Traveling For Travel's Sake

05/11/10
We're back on another American Airline plane. It looks identical to the last. Two rows of three seats in economy for our group and we're packed in tight enough that if your sitting in the middle seat every move the people next to you make you can feel. Even when they finally go from resting with their eyes closed to full sleeping. Yes, you can feel that. Seat swapping has become rampant. Mike swapped with Nicole to sit between Alicia and Kyle, Michelle swapped with Kaitlyn then Kaitlyn and I swapped so she could be in the middle. Poor Kim has to sit alone with Rebecca. No one will swap with her.
The preferred way to sleep in Economy in our group is face down on the tray table. Kirsten, Michelle and I have all perfected the technique and slept like that all the way down to Texas. From what I can see currently Nicole, Rebecca, Katie are all also rocking the positioin.

Inside the plane it sounds like a giant is continuously exhaling. Huuuaaahhhhh. Nonstop without pause for breath. Everything is vibrating a little and I can feel the movements in the balls of my feet. When we hit turbulence it feels like going up a really steep roller costar then suddenly dropping off the edge. Alicia’s face goes white every time and Kaitlyn grips the arm rests. No one else seems bothered though. But it doesn’t mean that they’re not. I despise the feeling but try to make no outward movement to show my discomfort.

Kim is sick. It’s the nasty kind of sick that gives you a hacking cough, leaky nose and inflated balloon feelings in your sinuses. She’s been blowing her nose nonstop and hacking up her lungs every other minute. Not that she’s complaining. She’s not. And for hypochondriac Kim that’s weird, which means she must actually feel like shit.

05/11/10
It's like a strange airport version of the common room freshman year... with a random selection of the people. Kaitlyn is here because she's always in a lounge even if it's an airport lounge. The rest of our group are seemingly haphazardly thrown together. However their is intense room mate bonding going on. Kyle and Mike roomed together freshman year and both are here. Same with Alicia and Kim, and Kaitlyn and Michelle. Alicia, Kim, Kaitlyn and Michelle were all bffls that year too so they are catching up with each other. Aside from Mike and Kyle the rest of the boys seem to be bonding well. Their is only 4 of them Mike, Kyle, Kevin, and Tom. Kevin is from the grade above us and Tom is a mellow individual. Kirsten, a Norwegian American blonde with a killer GPA, and I are semi-outsiders with The Girls (Kim, Michelle, Alicia and Kaitlyn). It hasn’t been too bad and I’m hoping it won’t be. Even if it is we have each other.

The real outsider outsiders to the girls (all of us) would be Liz, Katie, Kelly and Nicole. All four of them are from the year above us but they don’t all interact with each other. Katie and Liz are friends and then Kelly and Nicole are friends. They pretty much stick to themselves which I guess I can understand. I mean the majority of our group is sophomores and we did all live together for a year. Oh and just to throw in the extreme awkwardness, part of the reason Kelly doesn’t socialize with us is because she was our Resident Assistant (R.A.) our freshman year. She hasn’t been able to get over it. Even though we’ve all been in class together studying about Belize since January no one really knows each other… at least not anymore.

Kirsten and I got lunch together at T.G.I Fridays, a sort of last American meal before catching our connecting flight from Dallas to Belize City. Mandy was our waitress. And she told us it every time she came over.

We are all sitting at the gate with the whole group right now but we are clearly split. Sophomores on the left, juniors on the right. Rebecca is the only outlier. But she is an odd banana. Everyone is just starting connect again. I’m already finding out stud about these people like Michelle our resident blonde, pink loving girly girl’s guilty pleasure is playing Grand Theft Auto on her brother’s PSP. Oh and Kevin would rather have people babble then be quiet. As for the airport itself, it’s amazing! Clean, easy to get around and friendly staffers. They are unique because they all wear cowboy hats, boots and colored vests. If you’re looking lost they immediately spot you as if they can smell the confusion. I guess that’s just how they roll in the lone star state.

Our flight has been delayed. Apparently the cleaning crew wasn’t able to get in earlier because of a “stewardess issue” whatever that means. Unfortunately for me I’m sitting right beside a mother and her toddler and the little girl is beginning to get antsy. Her mother is patient with her though and I only hope I have the same patience.

05/09/10
My wait to leave for Belize seems endless. Each month seemed to stretch into the other like pulled Taffy and now these last few days are dragging along. I've been packing and unpacking nonstop for days. Pack to leave college, unpack it from the car, unpack it to do laundry, pack it up again to leave for Belize. I'm sick of packing and I've barely gone anywhere! It's like a merry go round of packing. I'm folding laundry, again, and honestly all I want to do is roll up all my clothes, stuff them in a bag and head to the airport! My room is like a horde of toddlers were allowed to play wildly without supervision for hours on end. Bags are everywhere, my navy blue duffle is blockading the doors, the Vera Bradley tote is resting against my dresser, a body bag sized duffel is wilted on top of a pile of goodwill clothes in the corner while two white garbage bags have melted into my pink carpet. All the clothing that I've got to fold still is in a mound in the center of my bed. Meaning I can't sleep until I've folded it. Joy. My slippers are in a plie in the middle of my room. It’s a mess in here.