Week 21: In the States

Day 141 December 26
My parents and I were up early and out ahead of schedule. Alias and Luis were outside 10 minutes before 7. About 15 minutes after we left had to go back to get something we forgot, but that’s why it was really good we were going with Alias. Had we taken the bus, we would have just been up the creek.
The drive there was nice, with joking, talking, and sleeping. We got pulled over twice, but Alias has Gualamalan plates, so that’s pretty notmal.
In the airport, I got pulled into immigration for a bit, but it was not a big deal. I explained myself and the man just flirted with me while filling out my form and away we went. Though, when it was time to go upstairs to our terminal (after having our last baleadas) we discovered the tax out was cash only and about $33. We were barely able to pull it together, but did. It hurt a little though.
We found it odd that we had to go through security twice, and the second time everyone had a pat-down. On the airplane, the captain told us about the new security measures, and was sure we’d all heard about why (we had not, but a man near by informed us of the attempted bombing that left the “suspect” and the person next to him severely burned, but did not take down the plane.) The flight was fine, and the man next to me switched with my mom so we could sit next to each other (after stuttering through his English, “well, I would like to sit next to you, but…” I thanked him for the compliment.)
Atlanta was cold, as far as I was concerned, and immigration was slow, but without problems. We went through and then rechecked our bags. We then went through security again, before getting really greasy pizza for dinner (welcome back to the States, digestive system!) The instate flight had normal security measures and I actually managed to sleep most of the way there.
We landed, got our bags, and just a few minutes later got picked up by my brothers in the frigid cold of Pittsburgh. I thought I would die of cold. We went to our really fancy hotel (I told the family I did not, by any circumstances, want to know the price of the hotel since I now find a $10 room to be outrageous.) and went to sleep.

Day 142 December 27 – January 3
I’m going to describe the following days as fun and hectic with travel. The game in Pittsburgh was close, good, and we won. The stadium rocked. We ate awesome food and stuck around for a whole day before leaving in the morning. I was in Williamsburg for a couple of days, mostly getting this I could use when I got back, and then back up to PA for family in Philadelphia. I had a blast being there with folks, though my own sleepiness and the weather made new years uneventful, I was happy going to bed at 10. The next day we drive back to Williamsburg, where I have one full day before heading back out on a plane.