Day 0 - Friday
I left work at 2pm so I could stop by the bank, pick up a beach book, pack, then sleep early. My beach book was Philippa Gregory's The White Princess. But when I got home, I was so nervous that instead of packing I stalled and ate and watched tv. I didn't wind up sleeping until 2am because I forgot I had to shave parts. Anyway, during my stalling, I finished the 10th and last episode of Gracepoint. It had a really sad ending and I never once suspected the one dad because I was so busy being suspicious of the shifty son. Gasp. Gasp. Gasp.
Day 1 - Saturday
I set my alarm for 5:40am so that I could get to the airport in the 6:30-7am range. I wound up leaving late and speeding up 95, dressed in 2 pairs of pants, 3 shirts, and a coat. I parked in long term lot A. I didn't drive far enough at first because I saw a lot on the left that I thought might be lot A even though there was no sign. Well it turned out to the ee parking lot. Anyway, I could have parked in B, but I chose A for Aryanne. The lot was vast. As I parked, I saw the shuttle in the far part of the lot. I thought I'd never be able to catch it, but it was going around slowly, so I got out of the car and hustled over. I noted that I was parked in row I. I got on the shuttle, I even saw a man with a NASA hat. Luckily he said he didn't work there, but had visited over 10 years ago and bought that hat. The shuttle filled up and then when it came time to leave the parking lot the plastic gate wouldn't open. So we sat there for 15 minutes as various men tried to override the gate by hitting the control box. The other people on the shuttle got restless and wanted the bus driver to drive right through. A young, smarter looking man came and opened the control box and pressed a manual override button and the gate lifted up and we went to the airport. I got off with all the rest of the people at the first stop. I used curbside check-in at the Southwest counter, after asking one of the people if I was flying domestic. I was pretty sure I was since Puerto Rico is a US territory, but I wanted to be sure. He said I was in the right place, so I got my luggage receipt and went inside.
The security line was really long. I was now worried about making the flight. But I got lucky and was diverted to the TSA pre-flight line, so I didn't have to take anything off. They swabbed my hands for some reason though. I just googled it and it's a search for traces of explosives. I was gate A2, which was right in front of me down an escalator. There were a lot of people waiting. I didn't see AC and I'd never seen PP in person, so I sat down at the edge of the people and called AC. She came down and we hugged and she said that PP was still in the security line. The call for boarding happened. I was B8, so I went to the boarding line ahead of Amanda and walked down that fake airplane hallway that I don't like to contemplate how high off the ground it is. And it's always cold in there. And I saved a row of seats since they were 3 across. PP knew we were saving her a seat, so she went to Chipotle and bought 3 bags of chips with guac. I was nervous and was thinking she'd gone to Chick-fila and that the chips were fried in peanut oil, so I didn't eat many because I was afraid of breaking out. Hours later, I remembered that those are two different restaurants. The window was in a weird place - mostly in front of me - so it made me feel sick to look out of it. There was a sassy airline hostess who entertained by threatening the passengers, but in a jokey way. We mostly talked, then towards the end of the 4 hour flight I read the beach book. The book isn't any great feat of writing, but it holds your attention and blood/betrayal is always riveting. I didn't google the characters since it was historical fiction and that would spoil it.
We landed in PR and the airport was very white inside and under construction. It wasn't like the Oahu airport, which is open air. It was more like an emptier version of PHL. We walked pretty far to get to baggage claim. My bag came out right away - a carry on because that's the only suitcase I own. The other two girls had packed standard sized suitcases. We walked outside to the taxi line and felt the warmth and humidity right away. The taxis are all white mini vans. For $15 we went to the Intercontinental San Juan hotel. It was gorgeous. Elegant. The fanciest hotel I've ever stayed in. It was also a resort with a few pools, a jacuzzi, a bar in the pool, a restaurant/bar, and if you walk past those it's the beach with complimentary towels, chairs, and umbrella rental for $10/day.
We went upstairs to room 1214, changed into our summer clothes, and used yelp and a taxi to get to To Ma Te, a Mexican Fusion restaurant where the best waiter - Julio Cesar - translated the entire menu for us. I got the tacos el pastor and we all got watermelon mint margaritas. Then we had chocolate shots and he told us to go party at La Placita and to go to the restaurant a few doors down and ask for his friend Lion. Then we walked on the beach back to the hotel. Then we explored the hotel more. Went to Levis for dinner in which I had chicken soup that tasted like bbq sauce. Then back to the hotel where we did midnight jacuzzi instead of La Placita because we were so tired. I saw two shooting stars.
Strangely throughout this SC was texting me. It felt like more than normal. Is it just because I wasn't as focused on work? I like him as a person, but I don't feel attracted to him. I guess the only two people I've felt that attracted to were BB and TB. Even R whose last name recently escaped me, even he was more of the novelty of the experience. R I think would have grown on me eventually though. Anyway, the great love so far aka BB, I remember only thinking he was 'kind of cute' the first time I saw him. Wow how that 'kind of' snowballed fast. Is it with age that I'm being attracted to less people? Probably because most people are married/practically married so I shut it down unless I find out they're single.
I'm so tired. I'll do Day 2 tomorrow.
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