So finals were August 18 for 3rd semester students (as I left off), and I was scheduled to fly home August 19 with my first flight leaving at 7am and landing in Detroit at 10:23pm. Things didn't quite go as planned... Having been told by the taxi service that I hired that I would be picked up for the airport at 4am, I finally looked up the number online at 4:30 to make sure they hadn't forgotten me. (yes, in retrospect I realize that I should have had that phone number handy sooner just in case) The guy told me someone would be there in 5 minutes, and voila, success. Napped on the crazy curvy ride to the airport while sitting in a jump seat since the girl sitting in the seat decided her backpack deserved a seat more than an actual human being. Got to the airport & through security just in time to board the plane.
First stop: Antigua. We all had to get off the plane, go through customs & security, and then another security stop where they searched our bags & frisked us. Then we had to identify our bags that they had taken off the plane so they knew which ones to put back on the plane (because reading luggage tags would be too easy). All this just to get back on the same plane like 30 minutes later. Thanks Liat, such odd quirks.
Next stop: San Juan, Puerto Rico. The first joy of this arrival was that Liat decided not to bring my bag (of those of probably 75% of our flight) with us even after we told them which ones we needed. Yeah, no surprise, Liat has that reputation so be warned. One family had gotten like 4 of their 5 planes (Liat allows one per person & this was a couple with a baby), and were annoyed that ONE bag didn't make it. I commented in a not mean way that they were pretty lucky they got that many! But if people didn't do that to begin with the whole mess wouldn't be such a prominent problem. ANYWAY, filled out the baggage claim thing, checked in for my US Airways flight where I luckily hadn't been able to check in online (if I had I would have paid for checking that bag that didn't arrive, so way to save me money Liat), got lunch at the Taco Maker, and went through to chill at my gate until the 1:55pm boarding time. Boarding time rolls around and they announce that they are looking for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for a later flight, hotel accommodations, a meal voucher, and $475. Not worth it, just get my butt home. Departure time of 2:40 rolls around, and they finally announce that there will be a delay due to "mechanical problems". Two hours later we get to board the plane, and another hour later we take off after they announce "We have our log book, we can leave now." Thank you lying bastards, mechanical problems my foot.
3rd stop: Philadelphia, PA. This is where I was supposed to catch my final connecting flight HOME to Detroit. But thanks to the 3 hour delay I missed my flight by 30 minutes. And guess when the next flight was... 7:30am. Bite me US Airways. On the bright side they put me up in the Hilton & gave me a whopping $10 meal voucher (and then an extra $5 meal voucher for breakfast since I was mildly hysterical at that point - let me tell ya, I didn't realize how homesick I was until it was about 10pm and I was being told I couldn't go home yet). The airline also hooked me up with a lovely little convenience kit, complete with a poor excuse for an apology letter that you know is heartfelt since it was manufactured in China:
Isn't that the tiniest/cutest tube of toothpaste you've ever seen?Finally arrived home at 9:20 the next morning (Friday). SUCCESS!
Stay tuned for accounts of the David Nail concert at the Armada Fair, a foiled family picnic, and Thunder Country Jam.
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