 |
| Sadie and I before leaving. |
My one suitcase weighed 65 lbs. The limit is 50 before they start charging you for the extra weight. The guy who checked me in was saying it was too heavy, but I was willing to pay the extra because I needed everything I packed for this next year. He was like okay, and typed somethings on his computer, and in the end didn't end up charging me. It was weird, but I didn't have to pay the overage fee, and I wasn't going to complain.. I was happy.
 |
| Family and I with the Hebior Mammoth |
As we walked back up to the second level from the ticket counter we stumbled upon a Milwaukee Public Museum exhibit of the Hebior Mammoth. It was cool to see my grandparents' name at the airport. I didn't realize it was that important to the museum.
When I initially left to go through security, I cried as I hugged my parents and Sadie goodbye. I started to walk towards the long line and then the next thing I knew my parents and best friend were right beside me... They told me that the since the security line was so long they could wait with me up until I had to go through. It was nice that I got to spend a little extra time with them.
 |
| Somewhere above the I-43 as I'm leaving Wisconsin. |
After I said a final goodbye I headed to the gate to sit and waited to board my plane... It was really uneventful, until a lady made an announcement that anyone boarding in Groups 3 and 4 needed to check their carry on because the flight was so full. I double checked my ticket and sure enough, Group 3 was printed on my ticket... Gah! I thought I could just check at the gate and get it as I walked off the plane in Dallas, but nope I had to check it all the way through to Santiago! I reluctantly gave my bag to the lady... It had my over night clothes in it in case I got stuck at DFW like last time. Guess I'd have to improvise if I got stuck there again.
The flight was really smooth, almost no turbulence. The only thing that made me nervous was when we landed and had to wait 15 minutes to get to our gate because another plane was already occupying it. (I only had an hour and a half layover and I still needed to find my next gate/get there). When we landed I got off the plane as fast as I could, and found my next flights info... Gate D23... I booked it to there using the nifty tram that DFW has. I made it with 15 minutes to spare before boarding.
The flight to Santiago was very nice compared to the last time... Well, except for the part when we had to sit in the plane for an hour and a half as the maintenance guys fixed a water leak in the galley. The plane was hot and stuffy. Not a pleasant way to start a trip, but oh, well at least my flight wasn't delayed for 17 hours like last time.. (The back up to the back up of the hydraulic pump broke or something... The plane was delayed for 2 hours.. Then there was an electric problem on the backup plane they were going to use.. this forced us to stay over night at a hotel...)
 |
| Goodbye USA, Hola Chile |
A good thing about this flight was that it wasn't full. This lady who was headed to Mendoza sitting next to me moved to another seat we had more room. Yes, that is right.. I got my own 2 seats to spread out on, and sleep on. I had the best sleep on a plane ever. I only woke up every 2 hours instead of every hour like last time. I also took Melatonin which helped calm my mind and let me sleep. (I suggest anyone traveling on long flights bring some because it's amazing)
I woke up at 5:30 or 6 and watched a movie on my Ipod... This was my set up on the plane as I ate breakfast:My brother bought me the book Four, it's about Tobias's life before he met Tris in Divergent. It's a good book so far. My brother knows me well. The food on the plane was pretty good too. I had pasta for dinner and some croissant thing for breakfast. As I was enjoying my morning coffee with my croissant I looked out the window to see my first view of the Andes Mountains.
I didn't have to wait long for my colectivo (a colectivo is like a group taxi for people headed to a similar location. They make stops along the way to drop off the people. They take longer than your own taxi, but it's far cheaper). I got in and we left like 5 minutes later... I completely forgot that people don't drive normally in Santiago.. It's kind of like a free for all on the roads.. A lot of people don't use blinkers to change lanes, they speed, they slam on their breaks to stop, and they beep excessively. I swear we almost got into 3 different accidents on the way to my apartment. But don't worry I am okay. I don't normally take taxis anyways, I usually walk or take the metro places.
I arrived and my friend M helped me carry my bags upstairs. We are on the third floor, and live next door to a really prestigious private school. The apartment is spacious for the price we pay. Here are a couple of pictures. I'll post more once I move into my room (There is a girl living in it right now until the end of July.)
 |
| living/dining room |
 |
| the kitchen (there is also a washing machine in here too) |
Chao,
Leslie
No comments:
Post a Comment