Thursday, 2nd September

7:32 pm EST. En route.

After multiple shuffles in seating (me & my included) so that families could sit together, I am finally settled in the airplane behind 1 baby, across from another, and kittycorner to two young boys. I am on the isle seat, and the jovial man by the window is excitedly pointing out to the girl in the middle Mts. Hood, Helens, and Adams (he thinks.) By blatant eavesdropping, I learn that the girl is from Washington and he Maine. Her name is Amanda and she is on her way to bible school in England.

Eventually the man engrosses himself in a newspaper, and Amanda shifts her conversation to me. We chitchat for the better part of the flight about various things; she is younger and a little less worldly ("Wait, are we going to Pennyslyvania or Philadelphia?") but otherwise pleasant.

When we disembark, on previous arrangements we stick together on our way to the money exchange counter (her pounds are worth more than my euros!), grab some pizza, and then realize that we both have 4 hours to kill in an airport. Our shenanegans ensue.

The "free wifi" internet service doesn't work. The man at the counter says it's been broken since Sunday. We possibly illegally hitch a ride on the back of those airport people transporters (where the driver is confused as to where we came from and a hurried-looking man with a briefcase gets impatient at our slow pace and speeds around us.) An intercom ad for free internet convinces us to try one more time, where our new location yields a new server of which we fanagle the password out of the British Airlines Membership woman by pure charm.

My flight to Dublin leaves at 9:05, where I will spend another glorious 6 hours flying over the Atlantic ocean in the dark. I also fear I am in the middle seat of the middle seats. Also there is apparently a hurricane? that will be passing by sort of close to where we are (who knows what "sort of close" means by weatherman standards) which better not delay my flight or I will be in danger of missing my connection to Shannon airport. Ohh-- I should probably go check in for that