From There to Here

Yes, we made it home along with our luggage, but it was a small challenge.

Twenty-four hours before our flight I checked in, but was able to check in only A. His boarding pass showed only one piece of luggage even though my original email said two pieces. I knew better than to call the local number for help and used our app to call the US 1-800 number. The person explained that even we had requested the extra luggage we had never been charged for it. Huh? I am sure I should have noticed, but the truth is I thought if I asked for it and offered to pay that I would receive it. Luckily that problem was solved with a credit card. And, no, I don't know if what I paid is what I had offered to pay. At that point there was not time for discussion.

The next blip was when we arrived at the airport. The person checking me in asked if it was okay if I had been selected for special security. I answered the question honestly but received only a smile in return. I don't think speaking directly is part of the local culture.

We figured out where to take the oversized baggage (the tandem - exactly 32.0 kg, although 32.1 and 31.9 on different scales) and then had to hustle to security and not sit and enjoy our snack (hummus - too close to a liquid to make it through) because we were told to get right to the gate. This went smoothly until passport control when the person started flipping through our US passports. I figured out she was looking for our entry stamp. Panic! Do I tell her it is not in there since we used different passports to enter. I couldn't think of what else to do so I told the truth. She said that was fine and let us through. Phew.

We made our way to the gate where I was told to stand next to the counter along with a few other lucky people. A went off to the long line to get food. Then we were asked to stand over there instead. As more people arrived we were asked to moved to another place. Finally after standing around they had us walk over a separate waiting area (was there a reason we had to stand around and not wait here the whole time?). It was a bit of panic because A. was still trying to get food, but he finished just as I was being shifted to the second area. They said he could wait with me, which was good because I had been holding his bag while he shopped.

When it was my turn to go in they took A.'s stuff and had him take off his shoes. I tried to explain that he was just keeping me company, but it wasn't until he completed the extra security check (a process that involved a pat down and taking all our stuff to the x-ray machine and bringing it back) and they went to stamp his pass that they figured they had made a mistake. Oh well. We both finished and had time to get water and use the bathroom before boarding. Whew.

The last blip was the lack of vegetarian meal even though I had an email showing I requested one. It was not a problem since A. was too sick half the food and I just picked off the pink meat from the queso and pollo sandwich.

The good news is that I watched four movies (Sing and Lego Batman with A. and Hidden Figures and Gifted on my own) and some tv shows in addition to playing with the four-year-old sitting behind us. More good news was that customs was long but easy, all our luggage showed up, and the college student I hired picked us up and even brought all the luggage inside.

I haven't slept well yet, but I know it will happen eventually.