LEX

the terminal

so i have NEVER missed a flight. ever. until the biggest trip of my life that i had to make ALONE. here's how all of this transpired.

before packing overweight bags, i checked online with the airline. Continental said i could simply pay an overweight fee (and yes, this was listed under international flights). i figured i'd have to pay just as much to ship the stuff, so i said, what the heck, let's just pack it all.

when i arrived at DFW at 6am, Continental tells me they can NOT accept overweight bags for international flights. so what exactly am i supposed to do with my 60lbs of excess?! thankfully, the Continental workers were very kind and called American for me to check on their limitations. American will check overweight international baggage, but for a pretty penny. so my only option is to check my luggage Continental to JFK, and then reclaim and re-check in New York. all of this must be done in 1hr 45min.

so when i arrived at JFK, i hauled butt. i moved as quickly as possible without being a threat to human safety. after reclaiming my luggage, i hopped (ok, no, i didn't hop, but it makes the story better) on an elevator and asked the lady in the official uniform where i should go for check-in. now, because i am used to DFW, which has only one level, i didn't know there would be any need to specify my airline at this point. she says level 4, so i proceed. i run around terminal 4, on level 4, for about 20 minutes, only to find that i should go to level 3 and a take the airtram to terminals 8 & 9. i would soon find out just how precious were those 20 minutes spent in terminal 4.

i got to my check-in point just about 25 minutes after the gate closed.
this is when the panic began. i was soon dripping with sweat (this, of course, would not be the last time).

i eventually found out that i could get a stand-by ticket for the 6am flight. check-in began at 2:30. so after taking care of that, i realized had many, MANY hours to kill. along with my appx. 200lbs of luggage, i begins searching for a plug so charge my phone that is in an area where i can station myself for a time. i found a food court and just such an outlet. i stayed there for a good while calling around to some friends and family.

once i finished that, it was time to get some dinner. a turkey wrap and a gatorade cost me $11. i sat and ate and sat some more. i thought it might be best to wait right by the check-in counter, so i maneuvered that way and again parked myself. after about an hour, i realized that sitting on the floor is very hard on the rear end. so i went back to the food court. unfortunately, it closed around 11:00 and i had to restation myself at the pole outside terminal 8's area B check-in. i remained here for the next several hours.

although my body was ready to shut down (i had been up since 4:30am), i couldn't let myself fall asleep. i was too paranoid someone would run off with my luggage. i know, i know, it's hard to run with that much weight. but it is possible. so i listened to my ipod, did some people watching, read, and played games on my computer while my ipod recharged. it was when i couldnt even focus on a game of solitaire that i realized i was beyond being able to function normally.

finally 2:30 came. i checked my bags and paid an additional $125. then i got to wait some more. American didn't open their security gate till 4:00am.

i finally got through security and guess what...i got to wait some more! boarding started at 5:15 and i still didn't know if i was going to be allowed on. finally, at about 10 min till take-off, i approached the counter (along with many other people). i don't think they lady really wanted to bother with me, so she just grabbed a ticket and handed it to me. praise the Lord, I was on my way to Santiago! but were my bags?

i arrived in Santiago and went to customs. little did i know i was going to need cash to pay for the visitors card. so some guy leads me through all these crowds of people so i can withdraw pesos and exchange them for dollars.

i finally get to baggage claim and my bags are no where to be seen. thankfully, i had already prepared myself for this possibility, so i wasn't panicking yet. after the crowds had mostly moved out of the way, i realized that some kind person had already removed my bags from the turnaround. i had my bags! yea!

i was picked up by Mr. White and two summer staffers, Byron and Jen. we met Ruben and Rafael at the White's house and they took us on into Puerto Plata (about a 2hr drive). Ruben and Rafael were kind enough to haul my bags up the stairs at the makarios house. they also had a bed for me.

Jen made dinner for us and all of our helpers while i was taking a MUCH needed shower. and not being able to get hot water was just fine. i then took a much needed 2hr nap. i'm still trying to catch up on sleep, but i'm sure that'll happen eventually.

today we ran errands. it took us 4hrs to pay 3 bills and go to the grocery store. glad i didn't have anything else on my agenda!

posted by Alexia & Jeffrey @ 8:36 PM