The Airport Chronicles

Sad Mommy

And off I went! To the airport at 9am Monday Aug 26th to start the adventure of a lifetime! But not without a few travel stuggles along the way. Here's the play-by-play of what went down...

SAN --> LAX

52 dammit52 lbs

The overweight fee for a heavy bag on Air Berlin is $134... they are not messing around. I scrambled to pull out heavy things from my suitcase to shove in my already full carry on and get under that 50 lbs.. I settled on my maxi dress. (weighs more than you would believe) 2 pairs of pants (they were in the side pocket) and my nikes. which weigh approx .02 lbs, but i pulled them because I can throw them in the bungee cords of my backpack. Now my poor jansport is bursting at the seems and I have all of these extra clothes I don't want to lug around all day... great. 

The nice thing about this commuter flight from SD to LA is that the gate is uber small. With only 1 person in line behind me, it was a lot less embarrasing to use 4 (yes 4) plastic bins for all of my shit. I only got one TSA person remark "wow you've got a lot off stuff today." Isn't traveling grand??

Boarded the little tin can for the plane ride that takes less time than it does to go to the grocery store. I took my window seat next to a little old man who kept completely to himself the entire flight (hallelujah). I love it when people are perfectly content reading SkyMall and have no interest in sharing their life story with you. It. is. wonderful.

The takeoff put us in the perfect position to clearly see all of San Diego one last time. (I was on the right side and not the left thank goodness..) I like the San Diego view way better than the daunting endless ocean). As we took off, I had the most beautiful view of USD. Remarkable, really, that my decision to go there has gotten me to where I am now. Even crazier, I have made a life there. My friends will be starting classes in just about a week or so. So weird. 

As we continued on, I could see down to mission beach. Following the Jetty north, (Thought I could make out the Beachcomber) I took a bird's eye tour of the spots I have grown to know so well. Mission Beach, the Coaster, North Mission, PB... My eyes followed Garnet and Grand inland to the 5, north to what I am pretty sure was Black Mountian. Checked my references by the coast, La Jolla, Torrey Pines, Del Mar, the racetrack; inland and south a bit, I could see Ranch Penasquitos. And up over the hill, I guesstimated: Home. So humbling to see from up above. So surreal to see how small everything is from up above and how the next time I will see it will be December. Wow. 

I followed my geography the best that I could but kind of lost track around San Clemente (ish) and I think picked back up around Santa Monica.

Lo and behold, LAX. I had in mind that I would be on mad celebrity watch (with all the stars coming home from the VMAs),

*NSYNC Forever

but was quickly ushered to the international terminal. After a seriously bonking my head coming out from my commuter flight (like people saying 'ooh, ouch') I was off to my typical clumsy traveling self with way too much stuff to carry.

I was sweating like a whore in church (to use a Mama June reference); carrying my heavy backpack and schleping around to find damned air berlin. As soon as I hit the international terminal or should I say Asia, (but really though).. I had to go through Security AGAIN. ugh. I like to tell myself the nicer you are to TSA, the nicer they will be to you. That would quite possibly be my hell job (along with high school teaching, pest control, truck driving and criminal interrogation.. Sorry Daniela) and I like to think that if I am super nice and use all my manners and don't bitch to these people it might work out in my favor. So, I did.

"Hi! How are you doing?? Busy day today, huh?""uh-huh"Yeah nice talking to you too lady.

Thankfully, I made it to where I am supposed to be. Thank the holy lord. I narrowed down to a managable range of gates and made way for the bathroom to rearrange all of the stuff I randomly shoved in the purse/backpack as fast as possible to make it out of the security line. Once readjusted, I found my gate and was on the visual hunt for an electrical outlet. None. 

You have got to be effing kidding me. 

Not like I really needed it; all of my electronics have 89% or more battery life, but c'mon!! Haven't all of the airports made the rows and rows of stupid black leather benches with outlets in them yet?? I thought this was old news!! So, I turned the corner, followed the wall space around and found a spot with one lonely electrical outlet. Bingo. I zeroed in on the spot and made camp. I brought a handy dandy outlet splitter. It has 2 USB outlets on the side so I can charge my phone and my ipad. Perf. 

Refueled with some almonds and now just playing the waiting game. Boarding at 13:55 which is about an hour from now... then I am in for the long haul. Dun.dun dun. 11 hours, 5 minutes. In economy. And that only gets me to Berlin. 

LAX --> TXL aka Berlin

Made it... Phew. Now time for the recap.

I made a friend!! I have been playing the people watching game of deciding whether hot 20something guys are American or European. So far my track record is spot on. If they are carrying a nice leather carryon or duffel, they are for sure not Americans. I bonded with a guy at my terminal over the fact that we got there so early and hoarded the outlets. Turns out he was a study abroad student from Germany studying at CSULB for THE WHOLE YEAR. He was heading home from America for the first time in a whole year. dang. Meanwhile, we waited and waited and waited of course and I found my seat next to a german couple. 

"I think that's my seat right next to you." I said, again going with the whole friendly thing... "Lucky you." He replied. 

I honestly feel bad for the guy though. He must have been at least 6'5" pushing 6'6" and was crammed into that tiny little seat with his knees actually not able to fit. The only thing I could imagine as a comparison is my lanky skinny sister Lindsay trying to fit in to a childs car seat. His wife was the Harley Davidson Doppleganger of Red from OITNB (with frameless glasses and everything) and insisted on putting her hand on his inner upper thigh the entire flight. yuck. 

So I strapped in, prepped and ready for the 11 hours. As soon as we hit cruising altitude, the guy in front of me slammed his seat back as far reclined as humanly possible. His chair back was probs 8 inches from my face. Lovely.

Regardless, I started my movie marathon of sorts. 

1. Broken City - Marky Mark (I love me some Marky Mark) plays and ex-drunkard who ends up killing someone, only to be saved by a pal in court. Said pal 7 years later is mayor of NY and needs a favor... blah blah political corruption blah. boring.

2. Anchorman - Never seen it, rented it on iTunes. Worth the $3.99 for a few chuckles.

3. Mad Men - Tried watching Mad Men, but right off the bat, there were back to back sex scenes so I switched it...

4. Before Sunrise - Swoon. This might be the sweetest movie. All about an American guy studying abroad who meets a french girl on a train and asks her to spend the whole day/night with him in Vienna until his flight back to US in the morning. The main drama being, how will they ever see each other again?!?!? Facebook. Facebook does that. A lot less romantically than, "I will see you on this train platform six months from today! I will love you forever!!!" I'll add.

5. Funny Face - I haven't seen this one either. Classic Audrey Hepburn. Flawless. 

By this time I was so movied out. It was the equivalent of 2 am my time and I was exhausted. I tried to settle it but was so uncomfortable... The lovely gentleman in front of me decided to super recline AGAIN. This time I pushed back with a modified pigeon pose that gave me some gnarly calf cramps. After breakfast (aka a bread roll) was served I finally got some shut eye. 

Currently sitting in front of my terminal for the last leg of this travel extravaganza. Start boarding in 2 hours... THEN TO ROMA

TXL --> FUI aka ROME!!!

I sat in the terminal for this flight for.ev.er. Forever. Like 4 hours forever. Not much to report on the flight aspect, slept through it like a big baby.

Alas, we landed in Rome and the next battle was to find my suitcase. And it came!! Hallelujah!!! I toted off to find the checkpoint for CEA students and noticed only one schauffer in a suit with a CEA Sign. He gladly carried by bags for me to the car (blacked out mercedes coupe, traveling in style) and brought me to our apartment. I was the last girl in our pack of seven (well, not really there is one girl who missed a flight or something and isn't here) to arrive. Everyone is super nice. Our apartment on the other hand, is hotter than hell. 

Here is my quaint little bed:

Suh Cute

After unloading, the roomies and I went for a walk through Trastevere (our neighborhood) and then went to dinner. I had exactly what I was craving: Vino della Casa, fresh tomato bruschetta, a hot italian pizza and a coffee/coconut gelato for dessert. 

Cheers to being done with traveling! Big orientation day tomorrow. Will write again soon.

Devotissimo Suo,

M