so far...

FIND MORE PHOTOS OF THE TRIP HERE (i'll be updating that album)

It has been a crazy week, filled with shopping, traveling, visiting friends, and eating!
I’ll start with the shopping.
While in Dallas I tried to get over the tremendous jetlag by going shopping. I found some great bargains, but hey, compared to Zurich, everything was a bargain!!! I had to buy new luggage because the bags I brought were wheel-less, and in search of luggage I found a small shopping bag/cart ideal to haul groceries from the store on the bus. It was $3.99!!! I had to get it, so I did. I also got some tops, shoes, and gifts, among other things.

I traveled by plane to Louisiana to visit our very good friends (and now compadres) the Wan-kers (their self-imposed nickname). We were godparents to their wonderful little baby girl. It was an honor and a privilege to get to be there with them and visit and chat. It was great! (thank you for your hospitality!)
Gera arrived to Dallas 4 hours late, after many phone calls and delays. Needless to say, he did not make the 3:15 flight… well, technically he did, only that the flight did not take off until 7:00, after being boarded and then unboarded. The important thing is that he made it in one piece and his luggage was on the same plane. He drove to Louisiana (4 hours) to be there for the baptisim, and then we both drove back together to Dallas yesterday (Monday). Today (Tuesday) I fly to El Paso, and finally get to cross the border and see my family. I am so excited, I am all packed and ready to go.

I had a bit of an eating problem right after arriving from Zurich. The problem? I wasn’t hungry… There were so many fast food places I wanted to go to, but I just wasn’t hungry. Stupid jetlag, it not only messed up my sleeping pattern, but also my eating schedule. After a couple of days of only 1 meal a day (granted, it was a big meal), I tried to make myself eat on a schedule, and it worked! So now I am eating just fine! So far I’ve been to McDonalds, Taco Bell, Sonic and Wendy’s, and I’ve had vanilla coke and root beer. I’ve also eaten pseudo-Louisiana food and cornbread. Today we’ll go to the Chinese buffet before I go to the airport (mmmm, sweet and sour…)

airport adventures

Today I woke up at 6am local time, 12 pm “my” time. Can you still call it jetlag even if you did not fly on a jet? Well, I thought I’d me more tired and wake up later than this, but I guess not. Last night I went to bed at 4am “my” time. I made it to Dallas!

Yesterday was a very busy day. It all went very smoothly… at the beginning. We got to the airport on time, I checked in and now they ask you all sorts of “new” questions now, like “did you borrow something from someone?, where did you pack your bags? How did you get to the airport? Where were you sitting in relation to your bags on the train?”. I went through passport control and through security in less than 40 minutes, not because there was a line (there wasn’t) but because the airport is so big I had to walk a while to get from one place to the other. We boarded and took off. 3 episodes of House, 1 top chef, 1 Fraiser, and 2 movies later (not to mention a pack of peanuts, a chicken meal, and a sandwich and chips) we got to Newark. The flight is 9+ hours and I did not sleep a wink. I was super glad that we were actually 20 minutes early arriving in Newark. Have you ever heard of a plane being early?

Once in Newark I stood in line for Immigration. Those lines are worse than at Disneyland!. I thought I’d be fine with the extra 20 minutes and the not-too-bad fast-moving line but I wasn’t. I started to worry when 45 minutes in when I wasn’t even half way through the line and I still had to go get my bags, go through customs, check the bags in again, go though security and make it to the gate. A guy was letting people with children skip ahead in line, so I asked him about my flight and if he thought I would make it. “Nah! You wont!” “WHAT!” I said. That was all. He did not even try to give me a chance… I was not bumped to the front of the line. The rest of the wait was shorter because people started piling up (I guess another plane arrived) and they opened twice as many stations. I was already prepared to miss the flight, but after seeing the time after my passport had been stamped (that was pretty uneventful), I thought I’d give it a shot. I had 30 minutes!

I ran to get my bags and got a cart to move them because after an accident in Zurich now they were both missing a wheel. I found the bags, loaded them and ran to customs. I saw that people we were just handing off their filled out forms, so I kinda got in front of a guy who was looking for something in his bag (you snooze, you loose) and gave the form to the officer and ran again! I thought: “If I am supposed to stay or have my bags checked, they will call me”. They didn’t so I kept going. I found the line for baggage check-in and it was not too long. A lady was asking people when their flights were, and a couple in front of me had a flight at 3:20, and she said “oh, my! You probably wont make it” and she took them to the front of the line. Mine was at 3:15. I followed them, even though nobody told me to, and when she saw me there she tried to send me back to the line. I showed her my boarding pass:
-Me “Mine is at 3:15!!!”
-Lady “you probably wont make it”
-Me “but I have to try
-Lady “well, the bags WONT make it”
-Me “I don’t care”
Someone took my bags and I took off running

I still had to take the monorail to get to my gate. Follow the signs, follow the signs. I got to security and the line was not too long. I guy behind me told the attendant “My flight leaves in 15 minutes, can you call and tell them to wait?” the answer: “NO”. I showed my documents and was let through. The guy ended up in line behind me and I asked him if they had done anything for him. Turned out we were on the same flight. We started asking people to let us get in front of them in line, and we made it to the front (it was only like 10 or 12 people). I put my bags (and everything else I had on the x-ray machine and walked through. I beeped! I forgot to take my passport pouch off, also my shoes. Went back thorough. This time I was OK. As I was packing my bags again the guy said “if you make it there before me, tell them there’s one more person coming”. I didn’t even put my shoes on properly and started running. I could see the gate. There was no one in line. Did everybody board? It was already 3:15 and boarding had started at 2:40. So I got to the counter:
-Me “did I make it?”
-Guy at the counter “made it where?”
-Me “made the flight?”
-Guy at the counter “oh. We haven’t boarded yet. We’re running a bit late”
-Me “…”
I had made it!!! That was my Amazing Race moment for this trip (so far)

last zurich post of the year!

hello all!
I am super excited!
In a few hours I'll be on my way to Dallas!
i have my bags packed, and my passport ready.
See you soon (some of you at least!)
ciao
jazibe

euro2008

Next year the Euro Cup (soccer championship) will be here in Switzerland, so last year Gera signed up for tickets. They have a whole lottery system where you have to sign uo to "maybe" get tickets. He requested 3 games (the ones in Zurich), and luckily he got 1 (2 tickets for 1 game)! The game is next year and only recently did they make the sorting for the groups, and turns out the game he has tickets for is Romania vs France (on June 8, 2008). The tickets are alredy selling for 600+ euros. I say "sell those tickets!!" ... we'll see....
Only a few more days... I am packing, sorting, and getting nervous. I only have 1 and a half hours in Newark to change planes and go through customs... will that be enough? I hope so.