It's amazing how time flies when you're, well, flying. I've already been gone for 24 hours and am sitting in the international terminal of the Hong Kong International Airport. I can see the mainland from here, even though we're sitting in a dense cloud of fog. Arriving at 4:48 am, the place was a ghost town. After disembarking we were forced through security before heading to the other departure gates. Before I elaborate however, let's go back to the USA.
The trip started in Farmington, CT, where I boarded the CT Limo Shuttle heading to JFK. Waiting with me at the abandoned Bonanza bus terminal was Peggy Ann, ready for her first trip to Israel. While my mom asked her where in Israel she was going, I double, triple and quadruple checked for my passport, harnessed myself into my backpack and said my goodbyes. Peggy and I got on the bus when it arrived, joining the company of a young Pakistani Cardiologist who just finished a three month rotation at St. Francis. After having spent the summer in a craigslist rented room plastered with Justin Bieber posters, he was happy to be heading home to apply for residencies in the US. The family he had been living with had belonged to Temple Beth David in West Hartford, and the polite stranger conversation quickly turned into a discussion about religion. With Peggy heading to Israel, accompanied only by the body of Jesus Christ the Savior, the Muslim doctor and the Jewish girl, it was evident that despite all of our different backgrounds, we could bridge any cultural barriers and ride together in peace. If only the rest of the world felt that way.
After making several stops on the way down into NY and picking up a young couple heading to Estonia, an older woman leaving for vacation in Europe and a guy who said nothing, we continued to sit in New York city traffic for the next 2 hours. Finally arriving 5 hours before my flight, I was able to check in at first class (I couldn't find the normal check in). I was horrified when they asked for my Thai visa... I'm not going to Thailand!!! Luckily, management agreed that I could fly to Hong Kong then Bangkok before switching carriers en route to Vientiane, where I have a work visa waiting for me. I guess I'll find out if that plan actually works!
JFK was mobbed, but by 1:15 am the terminal had cleared out and only those waiting for the Cathay flight to HKG were left. I enjoyed a "me party" with my book and some great people watching. I guess it's a good thing that I can enjoy being alone and meeting new people--- I'll have a lot of that in the next couple months.
The flight itself was 16 hours of uneventful. I've learned that movies inhibit sleeping, even though I am the queen of falling asleep during them. Now I just have a couple hours here before the 4 hour flight into Bangkok and a 9 hour layover.
I just have to keep telling myself that all this travel will be worth it once I get settled in!
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