My flight was not the only one to lose luggage. The flight that came in after mine from Dubai did not get their luggage put on the plane. They could actually see it sitting on the tarmac as they were [...]]]> Pretty simple – there is no luggage. Well, not for me at least.

My flight was not the only one to lose luggage. The flight that came in after mine from Dubai did not get their luggage put on the plane. They could actually see it sitting on the tarmac as they were boarding the plane. Isn’t that nice?

Yesterday, before we left Tbilisi to come to Kutaisi for training, we got word that some luggage had arrived and was on its way. They told us not to expect luggage until Saturday so I did not have any hopes of mine being in this delivery. While we were eating lunch the luggage arrived and they told us to go look to see if ours was there. I was one of the last to go to the room with the luggage and I see people from my flight bringing luggage out. Sweet! I go in and see nothing. No luggage for me. Crap! We were told that more luggage arrived today (keeping my fingers crossed) but they will not deliver the luggage until Sunday after the Dubai luggage comes in on Saturday.

I washed my underwear and socks while I took a shower tonight. That’s right, I am commando as I write this! Did that give you any awesome visualizations?!?!?! Anyways, I have the travel underwear so it should be dry by morning. The socks take about a day to dry. I bought a t-shirt from some little store on Wednesday but it is too small. It is a large and I feel like the sleeves are less than an inch long. I would have got an x-large but they did not have any. The fun never stops!

To LA

The journey starts in Phoenix with a Greyhound bus to LA. Jason drove me and we got there at 5pm for the 6pm bus. After I get through [...]]]> Ok, well it was not planes, trains and automobiles. More like bus, plane, plane, plane, bus. Just a warning, this is a long one.

To LA

The journey starts in Phoenix with a Greyhound bus to LA. Jason drove me and we got there at 5pm for the 6pm bus. After I get through the extremely slow line to pick up my ticket the lady at the counter says that the bus will arrive around 6:30pm. Excuse me? The bus is supposed to leave at 6pm. Yeah, it gets here whenever it feels like it, but if you hurry you can catch the 5:30 bus that is getting ready to leave.

I cared about when the bus was leaving because I had a Super Shuttle picking me up at 1:30am in LA to take me to the airport and I did not want to have to deal with rescheduling. I was able to get on the bus and it was about half full. I had my own row about 2/3 of the way back and was glad to have the space.

On the bus I talked to Steve for a bit to see how things were going in his world. I then read for a while and took a brief nap. At Blythe, Danielle called and we talked for about a good two hours at which time my phone died. Danielle and I were having some great conversations and I was bummed that I had to end the conversation due to battery.

I think I was able to sleep a bit more – at this point it is all a blur. We arrived at the LA terminal around 1am and after using the restroom, I sat inside for a bit to charge my phone in case I need to call Super Shuttle. At 1:30am I go outside and find the Super Shuttle. There were a bunch of taxis outside and they were not happy that I was taking the shuttle and not them. Sorry guys.

To Chicago

We get to the LAX around 2am and all ticket counters are closed. Great. I am fading but I do not want to sleep and leave my stuff open for the taking. Instead I charge my phone and work on my blog (a recent update crapped out some of the admin stuff and it has been driving me crazy). After I finally figured out to fix the problem, I started going through my Oregon photos.

Around 3:30am I decide to go to the bathroom and change into pants. I was freezing on the bus with shorts and figure that if I wanted to change I had to due it now before I checked my bag. After changing, I pulled out a pair of extra socks just in case. Man, did that turn out to be a great idea. I went back to the terminals and got in the line that has started to form. Then I spaced out and people watched.

Around 4 or 4:30am the ticket counters finally open. And of course I go into the wrong line. When I get into the correct line I see that there are only 3 people working the ticket counters and the line is not moving. At all. Not an inch.

By the time I get to the front of the line, a new lady appears and takes charge. Starts telling people what they need to have ready and starts prioritizing the line for people that were flying out at 6am. Where was she 30 minutes ago? I get my tickets and check my bag. Bye-bye bag – until we meet again. Hopefully.

The TSA line was a breeze and the staff were friendly, which was nice considering it was 5am. I grab a yogurt parfait and go to my terminal. I scan the people sitting at the terminal trying to guess which of them might be on the trip. Turns out that I was able to pick out 3.

I get on the plane and am asleep before we take off.

To Amsterdam

I wake up off and on during the flight but finally wake up as the plane descends to land. I decided that I have 6 hours before my next flight leaves so I head to the trains to go to downtown. On the train I realize that I really only have 2 hours max to play so I decided that I will just grab some food and go sit at the park next to the Art Institute.

On the train ride I talk to this guy that was in town for a conflict resolution conference of which it sounded like he was helping run it. We talked a bit and I told him about Georgia. He asked if I have looked into Peace Corps and I told him about AmeriCorps VISTA. He asked if I was interested in humanitarian aid and I told him I was. He gave me his card and told me to look him up when I get back. Cool!

I enjoy lunch and then head to the library to use their free wi-fi. I send an email out to fam and friends letting them know how things are going and then I update my blog to fix the admin probs. Then back to the airport.

On the train ride back I started to fade in and out and reading did not help. I eventually fell asleep but luckily the airport was the last stop and I was able to wake up when we stopped.

The security line was crazy long and I felt like I was at Disneyland. Expect there was no fun ride at the end. I go to a fairly empty gate, not the one I was flying out of, and change my socks and put on some music. I then send out my last text message and tear up while doing it. I am going to miss my friends. Not my family. Come on, who really misses their family. Just kidding.

Wow, this is really happening.

Well, maybe not. I get the terminal and see one of the people from the LA flight (I knew it!) and I sit next him and meet another person going that flew in from San Francisco. While we were talking the announce that there is something wrong with the gate. After about 20 minutes they move us to a new gate and delay the flight by one hour.

Now, if the plane would have left on time, we would have had 1.5 hours to catch the flight in Amsterdam. Now the flight was delayed by and hour, so this cut it down to 30 minutes. Not good, but nothing I can do about it.

While waiting, I meet more people and it looks like 15 to 20 people were on our flight. I also learned that greenheart travel is not the only organization sending people. Another group called footprints out of Canada is also sending people. Huh, who new?

The plane was freaking huge and somehow a group of us got tickets in the economy plus section which basically gave us a couple extra inches between the seats. Sweet! Pillows, blankets, TVs, movies, headphones. Wow, I forgot what it is like to have this stuff.

The flight is over 8 hours but is not too bad. Between watching lame movies (iron man 2), sleeping, eating and writing, the time goes by pretty well.

To Georgia

We arrive at Amsterdam an hour late and we all rush to get to our flight. We had no idea whether or not we would have to go through customs or whether we would have to get the luggage and re-check. Luckily, everything was pretty easy. We get through security and get our boarding passes. There were three ladies working the ticket stand and they were moving as fast as they could for they were holding the plane for us. We finally get on the plane and get settled. It is weird to hear the emergency instructions in another language and still hear a few american words here and there.

I pass out on the plane and wake up at some point with food sitting on the empty seat next to me. Sweet! I scarf it down and look at the placemat on the tray. I swear it says Arizona and I am so confused. Turns out that it says Airzena. That makes more sense.

I pass out again and wake up as the landing gear comes out. The airport has three gates and looks pretty nice. We just have to present out passport to get through customs. We then go to the baggage carousel and check in with the Teach Georgia Program (TGP) rep. Luggage starts coming out and I start to realize that no one from my group is picking up luggage. Crap! None of our luggage made it on the plane. We go to the lost and found counter and fill out forms for our luggage. We then check in with the TGP staff, get name tags and get some local money.

We take a bus to our hotel and are surprised at how large it is. Not tall, but depth. Also, hardly any lights are turned on. And the smell of smoke is everywhere. Oh yeah, forgot about that. We get our rooms, take a shower and meet up for dinner. Pork, some kind of patties, pasta, cold cuts, cheese, bread, tuna noodle, fruit, pastries and pear juice. After dinner we learn that we will not be getting our luggage until Saturday when the next flight from Amsterdam comes in. In a deep sigh – Yeah!

Overall, trip was pretty good and I was not feeling too much like a zombie when we finally got to the Republic of Georgia. Now let’s see if I can sleep through the night.

The flight from Chicago was delayed by an hour due to a problem with [...]]]> I am alive and still have all of my organs. We made it to the hotel and are washing up before dinner at 9pm. I will write more about the travels later, but I will give you item for now.

The flight from Chicago was delayed by an hour due to a problem with the gate. This gave us less then 30 minutes in Amsterdam to get to the plane. Apparently, due to the little time between flights, our luggage was not transferred. When are we going to get it? No idea. The next flight from Amsterdam with the same airline is Saturday. They will see if they can get the luggage on another airline before then, but there is no guarantee. Yeah!

I know you’re jealous.

I went kayaking on Friday [...]]]> Well, today is the day that I leave. As you have been reading, the process of getting the tickets has not been ideal. When I finally did get the tickets on Friday, more problems were created instead of being resolved. Sadly, at this point, this was not a surprise.

I went kayaking on Friday and, therefore, did not get my email until I got home after 4pm so it was too late to call and ask for help (greenheart travel is in Chicago). Why would I need to ask for help? Well, that would be because I am in Phoenix and my flight leaves from LAX. They did not provide a way for me to get to LA. Yeah!

I sent an email asking if it can be changed to Phoenix and they said no. I tried calling the airline and they said no. Ok, they are not making this easy.

I looked into flights to LAX. The problem is that I am leaving Tuesday morning at 6am. The closest flight would get me in at about 10:30pm the night before and then I would get to hang out in the airport for hours on end. At night. With everything closed. Not going to happen. Also, too expensive since I am having to book just a couple days out.

Ok, plan f, Greyhound. Cheaper and better timing.

You may be wondering why they are flying me out of LAX instead of Phoenix. On the application, it asked for the closest international airport. Naturally, I put Phoenix. It then asked for an alternative and I selected LAX. I did this thinking that if I had to fly out of LA they would provide a means of getting me there. Well, you know what happens when you assume.

Here is the total travel itinerary:

Brains!

• Leave Phoenix via Greyhound at 6pm on Monday
• Arrive in LA around 1am
• Take a shuttle to LAX, check-in and pass out
• Leave LAX at 6am and arrive in Chicago
• Twiddle my thumbs for a few hours
• Leave Chicago at 6pm and arrive in Amsterdam
• Hope the plane is not running late and run to my next flight
• Leave Amsterdam at 10:30am – this is Wednesday now – and arrive in Georgia
• Smile, look pretty and try not to eat people’s brains. Brains! BRAINS! BRAINS!!! (in case you did not get this, I am indicating that I will be a zombie)

Total travel time (assuming all goes well): ~ 36 hours

So, when are people going to come out and visit?