September 1, 2008
So the journey definitely got off to a jolted and rather aggressive beginning, primarily due to the superfluous and tedious regulations of American airports. Unbeknownst to me, apparently they decided to start weighing carry-on baggage, which had never happened to me. And of course, being the materialistic 22-year old girl I am, I had crammed twenty pounds of crap into the proverbial 5 pound bag, or in this case suitcase. Scrambling on the floor of the Philadelphia airport for about 40 minutes, I sniffled as I sacrificed skirt upon skirt upon dress upon completely necessary 6th bathing suit while muttering words that only sailors in remote parts of the world know. I weighed my suitcase again with each article removed from it, including each bobby pin which I hoped to be the culprit behind the 16 extra kilograms (yes, about 22 lbs) that had mysteriously tucked itself away inside my petite little carry on. So I could have fit a small child and a family of harp seals within the bag – I firmly believe I am entitled to this extra abundance of luggage due to my miniature stature, and thus, extra room beneath my seat. Unfortunately for me, and the ears of all small children around me, the airport staff did not agree. So after forty minutes of impending meet-the-parents-esque airport doom (a la bombs on a plane?), I successfully brought my luggage down to a bare 8 kilo and had successfully broadened the vocabulary of all the children within a twenty yard radius. Parents, you can thank me when their speech will now be fitting at any Philadelphia sports game. And to top it all off, the moment I walked away squirreled away that additional 20 lbs of crap back into my suitcase. Scoreboard: Maggie – 1, Department of Homeland Security – 0. However, this was only to unpack it when a bunch of alarms went off through security when the x-ray machine detected four months worth of AA batteries tucked away in my bag (this accounted for about 10 of the extra 20 lbs – very impressive feat).
Sitting in the airport I intelligently presumed every 20-something person walking by would be my new classmate. Thus ensued me creepily smiling at everyone who walked by, waving like they were my long lost best friend. After about 10 people darted away while avoiding eye contact and I was pointed out to the roaming airport security men, I quietly took my seat and awaited my flight. Barcelona, here I come.
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