Here I am, sitting at the D gate, waiting for my flight. It boards around 11:30 and we are scheduled to leave at 12:18. So, I thought, another blog post before I get on my flight to Detroit! One of the downsides of going so far to Europe in the summer is the airlines are all very expensive if you don't have a bunch of connecting flights. I'm waiting for my flight to Detroit, and then in Detroit, I will be waiting about two hours to go to Paris. Once I'm in Paris, it's another two-hour wait until I get to Sofia. So, lots of waiting.
My intention was to sleep in this morning until at least 7 a.m., but my fiancé's cat had other plans and woke me up at 4:30. I had to get up to go to the bathroom, and he and my fiancé's other cat ran out of the bedroom when I opened the door. My cat, Athena, usually sleeps in the closet and doesn't get along with other cats, so she usually stays in there. My fiancé's cats have the advantage of having lived in that house before, so they warmed up to it much quicker. I did manage to fall back asleep and was woken up by my alarm clock at 7 a.m. My fiancé got up and did their morning thing and I got dressed right away because I was anxious. I made sure I had my watch on and everything together. I frantically packed last night and forgot to put some of my snacks in my carry on (oops).
I ate breakfast and had a chai that my fiancé so graciously made me (honestly without them, I would struggle to feed myself half the time) and grabbed the leftover Euro I had in my car from when I studied abroad in 2008 and 2009 to France and Italy and put it in my new wallet. One of the 2 cent Euro coins I separated for an offering to Hermes. I used my car key to dig a shallow hole next to the mailbox where I currently lived and buried the coin there. I poured a small libation of my morning chai to Hermes and said a small prayer. The contemporary Hellenic Pagan delighted in doing such a simple ritual that made me feel much better about traveling.
My aunt-in-law drove me and my fiancé to the airport and we managed to go the wrong way a couple times! McCarran International Airport is HUGE and it was so intimidating. I had only flown out of Chicago, Philadelphia, and Newark (NJ) up until this point, so this was definitely an experience. I got through the baggage check pretty easily and the longest wait was while I was in line for security. As I waited in line for security, a heavy feeling washed over me because it was a feeling I hadn't felt in a while: it was how at home I felt at the airport. Hermes is my patron god, after all, so it makes sense that I would find comfort in an airport where travelers from all over the world are bustling by, a plethora of languages flying from their tongues. It gave me a sense of calm and belonging I haven't felt in a long time.
Everything went by with no issue whatsoever, but I did take off my shoes and gather things together rather quickly so I could dump it all in the buckets and scurry over to the scanner. Once I had gathered all my belongings back up, I got my shoes on and repacked what needed to be repacked, and headed to towards the D Gate. However, I didn't see the gate, but a tram pulling towards us. It seemed that were were to take a tram to the D gates! I've never taken a tram inside an airport before. I've taken the L / El (I use both interchangeably; sorry if it's wrong, Chicago!) into the Chicago O'Hare International Airport but walked everywhere once I was checked in. So, that was an experience!
Once I got off the tram, I headed straight to the D gate and sat down. I was having trouble finding an outlet and I was worried about my phone having enough charge (it was already at 59% even though it was at 100% at 7 a.m., but I had been using it until 10 a.m., so it was a little drained by then). The first outlet I found didn't work so I moved to another spot. Eventually, an outlet became available and I'm letting my phone charge while I write this blog post! My flight should be boarding in about forty minutes, so I'm debating on whether to read or write once I'm done with this blog post.
But, knowing me, I might just bounce around on social media until it's time to board.
Detroit, here I come!
My intention was to sleep in this morning until at least 7 a.m., but my fiancé's cat had other plans and woke me up at 4:30. I had to get up to go to the bathroom, and he and my fiancé's other cat ran out of the bedroom when I opened the door. My cat, Athena, usually sleeps in the closet and doesn't get along with other cats, so she usually stays in there. My fiancé's cats have the advantage of having lived in that house before, so they warmed up to it much quicker. I did manage to fall back asleep and was woken up by my alarm clock at 7 a.m. My fiancé got up and did their morning thing and I got dressed right away because I was anxious. I made sure I had my watch on and everything together. I frantically packed last night and forgot to put some of my snacks in my carry on (oops).
I ate breakfast and had a chai that my fiancé so graciously made me (honestly without them, I would struggle to feed myself half the time) and grabbed the leftover Euro I had in my car from when I studied abroad in 2008 and 2009 to France and Italy and put it in my new wallet. One of the 2 cent Euro coins I separated for an offering to Hermes. I used my car key to dig a shallow hole next to the mailbox where I currently lived and buried the coin there. I poured a small libation of my morning chai to Hermes and said a small prayer. The contemporary Hellenic Pagan delighted in doing such a simple ritual that made me feel much better about traveling.
My aunt-in-law drove me and my fiancé to the airport and we managed to go the wrong way a couple times! McCarran International Airport is HUGE and it was so intimidating. I had only flown out of Chicago, Philadelphia, and Newark (NJ) up until this point, so this was definitely an experience. I got through the baggage check pretty easily and the longest wait was while I was in line for security. As I waited in line for security, a heavy feeling washed over me because it was a feeling I hadn't felt in a while: it was how at home I felt at the airport. Hermes is my patron god, after all, so it makes sense that I would find comfort in an airport where travelers from all over the world are bustling by, a plethora of languages flying from their tongues. It gave me a sense of calm and belonging I haven't felt in a long time.
Everything went by with no issue whatsoever, but I did take off my shoes and gather things together rather quickly so I could dump it all in the buckets and scurry over to the scanner. Once I had gathered all my belongings back up, I got my shoes on and repacked what needed to be repacked, and headed to towards the D Gate. However, I didn't see the gate, but a tram pulling towards us. It seemed that were were to take a tram to the D gates! I've never taken a tram inside an airport before. I've taken the L / El (I use both interchangeably; sorry if it's wrong, Chicago!) into the Chicago O'Hare International Airport but walked everywhere once I was checked in. So, that was an experience!
Once I got off the tram, I headed straight to the D gate and sat down. I was having trouble finding an outlet and I was worried about my phone having enough charge (it was already at 59% even though it was at 100% at 7 a.m., but I had been using it until 10 a.m., so it was a little drained by then). The first outlet I found didn't work so I moved to another spot. Eventually, an outlet became available and I'm letting my phone charge while I write this blog post! My flight should be boarding in about forty minutes, so I'm debating on whether to read or write once I'm done with this blog post.
But, knowing me, I might just bounce around on social media until it's time to board.
Detroit, here I come!
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