From Georgia 1

So the plane didn't crash and nobody died (unless they kept it a secret). I managed my first ever flight by myself. Woohoo! Delta has this video about the safety procedures instead of a live demonstration, which I found less helpful. I was paying more attention to the woman with botox lips than I was to what she was saying.

The seats were terribly uncomfortable, and it took me forever to figure out how to recline the seat (I always seem to have this problem), but since I hadn't slept at ALL the night before I still managed to sleep. Fitfully, but I did sleep. My arm fell asleep three times, my butt and tail bone complained constantly, and my neck probably didn't like being contorted while my head tried to find a decent place to rest. The only reason I really know that I slept at all is because I listened to my mp3 (well, Mom's, but still), which plays songs in alphabetical order. I went from listening to A songs, to D, to around L.

Things got a little turbulent after a while, but I don't really mind it; I find it helps me sleep. Maybe reminiscent of my childhood, being rocked to sleep?



After I woke up, we were about 30 minutes away from Atlanta. The clouds were amazing; I'd forgotten what it's like to view the clouds from such a close distance. Like if you reached out to touch them, they really would be solid, or at least thick, maybe like running your hand through pudding without getting your fingers full of clumpy chocolate goo. They were like big, white clumps of clay that were waiting to be formed, but clay that is so light and porous that you barely have to squeeze for it to conform to the shape of your fist.



Following the landing, one of the stewardesses was giving the whole “Thank you for choosing this airline” shpeel, and managed to say “We hope you enjoy your stay in San Francisco.”

Wait.

Didn't we just LEAVE San Francisco?

Why did we just make a circle?!

(I was the only one giggling at the mistake.)

Atlanta airport is rad for one single reason: the tram. Because the damn thing is so long, they have a tram that whizzes around to the different areas. If Kitty hadn't warned me how fast it takes off, I probably would have ended up on my ass. I stared in bemused wonder at the guy who was just chillin' in the center of the tram, not holding onto anything, just reading a newspaper. He must be used to it. I could have ridden the tram for days though; they should rename it rocket blasters and charge a dollar for admission, hehe.

Kitty had already told me that she would be wearing a hot pink shirt and holding many colorful items to greet me with. Therefore it wasn't a terrible chore to attempt to find her. Remember all those movies where two characters are reunited and there's the cheesy music combined with slow motion running? It was like that, except there was an addition of an Elmo mylar balloon, a bouquet of paper flowers, and a very colorful, patterned, elephant. She and I spotted each other, broke out in huge grins and started half-running (it's dreadfully hard to run in the middle of a crowded airport) towards each other. We each fell on the other person in a squeal-y hug, probably jumping a little in excitement. The people around us were adorable; one woman was grinning and waving her camera: “You need a camera to take a picture!”


Me 'n Elmo!


Elephant!

After the whole luggage-obtaining, making-it-out-of-the-airport thing, Kitty, her boyfriend's mom, and I stopped in Atlanta for lunch. Found a Thai restaurant with pretty good fried spicy tofu and reeeally tasty green beans. Then, a few minutes of sight-seeing (for me) and getting lost (for them), we managed to escape the clutches of the city (which, by the way, looks like a hybrid of Sacramento and San Francisco). I fell asleep somewhere along the way (big surprise).




City Hall (I think)





This morning I'm still very tired, but I'm doing okay with the time change. It just feels like it IS really 11am, and whenever I remember that it's 8am at home, it just seems silly! I'm not entirely sure what's planned for today besides grocery shopping. I do know tomorrow may end up with us making a tour through downtown Athens and general silliness.

Well, most of the two weeks will be general silliness, but that's an entirely different story.