2003-08-29
The Great French Novel, Part I...

12:22 p.m.

While I was setting up my electricity, Nick was here at ISU planning trips and trying to find an apartment. I think we're going to Frankfurt. And he still doesn't have an apartment. I hope he finds one soon, for his sanity's sake.

Before I forget, I have to say that the most difficult thing so far living here is not the language barrier, but really, the lack of deoderant, which becomes truly apparent when riding on packed trams. Seriously, people, deoderant is your friend.

Here is part of the journal that I kept on my computer...

Boston Int�l Airport, 8/21/03

Yesterday, I talked to Sarah while I was waiting for my flight in LA. Her parting words were, �Have a safe flight and arrive alive and well�okay, at least alive, anyway.� Those words are very prophetic, because if I were really on the verge of sanity, I truly think that this would push me over the edge. However, I have definite proof of my mental health, and all because of a simple plane trip to France.

It all started easily enough � we left Auburn (just northeast of Sacramento) around 9:30 AM and made it to San Francisco International Airport without incident at 12:30. The only issue was that I, who had not so much as a sniffle for years, had woken up with a very stuffy nose. Usually only a minor nuisance, this was not something to be taken lightly when flying for a total of 14 hours. It cleared up before I got on the plane, which was fortunate, considering that I could not find an airport store that sold Sudafed. Go figure. Anyway, after some confusion as to whether or not I should be checking in at the International or Domestic counter � I had two hops, LA and Boston, before ending up in Paris � I was checked in by 1:30, and that included having to partially unpack my overstuffed luggage in order to avoid the overweight fee of $330. Instead, the ticket agent was nice enough to give me a box to put the extra items and charged me $110 for excess baggage. Ouch, but better than $330. So, word to the wise, make sure that your luggage is 70 lbs. No, I wasn�t taking every shoe in my closet. It is just quite amazing how much clothes can weigh when you really shove them in there.

I said good-bye to my parents, and left on time for LA. It was a short flight, only an hour. I got off the plane in LA, made my way over to my gate for my flight that was leaving for Boston at 9:45 PM (about 5 hours hence) and sat down to play with my brand-spanking new computer that I�d already managed to ding. Grr� Anyway, I installed Macintosh Office and read most of the �suggested reading� for ISU that I had received way back in March, but probably to no-one�s surprise, had not yet read. So, I did that yesterday and finished today. It was freezing in the airport, at least to my Houston-acclimated self. I went searching for a sweatshirt, since I had packed all of mine in my checked luggage. Smart, huh? Anyway, the only thing around was some sort of Abercrombie meets Guess-type shop and didn�t really have anything suitable (meaning, within the price range of oh, say, Bulgaria). I ate dinner at a Chevy�s that was there, called Sarah at that point, and then called Nick. He gave me some advice on getting a French bank account. Then he had to go, and I got ready to get on the plane. The other Nick, who is going to ISU, too, called. Apparently, he had had some serious infection on his foot that required surgery, and was unable to walk and was unsure about being able to make his flight to Paris on Monday. I told him that I�d call him on Saturday and see how things were going.

Here is the sequence of events for my flight to Boston: 9:15, I get on the plane. 9:45, the little tow-thingy pushes us away from the gate. 10, the flight attendant gets on and says that we have to return to down and took out the hydraulics on the entire left side. Oops. The mechanics come on and check things out. 10:30, we are taken off of the plane and told that there is another plane for us, but to hang out in the waiting area until the next gate is cleared and they can get the plane there, and to take our pillows and blankets with us if we want them, since they won�t have time to put them on the plane for us. The guy next to me leaves his, and since I was cold, I grab both the blanket and pillow, but end up dropping the blanket. We sit in the waiting area (I try to sleep � I am getting pretty good at sleeping in weird positions). There were a lot of families with young children; the ones sitting right next to me had two, the oldest of which couldn�t have been 7, and an 8-month-old baby. I overhead them talking to some other people, and they said that they had planned to leave on a much earlier flight, but were enjoying themselves so much that they changed it to later. I guess that�s a good way of getting the most out of your last day without having to pay for another night in a hotel. Anyway, about 11:15, we board the next plane � on the way, I notice a stack of pillows and blankets so I grab another blanket, and am now toting around two blankets and two pillows � but are informed that we cannot leave yet because they have not fueled the plane or added catering (dang first class people) and will be another 45 minutes to an hour. To take a quote from City Slickers, �the fun continues�.

Oh yeah, it turns out that they did manage to get cabin service, so sitting on each of our seats is another pillow and another blanket, and a headset. I am riding high, because now I have THREE pillows and THREE blankets. Bring it on! The movie was Agent Cody Banks, and having made the mistake of staying up once to watch a really bad movie (Mission to Mars on the way to Dallas from Hawaii), I immediately piled up the three pillows, tucked myself in under the blankets, and proceeded to sleep for all five hours of the plane trip. Not the best rest, but at least now I�m awake.

It doesn�t end there. We arrive after 9 in Boston and are informed by the flight attendant that all of our baggage is at the baggage claim, and that if we are continuing on, then we have to go get it and re-check it. You have to be kidding me. So, I go all the way down to baggage claim, get my three bags (I did seem to be having luck, however, in the fact that both at SFO and now at Boston, I found free carts; saved $6, woo-hoo), and go back to American ticket counter. I wait an hour in line, am about five people from the front when they decide to allow all of the people in the line next to us to go ahead. Lovely. So, that�s another 45 minutes. Then I get to the ticket counter, and the agent is confused because I have a receipt showing that I paid for my excess baggage in San Francisco, and also by the fact that my bags already all have tickets on them. Don�t ask me, I just did what I was told. Finally, it�s all figured out and I have about 6 hours before I have to get on the plane (5:25 is boarding). The original plan was to arrive in Boston around 6, and then with the 12-hour layover, I would go explore Boston, do the Freedom Trail, visit the USS Constitution, maybe see a Boston Tea Party, etc. Now, I have maybe about 3-4 hours of exploration. Doable, but my adventurousness and go-with-the-flow mentality is being severely tested by trying to go with the flow of what has turned into an adventure of even making it to Strasbourg. Goodness. Besides, I have a backpack and a rolly-suitcase and I really do not fancy dragging them all over Boston. The information guy told me that there is storage at South Station, but in order to get there, I would have to either take a shuttle for about $9, or catch the 22 bus to the blue line metro, transfer to the green, and then transfer to the red. And then, who knows if the storage would be big enough for my suitcase? Getting there and back, I conservatively estimated about an hour, I�d want to arrive an hour early for the plane, so I�d have to be back around 4:30 (boarding at 5:25, as mentioned above), and that�s where I got the three or four hours of play time. With my luck, the train would break down, or the locker would be jammed, or something, and so I decided not to risk it. Instead, I finished the required reading for ISU, watched a DVD to see how it works on the computer, and decided to write down my adventures for insertion into my diary, as soon as I have a chance to upload it.

And so, the great adventure begins. Or rather, continues.

(end of Part I)

So there is my LA/Boston adventure. Nick, the lucky little SOB, managed to have his bags checked all of the way through to Strasbourg. No, I'm not bitter.

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