We lost one

Once there were 7 students going to Peru. Then we lost one. Some say we had to throw him out of the plane when we were over the Gulf. Others say we crash landed on a desert island in the ocean and had to eat him. Really, he was late and missed the plane. D’oh! As I am writing this, we are flying over the Florida Keys. I can see the white highway snaking along the blue surroundings. I also see 2 tankers passing each other with the country’s single most important life blood: oil.

The first plane was a MC-88 (I believe) which took us from the comfortable and spacious terminal at Indy to the cramped terminal of Atlanta. You never realize how large an airport is until you need to take a tram to get to your gate. That flight took about 1.5 hours. The next leg is on a Boeing 767-300-something, Atlanta to Lima. It is very interesting to point out how many Asian people are going to Peru. If I remember correctly, Asians make up the largest non-European, non-native, and non-mixed group. Additionally, a lot of people are speaking Spanish and the instructions are English first, Spanish second. Previously there was just English. For this flight I am sitting behind the engine before I was in front of it. It is ridiculous how loud it gets….

Almost right after our take off from Indianapolis we came across the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was nice to see the beast from the sky with no people. Come 3 weeks it will be crowded with over 400,000 people to see 33 drivers try to out maneuver each other for the sip of ice cold milk and immortality. Not immortality but close enough. Sadly I didn’t have my camera so I couldn’t take pictures but I think we were still below 10,000 feet. (We can’t use electronic device below that.)

Flying is weird. You sit on the taxi way going a handful of miles per hour before stopping at the end of the run way and wait. Then the engines rev and you are thrown into the back of your seat as the plane takes off. After that you are pointing upwards until you reach your cruising altitude when the pilot cuts back the engines and you regain your hearing. The weird feeling is when you feel like you are dropping out of the sky or rolling backwards as if this is a roller coaster. (It could be all in my head but probably not.) Then you land you are thrown out of your seat to slow down. I will just take the bus next time.

It is about 7:35 pm and they are starting to serve dinner: BBQ chicken or pasta. I think I will have the chicken. Adios for now.