Michael, Monea, Corey, and I had to leave at 5AM for our 8:30 flight, got downstairs and Michael wasn't there, van wasn't there. So we waited until 5:20, then asked the night guard for his room number, then the guard disappeared. He comes back five minutes later with Tucker stumbling in behind him mumbling something about Michael being on his way, and then stumbling back into the elevator. Then Michael showed up, having realized that his phone was still set to Galapagos time and was an hour behind. Luckily (depending on how you look at it) the van still hadn't gotten there, and it was 30 minutes late. So I called Amy (the woman who had coordinated the shuttle) but understandably, she didn't answer. Then we called the emergency hotline for Universidad San Fransisco at Quito that we'd been given. Of course as soon as I explained the situation (thank god the woman who answered spoke English cause at 5:30 in the morning, I'm not sure how great my Spanish would be) the van showed up and we raced through the Andes, flying around hairpin turns to get there on time. We all ended up on the same flight and actually managed to leave on time. Of course that luck wouldn't last, though. When we got to Miami, the captain told us that because of weather, they weren't letting anyone land and we didn't have enough fuel (slightly panicked at that point until he continued) to circle the airport and we'd have to fly to a nearby city to refuel. It was 2 o'clock at this point and there was no lunch on the plane, so the flight attendants passed around emergency granola bars and drinks. Then the captain announced that we needed to be ready to take off at any minute so we wouldn't lose our spot in line at Miami, and that nobody could leave their seats- not a fun hour for the people who'd just drunk their second soda. Once we finally took off, we only had to circle Miami 3 times, then wait for them to open our gate, then for them to find the connector from the plane to the terminal.
Of course, by this time, Michael and I had long missed our 5:10 and 5:30 flights, and I said goodbye as soon as I got my luggage and hustled to try to make the 7:00 flight. Then I got randomly picked for extra screening, of course, and missed that one. While I was waiting in line at customer service, I noticed a pretty young girl by herself, and I asked her "Estás solita?" which, in hindsight, I think may have meant "are you single?" and not "are you by yourself?" Then I realized she was talking to her family, outside of the line, and her mom, in sort of a panic, yelled to me (in Spanish) "Where are you going?" I told her Charlotte, and she lit up and said "Go with her!" and then just walked away. So I may have adopted a 12 year old Mexican girl for the 9:00 flight. It, of course, ended up leaving at 9:30, but that's better than the Detroit flight in the gate next to us- they were delayed 3 hours because the plane they were supposed to take was struck by lightning, and they were flying in another plane from New York. So. I'm hoping they meant it was hit while it was still on the ground, and not in the air? I'm not quite sure what happens to planes in mid-flight when they're struck by lightning, but it can't be good. I finally made it home at about 12:30, and boy, it was good to be home.
