Notes from the Sky

5:22pm _ Newark Airport

I am sitting at gate C90. The woman to my right has finally returned to reading her book. She stopped for 10 minutes and amusedly watched me repack my carry-on backpack after some last minute rearranging to get my checked bag back down to 50 pounds. (50.5lbs. if you want to be specific, but the man at the counter let it slide through.) Oh, and by last minute rearranging I mean frantic tearing out of all things. I managed to get one of my hiking boots to stay in the checked suitcase. Unfortunately, my carry-on now weighs a whopping 35lbs so we’ll see if I can sneak it past Swiss Air and their 8kg (18lbs) weight limit when I get to Zurich. I have no intention of paying for extra luggage and several strategies if problems arise: putting on more and more layers of clothing – including the one hiking boot if necessary – going into great detail about how I’m travelling to Nepal, crying, and/or making vague references to the US Consumer Protection Act. Because if you break it down, I’m taking two bags for eight months; do the division and consider whether you could live for a month on just the things in a quarter of one carry-on bag…even if it is a little oversized.

 

5:32pm _ Newark Airport

There is a baby. A screaming baby. At my gate. I am worried.

 

9:01pm (3:00am Zurich) _ 37,012ft Up

Good news. No crying babies, at least not yet. I did spot a young’un a few rows up but she seems very content at this point. Keep your fingers crossed.

I just finished a surprisingly delicious dinner of salad, pasta, and meatballs. I’m sitting in row 38 and the chicken dish was going quickly so I’m glad the pasta was at least on par with Phelps food because I didn’t have much of a choice. But don’t think I’m unhappy a mere three rows from the back. By choosing an aisle seat with no one in the window, I did manage to get a doubly comfortable ride and I don’t feel bad about it because there are 5 people across the aisle sprawled out over three seats. The airline blanket is quite warm and my compression socks mimic the weight of an extra thick comforter so I’m feeling rather cozy.

I’ve already watched a movie, I must have been 45 minutes in before the plane took off, and now that I’ve eaten I think I’ll walk a lap or two around the plane and settle in for a long nap.

 

9:24pm (3:24 Zurich) _ 11,280m Up

Just as I was closing my eyes I realized that I hadn’t read my notes and cards! Forget napping! I jumped up, dug through my back-up and continued to read by the light of my computer since the cabin lights have just dimmed.

The letters are beautiful. Beautiful. They touched my heart, made me laugh, brought tears to my eyes. For everyone who sent a card or a note or a hand colored picture, thank you. There are still MANY cards – in fact I believe the other package weighs at least a pound – to open, some on the plane and others scattered throughout the upcoming weeks and months. I look forward to all the little rays of Bucks County sunshine.

Now, about that nap.

 

3:52am (9:52am Zurich) _ Zurich Airport

I’m off the plane and hallelujah. After 5 ½ hours I was DEFINITELY jealous of the people with three seats instead of two. Two seats is just enough to taunt you with the idea of being able to stretch out, without really being able to do so completely. But I digress, perhaps because I didn’t sleep nearly as much as I might have hoped to on an overnight flight.

I did find success in meeting up with Peter, another Fulbright ETA headed to Nepal. Currently we are camped out at a random gate. Our flight to Delhi doesn’t board until 12:10pm Zurich time, so we’ve got another three hours to kill.

 

6:20pm (3:49am Delhi) _ Delhi Airport

Sorry my writing has kind of dropped off. My sense of day/time/place are faltering. Things are still very surreal. I am living in a weird time warped universe.

I did manage to get in and out of customs in India in hopes of increasing my likelihood of getting another visa to come back at the end of my grant. Getting into India was uneventful, and getting back through customs for the flight to Kathmandu wasn’t too bad. I did have to completely unpack my giant backpack in search of “many metal objects.” Turns out you are not allowed to carry any extra batteries when you are leaving India so my bag of extra double and triple A’s are gone. Oh well. What matters is that I have two lovely stamps in my passport – and more to come very soon!

 

(Sorry, no pictures yet. I promise things will get better!! Still working on the internet situation.)