Field School: The Journey Home (Las Vegas)

     The flight from Atlanta wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. During our boarding, we were told that if we had rolling carry-ons, they would have to be checked and put in the hold, but I had prepared for that and removed the bag I had from Bulgaria - I had put all the souvenirs into my Balkan Heritage Field School tote bag and then put that inside my I <3 Bulgaria drawstring bag that I had used as my dig bag for the past week (I realized on the flight later I had forgotten to take my passport out of my roller carry-on and was frantically praying to Hermes to at least let me get that bag back if nothing else because how did I forget to remove my passport). The seats were a bit roomier than the ones on the Paris flight because there were significantly fewer people on this flight, so the seats were slightly bigger. The flight was supposed to be four hours and sixteen minutes long.
     I met someone named Dawn Rose on the way into the flight because she and I had seats near each other, but her traveling companion had a seat higher up in the plane. Both a person behind her and I told her they were willing to switch with him if she wanted; the other woman ended up switching, so I kept my aisle seat, which was next to Dawn Rose's aisle seat, so we talked for a bit because I told her I was on a dig in Bulgaria, so we talked about archaeology for a while, and she told me where she traveled, before we both went to do our own things.
     The flight had a snack, so I had a weird "cookie" that tasted like doughy cake and some Coke. When they had come back, I asked what they had for hot drinks, and I got tea and asked for their cookies, which complemented the black tea well. The flight had been blasting cold air at us (the downside to the aisle seat and being short is that I can't reach anything above me like the controls for that) the whole flight, and before we took off, they made an announcement that there were no blankets on board because Atlanta had a shortage, so they didn't take any. I was so cold that I made more trips to the bathroom than usual (as soon as I felt the slightest need to go) just so that I could warm up a little bit. At one point during the first bathroom trip, someone pushed on the door with a lot of force, so I yelled "Whoa," because, dude, I am doing my business in here, please wait for a second, the door says occupied.
     Despite the fact that the airline was selling headsets for $2 a piece, I just did what I had done on my first flight out of Vegas, and watched movies with subtitles and no earpieces. I put on Love, Simon again, so if I nodded off for a bit, it wasn't that big of a deal. The final stretch of the time, I put on Thor: Ragnarok, and nodded off during that a few times as well. I kept checking my watch because I was so anxious to get home.
     Once we landed, I gathered all of my things and began to message Folklore Fiancé. They were already at the airport, and once I was let out, I was at gate D34. Folklore Fiancé said they had been at a different gate first, but then went to information. I asked them to call me, and they had told me where they were waiting. We decided to head to the carousel for my luggage and meet there. They asked me if I wanted them to grab my bags if they saw them. I said yes, if they could, but to be careful with the large luggage. Right after they said that, they saw the small one already, and while we were on the phone, told me they grabbed the big one too. We stayed on the phone until I found them waiting by the number 14 carousel. We hugged and my knee popped, so I had to sit for a minute.
     Folklore Fiancé led the way to their aunt's car where she was waiting for us in the parking garage. My luggage was a little worse for wear and it didn't have my lock on it anymore, even though I had a TSA-approved lock, which really irritated me. I didn't see it inside my luggage, either, and I am still angry about it because it was a brand new lock I had bought before I went. We loaded up the car and headed home. We talked about the dig, and I shared some snacks I had bought in Bulgaria with them, and we finally got home around 11 p.m.
     I gave everyone their presents that I had for them: I got Nana a pepper shaker and a magnet that was a mini mortar and pestle; I got three souvenir spoons (one silver, two ceramic) for my aunt-in-law, my sibling-in-law got a Bulgarian wooden flute, and Folklore Fiancé was given socks with traditional Bulgarian designs on it, a miniature notebook that was the very kitschy souvenir design but I knew they would like, a pegasus necklace, and then a necklace with a large charm with Bulgarian embroidery on it. They said they had never seen embroidery on a necklace before and seemed super excited about it, so I was glad I made the right decision on buying it.
     Folklore Fiancé heated up some kielbasa for me before I went to take my shower and soak my feet (because they are very swollen), and we went to bed late. This is my last blog post about my field school trip for the Pistiros excavation of 2018 through the Balkan Heritage Field School!
     That is, of course, until I go again next season 😉

Field School: Sofia

     Well, I finally made it to Bulgaria! It's almost 9 p.m. Sofia time, and I'm in my pajamas relaxing in bed, so let me fill you in on what happened between my last post and now.
     We started boarding, so of course, the line was down to the designated smoking area, where I kept coughing because I cannot handle the smoke, ever. My throat is still tingling from it, and that was hours ago. When we finally got away from the smoke, I saw my carry-on bag that had to be checked as I passed, so at least I saw where it had gone. What frustrated me the most was that when we were boarded, I saw plenty of spaces where I could have stowed my luggage. I know that it was probably as a precaution because they couldn't know for sure whose would fit, etc. etc., but I was finally near the front of the plane this time around!! I had the seat 3F, which I was surprised about. It was at the front of the plane and a window seat. I have a love-hate relationship with window seats; this is because I want to be able to get up and move around without disturbing too many people, but I like watching the take-offs and the descents. Two young dudes were next to me this time, which was fine. I accidentally sat in the wrong seat at first, but the person in the middle seat was fine moving when I told him I was actually on the other side of him.
     The plane was taking forever to take off, and I had no idea why there was so much of a hold up (spoiler alert: we got to Sofia at 6 p.m. instead of 4:45 p.m.) Once we did take off, I was trying to read one of my books on Sofia, but I didn't get too into it because I was passing out. I didn't really sleep on the plane, but I did conk out a few times for a catnap.
     One thing I did wake up for was the food, which was fish.
     I'm allergic to fish. And seafood.
     Once I told him this, he looked distraught and said it was the only thing they had (which is weird because I thought I had told the airline about my allergies, but I'm going to double check before I go back home. I gave it back to him and said I was fine with the rest of the stuff and he didn't have to bring me anything else. Despite that, he brought me fruit, cheese, a quinoa and bean salad (which I also couldn't eat, but I didn't want to tell him that again, so I took it with me and threw it away later), which was really nice of him. I ate most of it and was full by then anyway. The smell of the fish was really overpowering and nauseating for me, so it made it hard for me to get anything else down with that scent pervading the air.
     We landed over an hour late from the originally scheduled time, and I had to figure out my way through the Sofia Airport so I could find my luggage. Also, I needed a bathroom because every time I'd try to get up and go, the "keep your buckles fastened" light came on. After a winding journey that made me wish I had brought some enchanted string along, I finally came to the passport check and got my passport checked for Bulgaria. They used to stamp you into whatever country you were in and then the next stamp wouldn't happen, but I guess that's changing now, too, huh?
     The hotel I'm staying at has a free shuttle, but there was nothing that indicated which one was their shuttle. Either I was supposed to schedule it, or I just didn't know where to go, and ended up taking a taxi instead. It was €5. I checked into the hotel and went to my room and showered. It felt so good to get the three flights and 20+ hours of travel off of me. I scheduled my checkout and my shuttle for tomorrow, and breakfast is only €7, so I think I'm going to get breakfast from them tomorrow morning. Then I'll study a bit, get all my stuff together, and check out.
     But, right now, I definitely need to sleep.