Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Let the adventure begin!





Above pictures:

1. Life is good.
2. Cheers!
3. From the Des Moines Airport. I've always loved this.
ATM Machine=automatic teller machine machine

Monday, February 8th

Well, today has been a long day. I woke up around 5:00am, got my stuff together, kissed the cat goodbye, and headed out for the airport. At the airport I checked my bags then said goodbye to my parents and Matt. All was going smoothly till I got on the plane. It was snowing (oh, Iowa), so of course they had to de-ice the plane and clear the runway of snow. I had never seen a plane being de-iced before and I thought it was pretty cool. It looked like a fun job; well, I would like doing it. An hour later we took off. The trip to Chicago was bumpy and the landing not exactly smooth. Thankfully I had a long enough layover that I wasn’t late for my next flight. When I got to my next gate they informed us that we’d be switching gates, but they didn’t yet know what gate we were going to. About 45 minutes later they figured it out and sent us to a gate a ways away. I got on the plane there and again had to wait about 45 minutes for the plane to take off. Not sure why. I arrived in Miami only to find that my gate wasn’t listed on the departure screen. I eventually figured out where I needed to be, grabbed a sandwich, and boarded the plane.

The flight to San Salvador was pretty empty and I had my row all to myself. They were showing a movie called “Inkheart” that I’d never heard of before. I didn’t listen to it, but at times watched the movie. It looked a little odd. The flight went pretty smooth. I was just hoping my luggage got there and Kathy was there to pick me up. We landed around 6:15pm. As I got off I was instantly hit by the hot, muggy air. But it was welcome after spending so much time in the snow. I went through immigration and customs- all went well. My luggage came by just as I approached the bag check- woo hoo! And when I went outside Kathy and her sister, Sandy, were there to pick me up- YEA!

Alfredo drove us all to Los Pinos. We all chatted for a bit and then he was off. The three of us went downstairs to enjoy a beer. They let me have the hammock. It was very relaxing. It’s good to be here. Every once and a while we could hear the little lizards making noise. One fell down from the ceiling onto the plant that was on the table. He was pretty cute, but scurried away before I could take a picture of him. We went upstairs around 9pm and to bed soon after. Buenas noches!

6 comments:

Kevin Pokorny said...

Alisha, Great news that you finally made it okay. Wow, a beer and a hammock. Life doesn't get much better than that. I'm glad you had some time to unwind and just relax. Hope all goes well tomorrow. Love to you - Kevin

Unknown said...

yay - you're there and you're safe! can't wait to hear about all your adventures!

ps - i bought cross country skis. yes, i'm incredibly impulsive. i went out to the U of I cross country course and it was lovely! i bet the snow will be gone by the time you get back, but we should definitely go next year!

Anonymous said...

You look great- I'm jealous. Enjoy the heat for us. It's the usual snow and cold around here. Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on your adventures. Love, Martha

Matt said...

Yay! I'm so glad you got there okay. Sounds like it was a bit of a hassle, but flying usually is these days. Can't wait to talk to you. Monty and I love you and miss you a lot!

Matt said...

That hammock looks pretty nice. I'm jealous.

Anonymous said...

I recognize that hammock! You look pretty familiar with it also. I look forward to reading your next post.
Take care and ENJOY, Lynda