August 26th. The journey begins.

For the record when I write on days that I do not post, I title the entries “Boatswain´s log”. That is my rank. So…here we are.

Boatswain’s Log…Stardate August 26^th

 

6PM: Currently my sweaty, smelly and overall tired body is sitting on the floor in Miami international airport after roughly 12 hours of traveling. A few more to go. Here’s how it broke down.

 

10:30ish in the PM August 25th: I arrive in Seattle and check in at the convenient E-ticket station. After saying goodbye to the parents and receiving lots of “advice” I struck out into the terminal. Almost immediately upon entering the terminal I met someone I knew. I’ve been told I know a lot of people…It’s true. My friend Ryan Jorgensen from high school appeared from nowhere with a characteristic greeting. I’ll spare you the details just in case you sensitive sorts might get offended…well. No. I won’t. deal with it. Ryan Jorgensen greeted me with a friendly “what the fuck?” It was good to see him. Sometimes it’s refreshing when people drop the F-Bomb. This was one of those times.

 

Ryan quickly headed off to Boston and I was alone yet again for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes of watching the crappy CNN broadcast on the democratic national convention (in which the broadcast repeated twice) I saw another person I know. My friend Jessica Sherrow appeared. Coincidentally she was headed to Costa Rica too. Only for a couple of weeks to work with animals. She was on stand-by and managed to get on the same plane as me. I also met my friend Nicole from School (also going to study abroad) and we all sat together. A woman sitting near me kept looking over when new people I knew would appear. I said, “I just keep seeing people I know.” She responded with “…and they’re all beautiful girls.” To this I responded: “It’s a tough life.”

 

12:25AM: I board the first of 3 planes I will ride today. I tried to sleep, but mostly it resembled hating life for about 3 hours or so. I woke up a lot and it was not pleasant. I think I got a headache afterwards. I doubt that Nicole or Jessica faired better.

 

7:00AM Central time (5AM real time): I get to Houston. It felt like I was hit by a bus, punched in the face, and shanked in prison while I was sleeping. Okay…maybe a tad of exaggeration, but really…I didn’t feel spiffy. I proceeded to eat some of the food I’d brought and bought a chocolate milk. At some point Nicole abandoned Jessica and I for a different earlier plane to Miami. Jessica and I went to where I thought the gate for my flight was and taking my sister’s advice I set an alarm and took a nap while Jessica guarded me…or mostly read smutty gossip magazines. Apparently Lindsey Lohan is a lesbian now. Not too shocking. I guess after all the cocaine and partying lesbianism is just the next logical step for a celebrity aspiring to be the next Paris Hilton.

 

Time out for thoughts on Houston International Airport. People speaks Spanish there more than in Seattle. They have ridiculous modern art that sucks (giant guitars and a room surrounded by TVs featuring disconcerting music and photos of flowers). The chocolate milk is reasonably priced, but the juice is crappy or non-existent.

 

10:30 Am ish: Flight to Miami goes. Oh wait. The gate changed 3 fricking times. It was in E so I walked there. Then it was in C so I walked back. Then it was in a different C gate. By the end I felt like a mixture of action hero, traveler, and football player: always ready to move. This plane ride was nice. Relaxing. I slept a lot. I listened to Music. Exit row seating. Always ask for it, lots of leg room. I drank ginger ale and orange juice. I looked out the window. I got a free sandwich…that was made for oompa-loompas. But hey. Free sandwich. Upon arrival this little latin-American boy looked up at me like I was a giant beast or ominous mountain that he didn’t quite know what to do with. His mom remarked in Spanish that it was because he was so tall. I responded in Spanish that he shouldn’t worry…he’d grow.

 

Miami is interesting. Way warmer than other places I’ve been. Also, surprisingly enough Miami is located in the middle of swamp. It appears that most of florida that I saw from the window of the plane is swamp. Everyone lives in a giant bog. Hurray for dampness I guess.

 

It took me awhile to find my group but as I did it turned out that there were lots of nice people. I played a few games of spades and went and bought an egg bagel thing with a guy from Tennessee named Matt. He’s pretty legit. I am wondering about Spanish fluency though. I wish we’d speak in Spanish all the time. If it carries on like this…lots of people are going to be ditched by me in hopes of achieving a greater fluency.

 

I used my passport for the first time today. Not as cool as it seems in James Bond films.

 

It’s nice that I’ve had people with me the whole time that I connect with. It hasn’t felt like I’m journeying on my own or anything. Which I guess is cool. Not as American and independent as perhaps I would have liked, but I’m almost in costa Rica. No complaints. Jesus has kept me alive and well thus far. I’m sure he’ll keep it up.

 

Time to get on the plane for costa Rica now. Carry on.