I kick off my trip by turning down an invitation to join two 40-year-old men for drinks in the Tulsa Airport bar. Apparently they heard me tell my dad that I was going to get wasted before my flight and didn't realize that I was joking. They're persistent, but I lose them when they get pulled aside for a security check. Heh. At this point, I still believe that my flight to Dallas is only an hour delayed.

    Four hours later, I am finally seated on a Dallas-bound airplane, though it will be 30 minutes before said aircraft will make more than an inch of progress toward its destination. Believe it or not, Im lucky to be sitting on this stationary plane. A thunderstorm shut down the Dallas airport this afternoon and almost all incoming flights were cancelled, mine included. But I was standing at the ticket counter to ask a question when the cancellations were announced, so I was one of the lucky 20 passengers to be re-booked on the only remaining flight to Dallas.

    At 8:45 PM, we land in Dallas. This, however, does not mean that we can get off the plane. First, we must wait for a "parking space." Ten minutes melt into twenty, then thirty. "Bing bong," says the louspeaker. "Bing bong," says the kid behind me. "Bing bong," says the loud speaker again. "Bing bong bing bong bing bong BONG BONG BONG," says the kid behind me. I draw another line through "procreate" on my mental list of things to do. "That's a turrible noise," the boys grandma finally says. "Quit aggravatin me." Then there is silence. Blessed, blessed silence.

    At 9:20, we finally pull into the gate. Everyone stands up expectantly, but the captain soon quashes our hopes by announcing that theres no truck to drive the jetbridge to us. I resume my conversation with the man beside me. He seems very nice, but for someone who claims not to travel much, he knows an awful lot about security arrangements at various airports. I hope hes not one of those crazy Texas militia men.

    At 9:35, we finally get off the plane. I race to my connecting gate...for another 3 hours of waiting. But once I'm on the flight to Santiago, its smooth sailing (unless you count the horrible turbulence at the end). I get 2 seats, 2 pillows, and 2 blankets to myself, so I can actually sleep...and I wake up in Chile!

~Meredith