Between the Indigo and the Ice

The plane to New York was small but nearly empty. I hadn't flown in a while so I spent the entire flight, about an hour, with my face against the window. At cruising altitude the clouds beneath you look like a barren Arctic wasteland under an indigo sky. How this scene got into our vernacular as the image of Heaven escapes me. Beautiful to look at, but I wouldn't want to live there.

I like to try to guess where the plane is by the landscape I see, but the sky below was overcast the whole way. When the plane finally descended through the cloud cover, the first land I could see was incredible - we were directly over Manhattan, approaching Central Park. We've all seen pictures, but to fly over it is awesome.

From Laguardia I took a bus to JFK for the flight to Milan. Now that is a big airport. It took quite a while to find my gate, and when I got there it looked like a refugee camp. I was reasonably certain I needed to go look for a hotel. The attendant said he was working on standbys now when I asked him, so I just stood right by him and watched nervously. I got one of the last seats on the plane, deep in economy class.

Economy class on a large international flight has a lot of character to it. The key noticeable features were an interminably screaming child and the man behind me who apparently was never satisfied with the status of the phlegm in his throat. God had mercy on me and plugged my ears as the plane ascended.

About a half hour into the flight the drink cart finally came. A very cheerful man offered me juice, water, soda - I ordered a beer. He continued cheerfully. "Would you like anything else?"
"Do you have Jack Daniels?", I asked.
Still quite happy, he produced a small bottle and asked, "what would you like with your Jack Daniels, sir?"
"Ice."
"Uh, anything else?"
I looked at the tiny bottle of Jack. "Yes," I said, "another bottle of Jack Daniels."

The rest of the flight went pretty smoothly.

Separate ways

My flight to Milan was very cheap, thanks to my brother who works for Delta in Atlanta. However, this means standby flying, which always entails the risk of not actually getting a seat on the plane. But when I arrived at Port Columbus, everything seemed to check out with my itenary, and I checked my suitcase onto a flight to my layover in Atlanta.

Confident I was on my way and with nearly an hour to go before my flight left, I went to have one last very American meal. I found Mulligan's pub and ordered a bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a Budweiser. I watched businessmen multitask their laptops and cellphones while CNN kept us all up to date on the ramifications of the Michael Jackson verdict. I skipped the apple pie for dessert and went to my gate with fifteen minutes left before my flight departed.

They informed me that there were no seats left on the plane. I began to curse myself for stopping for food first, but I found out that a small flood of other standby passengers with a higher priority than I had bumped me from the plane, and it made no difference what time I showed up. I asked to have my bag taken off the plane, but they wouldn't do it. They suggested I take the same flight on the next day to catch up with my bag, although it was likely to be full as well. The other option they presented was to get on a plane to New York, go to Milan from there, and file a lost baggage claim. It's more important that I get to Milan on time than for me to have my luggage with me, so I chose New York. I watched my suitcase take off for Atlanta, then hopped on a plane to Laguardia. I wasn't sure if I would have a seat to Milan when I got there.

"If I leave here tomorrow..."

"...would you still remember me?"

Thanks for everybody who came out Saturday night, and even to those who couldn't be there. It was a very good time, and honestly I'm in awe about how supportive everyone has been. It has really made me think how much I will miss home and the people who are there. I can never forget where I came from.

Since then I've moved out of my apartment of these last five years and finished all the details needed for the trip. I leave for Milan tomorrow afternoon. I bought an Italian phrase book, hopefully I'll know the language well enough by the time the plane lands. I'll be at the Hotel Tre Leoni and will be exploring Milan until Saturday morning, when it's off to Vienna then Damascus. I think the reality of this still hasn't quite set in.

p.s. I fixed the comments link, you don't have to be a member now.