4:55 am: Ruben’s internal body clock goes off and wakes us both up
5:00 am: Lauren’s watch alarm rings.
5:20 am: The desk finally calls us with the 5am wake up call we had placed the night before.
5:30 am: We paid for the room, and caught the taxi to the airport. Finally found out why the taxis cost more going to the airport than coming home – the drivers are allowed to charge for the time they wait for us at the hotel.
6:20 am: We are checked in and waiting for the boarding call. Ruben snoozes and snores.
7:20 am: Boarded the ATR back to San Juan
10:00 am: We arrive San Juan. Yeah! Spanish and English again. The customs agent looked a lot like a cute, Hispanic Wilford Brimley and spoke to us in Spanish. He also laughed at Ruben’s Mexican accent, calling it "Indian." He also called Ruben "un suerte cochino" – or lucky pig (like lucky dog in the US).
11:40 am: We boarded the DC 10 to Dallas/Ft. Worth . We contemplated being bumped and going through Chicago, but we would have gotten in at 9pm Seattle time. We figured that was kind of late and we had friends who were going to pick us up. "Lunch" on the flight (if you could call it that) was just terrible. The seating was just tiny – I’m 5’7" and I didn’t feel like I fit at all. To top it off, I had a cramp in my back that just wouldn’t go away. And what’s worse, we were so far back that I couldn’t see the screen. I think the movie (As Good As it Gets) would have been a good distraction, even though they charge $5 for the headphones (why they can’t include that in the price of the $1000 ticket, I don’t know, it’s so stupid).
2:30 pm Dallas time: We arrive at the airport, and walk to the new gate. Eventually we buy a salad and some pizza to replace the "lunch" we didn’t eat on the plane. It feels weird after a week of hearing things I couldn’t understand to understand the conversations around me.
3:43 pm: We board the flight to Seattle I never thought the seating on a MD-80 would feel luxurious, but it felt so big after the seats on the DC-10
Approximately 6pm Seattle time: Arrive in Seattle and Erik picks us up.