that is stable, the movies will be available, right? What do you mean we have no selection and we have to wait until after breakfast? Are you kidding? Ok ... bring on the food...... frozen containers of Greek yogurt, granola bars, bread, and of course - you guessed: dulche de leche!! Yea!!!! Is there fruit or juice? Mr. Flight attendant , sir..... I feel like some small British kid in a Dickens story: could I have a bit of fruit? No fruit, only what is on the trays...... this is going to be a long ride I can already tell.
Breakfast cleared and the movie time is on!! One movie choice....Thor and it is in Spanish. I fiddle with the option button an switch to channel 2 like the instructions said : If you would like to hear this video in English , switch to channel 2..... umm.... Spanish. Well, maybe I hit the wrong button.... try again, Spanish........ This is not looking good: both audio channels are in Spanish. I call the Sr. Flight attendant over and ask in my best English/Spanish could they please turn on the English on channel 2 and he says: It is turned on , you have it on the wrong channel. Well , please , sir..... by all means .fix it!! But alas he cannot and says he will go change it. 45 minutes later I get the word that this movie isn't in English. Now, I am thinking: movie was made in the USA , how can it NOT be in English. I let it go and am promised that the second movie will be programmed for English. OK So must be nap time...... off to sleep I go and wake up a full 2 hours later, right in time for : you guessed it ! Lunch!! More carbs...... sleep through lunch is probably the best plan and that is what I do.
Second movie starts : Noah ... good movie , looking forward to watching it again....... in Spanish? Umm what happened to programming? I call the lovely folks back and am told that they have reported that the machine is broken.... so sorry................Argh. Mute the video and watch the action is best option here.... plan how to get through customs quickly enough to make my flight to Atlanta.....
5 hours later we are on the ground in Miami and I am pulling an OJ Simpson sprint to customs and then to the new gate for departure. Remember that I have only had carry on this whole time to avoid the issues with checked luggage ...... so I am thinking no sweat I am back in the states and we are good to go!!!...
At my gate with 5 minutes to spare and am feeling pretty good right about now!!! My zone is called and as I proceed to the door, I am stopped and told that the flight is very full and the overhead compartments are very small and I will need to check my bag through to Charlotte. But I really don't want to sir, really..... gah... fine....claim check in hand I start the last of my flights home..... the last two flights home. That really does sound nice and as much as I enjoyed the international group and the interactions and learned a ton....... there is no place like home....
Land in Atlanta, change gates..... last flight!! Delay? seriously? because?..... international flight that is our plane is late ? what a surprise........ luckily we are only on the ground 30 minutes more that we should be and my delay in getting home from Argentina doesn't extend any more that 10hrs late.... not too bad. Better than my companions that chose to leave on the 8:30pm flight....
Good flying and safe journeys, fellows..........
The plane leaves as the sun is setting over Atlanta.... I look down and say farewell to a beautiful and am ready to welcome an even more beautiful city into my view.... in 45 minutes .......Charlotte , NC
Welcome home. Steve is waiting in the cell phone lot because the construction is brutal and I have told him I will send a text when I get my bag.... 20 minutes later he texts me to find out if I have my bag... still waiting..... Finally!!! and off I go..........
My Jeep! My state ( hot and humid , but mine ) and Steve..... all looking pretty good right about now....It is 10:30pm and to be very honest I should have been hungry and thirsty but I wanted to get home more than I cared about that.........
30 minutes away from my house, my shower, my bed........sleep .............
I saw so many amazing things: the opera house in Buenos Aires with a children's choir performing, street performers; Evita's home and her tomb, La Boca with Tango dancers and crochet bombed trees, World cup fans on an epic scale, whales and friends and new global projects........ wealth and poverty.... more carbs and caramel than should ever be allowed; a local school that was amazing; more things than I can possibly remember at this moment. But that is the point of a blog........... the sharing, the excitement and the remembering . For those of you that follow me... I feel so grateful that you care to do so.. I hope this has been fun for you too............... I will continue the journey in August to Kiwi land and over the year as I try to find funding to take some of my students to the iEARN International Summit in Brasil in the summer of 2015............ Adios , amigos Y amigas...
Morning dawns early for those that want to sleep and so it did for me as well...........several cups of café con leche later I am ready to head out to the gate and am praying that this flight is still on track for an on time departure. Scared , but knowing it is necessary, I look at the departure board and ... Whoo Hoo!!!! it is here, ready to depart on time and loading in 10 minutes. Can this be true?
Fast forward twenty minutes - no it wasn't true... we are still here and waiting and did I mention that my connection in Miami had 54 minutes between arrival and departure..... What was that? loading the flight for Miami? alrighty..... here we go. Settled in , I get ready to get caught up on movies and sleep , because Heaven knows I do not need bread, cookies, pastries or dulche de leche EVER again ....We go through the obligatory flight safety presentation and once we reach a cruising level that is stable, the movies will be available, right? What do you mean we have no selection and we have to wait until after breakfast? Are you kidding? Ok ... bring on the food...... frozen containers of Greek yogurt, granola bars, bread, and of course - you guessed: dulche de leche!! Yea!!!! Is there fruit or juice? Mr. Flight attendant , sir..... I feel like some small British kid in a Dickens story: could I have a bit of fruit? No fruit, only what is on the trays...... this is going to be a long ride I can already tell.
Breakfast cleared and the movie time is on!! One movie choice....Thor and it is in Spanish. I fiddle with the option button an switch to channel 2 like the instructions said : If you would like to hear this video in English , switch to channel 2..... umm.... Spanish. Well, maybe I hit the wrong button.... try again, Spanish........ This is not looking good: both audio channels are in Spanish. I call the Sr. Flight attendant over and ask in my best English/Spanish could they please turn on the English on channel 2 and he says: It is turned on , you have it on the wrong channel. Well , please , sir..... by all means .fix it!! But alas he cannot and says he will go change it. 45 minutes later I get the word that this movie isn't in English. Now, I am thinking: movie was made in the USA , how can it NOT be in English. I let it go and am promised that the second movie will be programmed for English. OK So must be nap time...... off to sleep I go and wake up a full 2 hours later, right in time for : you guessed it ! Lunch!! More carbs...... sleep through lunch is probably the best plan and that is what I do.
Second movie starts : Noah ... good movie , looking forward to watching it again....... in Spanish? Umm what happened to programming? I call the lovely folks back and am told that they have reported that the machine is broken.... so sorry................Argh. Mute the video and watch the action is best option here.... plan how to get through customs quickly enough to make my flight to Atlanta.....
5 hours later we are on the ground in Miami and I am pulling an OJ Simpson sprint to customs and then to the new gate for departure. Remember that I have only had carry on this whole time to avoid the issues with checked luggage ...... so I am thinking no sweat I am back in the states and we are good to go!!!...
At my gate with 5 minutes to spare and am feeling pretty good right about now!!! My zone is called and as I proceed to the door, I am stopped and told that the flight is very full and the overhead compartments are very small and I will need to check my bag through to Charlotte. But I really don't want to sir, really..... gah... fine....claim check in hand I start the last of my flights home..... the last two flights home. That really does sound nice and as much as I enjoyed the international group and the interactions and learned a ton....... there is no place like home....
Land in Atlanta, change gates..... last flight!! Delay? seriously? because?..... international flight that is our plane is late ? what a surprise........ luckily we are only on the ground 30 minutes more that we should be and my delay in getting home from Argentina doesn't extend any more that 10hrs late.... not too bad. Better than my companions that chose to leave on the 8:30pm flight....
Good flying and safe journeys, fellows..........
The plane leaves as the sun is setting over Atlanta.... I look down and say farewell to a beautiful and am ready to welcome an even more beautiful city into my view.... in 45 minutes .......Charlotte , NC
Welcome home. Steve is waiting in the cell phone lot because the construction is brutal and I have told him I will send a text when I get my bag.... 20 minutes later he texts me to find out if I have my bag... still waiting..... Finally!!! and off I go..........
My Jeep! My state ( hot and humid , but mine ) and Steve..... all looking pretty good right about now....It is 10:30pm and to be very honest I should have been hungry and thirsty but I wanted to get home more than I cared about that.........
30 minutes away from my house, my shower, my bed........sleep .............
I saw so many amazing things: the opera house in Buenos Aires with a children's choir performing, street performers; Evita's home and her tomb, La Boca with Tango dancers and crochet bombed trees, World cup fans on an epic scale, whales and friends and new global projects........ wealth and poverty.... more carbs and caramel than should ever be allowed; a local school that was amazing; more things than I can possibly remember at this moment. But that is the point of a blog........... the sharing, the excitement and the remembering . For those of you that follow me... I feel so grateful that you care to do so.. I hope this has been fun for you too............... I will continue the journey in August to Kiwi land and over the year as I try to find funding to take some of my students to the iEARN International Summit in Brasil in the summer of 2015............ Adios , amigos Y amigas...
Welcome home! It sounds like your flight home was quite a hassle! However your experiences watching the whales sound amazing!
ReplyDeleteI cant wait to see the OJ luggage jump in person!
ReplyDeleteBless your heart, all that trouble you went through but its all part of the experience lol i should know, we must meet and talk about this over cafe con leche y pan dulce lol !
ReplyDelete