Washington DC terminal fun

After approximately 6 hours of flying we arrived, still very tired, in the Washington DC airport. None of us had been to DC and thus we were all excited to look around. Thankfully, time was not in short supply as we had arranged for a 6 hour layover. Our first move was to get something to eat. I was happy to learn that Julie, like me, loves to eat every few hours and knew that her and I would enjoy many snacks together while in Argentina. Next we explored the airport, taking time to meet the current president of the United States (see photo). We then ate another meal and boarded the plane to Buenos Aires. Full of knowledge on the best exercises to avoid blood clots, exact times to get up and walk around and how many times you should go to the bathroom during the plane ride, we all anticipated our arrival in Buenos Aires.

I never noticed how little leg room you have in coach until this trip. Seriously, the entire trip Lisa and I could not get comfortable. She had the middle seat so as soon as I would get up to go to the bathroom, I would come back and she would be sprawled out and sleeping on my seat, leaving me standing in the aisle for 3 to 5 minutes until I could wake her up. We were nervous from the get go, as the pilot and flight crew spoke over the intercom in both English and Spanish. This was it! The real deal! 5 weeks away from home, friends, family and familiarity.

We lucked out with who we sat by and that was our first inclination that everything would be okay. He was an 18 year old from Argentina who had been an exchange student in Michigan for the last 6 months. He could totally relate to our position and was so excited to tell us his stories and encourage us to really make the most of our experience. He helped Lisa with pronounciation of words and common questions to ask for clarification. He was so helpful and nice. If this was any representation of the rest of the people from Argentina, I knew it would be the trip of a lifetime.

Of course, we did have one other problem on the plane. Of all the rows of seats filled with sleeping customers in the middle of the night, our row was the only row whose light could not be turned off. We tried everything we could think of and resorted to stringing a blanket from one overhead bin to the other (as we were the middle row). I sat their nervously waiting for the flight attendant to tell us angerly that our set up was absolutely not okay but instead she came over, applogized for the inconvenience, complimented us on our innovation and gave us all notecards redeemable for extra frequent flyer miles! It was fantastic! I hope my light is broken on every overnight flight from now on!