Going home!

I love my travels, but its always good to get home, regardless of the chaos I'm heading back to. The trip home started with a 3:30am alarm, that I beat by 20 minutes. I think I'm so afraid that I will over sleep, that I way under sleep. I met Tom and Sara in the lobby at 4am for the trip to the airport. There were predictions of snow in the El Paso area, if you can believe it, but when I got down to the lobby I was pleased to see no white on the ground. It was cold, but I didn't have to scrape the windows or anything. We had great weather all week, in fact, it didn't get cold until we were in line to cross the border back into El Paso on Friday. A cold front came in that dropped the temp by about 20 degrees in about an hour. The check in went well at the airport, but I noticed something that would again raise a question later in the day. What I saw was the counter guy asking a guy, who didn't speak very good English, if he was willing to follow all commands and operate the emergency door, if necessary. He eventually agreed, but I was a little skeptical that he fully understood the question. We boarded our first plane to the Denver/Salt Lake City airport (If you read about my trip down to El Paso, that makes since, if not, you think I'm drunk). The first flight was uneventful, other than the gate ticket guy telling one of the passengers to "try and smile, seeing as how you are in the flight attendant training program." She seem a little stunned by this comment, but didn't change her face, so I'm sure she will be the employee of the month soon for United Airlines. We landed and went right for the breakfast place we had found on our trip down. They have a big breakfast sandwich, bagel, egg, ham, and cheese. We boarded our plane for the last leg home. When I got to my seat, the seat next to me was open, so I was excited for about 4 seconds until the Chinese couple that walked passed me, stirred the man in their seat one row back. Johnny Wrong Seat moved from behind me to right next to me, which is significant soon. Now the Chinese couple just sits in their seats, when the flight attendant walks up and says, "You are seated in an exit row, are you willing to follow all commands and operate the emergency door?" To that, I could "hear" blank stares. The flight attendant asked again, and I'm guessing by her tone on the third time, that she got the same response as the first, on the second. The lady of the couple finally said yes, but the man said no. I think the attendant was stunned, maybe she had never gotten that response before. She asked the man again, and he said no again. She told them they needed to get up and move so she could find someone who was willing. Luckily, another couple volunteered and the seating was settled with no blood shed but a little snickering. Here is the question that came to my mind, which I'm guessing you can see coming. Why do they seat people in the exit row that can't speak English? This questions goes for other airlines that are run by people who speak other languages. If I happen to get in an Air France plane, I don't speak the language, so I won't be offended if they don't put me in the exit row. I will say, however, that if I'm in an Air France plane, and it crashes, and I survive the crash, if there isn't a gaping hole in which to flee, I'll get the damn door open, French, Russian, Spanish, no matter. I just pray to God that I don't do a George Castanza and knock old women and children over to get out. That will look bad at the Pearly Gates. Now back to Johnny Wrong Seat. He has settled into his seat next to me and we take off. Now its time to relax, so he decides to recline the 2 inches they give you, so he can be comfortable. We all know that reclining 2 inches is the difference in being miserable and comfortable. If you remember, we are in the row right in front of the exit row, which if you travel, you know, doesn't recline at all. Johnny has now began pushing the button and slamming his back into his seat with such a force, I'm scared to tell him it doesn't recline, I'll leave it to a trained professional. As he is pushing the back of his chair as hard as he can, he is using the seat in front of him as a brace. As he repeatedly does the out stroke of an according trying to recline, he isn't moving his seat, but is throwing the guy in front of him forward about 4 or 5 inches with every thrust. I swear I was so close to pissing my pants, but I couldn't laugh out loud for fear that this guy would snap. I've heard of people who snap on airplanes, including screaming, cussing and doing unspeakable things on the drink cart. He finally gives up. He then shifts his attention to the drink cart which is on its way down the isle. He puts down his tray and I can see in his body language, he is getting in a happy place. The cart is about 10 rows in front of us, so I just hope he can hold out. When the attendant finally gets to us, he excitedly says he wants a something and Kahlua. "I don't have any Kahlua" I hear the soon to be dead attendant say. OH SHIT, this guy is gonna snap and I am sitting way to close to him for this to be fun. He sits in silence as the lady looks through the cart for Kahlua. I want to tell her to either find one, something close, or move me, cause I'm scared. She finds nothing and their is silence next to me. I wasn't sure if he was crying, steaming or plotting his jump over the seat and opening the door the Chinese couple refused to open. He finally says "Water then," but in an angry voice that I can't convey with words. He then begins the herky jerky with the seat again and asks, "Is this seat broken." She tells him, no, that it doesn't recline, and he says "PERFECT." Now I'm really scared because he will be sober for the rest of the flight and in an uncomfortable position. He asks for a water, downs it in 2 seconds and tosses the bottle on the floor. Then he tries to get comfortable by sticking his knees up as high as he can on the seat in front of him, again giving that guy a ride like a mechanical bull. All settles down and he either goes to sleep or just starts plotting in silence. Why do people get so angry on airplanes? If you get bumped or delayed, I see that you get a little upset, but Charlie Manson snapped like a do-wop group from the 60's.(I changed his name after the spaz out session) Anyway, I get home and Marcy, Michelle and the boys are at the airport to welcome me home. I stop at McDonalds to get some junk food, since other than the chili slaw dog, I have eaten pretty healthy all week, healthy for me anyway. I get home and I'm told I have to go in the basement, but blind folded. This all sounded like fun, but Marcy said the boys were coming too, so any fantasy I was having is now out of the question. I stumble down the stairs and get to the middle of the family room and they take off the blind fold. Now I have had surprises, but this topped it all. All of the drywall was hung. To say it wasn't that way when I left is an under statement. It turns out, my friends from my small group came over and put it up. Its a lot of work, so I was really thankful, and like I said, really surprised. I'm working on getting thank yous out, but I'm slow, as usual.

So that is another year in Juarez, my fourth, but not my last. I plan on going every year, for as long as I can. I hope the group I have now gone with for 3 years is there with me every year, because they are part of what makes this trip so good. I wish I was a better writer so I could convey the life of the people, but I hope this gives you a little glimpse. I'm open to any and all questions, because my friends can tell you, I LOVE to talk about my trips, so fire away if you want.