I was supposed to be back in Honduras by now. Unfortunately, I went to the airport on Monday night through a crazy storm. When I got there the line at customer service was already insanely long and people were settled in for the long-haul, stretched out along the walls of the concourse. My flight was set to leave at 10 pm, take me to Houston by 1:16 a.m., and leave for Honduras at 9 a.m.
The cable went out at about 9 p.m. Then the flight to St Louis that was leaving out of the same gate as mine got pushed back from 8:30 to 10 p.m. Then my flight got pushed back to 11:17. I knew I was going to be waiting in that customer service line too. It was getting later and later. One friend offered to come and get me, but his voice sounded exhausted on the phone and it would be a long drive for him.
I purposely left the phone I use in North America at my Mother's house so I had no phone. Several people were nice and let me borrow theirs. One by one their flights were cancelled. Finally mine was too.
The lady at customer service convinced me that the forecast was the same for the next three days. My Mom had been talking about it too, I recalled. I was advised to get to Houston ASAP or wait out the storm. The problem was if I went to Houston on the flight she suggested the next morning, I would get there one minute before the last flight to Honduras. Obviously I would not make the connection for the Honduras flight and I would be stuck in Houston with no luggage for 24 hours.
When I originally moved to Honduras my luggage was lost for 8 days. Not taking a chance on that happening again. If I didn't re-claim my baggage immediately it would go to Honduras and sit there until I arrived. Which meant if I did ever see my luggage, it could be empty suitcases.
The weather report on the customer service lady's phone looked consistently bad for 2 more days, so I decided rather than trying to find another ride to the airport just to have another flight cancelled, I claim my luggage and stay until the storm passed.
So here I am. Day 30 in the US. When I made plans to be in the US for 28 days, it felt like too much. But those first 28 went by quickly. Now I am anxious to get back to my home and my cat and my day to day life. The good thing about these extra three days is that I finally have time to relax. I was running around literally until I left to get on the plane. Yesterday I napped and watched soccer on tv. Today I may go to the pool and nap some more. Tonight I get to babysit my nephews again - fun! Tomorrow night at 10 p.m. I hope to get on the plane for Houston and head back to Honduras.
