Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Monday, 16 March 2009
The plane ride
Day 0
Seattle: 4:00 am
So I got to the airport at 4:00 in the morning. A very nice Mexican student gave me a ride (Vani P.) and I was very grateful, 'cause four is WAY too early.
I tried to check in, US Airways, gave them my passport. Angela, a british-accented South African woman, told me I was in need of my green card, which I didn't have, and told me I couldn't get on the plane and she wasn't gonna check me in.
FREAKED OUT.
Called my dad at 4:15 and started telling him what was going on... and tried to get him to drive my card to Seatac from Moses Lake... not gonna happen.
Then the ladies started calling people, used my handy dandy iPhone to check the Homeland Security Website, and they didn't say I needed it to come back, just a passport... but whatever... I called Yovani and woke him up so he could listen to me rant... it was way too early...
At 5:07-ish, they let me on, after scolding me for not having it and after many a phone call...
So I went to the gate, sat down, got some Wendy's and a S&C Frapp from Starbucks... yummy.... I saw a little Travelex trailor and decided to take out some Euro. $454 for 310 Euro.... (ouch!)... I went back to the gate and and put the new Wonder Woman cartoon on... I fell asleep after a couple minutes and woke up at 8:05-ish, the plane was leaving at 8:45. Finally saw the group, they look fun, tired, but fun... and met up with them and talked about my morning... Everyone was excited.
We boarded the plane, I had an aisle seat next to some lady. Danielle had offered me to trade seats with her, because a mishap with my last name bumped me to seat 23D.... bummer... How I felt on the plane: TIRED, ANGRY, EXCITED... I've already had been up for 22 hours before boarding the plane... the ticket lady was lucky I didn't leash out the short person wrath...
Philadelphia: 5:20PM Seattle: 2:10PM
Next thing I know, I'm in Philly, drool on my coat, and getting of the plane.
Jared and I get a Philly Cheese steak from a restaurant, for $9 it better be the bomb... it was ok, but not the bomb... We got on the plane to ROME and I sat in 25A, next to a nice italian lady with no English speaking skills. Language barrier, we tried to communicate with smiles and nods, that only worked so much...
Eventually, the movies came on and she had a little trouble, so I helped her out and lent her my extra pair of headphones.
I put on Max Payne and fell asleep five minutes before it ended... I woke up and had to fast forward through the whole movie, that took five or six minutes, then I finally finished it... it was ok, but a ten hour flight, I watched one movie.
Rome: 7:00AM Seattle: 11:00PM
Next thing I know, i'm looking out the window, looking at the green fields and we're about to touch down... I got my headphones back and she gave me some cough drops... or candy that tasted like cough drops, whatever, I took it... they helped my ears pop, which is what she "said" they would do... they were good.
We go through the passport stamping procedure and that took about 20 minutes half of which we were in the same spot, cause we got in the slowest line possible!... kinda had to be there... but you should be relly glad you weren't. No troubles getting in.
Baggage took like 20 minutes, then we all found our Driver, Franco, and Ramses was practicing his Italian while staring at the YamamaY signs... he liked it... I saw these signs and smiled.
Franco let us out super close to where we needed to be and Sarah was out there waiting, though we didn't see her at first.
We checked out the Rome Center and went to the office and our rooms weren't ready... on started the treck to find the ATM!
Ah, this was interesting to say the least. As we walked by the campo towards an ATM, I saw Blue Ice (Apparently a chain) Gelatto, so I got one, Nutella flavor. Italians love this Nutella... it is bomb BTW... I broke from the group and got Gelato, and I started walking in the general direction of everyone, but I didn't really know where until I saw Toka coming for me. I'm sure to digress from the group a lot. Seemed like ATMs didn't wanna work, but we found one by a busy street close by, where I took lots of pictures to pass time. Here are some
Went to our rooms after a bit. Mata and I decided to brave the world and share a room... which was a way better deal than the five to a room, cause our room is totally sweeter... we have a kitchen type thing, a table, and although we have a view of the roof, a little more privacy...
YAY! but now it's nap time!
Ciao!
Seattle: 4:00 am
So I got to the airport at 4:00 in the morning. A very nice Mexican student gave me a ride (Vani P.) and I was very grateful, 'cause four is WAY too early.
I tried to check in, US Airways, gave them my passport. Angela, a british-accented South African woman, told me I was in need of my green card, which I didn't have, and told me I couldn't get on the plane and she wasn't gonna check me in.
FREAKED OUT.
Called my dad at 4:15 and started telling him what was going on... and tried to get him to drive my card to Seatac from Moses Lake... not gonna happen.
Then the ladies started calling people, used my handy dandy iPhone to check the Homeland Security Website, and they didn't say I needed it to come back, just a passport... but whatever... I called Yovani and woke him up so he could listen to me rant... it was way too early...
At 5:07-ish, they let me on, after scolding me for not having it and after many a phone call...
So I went to the gate, sat down, got some Wendy's and a S&C Frapp from Starbucks... yummy.... I saw a little Travelex trailor and decided to take out some Euro. $454 for 310 Euro.... (ouch!)... I went back to the gate and and put the new Wonder Woman cartoon on... I fell asleep after a couple minutes and woke up at 8:05-ish, the plane was leaving at 8:45. Finally saw the group, they look fun, tired, but fun... and met up with them and talked about my morning... Everyone was excited.
We boarded the plane, I had an aisle seat next to some lady. Danielle had offered me to trade seats with her, because a mishap with my last name bumped me to seat 23D.... bummer... How I felt on the plane: TIRED, ANGRY, EXCITED... I've already had been up for 22 hours before boarding the plane... the ticket lady was lucky I didn't leash out the short person wrath...
Philadelphia: 5:20PM Seattle: 2:10PM
Next thing I know, I'm in Philly, drool on my coat, and getting of the plane.
Jared and I get a Philly Cheese steak from a restaurant, for $9 it better be the bomb... it was ok, but not the bomb... We got on the plane to ROME and I sat in 25A, next to a nice italian lady with no English speaking skills. Language barrier, we tried to communicate with smiles and nods, that only worked so much...
Eventually, the movies came on and she had a little trouble, so I helped her out and lent her my extra pair of headphones.
I put on Max Payne and fell asleep five minutes before it ended... I woke up and had to fast forward through the whole movie, that took five or six minutes, then I finally finished it... it was ok, but a ten hour flight, I watched one movie.
Rome: 7:00AM Seattle: 11:00PM
Next thing I know, i'm looking out the window, looking at the green fields and we're about to touch down... I got my headphones back and she gave me some cough drops... or candy that tasted like cough drops, whatever, I took it... they helped my ears pop, which is what she "said" they would do... they were good.
We go through the passport stamping procedure and that took about 20 minutes half of which we were in the same spot, cause we got in the slowest line possible!... kinda had to be there... but you should be relly glad you weren't. No troubles getting in.
Baggage took like 20 minutes, then we all found our Driver, Franco, and Ramses was practicing his Italian while staring at the YamamaY signs... he liked it... I saw these signs and smiled.
Franco let us out super close to where we needed to be and Sarah was out there waiting, though we didn't see her at first.
We checked out the Rome Center and went to the office and our rooms weren't ready... on started the treck to find the ATM!
Ah, this was interesting to say the least. As we walked by the campo towards an ATM, I saw Blue Ice (Apparently a chain) Gelatto, so I got one, Nutella flavor. Italians love this Nutella... it is bomb BTW... I broke from the group and got Gelato, and I started walking in the general direction of everyone, but I didn't really know where until I saw Toka coming for me. I'm sure to digress from the group a lot. Seemed like ATMs didn't wanna work, but we found one by a busy street close by, where I took lots of pictures to pass time. Here are some
Went to our rooms after a bit. Mata and I decided to brave the world and share a room... which was a way better deal than the five to a room, cause our room is totally sweeter... we have a kitchen type thing, a table, and although we have a view of the roof, a little more privacy...
YAY! but now it's nap time!
Ciao!
Sunday, 15 March 2009
Let's try this again
Ok, so I tried to do one for London, but that didn't work so much.
Seeing as this is a couple years later, I should be able to keep it up, no?
Seeing as this is a couple years later, I should be able to keep it up, no?
Thursday, 16 August 2007
Hey,
I am in London, after hours of flying. It is amazing. The airport is plain (it's not Heathrow-the major one) but it works and my bag is here. I had quite a hard time figuring out where I had to go. With a paper fron TFL (Transport for London) telling me the final address, and seeking out people in neon colored garbs, no one was able to help me, but a 16-year-old girl directing be back where I came from and giving me a series of "left right left right right" signals.
My flight got in at 7:40-ish in the morning, after flying in an Airbus 330 (amazing plane) and personalized low-fat meals (first dibs is pretty cool). And got through customs pretty easily. My journey had just begun to get to where I had to get to andmake it there alive. I bought a £10 train ticket that took me to London Bridge station from Gatwick Airport. I took pictures, I was a tourist amazed with the trains (never rode one before), and was amazed to see London houses and London buildings and London grocery stores and CARS...
Confused and with a heavy bag, I got on the train and tried to not look miserable. From then I asked someone how to get to Eltham, in the Burough of Greenwich, and got on the train to New Eltham. Once dragging my suitcase up stairs and down more stairs, I came to the point where I did not know which way on a four-way road to go. I asked someone and they directed me to the college campus... he said " a five minute walk"... fifteen minutes later I lost hope and asked someone else, and she said it was right up ahead and it was... thank goodness.
To the guy's defense, I did stop at a convenience store to purchase a sim card (£4.50), that I kinda used a little.
Once I got to the campus, I had no idea where to go. I was dragging my luggage and trying to find housing. I went to the Student Resource Office and she told me another "left right left left" combination that was skewed because of construction blocking my way. I ended up being led there by a
guy who told me that I wasn't supposed to go this way that I could get him in trouble. I certainly thought so because it was an eating area closed from the student villages (dorms). I went to the main reception of Aragon Court and waited as the kind Brit lady handed me my keys and led to to the Flat (it's what the British call apartments) at 1:00pm (they use military time, so 15:00).
I reside in room 8G (Orange dot on the map on the side). At the very top, 50 stairs, no elevators dragging up the luggage. I said hi to Julia and Dorthya and her mum, and then I went to the student office and used the computer.
Now it is time for me to sleep. I don't understand Jet Lag yet, but I know I will soon.
Total travel time: 4 hours to the flat leaving the airport at 9:00am.
I'll write tomorrow.
Cheers!
-Sara
I am in London, after hours of flying. It is amazing. The airport is plain (it's not Heathrow-the major one) but it works and my bag is here. I had quite a hard time figuring out where I had to go. With a paper fron TFL (Transport for London) telling me the final address, and seeking out people in neon colored garbs, no one was able to help me, but a 16-year-old girl directing be back where I came from and giving me a series of "left right left right right" signals.
My flight got in at 7:40-ish in the morning, after flying in an Airbus 330 (amazing plane) and personalized low-fat meals (first dibs is pretty cool). And got through customs pretty easily. My journey had just begun to get to where I had to get to andmake it there alive. I bought a £10 train ticket that took me to London Bridge station from Gatwick Airport. I took pictures, I was a tourist amazed with the trains (never rode one before), and was amazed to see London houses and London buildings and London grocery stores and CARS...
Confused and with a heavy bag, I got on the train and tried to not look miserable. From then I asked someone how to get to Eltham, in the Burough of Greenwich, and got on the train to New Eltham. Once dragging my suitcase up stairs and down more stairs, I came to the point where I did not know which way on a four-way road to go. I asked someone and they directed me to the college campus... he said " a five minute walk"... fifteen minutes later I lost hope and asked someone else, and she said it was right up ahead and it was... thank goodness.
To the guy's defense, I did stop at a convenience store to purchase a sim card (£4.50), that I kinda used a little.
Once I got to the campus, I had no idea where to go. I was dragging my luggage and trying to find housing. I went to the Student Resource Office and she told me another "left right left left" combination that was skewed because of construction blocking my way. I ended up being led there by a
guy who told me that I wasn't supposed to go this way that I could get him in trouble. I certainly thought so because it was an eating area closed from the student villages (dorms). I went to the main reception of Aragon Court and waited as the kind Brit lady handed me my keys and led to to the Flat (it's what the British call apartments) at 1:00pm (they use military time, so 15:00).I reside in room 8G (Orange dot on the map on the side). At the very top, 50 stairs, no elevators dragging up the luggage. I said hi to Julia and Dorthya and her mum, and then I went to the student office and used the computer.
Now it is time for me to sleep. I don't understand Jet Lag yet, but I know I will soon.
Total travel time: 4 hours to the flat leaving the airport at 9:00am.
I'll write tomorrow.
Cheers!
-Sara
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