Day 21 - Almost Home

Hello, dear readers. Your fearless blogger is coming to you from Atlanta, waiting on the last leg of her trip to Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Let me tell you - this has been The Trip from Hell.

How, you ask? Well, it all started with an 8 hour delay on my Tel Aviv to Philadelphia flight. The crew was delayed and then had a required rest period on the ground in Israel. No worries. I waited at home with Yagel, then I took the bus (wifi included!) to the airport, waited in a never-ending line to check in since everyone's connections were jacked. I got rescheduled quickly and was on my way. The flight itself was one of the nicest international flights I've been on. I got into Philly and tried to get on an earlier flight to Arkansas, but they wanted an arm and a leg to change, so I hunkered down for the wait.

And I waited. And waited. And waited. My flight was delayed due to weather, and they finally put us on the plane, but we sat on the runway for two hours. I was refused a blanket when I asked since they're "only for first class passengers" although I was freezing! We deplaned due to weather and regulations and then were very quickly pushed back on the plane. Only to wait another two hours. By this time, it's 1am, no flight to Arkansas exists at this hour, and I'm informed that since it is a weather delay, American Airlines wouldn't pay for a hotel or even food. Keep in mind that at this point, I've been traveling for almost 30 hours, I haven't eaten lunch or dinner, and nothing is open. I felt miserable and had to put up a fight to be reassigned to Delta so I wouldn't have to suffer anymore AA.

I felt relief as 430am rolled around, and I headed to my new Delta gate. Only to find out that I hadn't been fully booked on the flight and that there weren't any seats left. Only by the grace of God did one person not show up, and I squeaked on. Now, one more hour, and I will board my flight that goes directly to my hometown instead of flying into a bigger airport and driving. My bag won't make it to Fort Smith, but it'll be forwarded on to me. After this long nightmare, I could care less about the bag. I need a mommy and daddy hug, food, a shower, and sleep. Forty-one hours and counting. Fifty, if you count the initial delay. It's insane.

And with that said, my head and my heart are constantly back in Israel. I also constantly react as if I've heard a siren, still not used to being in a country not at war. Odd. So, here's counting to hours to being reunited with the parents, and counting down the days until Yagel will be with me. Lots more to write, just no energy for it now. We'll talk again in Arkansas!