It's up to you, New York, New York.

*This post was delayed because airport internets are lame.

Local Time: 5ish PM
CA Time: 2ish?

I’m currently sitting on the floor of Terminal 8 of the JFK airport in New York. My flight doesn’t leave for another two hours, so I thought I’d give my eyes a rest from reading and staring out of windows, and give an update of things so far.

First of all, I’m alive! I think that’s a very good start. I woke up at 3:30 AM, and we were all set to leave 45 minutes later. We got in the car, and then Mom asked if I’d printed out my boarding passes… oops. Okay, in my defense, I knew they handed you a boarding pass at the airport so I didn’t see the point in printing another one. Also, I was just following the steps online… and nobody told me to do it. Anyway - so we didn’t leave for another half hour. BUT. We did leave, and about the time the sun came up, we were at LAX. Man, this all feels like it was ages ago. Somehow LAX seems much more confusing than all other airports. (By the way, every time I write “airport”, I want to type “hairport”. I have no idea why.) Anyway. I said goodbye to Dad, Mom and Kate in line for the security check… those goodbyes felt much too rushed, but looking back on it, it’s probably good that way. We didn’t have time to cry enough to look ridiculous.

Ugh - they’re playing Jack Johnson in the airport. I thought New Yorkers were supposed to be cool. Although, the sports bar I just walked past was playing The Logical Song, which makes them a little cooler. Also, all New Yorker women wear boots. My sandals and I feel very self conscious. (Self conscience? I’m too tired to figure that one out.)

I read a little once I was at the proper gate, and then boarded the Boeing 767 for JFK. The plane was jam-packed with people (including the family who sat across from me, with a little girl who kept saying, “Who do you think you are, Mickey Mouse?!” because clearly that’s the funniest thing in the world). Somehow, though, I ended up being paired with the only unclaimed seat on the plane. HA. Yay for leg room. Unfortunately, though, this setting wasn’t a perfect one -- my water bottle spilled all over my backpack. Buh. Everything seems to be alright though, so that’s good.

That flight felt really long. And I just realized that that was the SHORT one. Well, actually, Madrid to Dublin is shorter, at about 3 hours. But stilllllll… to New York, it was, what - six hours? This one I’m waiting for will be almost 9. Those 3 extra hours really take their toll. They DO get you a free meal, though, so I guess it’s not all bad.

We have such an interesting country, by the way. I’d forgotten how much of a DESERT the west coast is. The plane flew out over the ocean for a bit before it could turn around, though, and man - in the early morning, Los Angeles and the Channel Islands look so incredibly beautiful from the sky. After that though, it was just brown flatland for awhile. Then we hit Colorado (I’m guessing - at least that’s what the flight attendant though), which had two colors: pinkish-red and white. It’s so interesting to see the dusty, red canyons capped with white snow. The middle of the country consists of farmlands and weird fields with geometric shapes. OH! We flew over the Great Lakes! Those are crazy. I thought we had hit the Atlantic with the first one. The weirdest thing about flying over that much water is that it’s the same color as the sky - so it looks like there is no earth below the plane. Just thousands and thousands of miles of sky, above and below and all around you. It’s beautiful, and strangely terrifying.

Ummmm what else? We flew over A city (not THE city) coming into New York, and I got a couple of cool pictures. I’d have loved to see the Statue of Liberty, but no such luck. Wow, the sun here is already starting to go down. It’s apparently in the 30’s here - perhaps another reason why New Yorkers are much more fashionable than the rest of us. Anyway, it’s all very pretty. The airport, though… what a funky bunch of people. The ones who work here are either very rude or very ditzy, and most everyone speaks a different language (except for the one announcement that keeps playing, about how we travelers shouldn’t accept gifts or baggage from any strangers). Kinda funny thing I learned in the past hour, too - if you walk around looking scared or confused, people treat you with disrespect. If, however, you walk in like you own the place, you instantly have their admiration. It’s subtle, but very very true. Just you try it sometime.

Once we got here and I figured out where to go, I called home for a few minutes to let them know I was alive and all that. Then I got some more water, because my backpack is too dry. (ha…ha.) And then I walked around and looked at shops and restaurants, but that made me too hungry, so now I’m sitting on the floor near a glass wall where people keep coming up and taking pictures. (Of the sky, not me.) I have one more protein bar that I’m going to use as my dinner/lunch/whatever-meal-time-it-is. Annnnd… then I’m going to read. Oh, I also went into a bookstore and was very dismayed to find that while Classics have one shelf, Teen-Fantasy has like 3. Bagh. My generation. I read a page of a Proust book, though - the first page of something about a Swan. I forget what it was. But it was good.

Anyway, I’m gonna go… figure out something to do. Just wanted to give an update because I don’t know when the next one will be. But things are going well so far. Please keep me in your prayers, though - the next 12 hours or so are gonna be a bit rough.

Off we go!