8 The Trans-Atlantic Journey (11022009)

I have been blessed, seriously, with the ability to sleep in all sorts of transportation including cars, trains and planes. I have realized on this trip how helpful that is. On my first flight from Cincy to DC, I slept the entire way, except for waking up two times. Once I woke up when they were serving drinks. I would hate to miss free OJ or cran-raspberry whatever-it-is they give away on planes, so I was glad to wake up then. The only other time I woke up was right before we landed when they were listing off connection gates and terminals. So, it was a good flight, definitely. At the beginning of the flight, the flight attendant had everyone sitting in rows 1, 2 and 3 move to the very back of the plane because "the captain requested that we even out the weight distribution across the plane." Definitely encouraging. The plane didn't have very many people on it at all so I don't know what weight we were redistributing, but I felt like it was a fast take-off and like we were going faster than a normal plane (who knows if anyone can really tell, but I thought it during the flight!) and then, we arrived 25 minutes early!

I arrived in DC only to be personally greeted by life-size, cardboard cutouts of Barak and Michelle Obama. Very classy. I thought maybe the cutouts belonged to someone, but glancing around, I didn't see anyone. They were literally just standing right in the middle of the airport on the side of a long empty hall. I kept walking, and, of course, began to see more Baraks and Michelles scattered about the airport. Not for sale, they were just smiling at me and welcoming me to DC. They must have done a nice job or looked real because lots of people were taking their picture with them. (I also saw a young man walking around who looked just like Abraham Lincoln. Really. And, he had a black top hat on. One would think he were dressed up or something, but I watched him awhile and I think he really was just a young-looking Abe in a black top hat.)

Other airport/airplane fun included my search on my computer for games. I can't remember the last time I played a game on a computer and honestly, I never had looked on my Mac. I was excited to find that I could play my computer in chess. Lots of fun for my first nine moves till I lost. I guess that's why I don't play computer games.

The flight to Germany went smoothly. I was on the aisle which I didn't like since I was always trying to determine which way to lean to fall asleep. I boarded the plane only to find super-fancy luxury seats at the front. Each seat had it's own huge television and a place to prop up your feet. It was very ridiculous, actually. Then, I went to the back, past the semi-luxury seating to the economy seating. That's me. And guess what? Even they had televisions on the back of every headrest. It kind of made me mad about our sick perspective that we have on life and needs and wants. Can you believe it? The base-plan for a plane ticket these days has more electronics than my bedroom. We arrived in Germany and it looked as I expected: hard, foggy and cold. I kind of liked it, though. The fog covered the city so all we could see was a grey city in a cloud with just the tops of pointy buildings peeking through and some large tower like a clock or bell tower close to the airport. It all made me wish I was in my bed on a Saturday morning when it was raining and when I didn't have to set an alarm. I like those days.

And in Germany, the international life began. Messages started out in German and then were translated for those of us Americans who don't know any other language very well. The huge flight had almost 200 people on it and included a meal. It was kind of like having a TV dinner when no one is home as a little kid when you can sit 1 foot away from the TV. Nice for 5 minutes, and then I'm done. I got some sleep in amidst the manicotti for dinner and episode of “The Suite Deck” off the Disney Channel and the new movie “Julie and Julia.”

In Frankfurt, I transferred planes, gates and terminals like a pro. I didn't have to ask for help since I had my terminal map and because my trip to Europe helped me learn a ton about how to read signs and figure things out, I suppose. Okay... I just said I was a pro at this. That’s an inaccurate statement. If I could go back, I would have done two things differently. 1. Go to the restroom before going through the second security! (I went through two security checkpoints and after the second, there were no bathrooms... so I had to wait an hour and a half to get on the plane to go! It was okay, though, since they had free wireless.) 2. Drink my water or dump it out before getting to the security line. I got in the line at the first checkpoint and realized I had filled my water bottle up in DC. I had drank some of it but at least half of my Nalgene was full. I knew if I approached the gate, they would make me toss it or I would be confused by the German conversation, so I chugged it. (I also threw out my cran-apple juice I was saving for a snack.) My last American water and a free drink... GONE. Getting out of line would have lost me a lot of time since there were a lot of people behind me, so I just downed the water. And now, you know why the restroom part was the other problem! :) Side note on security: I beeped going through the first checkpoint and was seriously rubbed down all over. The lady took off my belt and was about to undress me when she realized it was my button on my jeans. Good thing.

At my gate, I remember looking around me and thinking things were really quiet. There were a ton of people there, but I think they were quiet for two reasons: 1. We were in Europe, a quieter culture and 2. No one spoke the same language. Really. I looked around and felt like I could accurately say I was in the most diverse group of people I had ever been in over my entire life. Age, race, life experiences, nationality, you name it. I thought I would feel out of place amongst a lot of Africans, but that was not the case. We were all out of place... rather, we were all fitting in because there was no norm. It was a pretty incredible realization. I wanted to take my camera out and take pictures, but decided it would be best not to so I took a mental picture of this dark-skinned man sitting alone right in the middle of the terminal waiting area. He had no belongings with him and there was one light over his head kind of lighting him up more than the others. I wish I knew his story.

I rode a bus to the plane and boarded one of the biggest planes I have ever seen. On it, there was a newborn baby and a woman who had to be over 90. (In fact, there were a lot of little little ones. It was pretty interesting to see how many Africans were traveling such a long distance with babies and toddlers.) It was going to be a great flight to watch people. (That is one of my favorite things about airports and airplanes.) The flight was kind of an empty one, but didn't seem that way since all the people were so different. During the course of the flight, several people laid down on the airplane seats, which I had never seen before. And, lots of them covered their head up with the airplane blankets while they slept. And for those of you who know I like to wear hoodies with my hood up indoors... you know I fit right in. :)

On the plane, English was spoken last on signs and forms and over announcements. And, the Germans and Africans had great accents when speaking it so I listened very intently, of course. I had a movie screen again and watched "The Proposal" and a movie I hadn't heard of called "The Time Traveler's Wife." Both were good and the second one made me cry which I wouldn't mind normally, but I was watching it by myself and right when it finished, the German flight attendant brought around my entry card and flu form. Good timing.

I met a very intriguing and incredible man on the plane. I sat on the aisle and he sat next to the window. (He had taken my seat, but when I saw him, I didn't want to ask him to move. He was older and I wanted him to have the window if that's what he wanted. I will write more about him in my next post. He was my first friend on the trip. Across the aisle from me was another man who I didn't meet, but who drank rum and coke the whole time. I counted his cups: 9. I think he was German and a regular on the plane. The flight attendants seemed to know him and know that the heavy drinking was something he had planned to do.

Alright... that is it for this one. Sorry not to spare details. I want to remember every moment of this trip... so that is why I have been so detailed. (And, I am VERY excited to be on this trip so of course everything seems worthy of recording. Enjoy!)

And now, I am going to bed... in Africa. Wow.

Goodnight, all!

Laura