We arrived at MIA with plenty of time to spare. I am glad that we went early since there was hardly any line at the security check. We sat at the gate people-watching, and I worked on my glove for a little while. The flight arrived on time and we had no problems getting on. We even sat together. It was a short flight and less than two hours later we arrived in Atlanta.
I thought MIA was a pretty large airport. Atlanta is HUGE! There is a little train that takes you back and forth between the terminals because you won't have enough time to walk from one to another if your connecting flights are scheduled to close together. Abuela Mercedes would not last long there though, since you have to take an escalator down to the train. They also have people movers, another foe of Mercedes.
We sat around waiting for our flight and intently watching the screen in hopes of seeing our name on the "Cleared" list (meaning we had seats assigned), but to no avail. Not only was the flight late, but it was also overbooked! Some poor guy have to give up his seat and wait for the next flight to NYC. Delta was nice to him though and gave him food vouchers and a $400 coupon for a flight within the next year.
My mom and dad called Rudy to find out when the next available flight was. Turns out that the 1:30 flight was canceled because it was too empty, and the next flight was not until four. However, since the early flight was canceled it looked like the 4:3o might fill up as well. We went to Chilis for lunch and to pass the time. Chilis has the absolute best margaritas in the world!
After going back and forth across the airport a few times trying to find the right gate (the gate was changed), we finally found the right one. After what felt like an eternity, the plane finally arrive half an hour late. Our hearts sank when we saw how many people were getting on the flight and how far down we were on the stand-by list. We stuck around just to see what would happen, and then on the screen it showed that there were no more seats available. Our hearts sank because that meant we would miss our flight to Edinburgh. My dad and I went to the counter to check when the next flight was, and all of a sudden a flight attendant called out "Chavez!" I said "which one?" To which he replied all three. We had to run into the plane and find an empty seat as quick as we could. I was soooo happy!!!
Catching our plane to Edinburgh was not nearly as stressful. The flight wasn't even full. We were lucky because they assigned to us the seats that the flight attendants use to sleep in during the flight, so we had business class seats in coach. That means we could recline and prop up our legs. It was comfy.
I watched Horton Hears a Who and part of Kung Fu Panda before falling asleep for a little while. Then they served "dinner", which came on little trays with little plates. I've seen kid meals which were bigger. The food wasn't all that bad though, considering that we were eating packaged food re-heated some 30k feet in the air. I went back to sleep when they collected the trash and didn't really wake up until it was "breakfast" time. After that I just stayed awake listening to Jimmy Buffet and ABBA. I know, I'm a dork.
We landed ok, and passed through immigration without a hitch. However.... when we went to collect our bags we quickly discovered that my red duffel bag was missing! My most important bag since it had most of my shirts and pens. I was not happy. Neither was my mom, so she went to file a missing bag report. Thus began the missing bag saga.... but that's a story for another post.
We do make sure to get in lots of socializing time as well. The group that lives in Pollock Halls pretty much see each other all day long. We make plans to meet up for breakfast and dinner just so that we can pull together the tables and take up the entire width of the cafeteria. I think that we amuse the workers when we do that. They already recognize us when we walk in. One of the older lady even makes sure that my food doesn't have milk or cheese in it, since it tends to make me sick.
Speaking of food, Scottish food is great as long as you eat outside of the Halls. There is this little green sandwich shop at the corner of the school that makes the BEST baguette sandwiches ever. There is also this bakery called Greggs that makes good wraps and has tasty rolls and such. There is even an Elephants and Bagels close to school. For those of you that don't know, that is the sister deli to the one where J K Rowling wrote her Harry Potter books. They have great hummous.
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