05.18.07

The Trip

Posted in India, Narratives at 22:25

Ashley took me to the airport. It was nice to see her a little more before leaving, especially since I won’t see her for six or seven months.

I had allowed for missing several flights, since flying standby is always a bit rough. But I made the first one. I got to Chicago, and realised, Crap, my bag didn’t get checked through. The little baggage claim check said ORD and not DEL. I had a feeling this would mean being stuck outside airport security for a while, but if I didn’t do something, I would arrive in India without my checked bag. So I left the terminal, grabbed my bag and proceeded to the international check-in/baggage check booth. As I feared, I couldn’t check in until four hours before my flight. I asked if there was anywhere other than Starbucks to eat, and was directed to Terminal 5, where I had some Uno’s pizza (which I found *not* to be Chicago’s best…)

Afterward, I still had a couple hours to kill before I could reenter the secure area, so I called Erik since he lives in Chicago. We chatted for a while, then I decided to explore O’Hare a bit. I was intrigued by a sign I saw for an airport chapel, but was disappointed to discover that it was in the secure area.

After waiting a while and checking in, I entered the secure area. I passed another sign for the chapel and thought of checking it out, but I wanted to find my gate first. My gate was quite far from the chapel, though, and when I got there I was not curious enough to go back.

The flight wasn’t too bad. Somehow about twenty six hours passed during a fourteen hour flight. (Timezones…) Business class was about as comfortable as anyplace where you’re forced to sit for that long can be. Bose noise-canceling headphones are standard issue in first and business classes. I’ve used them before, but it wasn’t before this time that I experienced feedback with them. I guess it makes sense that it’s possible because they do use microphones. If you try to take them off without turning off the noise canceling, sometimes they will squeal. They also sometimes squeal if you cover the outside of the ear cups.

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