I am now home safe and sound in Tucson. It's not too hot here thankfully.
Tuesday was such a long day. I woke up at 5am Hamburg time and was at the airport by 6. Anne and I said our goodbyes and I went through security. Gosh what a joke. I didn't have to take off my shoes, or my hoodie. I felt kind of weird doing that and it makes you wonder what the Europeans are sending over the the States. They did feel compelled to take my pill splitter from my suitcase though. The TSA let it go through, but the Europeans didn't. Go figure. I was very lucky that the air traffic controller strike was called off at the last minute. Everything in the airport flowed smoothly. The flight to London was just over an hour and I was very disappointed in the "comfort" of my seat on the Lufthansa flight. There was practically no padding on it. It was as if I were sitting on a resin lounge chair. The flight was rather empty with hardly anyone on board. There was no one in the middle seat next to me, which was nice. I bet lots of people switched flights at the last minute. On board we got the standard service of beverages and was given a rasin roll or rasin bread. It was actually very good.
Coming into the Heathrow was pretty neat. I got to see most of the famous London landmarks from my seat. I even saw smoke from the riots that were going on there. Poor London. When I arrived at Heathrow it was a hike and half to get to my next terminal. I felt like I was walking forever and it's a good thing I had 3 hours to spare. I had to walk to a connection terminal and waited for a bus to pick us up to take us to Terminal 4 where the Continental flights departed from. Riding on the left side of the road was a bit freaky for me. It felt strange. I kept thinking we'd collide with someone. haha. We arrived at Terminal 4 after a 5 minute bus ride and I of course walked some more until I found civilization. Wow what a busy terminal! There were people from all over there. I immediately found some gifts for myself and mom, then grabbed a muffin and juice for breakfast. (yeah I just ate on the plane, but I was still hungry!). They did not release gate information for my 11:40 flight until 10:10 so I had plenty of time to browse around. There were a lot of high end shops there. I got to my gate and while I waited I watched BBC News. Of course they spoke of the riots, I feel so bad for them.
We finally boarded and I braced myself for a 10 hour flight. Unfortunately my seat was right in front of the bathroom, so it didn't recline too much. It was a full flight with lots of young (I mean under 5) children. One child cried for over 2 hours while I tried to sleep. When I woke up, she stopped. Then when I tried to sleep again, she started again. Ugh. We got fed about four times on this flight, it was crazy. Pretzels at first, then a meal (it was either chicken or Lasagna...I got the chicken. It was the same as my flight to Germany), then while I was napping they must have dropped off ice cream cups because I woke up to find one on my tray. About an hour before we landed they passed out Turkey tortilla wraps (they weren't bad). The stewardess at first gave me a veggie meal...no thanks! Cucumbers and tomato on bread does not fill this chick up! haha. I was getting stir crazy about 7 hours into the flight and there was 2-3 hours left. I think next time, I return to an east coast airport so I can get a break. Flying from London to Houston was just too much for me.
We landed around 4pm Houston time and my flight to Tucson started boarding at 5. I had to stand on line at customs and have them check my passport and what not, then I had to reclaim my suitcase and recheck it to be rescanned. I was in a panic because I know that airport is HUGE and I was afraid I wouldn't make it. Luckily my bag was waiting for me on the belt and I just had to hand it to some dude who rescreened it. I went upstairs and discovered I had to go through security again (ugh!), thankfully it was only for transferring passengers so the line wasn't too long. I had to then go to terminal C (I was in E or something like that), so I had to take the tram around. 3 minutes later I'm in my terminal and of course my gate is at the end of the hallway (just like last time). I got there about 10 to 5. And then I hear there is a mechanical issue and we'll be delayed a bit. AFter about 15 minutes we were told to board, I get checked in and start to walk to the plane and then we're just standing there. The pilot told us to go back inside. We sat and waited about 10 minutes more and then reboarded. There was an electrical/engine issue that was quickly resolved. I didn't hear the details, I was distracted at how tall our pilot was. haha. His head hit the ceiling on that little plane.
It was a 2 hour flight to Tucson and the flight wasn't even full. Sometimes they aren't and sometimes they are. There were maybe 25-30 people on the flight. We landed at 6:30 local time (3:30 am Hamburg time...the next day!), and I was surprised to see most of the airport closed down...as in no more flights for the day. I mean, at 6:30? Seesh. It took a few minutes for my luggage to arrive (don't know why...we were the only flight there! haha) and Johanna was there to take me home. I finally got to my apartment around 7:30 and immediately unpacked. That only took an hour.
It's good to be home, but scary to realize what lies ahead of me this semester.
Overall it was a great trip, it was great to be back in Deutschland after so many years to see how much things have changed. Cars have gotten bigger, SUVs are really popular there it seems. I was surprised about the "German rudeness" on the streets and at the wonderland museum. I was also surprised that I was able to understand so much after not speaking German for so long! It was great to see Anne's family again, and meet Peter's family. They are such a wonderful group of people. I made new friends and of course fell in love with my Patenkind (Godson). I miss my squirmy wormy Henry. :) I was exposed to a nude beach...which I never plan to return to again. hahaha. And I got to see more of "East" Germany and it's similarities to PA and the American Heartland. I hope to return again soon, hopefully it won't be another 14 years!
I am signing off on this blog, I hope you all enjoyed reading about my adventures as I enjoyed sharing them with you! Tschuss!
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