Getting Started...

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Today is the day! Hard to sleep last night...between the last minute doubts about packing, to a late-notice couchsurfer showing up in need of a place to sleep (it was a pleasure to meet you, Ry, and I am looking forward to reading your book), to a bit of tummy problems either brought on by the trip or that last minute stop at Whataburger...I was restless...and slept fitfully.

Oh well, that's what planes are for....right? I always fall asleep when someone else is driving....

So now it's 7:20 am on my day of departure...and here I am cramming in a few minutes to get this blog thing rolling. I meant to get this blog started a few weeks ago so that I could chronicle all of the planning and preparation that went into this trip...but since I put the "Pro" in procrastination, of course I only started it this morning. I'll probably circle back and cover some of those details later, when I have time....Yeeaah...sure!

First off, I'm headed to Pensacola for my flight to Orlando, and from there I will head on down to Quito. I'm sitting here with my stomach making loud squinching noises, awaiting for my ride to Pensacola. I'm not the kinda guy who likes to show up early for anything...so I am treading along the precipice with not a lot to time to spare before my flight leaves at 9:45.

Edgardo, my trusted compatriot, mi hermano, my sometimes language instructor is seeing me off to the airport. Not being the highly trained operator that I am, Edgardo has the typical disregard for time common to those brought up in the Latino culture and is sure to be a few mins late..but no problem...he also has a blind spot when it comes to speed limits, so I am sure that I will get to Pensacola on time.

Flight out of PNS went off without a hitch...true to form Edgardo got me to the airport with plenty of time.

My flight itinerary had me going through Orlando, switching to American to Miami, and then on to Quito. That's where the problems started. Upon arrival at Miami, the gate attendant looked at my ticket and told me to proceed to Gate D-5, which was convenient since we had arrived at D-15. Not paying attention to my ticket (first mistake) I picked a comfy seat and waited for the flight to board. To begin with, Miami International is a horrible airport...not optimized for the connected traveler at all. Wireless is sketchy, there are few places to recharge, and the gates are poorly numbered, with insufficient seating for the number of people flying it. In addition the public address system was barely understandable. When they started boarding the plane by groups, and I noticed that my boarding pass did not have a group number on it, I inquired and was told that I was at the wrong gate. Even though my boarding pass said AA, I was actually booked on a TAM Airlines flight that was leaving at exactly the same time, but from Gate J-16. Now D terminal and J terminal are at exact opposite ends of the airport. The AA gate attendant assured me that she would contact the TAM gate and let them know I was on my way. By the way, to get to J terminal from D, one has to leave and re-enter the secure area (who in the world came up with that?). After a frantic run across the entire Miami Airport, and another trip through security, I got to J-16 ten minutes before scheduled departure. Not only had the American Airline rep failed to notify the TAM gate agent, the flight actually left the gate 10 minutes early. So I had to trudge back over to the main ticket counter to get things fixed. Trudge was the only thing I could do, cause my 60 year old ass was worn out.

As a result, I am making an unplanned trip to Guayaquil, with a follow-on flight to Quito in the morning. On the bright side, I get to experience customs at Guayaquil, but I am missing out on staying in the most expensive hotel on my whole trip....Oh, and the price for it is non-refundable. Guess I'll have check out that resort on my next trip.

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