Peace Up, A-Town Down

Atlanta’s always hot!! Every time I hit the city I know I’m just going to get Southern loving. The people are just so warm. I touched down and searched for my next departure gate. I knew I wouldn’t have trouble finding the gate because the people are helpful. I found the international terminal without problems. I’d never been there before so I took in all the sights. The minute I hit the gates I saw some of the most beautiful children that I’d ever seen all in one place. Their features were so well defined. They were from all types of nationalities, Swedish, Australia, German, Asian, African, you name it and they were there. There were little children everywhere from babies fresh from the womb to those awkward teenage years. It wowed me because those kids looked like more experienced travelers than me. From my village the people usually don’t travel with small kids. But they were pros. One little auburn colored set of siblings, girl and boy, each lugged a small cartoon suitcase behind them and they kept up with their parents wherever they went, without the parents ever really have to look back. At my gate I sat alone near the wall with socket plugs and took in the scene. There were about ten people, each from different countries at the gate. A few minutes later I just wanted to stretch out and play computer games. Little did I know that later on the seating I choose would be valuable. There were not plugs everywhere. As time passed and the gate filled with hundreds of people, other passengers were searching hard for plugs to charge their gadgets. Though I needed the exercise, I stayed in my seat because I had brought three iPods, my Mac, iPhone, camera, and other little gadgets. I needed my plugs. I sat in my seat for hours too, adding layers as the temperature dropped. I didn’t even let hunger bother me. Or the rolling dark clouds in the windows. I made myself comfortable. My plane from Baton Rouge had just made it in by great timing because the clouds that I was watching grew darker. Then the rain came in and battered the windows and lightening danced in the skies. Officials closed the airport. It grew colder and my gate filled with more people. The rain turned off and on as the dark clouds switched positions with the light. As they did, several planes snuck in under the pillows and several were denied, left to fly around in the air. By then I’d been in the airport seven hours. I waited for Kell. We were supposed to leave at 9p. and time neared 7p. I’d called and called for Kell all day with no answer. We were meeting in Atlanta to travel to Dubai. Things were looking bleak but I didn’t worry. If she was stranded by the weather, then the plane to Dubai wasn’t getting up off the ground either. She probably couldn’t answer the phone. Sure enough, my heart always whispers the truth to me, she showed up with a huge grin on her face as she walked around the corner at 7:15. She told me she pleaded with the lady in Indiana to let her get on the last crowded plane before they grounded. She had to meet me. She made it! I wasn’t going to Dubai by myself. We sat and waited for 9. But the storms came again and delayed our Dubai plane, still no worry. For all I cared storms could have passed all night, my iPods were charged and we were going together.