30 Hours in the United States

So, what does one do with 30 hours in the U.S.? A lot and not much, all at the same time. We ate at Chili’s in the airport and I had a juicy hamburger with cheese and lettuce, tomato and onion. We boarded our plane to South Bend at 9:30pm and actually arrived ½ hour early at 10:30pm. We got our bags by 11 (mine made it across the Pacific, thank God!).

Got back to my apartment and my aunt/uncle were watching TV. Good to see some family-they are here for Saturday’s ND vs. UCLA game. Called home briefly and I started to do laundry, dump, sort, repack from a fresh packing list for Chile. Decided last month that I couldn’t pack only a hiking backpack (as I did for China) for a two month stay. Second I’m bringing about 25-30 pounds of textbooks as well as school supplies, so I’m using one mid-sized suitcase with my hiking rucksack backpack, bookbag and a day bag.

I uploaded all 1,200 of my China photos to my computer and archived them on DVD. Transferred my 5 CD purchases to iTunes and updated my iPod song list. Then, I repacked all my packing cubes and new toiletry kit and Gap pants that I had ordered while in China and shipped to Minneapolis. Went to bed at 4:30am (!) and woke up at 8am. Finished packing and printed out the several dozen disorganized emails for our program and tried to make as much sense of them as I could. At 9:30am, I did a whirlwind shopping tour to Sears for a shirt, Wells Fargo for cash, Dick’s Sporting Goods for quick drying T-shirt and Target for meds, cheddar cheese and Caribou Coffee granola bars (hey, when you can’t get the Caribou Coffee turtle mocha, this is the next best thing!) Back at 10:30am, Julie R. stopped by with game tickets and my aunt packed a Panera Bread bagel breakfast to take on the bus. My friends picked me up and dropped me off at the airport bus stop on the Notre Dame campus, so I could make my 12:10 Coach USA bus to the Chicago O’Hare airport.

Bus ride was 3.5 hours and arrived at the airport at 2:30pm (time change to CDT). Weeded through my photos at the airport and of the 1,200, I still have 1,100 good ones. Yowza.

Boarded an American flight to Miami. Slept through most of the flight and completely missed the snack cart even though I had an aisle seat. It sucks that you can’t bring your own beverages on board. Landed at 10:30 pm and my connecting flight was supposed to begin boarding at 10:35pm for my 11:20pm flight. I got my connecting gate info and learned that it was a 15 minute walk away and with no tram or moving sidewalks, I hauled a--. Fortunately, things are already in Latin time and boarding didn’t begin on time. Found Clemens and Lana (classmates) at the gate waiting area.

Got to the gate and my boarding pass was rejected. After a brief heart palpitation and going to the ticket counter, I learned I had only swapped aisle seats. Boarded plane and am on the window next to a Chilean man, who offered the window seat, probably because I looked like a train wreck.

It was good to be back in the U.S., if only very briefly. It’s interesting the things we take for granted or are very commonplace. The driving in South Bend is MUCH better, for one. Gas was about $2.10. My bed was glorious, and I felt like I was floating on clouds. With Serta, you certainly aren’t counting sheep. Thankfully, I had done a lot of planning and prep for these trips, so I only needed to execute the game plan. Asia yesterday, North America today and South America tomorrow. This is WILD!!!!