It all began on Tuesday the 28th. I had a last Frontier fiesta burger with Allison, Patrick, Riley, and Brian, all friends down in Albuquerque going to school. We met up at the local favorite The Frontier at 7:00 a.m. and chatted over out breakfasts. By 8:30 Patrick had left for class and Riley had parted for practice (he plays for the UNM soccer team) and so Allison, Brian, and I decided to stop down the street at Satellite Coffee for a small drink and a prolongation of our chat session over a small cup of joe. Around 9:00 Brian left for work and Allison and I drove to Albuquerque International Sunport. After many hugs we shared an emotional goodbye I made my way through security and on to the first day of my eastward movement.
I had no troubles with the comfortable, short, hour and a quarter flight to Dallas, Texas. However, I would like to interject to say that if I think that my transit was defined by one thing it was time, either having very little of it or a painfully excessive amount of it. In the Dallas terminal I hurried and got a lunch of two tacos and then rushed to my next gate, arriving to board with the final group. Once seated in the plane we were informed that the plane had a "minor mechanical problem" but that we could rest assured that it was "not anything at all serious" and that we would be "on our way in fifteen minutes". It turns out the captain was correct and we were in the air shortly afterwards. Upon landing in Washington D.C. our buddy in the cockpit once again supplied a happy morsel with the words "it seems as if there is someone currently in the gate that we are supposed to unload at, we will have to wait for them but should have you on your way in the next 20 minutes or so". Boarding for my connecting flight to New York JFK began at 6:55. I got off the plane from Dallas at 7:05. My departing to JFK flight was scheduled to take off at 7:25. I ran. However, I made it there and it turns out I wasn't even the last person to board!
45 minutes later I had successfully found my way off the plane, located my checked bag, searched out the JFK terminal that I would be flying out of, and made it there to realize that no Singapore Airlines staff members were there and would not be there until the following day at 4:40 p.m. for the flight check in. I spent the following 24 hours in JFK's terminal 4 waiting for my Wednesday 8:35p.m. flight. It is safe to sat that that was the longest day of my life. My time there was defined by 4 hours of broken sleep, 20 hours of miserable awakedness, and an unhealthy amount of monetary interaction with the McDonald's in the terminal. in order to generously uphold American stereotypes.
However, I was able to track down a special edition Time magazine (ironic) on the race for the presidency which was extremely interesting to read and vital in the killing of a couple hours in the war against the clock. I know am 100% comfortable discussing an election I will not be able to vote in and debating about two candidates which I will not have a chance to vote for.
However, my flight with Singapore Airlines was fantastic! Very spacious, a very kind crew, and very good food and services. I was even able to practice a little German on the seatback TV to prep myself for arrival in Frankfurt. Now, I write you from my desk in the room that will serve as my home for the next 6 months, after a brilliant day with my completely awesome host family, both of which will be the subject of my next entry.....
