Friday, February 9, 2007

Somewhere Over Ireland

2-9-07, 11pm, flying over Exeter

I really hope the rest of my trip is as nice as this airplane ride- I have an entire row to myself, I have silly games to play with a remote control, I’m listening to Middle Eastern pop music on my headphones, and I got to watch Flags Of Our Fathers, which I have wanted to see for a long time. (It was great by the way- it’s about the symbolic Iwo Jima photograph) I would have watched Little Miss Sunshine as well, but I promised Dubs that we’d rent it next time he was in town.

Because I ordered the vegetarian meal, I was served first. Everyone around me probably thought I was some princess- I just didn’t want the chicken curry. I had the vegetable curry, though, and it was quite good. Thanks, Air France!

We just flew over Ireland- I love the geography map they show you on your screen so you can see where you are. So neat. I thought about my trip to Ireland in 2001 and how it was my first time out of the country. How I got separated from my dad at the international terminals at O’Hare and had all of our luggage, including both sets of our clubs. My first long plane ride. My first real roommate experience. Being away from home for 10 days. Amazing carrot soup. Playing golf every single day. Cute Irish boys. It was such a cool experience and it really got the ball rolling for all my other travels.

One thing that has remained true throughout all my trips is that I stay friends with a handful of the people I meet. That’s probably one of the best parts. The friendships I’ve made all over the world are so important to me, and I really hope I make a few nice friends while I’m touring Egypt for the next two weeks.

We’ll be landing here shortly and I’m a bit nervous because I’ve heard such horror stories about Charles DeGaul airport and how massive and chaotic it can be. That and I don’t speak French.

This 6.5 hours went by pretty quickly, although I admittedly was asleep for some of it. I have a three hour layover in Paris and then a 4.5 hour flight to Cairo. I’m more than halfway to Egypt!

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