El Vuelo

So the flight back was an experience I'll never forget. I still remember the 5a.m. car ride from the house to the airport like it was yesterday.

 I remember being nervous for leaving, like I was leaving everything I knew. ..And in a way I was.

 I knew life had continued without me in the United States, and that I would be an extra there now, not the protagonist, if not for a little while.

So we sat in the airport, looking around at all the people with rolled up hammocks and hiking gear. Typical I-need-to-bring-this-back syndrome. I had bought a hammock too, or two, haha. I felt lucky that Greydy and I could travel together one last time. We had the same flight to Miami. The nerves built in me as breathed them out slowly.

It wasn't so bad really. Greydy and I arrived in Miami sin problema, had lunch together, I walked with her to her gate, and we said our goodbyes.

The Second Flight

Then came the second flight. Now I'm not so crazy about flying to begin with, but this pilot instilled a fear  in me that has not left me to this day. Everything started out fine, but about a half hour before landing, there was about a 50 foot drop in the plane. The nose of the plane was down and the end was up. I turned to the frequent traveler next to me and asked her if it was normal.

She looked at her watch/she frowned/she looked at the scene around us. I looked around and everyone else seemed nervous and confused too.

She told me in gentle words (after seeing my death grip on the plane armchair) that it was not normal, but it could be an early landing start. But that girl was a godsend, because then she started asking me every question she could think of to take my mind off of the plane. So we talked for what seemed like forever, but probably came closer to five or ten minutes, until the plane straightened out again. We all sighed.