Travel Regulations

American Airlines advises international travelers to check in 2 and a half hours pre departure. It seems a little excessive, to suggest passengers spend 150 minutes milling around in the waiting area, contemplating whether or not their neighbor is wearing a toupee, or if that is some type of stylish cap. Airports are known for their outstanding people watching, but I think I’d better find something a little more productive to do.. What better time to start my first real blog post? (I may paint my nails also, but don’t want to run the risk of messing them up while typing…)

The last few days have been a whirlwind. I finished my last final early Thursday morning (after a late night study sesh with Stephanie in the 24-hour Dillon’s… we didn’t want to take our chances with late night hunger… with an entire grocery store, the options are endless!)

Thursday night, Grandma threw me a going away party with some family and friends for the send off.

My mom threw together some Sangria, a popular Spanish drink made with cheap red wine (…no slappin the bag with this Franzia) , orange juice, and orange slice.. She even made a simple syrup for it ( there’s your shout out Janis!). It was the best I’ve had this week, (so far!) She also acted as the deejay, running to the computer every 3 minutes at 27 seconds to replay the Spanish guitar track she queued up on youtube.

Little Romaine (grandma) cooked a Spanish Paella, which is a random assortment of proteins and rice. I may be impartial to her cooking, but Spain’s got some stiff competition!

Here we are examining the globe for my destination…

Grandma, I think that’s Africa.

That’s more like it. Barcelona!!!

Elizabeth flew all the way from Montréal to help me pack! Just kidding. Of course when she has a chance to visit, I am scheduled to leave two days later. At least she got to be my personal slave for a day, running errands with me and helping me pack. This well traveled friend of mine is the most no mercy packer out there. I may have tried to sneak in a few unnecessary items and that just wouldn’t fly… (Literally.)

When we were up at 3 am debating what items had to go, it was a pair of tom’s shoes, and a measly dress. That extra 5 ounces really helped scale my suitcase down to the 65 lbs. it weighed in at today on the airport scale (and you know what that means? A hefty $60 overweight luggage fee… Sorry Dad!)

Also, I was advised many times to pack an extra duffle along with me for things I buy while in Spain. I was not, however, supposed to use this as overflow space for things that wouldn’t fit in my suitcase…. Too bad.

Well the time has come for me to board my flight to Chicago, where I will relax under one of those gross germ-spewer, fan knobs and flip through the Skymall magazine….Who needs an over the door pulley system to alleviate neck pain? Or a canine genealogy kit?!

After this riveting plane ride, I’ll depart on the 8 hour flight to London, (my seat is conveniently placed right beside the bathroom!) Looks like I’ll be getting to know my fellow passengers a little better than I had planned. But, hey! Atleast I scored an aisle seat!