oh hi...El Salvador?

The adventure begins! Well, with a bit of a setback...our flight from San Salvador got canceled, so I am currently hanging in the airport in El Salv (yay abbrevs). It's really teeny tiny...maybe even smaller than I remember. We already walked the whole length of it like twice to keep from boredom (oh when I say "we", I mean me and two new Manna friends! we found each other at the gate after some awkward oh hi, are you with manna? OMG ME TOO's) because we are here FOR FIVE HOURS. ok, it's part of the travel experience. it's not so bad. I am just dying to be in Nica right now, so it stinks to have to wait for the 7:10 flight. but what are you gonna do?

I journaled on the plane ride here, so I'll post that below as my first trip update. There will be more legit updates (actually about NICARAGUA) later on. hasta luego, amigos!

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5.13.10 - plane ride numero uno

I literally just kicked a sweet old woman out of my seat. She thought "D" was next to the window and I was like "nuh-uh chica, no one is taking 21F from me...NO. ONE." ...am I a jerk? Oh well. One main goal of this trip is to learn how to love people better, so maybe this can just serve as a good starting off point, you know, a contrast "before" moment when this month is over. Before Emily = basically punches the elderly in the face for a window seat, After Emily = realizes that there are more important things in the world than a nice view. (we've got some work to do)

So O.K. I'm about to leave America. Cool. Wow. EEEEK!
Several of my friends are still in the library studying for exams and I am sitting on TACA flight 581 to San Salvador.

I am doing alright, but sometimes my emotions get the better of me. A tear ot two spilled when I said goodbye to my Dad right before security. It was a little bit just an expression of fear and anxiety, but mostly I think it was that I'm going to miss my family (something about the idea of being in a different country without my parents for a month is bringing out a little kid sense of homesickness that is surprising me) Crying was actually alright. I realized that when you look sad, the security guards actually break their stony exteriors and call you "sweetheart" or "honey", which I'll take over a robotic stare.

So there was sadness. And then there was excitement. It was about the trip, obviously, but also, I thought that I saw Jamie Lee Curtis sitting in the gate I was at. Seriously, this woman has to be her doppelganger. I freaked out for a short second...in my head I thought "OMG. I AM ON THE SAME PLANE AS JAMIE LEE FREAKIN' CURTIS!! MY LIFE IS THE BOMB!". I maybe even did a tiny fist pump in the air. But then, with great disappointment, I realized that it wasn't her. Tragedy.

So that was excitement and then devestation. Next came laughter.

I had to go through the pat-down ordeal before boarding. This is a common occurence in airports, I know, but it has never happened to me. It resulted in me breaking into a fit of laughter, 1) because I am insanely ticklish, and 2) because I started thinking about what an awkward job that is - being a professional feeler-uper. Like, every single day having to essentially grope a stranger. I wonder if they think to themselves in the morning over a cup of coffee, "hey, today is a great day to accidently graze people's butts!" (nothing against these jobs, of course...I guess soemone's gotta do it!) But oh, those thoughts got the better of me (as did the slap-happy attitude I tend to develop after getting 4 or less hours of sleep at night, which happened last night because I was too excited to sleep) I broke into a fit of giggles. These returned not 15 minutes later when the flight attendants on the plane were going through their spiel and had to put on this huge bright yellow life vests and I thought they looked funny. So, I laughed a lot... (Oh Manna people are going to LOVE me)

Now I am in the air. I got to say a quick phone goodbye to Zoe as we were taxi-ing out. (Isn't it crazy how connected the world is? I am now on a high-speed path to central america and just ten minutes ago, I was talking to a friend in New York)

Outside is all white clouds. I remember when I was younger and thought the most romantic thing in the world was flying through clouds. Now they are just kind of annoying becaue they make my view boring (SO glad I fought for this window seat, right?)

Also, I had coffee before the flight and that was probably a bad idea, because now I have to pee BAD. I am debating what would make the elderly woman less angry - awkwardly crawling over her or asking her to get up entirely. Oh she is going to hate me...