The Never-ending Day

Tuesday, Jan 31, 2012

4am-wake up

6:50-arrive ate JFK airport (no traffic—YAY)

8:10-Past security

8:25-Board Plane to Panama City

9:30-Take off

2:30-Land in Panama City

What thing I learned: Copa airlines is SO great for vegans.  I booked my flight marking “vegan” and also called to confirm a few weeks before.  I was fully prepared to be offered chicken or beef, request a vegan meal, and get a blank stare before being told they didn’t have any.  But they asked me straight out, “you wanted the vegetarian meal, right?”  I crossed my fingers that it was also vegan, and Copa didn’t let me down!  I got a lovely (okay, well this is airplane food, but I was happy to get anything) rice and veggie dish, with a roll, a granola bar, and a salad with some yellow slices I thought were oranges but turned out to be yellow tomatoes.  Copa airlines has my loyalty for life.

Also met a cool guy named Matthew.  The two of us had a whole row to ourselves (aka one open space between us).  He was going to visit his girlfriend in Colombia.  We talked about politics and college and the book he’s writing.  He let me have the window seat so I could see the Panama Canal, which was super nice.  And it had some cool boats….I wish I got pictures, but çe la vie.  (That’s not Spanish, so I have license to spell it wrong.)

I hung around in the airport for a while, probs around 4 hours.  Then boarded the plane to Santa Cruz.  I switched seats since someone wanted to sit with her family, but Copa STILL found me and asked if anyone in our row was “vegetariana.”  LOVE them!

11:30pm-Arrived in Santa Cruz, but TIME CHANGE so say adios to one hour of waiting!  Here it’s 12:30!  Which brings us to…

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

So in Santa Cruz…went through migration, which was a drag.  HUGE lines.  SLOW lines.  I got my bags and the only way out of the airport was through these doors guarded by two camo-dressed soldiers.  I was seriously concerned that they would open into the city of Santa Cruz, and I would be stuck outside in a strange city at night.  Then I decided that since most international airports have more than one terminal, the doors probably just go to the rest of the airport.  Which they did.  I went to the departure area.  It was too early to check in for my flight, which I should have guess by the number of people sleeping on chairs already. 

1:30-Sit down with all my baggage in all its glory and begin the wait.  Lots of reading Runners World (I know there’s an apostrophe on runners but insert it yourselves since I still haven’t slept in a bed for 43 hours.)

4am- Managed to sleep for one whole hour on the oh-so-comfy-airport chairs.  Luckily no dividers between them though, so I’m really taking 1.5.  Maybe more like 1.3.  Whatever.  Don’t want to fall asleep again since I want to check in asap.

4:08am-Weird sensual music videos on the airline-sponsored TV. 

5:00am-On line at the check in, but no one is there!  I made a really cool friend from Netherlands though!  She’s volunteering at a daycare in Cocha.  We chat a lot in English.  She knows some Spanish, too, but she’s hoping to get better.

5:45-Finally people show up to give us our boarding passes.  Security is a breeze.  No removing my shoes, or my laptop, or anything.  Literally under 2 minutes.  No line, for that reason.  Overweight baggage, paid 8 dollars.  Chatted with a Boliviano in the extra fee line.  I made him repeat almost everything he said twice, but then I understood and could talk with him!  Win!

7:20-Guessing here, but we totes did not board on time.  No apparent reason, maybe just Bolivian time.

Chatted with a Bolivian guy on the plane.  His parents live in Cocha but he studies in Spain.  He asked if I was meeting friends in Cochabamba and I made him laugh when I said (in Spanish) that I didn’t know them yet but we WILL be friends!  He’s living in a “habitación” (either flat or dorm) with 2 roomies in Madrid.

CONKED OUT.

8:10-Landed, reunited with my friend from the Netherlands, stalked some gringos who looked my age, and asked if they were SIT students.  Said goodbye to my Dutch friend (I hugged her, she was so nice).

Got picked up by Ismael and Heidi and a bus.  SUPER TIRED.  Ate lunch and was a total zombie.  Vowed to take a nap but got randomly restless so hung out with the group instead.  People trickled in all day, and we had a meeting about school.  We went out exploring in the city, then Ismael and Heidi took us to Universidad Mayor de San Simón (where our classrooms are).  It totally doesn’t seem like a university by US standards.  But this is a city.

Went to Ismael’s house, chewed coca leaves (a big part of indigenous culture), and had a ceremony to Pachamama (Mother Earth).  We stood in a circle and everyone took some coca leaves and we cleansed the bad things away by rubbing a sacred piece of wood on our bodies.  Then everyone put the best coca leaves in a pile of flowers (one leave for each member of your family you are asking to protect).  Everyone put a little of each different color (white rice, red beans, yellow corn, tan sand) on the leaves.  Then we put that and the sacred wood in a fire.  Everyone had a turn to sprinkle dark liquid on the ground and light liquid in the fire as an offering.  Then we ate dinner at his house and came home.  It’s been a fun 44-hour day, but I’m ready for some sleep now.

Sorry for the lack of pics….the internet is muy lento! (very slow!)