Back to Guadalajara

Getting back to Guadalajara was a major pain in the @$$. Our flight was supposed to leave around 11 and so we got to the airport super early since we were on an international flight. This turned out to be a good thing because La Wuera had problems checking in on account of her Mexican Visa and Brazilian passport. I think the employees just couldn't read Spanish and so that was the reason but I'm not for sure.

There wasn't a direct flight to Guadalajara from Kansas City and so the flight we were on was a connection to Atlanta. We boarded the plane and were taxiing to liftoff when the pilot stopped the plane and told us on the intercom that there was extreme weather in Atlanta and our flight was being delayed. So we ended up sitting in the plane for a good hour before taking off.

When we arrived we still had plenty of time (over an hour) to catch our flight to Guadalajara and so we ate at TGI Fridays. Because of the bad weather, all day long flights had been delayed or canceled and so they kept bumping our flight back. It was delayed for an hour and then it was delayed another hour... in the end, we started boarding around 10:45 PM when our flight was supposed to take off at 6:00 PM. I say "started boarding" because that is what we did... and then right when La Wuera and I were about to get our tickets scanned, they stopped boarding and closed the doors. 30 minutes later, they unloaded everyone that had already boarded and explained that the airport in Guadalajara was closed from midnight to 5 AM and so if we took off we would be doing circles around the airport until it opened... assuming that it opened on time. The other option was to wait until 2 AM but by that time the flight attendants would be considered illegal to work. Consequently, our flight was canceled. However, they made another flight for us that took off at 6:15 AM and we just exchanged our tickets.

My friends were going to go to the airport to pick me up and I had also scheduled to do homework with Katy the next day but I couldn't get in touch with them because they were all in Guadalajara. I called my mom to email my friends since they only speak Spanish and would be better able to understand something written.

And then I thought, "Hey, Arlene knows Spanish and has Skype. She could help me out." And that is just what she did. Thanks again! =D.

We did our best to sleep in the airport. For some reason there was someone jackhammering in the stairwell beside our terminal and every so often a buffer would zoom down the hall. The seats there don't make the most comfortable beds either. However because we were exhausted, we did ended up sleeping a little.

When I woke up, I saw that the line to exchange my ticket had gone down and so I went to exchange mine. I was thinking that they would just give everyone the same seats and since I had chosen my seat months in advance, I was happy with my choice. Au contraire mon frère! I was not by the window. I was not even in the isle seat. I was in the middle - the suckiest of suck. Plus I was near the back of the plane. And the worst thing was I was between an middle-aged man who hit on La Wuera (granted he was a nice guy but he just talked too much) and the guy that had exploded at the flight attendants when our flight was canceled.

I know all of this sounds like I'm complaining, but I really didn't mind any of it. I had a pretty good sense of humor about the whole thing. La Wuera lacks a bit of patience and was furious. Anyway, when I was finally in my seat and had ended a conversation multiple times with the middle-aged man, I went to sleep as fast as I could.

Suddenly I was awake. I was in a daze. I hadn't eaten anything with substance for a good 16 hours. I was doing my best to find out what had woken me and why I was still awake. The flight attendant was looking at me and said, "Do you speak Spanish?"

Me: "Uhh...yeah."
Her: "Can you help me tell this person what we are offering for food because she doesn't understand me?"
Me: "Sure."

She takes me to First Class and then says: "You know it would be better if you could just say it on the intercom so everyone can hear you."

Ah! Translate something for the whole plane! Are you crazy woman! I thought I was just talking to one person. I've never done that before!

Me: "Umm..sure."

So she had me say that because the plane was supposed to leave in the night, they were supposed to serve us dinner and the new food consisted of turkey sandwiches, and their choice beverage along with cookies, peanuts or crackers. If they wanted beer or wine that was $7.00.

I had no clue how to say crackers but I was sure it would come to me if I just started talking. Good. Everything is going good. "Y pueden escoger entre galletas, cacajuates y ... y ... crackers." Shitttttttt. "Crackers" is not the Spanish word for "crackers." My face was as red as a fire extinguisher. My body was totally fatigued. I felt lighter than air. My body was shaking a bit. I needed to eat something fast.

The good thing was that I believe I said everything else correctly and really it didn't matter since they would be showing them everything anyway. The flight attendant was quite pleased and since they were in the middle of serving the food and drinks I couldn't pass by to go back to my seat. There were a few cute girls on the flight that were about my age right where First Class ends and Second Class begins and they giggled at me (I believe for the my use of the word "crackers"; I took that as a complement and smiled back.

So since I couldn't go anywhere the flight attendant said, "Why don't you sit here in First Class next to this cute girl and I'll get you something to eat." The flight attendant was right; the girl was quite cute and around my age but she had her headphones on and so I didn't bother to start a conversation with her.

Minutes later the flight attendant came back to me and ask me if I would do another translation so people would know how to fill out the customs forms. I really just wanted to sleep but agreed again. "You should just stay in First Class by this girl. You've been doing all of our work." Sweet.

Somehow the girl and I started talking and she told me all about her boyfriend (wonderful...) and that she was from Guadalajara but living in Atlanta (great...) and that she was just visiting for a couple days (fantastic...). Anyway, she was pretty cool and her Spanish was obviously a lot better than mine so I told her that she should do the translation to which she happily agreed.

I guess since they had to switch out the crew and the pilots, none of the flight attendants spoke Spanish nor really knew the rules for entering Mexico nor had the instructions in Spanish so that either of us could read it to everyone. So the girl and I translated the instructions and then she read it to everyone.

La Wuera and I took a taxi home. The house was in shambles. The owner decided to redo the floor without telling us. They were still working on it when we got there and and so there was dust everywhere and materials stacked up in different places. We couldn't cook, furniture was scattered, it was hard to breath. And so I went to my room, closed my door and tried my best to sleep through the hammering and the cutting and the filth.