My second flight with Delta was not much better. The flight took off from Detroit on time. I'd been sitting in the airport for hours, watching tv on my laptop. Normally, this would be irrelevant information, but the particular show I was watching, Jericho, tends to make me paranoid. It's a show about horrible disaster striking the US, and the aftermath turns people against each other. No one knows who can be trusted, and watching that kind of disaster and fear scares me. So I'm riding the plane, slowly calming down, when I realize there's something wrong with the plane. I panicked. I watched out the window as what looked like smoke came out of the wing (I later learned they were dumping fuel) and the plane flew in circles. Eventually the pilot came over the intercom to tell us that because of an electrical issue, we would be returning to Detroit. I'd been panicking for about 15 minutes, but most of the passengers didn't even seem to notice an issue. I guess if you don't have the window seat it's a lot harder to notice the plane's flying in circles. After another fifteen minutes or so, the pilot announced that we would be landing at JFK instead. For the next hour and a half, the plane got steadily darker as the sun set, and the cabin lights did not come on.
Just as I was getting really frustrated, I noticed the fireworks. I was seeing 4th of July fireworks from above! It was so cool! Despite everything, the fireworks made me smile. We were so high up that I could have covered the fireworks with one finger, and yet they were beautiful, even tiny and far away. I just kept thinking how lucky it was that I was flying over the US just after dusk on one of the only fireworks days of the year.
Then we landed and I got annoyed with Delta all over again. They "generously" gave us "meal" vouchers, for six dollars. That's ridiculous. Six bucks will buy you a coke in an airport, if you're lucky, not a meal. So with this stingy voucher, I proceeded to buy food, only to discover that the only things still open in the airport (it was 11pm), were a deli and a Dunkin Donuts. I chose the Dunkin Donuts because it seemed like there were only about 150 people in line, as opposed to about 250 in line for the deli. Of course, there was only one employee working at dunkin donuts, so she served us one at a time. I waited in line for an hour (not an exaggeration, it was at least 60 minutes) just to get awful food from Dunkin Donuts. I know that that line is not Delta's fault, but it's their fault I was there in the first place. I don't ever want to fly Delta again! Just as I got my food, the plane started re-boarding.
I finally made it to London, and I did get a $100 voucher for my troubles. I read the fine print and it says I can use it on Air France or KLM, which is good, because otherwise I don't know what I would have done with it. I really don't want to fly Delta again, even if I get $100 off.
Anyway, today wasn't all bad, because after I landed in London, I took the DLR (docklands light rail) to Greenwich to see Maria (my cousin). I had the address for her residence, but I didn't really think about how to contact her once I got there (neither of our cell phones work). So I found her place easily, but I couldn't get in or find Maria. I gave up and went looking for dinner, since I was really starving. I ran into Maria on the street! It was a very fortuitous meeting.
We got delicious fish and chips (with vinegar and salt!) Greenwich seems like a really cool place to spend 6 weeks. There's a Ben and Jerry's, so if nothing else, Maria will be well supplied with ice cream!
Maria's considering blogging, so if you'd like to read her blog, email her or comment on this post to encourage her to write one. I really want to hear about her program and about her experiences in London! (Plus, if Maria starts a blog, I'll feel like I've started a trend!)
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