What a trip it has been so far! I made it from Indianapolis to Charlotte to Miami with no problems, but that is where the fun began. I had planned to stay in the airport overnight to save money since I had a morning flight out, but as soon as I landed in Miami I noticed on the departures board that my flight (flight 1516) was delayed twelve hours! After being put on hold and disconnected twice with the airline I decided it would be best just to get a room somewhere for the night to figure things out. Naturally, I booked the cheapest room I could find with a free shuttle to the airport. The Runway Inn... Let's just say I got to my room as quick as possible to lock myself in but the lock was broken. It wasn't exactly a Hilton. Just preparing me for living in South America, I suppose.
After finally talking to Stephanie and figuring out our flight information together, we decided our flight was in fact not delayed. Who knew there were three flights with the exact same number? Maybe not the best system but what do I know. So Monday morning I met Stephanie at the airport and we got in line for our flight. After a two hour wait, we got checked in but found out that our connection from Caracas to Quito had been cancelled. No explanation, just cancelled. We could have been really upset about it and complained a lot but where would that get us with a Latin American airline? Nowhere. So off to Caracas for the night. Might as well enjoy a new city when you get the chance. At least that's how our adventurous spirits thought of it.
We arrived in Caracas around 2:30pm, waited in line at customs and immigration, got some help from a person who worked at the airport and before we knew it we were off to Catimar Hotel a few minutes from the airport. It's not the nicest hotel I've ever been in but there is free Wi-Fi, air conditioning, a bar, and a restaurant, and it's located right across from the beach. And really, what more could we ask for for an overnight stay?
We explored for a bit and found that there wasn't much to see... By the way, we are not actually in Caracas. We are outside of the city in some small town that neither of us have been able to understand the name of. So we went to the bar to have a few drinks before dinner and sat next to a Venezuelan man who was eager to chat and gave us some good practice with our Spanish. Mine is pretty rusty so Stephanie helped with some translations when I needed it. I'm so glad I have had someone to help me through this! She continues to remind me that the practice is important and I can't worry about making mistakes. I'll get there but it usually takes a little time for me to warm up to it again. Even after a few hours I can already tell that things are coming back to me. I can't wait to see where my Spanish is in a few months!
For now, we're in our room pecking away at our computers. We haven't made the break from technology quite yet. We're planning on some good fresh seafood for dinner soon. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but with any luck we'll be landing in Ecuador, our new home, in about 24 hours. Anyway,the adventure so far just getting there has been a story in itself and that's one of my favorite things about these trips. You never know exactly what will happen but everything seems to work itself out and if nothing else at least I have a good story to tell later. ¡Hasta pronto!
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