Success!

 We made it!


We left my parent's house at 11:30am on Monday, July 12, and we landed in Montevideo at 12am local time (which is 8pm PST). So, 32.5 hours later, we arrived. Every step was surprisingly easy. I was worried that Pangborn Airport would be overwhelmed with our bags, all 14, but they were excited to help me tag and get them all sorted out. They didn't seem surprised that we were taking 3 bikes with us! Whew! A short layover (and no lounge access, boo) in Seattle, then to LA where we had a 7 hour layover. I don't recommend this. But the lounge was generous, and let us stay even without boarding passes (which we couldn't get because of 7 hour layover..) because the sweet young woman manning the desk mainly felt sorry for us. Rob and Marieka were able to sleep relatively well on the airport floor, me, well, not so much but it was helpful to have Mei Mei snuggling in between Marieka and I. I don't wish airport sleep on anyone. Only makes you love Incheon in Seoul even more (sleep pods and sleeping rooms throughtout the airport!). 

We got on the Copa flight to Panama City at 1:15 am and just like Sarah, my Alaska Air pilot friend said, the 737 Max was really a good ride. No movies, but really we needed to sleep anyway and all of us got some. We landed in Panama at 10am local time and whew, found a lounge that we could park ourselves at for 4 hours. Rob did his IB training, and M and I tried to coax MM to pee on a piddle pad in a family bathroom (no pet rest area in PTY, fyi). No luck but she was happy to cruise around the airport on the leash. As we suspected, she was a popular sight with her pony tails, and good attitude. 

The final flight, from Panama City to Montevideo was on a newer (or at least a better set up plane) with MOVIES! Hooray! I was able to watch Blinded by the Light, which I absolutely love, and the Sun is Also a Star (great book) and a not recommended but still compelling Robert de Niro "The Intern." I dozed while M and R got a ton of sleep. Those two...

But the best part of the trip was definitely MeiMei escaping on flight 4 from her carry on bag and walking down the aisle right in front of the flight attendent giving safety instructions. She was such a pro, it didn't phase her, and I quickly swooped her up, embarrassed, but with my seatmates laughing at the silliness of it!

We landed and met the Director of the school Matt, his wife (and the amazing person to help us get all of our paperwork in order to arrive!) Julie and our coworker Zach, who sadly was on crutches with a recently torn Achilles tendon. We are staying at a beautiful and seemingly historic bed and breakfast in the attic room and it is amazing to look out our windows and see the river in the distance. I love that this is a neighborhood, with tile roofs and palm trees, a bit different than the Chinese mega apartments that we became used to. Here are some quick shots of our first hours. We are doing great. Rob is in an IB training (I am not sure how his brain is actually working, but good on him), MM is curled in a ball, happy to be off the plane, and Marieka is practicing her Spanish on Duolingo. So far, so good.

Backyard of the lovely bed and breakfast


A rare picture of Marieka and I on our final plane!

Mei Mei isn't sure what to think of this crazy thing we are doing.




Comments

  1. dancing for funJuly 14, 2021 at 7:56 PM

    Thanks for all the information. Mei Mei will do just fine as long as her people are enjoying themselves. I so wish I could live part of that life, but not this time around I guess. Please keep all of us stateside people informed as to how everyone is doing. It was very nice that a school associate met you when you landed. Hug, Aunt Phyllis

    ReplyDelete
  2. StacyJuly 14, 2021 at 9:27 PM

    Thanks for the update! Here’s to catching up on your sleep soon. I cannot sleep in weird places either.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Simone GrantJuly 18, 2021 at 7:52 PM

    I love reading all about your adventures!!! Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete

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