Really? Really???

I wish I could say that my flights went smoothly and I'm now settled in at GLA, but, alas, I cannot. I am currently in the lobby of the Holiday Inn just outside of the Miami airport while thunder rolls and rain is falling sporadically outside the window. My first flight went smoothly enough, but my flight from LA to Miami became a bit of a nightmare.

When I first checked in, the flight was 30 minutes behind giving me an hour still to catch my connecting flight; doable. Then 30 minutes became an hour and an hour became an hour, 45. I was forced to deal with the fact that I would not be making my connection. Up until the final minute before boarding, I was frantically making arrangements with the airline for a different flight and calling my mom who was in turn calling the orphanage to let them know not to expect me the following morning; I was that crazy person runnning through the terminal and was one of the last to board the plane. Once we finally boarded, we waited another half hour for the backup 1st officer because the original one didn't show up and then got in line on the tarmac just to be informed that another pilot noticed something coming from one of the wings and we would be heading back to get it checked out by the mechanics. My flight was scheduled to leave at 9:15, it eventually left at 12:30am. I'm not going to lie, it was a miserable evening. I was nauseous on the flight and terrified at the prospect of using one of those bags to vomit in front of a few hundred strangers; I was claustrophobic in the dim shell of the plane while we sat there still and quiet, I was tired and really, really stressed out. This was not the way I intended on starting my trip.

My morning and early afternoon in the airport had enough complications to carry on this paragraph for quite some time, but I think you get the general idea. After 3 attempts at flagging down the hotel shuttle (which comes every 1/2 hour), I finally called them to say that there's a small girl in a purple skirt and tank top that really, really, wants to get their attention. When I finally did jump into the front seat of the shuttle, the driver and I greeted like long parted friends; it was all quite funny. As I'm going on a couple hours of sleep and I'd been wandering around the airport all morning, trying to coordinate my arrival in Haiti and tie up loose ends like making sure my luggage would be following me, I was extremely excited at the prospect of falling down onto a bed and zoning out on some brainless TV; but now that I'm here, I do admit to being quite lonely. I will be heading to bed extremely early, though, as I have to be up at 3:30am to catch the 4:00am shuttle to catch my 6:45am flight; where, I should say, I am assured there will be someone waiting for me.

The funny thing is, I knew this was going to happen; deep down I knew. Just as we got to the airport yesterday I made the decision to put a skirt and an extra pair of you-know-whats in my backpack just in case, and I quote, "I get stranded in Miami and it's really hot and I want to change out of my jeans." :-) I honestly was not the least bit surprised that this happened.

I'm doing my best to take everything in stride and trying to learn from every obstacle. I have learned a few things: Don't try to swallow a Gravol with no water, and consequently, swallowing ice is not effective when trying to dislodge a pill from your throat. I've learned how much people will do to help you when you are kind and treat them with respect (case in point, free hotel and three free meal vouchers). I've also learned that older African American women love to mother and I find it quite endearing when they call me "baby"in their southern accents; it makes me feel oddly nostalgic.

Well, I wanted adventure and I've have been known to say that it's not really an adventure unless things go wrong. So, what can I say...I asked for it.