I began the second half of my high school career by throwing myself into the unknown. That's right, I took a trip. Although I went with my class, it was the farthest distance I had ever traveled without my family. It was a cold, February morning when I awoke at the ungodly hour of three am to the obnoxious buzzing of my alarm. I reached for the alarm on my beside table, not looking where I was waving my hand, and knocked everything that was on it, over. What was today? I asked myself. Then it hit me. Today I would catch a 7:30 am flight to Miami, Fl, and a four-hour flight directly after that to San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica.
I was going to Central America today. I had been dreaming about this day for as long as I could remember. Finally being able to try my skills at an entirely different language than my own. Complete and utter freedom. That's what it felt like to me in the very moment I boarded the first of the two planes I'd be flying on that day. Finding my seat among my classmates (we had all gotten seats in the same section. After all, there were only fourteen of us total going on the trip.) Behind me sat three other people - a son, daughter, and a mother. I could not figure out the accent with which they spoke, but after several minutes of eves dropping, I'd discovered they were from New Zealand.
The flight to Miami wasn't horrible, but I was anxious to board the next and final plane to our ultimate and tropical destination.
After several hours sitting on the floor of the Miami airport with four games of spoons and two happy meals each behind us, our flight had begun calling passengers to board. The excitement of it all pulsated through my veins as I reached in my backpack for my plane ticket.
Handing it to the stewardess, I quickly found my seat. Although we were flying American Airlines the whole way down, this plane has a large middle section, in which the rows of seats were grouped into fives instead of twos. How lucky was I to be on a plane headed to one of the most beautiful and exotic destinations in the world, with some of my best friends to boot?
After four hours of card games, guessing games, a few rounds of "truth truth false", and one lady constantly complaining we were shaking the back of her seat with our incessant and uncontrollable giddiness, we had found ourselves circling over San Jose. Because the city is nestled in a valley and mountains surrounding it on all sides, the plane had to make quite the creative landing. Also because of the high altitudes and the air pressure among the mountains, the plane had to slowly fly down into San Jose in a circular motion, almost spiraling.
Looking out the window of the plane, however, I forgot all about what was happening around me, regardless of the slight turbulence due the pilot's improvised and rather creative landing. I was stunned by the breathtaking landscape, the way the green grass flowed over the sea of ice-capped mountains, while valley below shined bright with the lights of the inner city, some parts more dangerous than others, but still thrilling all the same.
I was going to Central America today. I had been dreaming about this day for as long as I could remember. Finally being able to try my skills at an entirely different language than my own. Complete and utter freedom. That's what it felt like to me in the very moment I boarded the first of the two planes I'd be flying on that day. Finding my seat among my classmates (we had all gotten seats in the same section. After all, there were only fourteen of us total going on the trip.) Behind me sat three other people - a son, daughter, and a mother. I could not figure out the accent with which they spoke, but after several minutes of eves dropping, I'd discovered they were from New Zealand.
The flight to Miami wasn't horrible, but I was anxious to board the next and final plane to our ultimate and tropical destination.
After several hours sitting on the floor of the Miami airport with four games of spoons and two happy meals each behind us, our flight had begun calling passengers to board. The excitement of it all pulsated through my veins as I reached in my backpack for my plane ticket.
Handing it to the stewardess, I quickly found my seat. Although we were flying American Airlines the whole way down, this plane has a large middle section, in which the rows of seats were grouped into fives instead of twos. How lucky was I to be on a plane headed to one of the most beautiful and exotic destinations in the world, with some of my best friends to boot?
After four hours of card games, guessing games, a few rounds of "truth truth false", and one lady constantly complaining we were shaking the back of her seat with our incessant and uncontrollable giddiness, we had found ourselves circling over San Jose. Because the city is nestled in a valley and mountains surrounding it on all sides, the plane had to make quite the creative landing. Also because of the high altitudes and the air pressure among the mountains, the plane had to slowly fly down into San Jose in a circular motion, almost spiraling.
Looking out the window of the plane, however, I forgot all about what was happening around me, regardless of the slight turbulence due the pilot's improvised and rather creative landing. I was stunned by the breathtaking landscape, the way the green grass flowed over the sea of ice-capped mountains, while valley below shined bright with the lights of the inner city, some parts more dangerous than others, but still thrilling all the same.