On an Airplane

Yesterday I finished packing for my trip and saw the final hours I would still be in Hercules. Surprisingly, the day went by extremely slow, and the only relief I got from the time was sleep that lapsed four hours in a relative second.

Waking up at 2 AM and seeing the sky was actually refreshing. The moon was full and bright, and my mother had told me that when the moon is full and you are on an airplane it is beautiful, but I didn’t have the chance to see it because by the time we were departing the sun was rising for the day. There was also a striking difference between the world I left and the world I came to; in the morning there was no one and the road was empty compared to the busy roads that lead to our hotel, which were traffic filled even though rush hour had yet to become.

Although we arrived at the airport at 4 AM, check-in was fast and the wait was nonexistent. I do regret that I misunderstood one of the worker’s directions, I assume; instead of going through the regular detector, I went through the full body scan. I don’t really recollect the event much, considering I thought it was natural, but Kathleen and Erin wondered why the workers thought I was suspicious enough to have the full scan.

While reaching cruising altitude and descending to the runway, I noticed that, although we were on this adventure, everyone else was going on with their daily lives. I don’t know if I felt insignificant to the world at the moment or I would continue on with my life ignorant to other peoples’ adventures as well, and I continued on with my book. I was probably the only one that didn’t sleep on the plane ride, but I did get through half of the book I started this morning.

On our transfer in Chicago, we decided to get lunch. While, walking—running—we passed three McDonalds, so I guess the argument that even when you are away from home, home is still there. We traveled 600 miles away and there is still a McDonalds at every corner. My child insecurities still surface and that is one of the purposes of the trip, so then I don’t have similar doubts when I go to college.

While getting our rental vehicle after landing, we looked out of the plane station to see a New England Lemonade truck. What interested me wasn’t that there was a lemonade truck, yet was different from the Ice Cream trucks that I hear every day, but the condition they were in. I can only see old cars when my parents drive past the Richmond Landfill, and the cars are usually in bad condition.

My expectation when I arrived in Providence was of complete difference. Once I saw the landscape, I thought it looked like Oakland. There was the difference that it was a lot greener; there were trees everywhere, and coming to a construction site, I saw more trees being built. I do miss the yellow hills that I see in Hercules, and strangely, there are no hills in Providence.

The area around the hotel is wonderful. I really want to explore every corner because it offers so much. It has a farmers market, a book store, a art district and so many more activities. I only have 5 days, and I will make everything count.

Altogether we got a lot of stuff done today more than I can write; from 2 AM and three time changes, we got to Providence with plenty of time to waste. Now it is the end of the first day, and I was worried that 4 weeks was too much.