I really don't know where to start. I suppose that I should start at the beginning as all good stories do.
.......Once upon a time, there was an average girl with a huge dream. That dream was to help all of her friends understand what a blessing diversity is and how wonderful sharing in other peoples' culture can be. She was at a loss of how to effectively accomplish this until she received an application in the mail for a program called Teachers for Global Classrooms. She struggled mightily with the application; second guessing and asking for guidance as she progressed through the process. With the application finished, her fingered hovered over the submit button - still wondering. She pushed the button and the waiting began. Finally , the notification letters and emails were delivered and she was accepted.
The work was not finished and she began the onerous task of an online class that would tax her to the known limits began. It was finished and the work relaxed. Suddenly, out of the mists of forgotten time and things came an email reminding her of the next step - heading to DC to meet the other global teachers and her travel to India cohort. The story could end there, but let's pick up with the adventures that ensued as she headed to DC. psst.... in case you hadn't figured out who this was, it was me!
My flight was scheduled to leave Charlotte NC and head to DC on Thursday 16 Feb. While there should have been no issues, I knew better than that since we are talking about Charlotte Douglas Airport. After making it through the security checkpoint - fullbody scan included; I headed to the board to check my gate. My flight was listed , but alas there was no gate. Not to be discouraged and knowing that I had 2.5 hours before we were scheduled to leave, I headed down to the United Airlines terminal. As I rounded the corner to the first gate, I saw what appeared to be something like a small riot. Gate A4 was the home to about 100 people that had been waiting in the neighborhood of three hours to find out the fate of their flight to Chicago. It seems that the airplane arrived with a broken part and the delay was in trying to locate a replacement part.At the time we boarded our plane ( late ) two hours later, the line for rescheduling flights was still about 30 people long.I can sympathize because I have been there.
The flight to DC was about an hour and some change and when I arrived and headed out. I discovered that it was not that simple. We left the plane on the tarmac, climbed our stairs to the gate, walked up another flight, down a hall, and then another hall and up another flight of stairs that took us to the airport subway. Now we ride the subway to the main terminal and head down a hall and up two flights of stairs and then a hall and down a flight of stairs to the Supershuttle booth. By now I am wondering if I could have made better time driving. The Supershuttle booth was unmanned for several minutes - apparently the gentleman sitting on the seat two down from me was the booth caretaker. He shook himself awake and checked my reservation. At that point he asked me to have a seat and wait for my number. Long story short - I waited until there were several more shuttle passengers and then we left. My journey that night took me to Fairfax and Arlington and several DC locations before we reached my hotel I have now spent more time in the Dulles Airport and shuttle company than I did in the air...................
I reached my hotel - finally and when I walked up to the Concierge I was greeted with, Hello Kathy. We are happy you made it. It appears I was the last to arrive. I checked in and headed for the elevator, entered , pushed my floor button and the elevator didn't move. Seems he had forgotten to tell me to use my card ( security and all ). Finding my room , I unlocked the door and was greeted by ," Hello , Kathy". My roommate woke long enough to say hi and then thankfully she fell back asleep so I didn't feel too bad. I changed into pjs and hit the sack..... morning would come soon enough and it had been a day of adventures.
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