I awoke to a warm Arizona morning. It was 9am and I had precisely two hours to pack before I needed to leave for the airport. Perhaps a little last minute, but I guess that I was still in denial that I would be living in Italy for the next seven weeks. I threw on my clothes and began tossing things into my suitcase. I couldn't even have told you when I finished what I had packed, but I knew the basics were covered- I figured whatever I left I could pick up in Italy- its not like it was going to be a third world country right?
My brother dropped me off at the airport at 12:30pm. My plane boarded at 1:30pm. When it comes to airports I'm ridiculously lucky and I was at my gate no later than 12:50pm. There I greeted my fellow traveler, Miss Lori Davis, and we grabbed our last american lunch before we began our journey. Technically I guess the road to Florence began in Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, but I'm going to start in Chicago. We arrived in Chicago around 8pm and we raced to our next gate, B18. Thirty minutes later we began to board. As we walked through the portal we compared our assigned seats. We exchanged words of disappointment that we weren't sitting together, but I was comforted by the fact that my seat was in the front of the economy section. :) I took my seat in 6B and right off I knew this would be a great flight. First there were unlimited movies-plus, then I found out I would be fed two three course meals-double plus-following this a gorgeous Italian man who resembled George Clooney sat by me -Triple Plus-- Life was looking pretty amazing. Of course nothing can be perfect. Ten minutes later a woman sat beside him- his wife- negative for me--but that leaves two pluses. Not to mention, in a few hours I'd be engulfed by a world swarming with Italian men. Now it is typical for me to sleep through flights. I pride myself on this talent and it is the fastest way to pass time, however I decided to watch a movie. I plugged in my headphones, selected "Twilight" (not the worst decision of my life but not the best- I won't go into this right now). There was a thunderstorm that night in Chicago and we were grounded for 1hr and 30 minutes. I watched most the movie and so during the last ten minutes the plane began speeding down the runway and lifted into the air. My attention was not on the the movie anymore. My head was spinning out of control and my stomach was about to follow suite. I got cold and my chest tightened-I couldn't breathe sitting up so I held my ribs and put my head between my legs. We were completely in the air but the turbulence continued. I felt like the biggest wimp. I've never gotten sick in planes! I'm a healthy human being! Every timed the plane bounced my stomach lurched. The turbulance continued . I had been curled up for twenty minutes, and if I didn't get to the restroom, my lunch was about to make a public debut. Despite the flashing seat belt lights, I unbuckled mine and jetted for the restroom. I got to the door and the attendent jumped in from of the bathroom and told me to get back to my seat. I couldn't say anything back. I just shook my head and tried to get her to step aside. She kept talking, and saying things, but her words as well as everything around me soon became twisted, turned into haze ,and then it all went black. I woke up on the plane floor surrounded by 5 flight attendents. A complete embarrassment. This was a blow to my pride. My stamina failed me. A woman moved and oxygen mask up to my face and I meant to push it away but my arm wouldn't move. I had no choice but to cooperate. I felt like I had just aged 80 years. A few minutes passed and I was able to sit up. I tried removing the mask a few times but then I would start losing consciousness again. It couldn't get any worse. And it didn't. I would soon realize that my feebleness was a blessing when an attendent upgraded me to first class. It was amazing. The seats go perfectly flat! Not to mention I could eat anything I wanted anytime, I got a feather pillow to sleep on and one amazing comforter. I was living the high life and feeling much better. The only down side was that they insisted I keep the oxygen mask on but I figured that it wasn't kind of cool that I wasn't breathing the same air as the rest of the 'commoners' on the plane.-- Just kidding. So we arrived at Munich. When we landed the attendent assured me that we had a "rough flight" and I probably just reacted badly. I assumed the same thing. I thought it was an unusual occurence. Wrong. I tried staying awake on the flight to Florence, (which we originally missed and had to catch the next flight but whatever , no stress) but the same thing happened! I'm a weakling on planes! Its true. Apparently I get really bad altitude sickness--I just never knew it cause I always slept through it! It happened again when we hiked to this mountain today.
My friends, family, loved ones, do not cry for me. Through my weakness, I'll gain strength.I guess its just one of those things that happens when you become well beyond your years. As a of April 26, I became a woman of 21 and I felt my youth fleeting away and being exchanged with a well of wisdom. Indeed this is my burden to bare. Some of you will sympathize, for I know many of you are past your youth too. Some of you may laugh at my feebleness, and my inability to endure, however if ever you fly with me, you can be garanteed that you won't be flying economy. ;)
