Name: Caitlin
The fun begins...
I completely forgot to share a story about our trip...
Originally Tom informed me that his flight would get in to Barcelona about 2 hours before mine. Trying to be the practical girlfriend I told him he should go to the hotel, unpack, shower and wait for me there seeing as how we would have no means of communication upon arrival. As a not-so-subtle romantic (my favorite movie being 50 First Dates) I was hoping he would be waiting for me at the gate. His next few texts quickly killed that plan as his plane went from 4 to 6 hours delayed. At that point I had to turn my phone off as we were leaving Burkina and I didn't know what would happen. I decided then that no matter how long it took I would wait in the Barcelona Airport and do a role reversal of suprisor and suprisee. I brought a change of clothes, I could shower in the bathroom so I wouldn't smell like Africa and hunker down with a book until he arrived; I had it all planned out...
I woke up to the pilot announcing we had safely landed in Paris CDG airport with a local time of 5:45am. That leaves plenty of time for me to make my 7am connecting flight to Barcelona, or so one would think. The next hour and a half were spent in a nerve clenching state of frusteration. First there was a line to get on the shuttle, then to go through customs, then to get through security to get back into the airport I had just landed in. At one point I turned on my ipod and laughed along to Mitch Hedberg on SNL, I figured if I was still standing in line when I had 5 minutes left to board I would just declare emergency and run. As it turned out I did have to run but with a grin of excitment and a sigh of relief boarded my plane at 7:35, it was scheduled to take off at 7:45. Of course I am in row 22 of a 30 row plane so I start making my way back trying to figure out if I'll have a window or an aisle seat when Tom stands up and starts walking toward me... I almost fell down but luckily he gave me a big bear hug before I could go anywhere. It was almost surreal but anything that good just had to be true, it was the beginning to our 7 day long dream. He later told me he saw the stewardess behind us clasp her hands and sigh, "Awwww." I was too busy being stunned into silence to notice. When I found my voice all I could muster was, "What are you doing here?!" Brilliant, I know. Since there were people waiting behind me to sit down Tom ushered me into the seat next to him which was thankfully unoccupied. We sat there hugging for the next 5 minutes after which Tom informed me, "You smell terrible!" Of course my plan had been foiled but I couldn't be happier. He then relayed his travel adventures where American Airlines cancelled his flight but he refused to leave until they transferred his ticket to AirFrance but he still ended up having to sprint between terminals to make the connection; the security gaurds all reached for their firearms when they saw him fly by. I listened intently but could not wipe the smile from my face, I was just so happy to see the one person I had missed the most.
And so began the best vacation ever...
(I told this story to my girlfriends in Burkina and they were such fans they made me promise to tell it again, so here it is ;)
Originally Tom informed me that his flight would get in to Barcelona about 2 hours before mine. Trying to be the practical girlfriend I told him he should go to the hotel, unpack, shower and wait for me there seeing as how we would have no means of communication upon arrival. As a not-so-subtle romantic (my favorite movie being 50 First Dates) I was hoping he would be waiting for me at the gate. His next few texts quickly killed that plan as his plane went from 4 to 6 hours delayed. At that point I had to turn my phone off as we were leaving Burkina and I didn't know what would happen. I decided then that no matter how long it took I would wait in the Barcelona Airport and do a role reversal of suprisor and suprisee. I brought a change of clothes, I could shower in the bathroom so I wouldn't smell like Africa and hunker down with a book until he arrived; I had it all planned out...
I woke up to the pilot announcing we had safely landed in Paris CDG airport with a local time of 5:45am. That leaves plenty of time for me to make my 7am connecting flight to Barcelona, or so one would think. The next hour and a half were spent in a nerve clenching state of frusteration. First there was a line to get on the shuttle, then to go through customs, then to get through security to get back into the airport I had just landed in. At one point I turned on my ipod and laughed along to Mitch Hedberg on SNL, I figured if I was still standing in line when I had 5 minutes left to board I would just declare emergency and run. As it turned out I did have to run but with a grin of excitment and a sigh of relief boarded my plane at 7:35, it was scheduled to take off at 7:45. Of course I am in row 22 of a 30 row plane so I start making my way back trying to figure out if I'll have a window or an aisle seat when Tom stands up and starts walking toward me... I almost fell down but luckily he gave me a big bear hug before I could go anywhere. It was almost surreal but anything that good just had to be true, it was the beginning to our 7 day long dream. He later told me he saw the stewardess behind us clasp her hands and sigh, "Awwww." I was too busy being stunned into silence to notice. When I found my voice all I could muster was, "What are you doing here?!" Brilliant, I know. Since there were people waiting behind me to sit down Tom ushered me into the seat next to him which was thankfully unoccupied. We sat there hugging for the next 5 minutes after which Tom informed me, "You smell terrible!" Of course my plan had been foiled but I couldn't be happier. He then relayed his travel adventures where American Airlines cancelled his flight but he refused to leave until they transferred his ticket to AirFrance but he still ended up having to sprint between terminals to make the connection; the security gaurds all reached for their firearms when they saw him fly by. I listened intently but could not wipe the smile from my face, I was just so happy to see the one person I had missed the most.
And so began the best vacation ever...
(I told this story to my girlfriends in Burkina and they were such fans they made me promise to tell it again, so here it is ;)
posted by Caitlin | 4:02 AM
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