Guadalajara, Mexic0

Current mood: thirsty

ATL/LAX/ GDL
So Guadalajara is a different breed of flights. I'm going to call it the West Palm Beach of the 3rd world countries. There were so many old souls on my flight. At this point I don't know what day it is without looking at my schedule. I don't know what time it is or what time zone I am on.

According to my rotation, we signed in for duty in Atlanta at 7:30pm and flew to Los Angeles at 8:30pm. 4 hours and 30 minute flight of people who are kind of crazy and we get to LA at 10 pm CA time. We get a 3 hour sit before having to take the next flight out to Guadalajara. I got in a little nap. As we walk upstairs to the gate we hear them making announcements for people who speak English over the age of 15 to volunteer to sit at the exit rows. This is a bad sign that they can't find 12 people who speak English.

I am the only Spanish speaker on the flight. As we board I look down the aisle to see people carrying their suitcases on their heads... Not just suitcases but boxes tied with strings, & trash bags full of clothes. I was halfway expecting to see chickens in cages on their heads. Some bags were too big and I told them I’d have to check them or put them in the closet if there wasn't enough space... They put it on their laps and asked to carry it like that... umm not gonna work. They put it on the floor and put their feet on it... again... not gonna work. I finally convinced them that I wouldn't loose their bag and found space for it in the closet.

Everyone was in the wrong chairs. I had to maneuver them all around which wasn't easy cause they don't move around very fast. I was tired before we ever left the ground. The rest of the flight was easy except for the part I dreaded which was passing out the immigration and customs forms. No one ever knows what nationality they are and a lot of them don't know how to read and write. I just cannot physically fill out all those forms for them all... So we managed the best way we could since I was the only Spanish speaker... We landed at 6:20 am. It's 7:20am Atlanta time, which means I worked for 12 hours. We finally got to the hotel and I started some good old 90210 re-runs... which makes me think of my friend Bri. Ha! I’m going to bed until 1pm and then head out for lunch and some shopping in Mexico! :) I'll be back in the US tomorrow.

I went to lunch with my crew and that's when I found out that Whitney Houston had been on our flight from Atlanta to LA. GOSH! I wish I woulda known that before. I used to love her. Well the girl has some pipes but she really has gone down hill just like Mariah. Two extremely talented people that just can't keep it together... Anyways... I did a little shopping... picked up a little something for the mister and went to the pool with one of my crew members that was Italian. We had the best talks and we swam on the roof top pool. I met a girl from Chile... which is rare cause I never find Chileans anywhere but Chile. :) She was really nice. I fell asleep by the pool cause the lounge chair outside was way more comfortable to that thing in my room that they are calling a bed.

I have a really hard time understanding why very expensive hotels don’t have complimentary wi-fi. Because I still manage myspaces it's mandatory I have wi-fi and in these fancy hotels it costs me $15-$17 for the day! Seriously?! Holiday Inn and Quality Inn down the street are offering it for free. I just don't get it. I’m just gonna have to put that expensive internet into my budget. Stupid.

On the flight back to LA the old people had multiplied and so did the number of people who couldn't read or write... or even know what nationality they were. I don't know if this was right but I just started asking them to what country they pay their taxes to... that seemed to help a little... One particularly baffling old man couldn't read or write... or he was just lazy because I asked him his address in California and he pulled out his CA drivers license... I was trying to hold in my emotions when I saw that... How the HECK did he get a license in Cali if he can't read or write? I hope he was just lazy or I'm completely baffled by our system in the United States.

We survived that flight with about 30-45 minutes rest before we got on the 767 heading to Atlanta. We were so tired. No one got good rest because of the beds and because of the kids that had ran up and down all the halls on every floor about midnight. This time on the LA-ATL flight I learned to ask in advance if there were any famous people in first class... my flight leader said there was and she whispered "Hal Holbrook"... who the heck is that?! I IMDBed him.. yes I just made that a verb... here is what I found... now he does look familiar: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001358/

Anyways... I was in the back galley and the cupboard door was open and I leaned to get something out of my bag and came up with such a force that when I hit the corner of the metal tipped cupboard I knocked myself backwards and almost passed out. I was almost in tears... I have a unicorn sized lump coming out the front of my forehead now ... thank the Lord for bangs! I worked for 12 hours with very little sleep or sit time... so my ankle is really screwed up. I'm glad for my break in the ville coming up so I can try and rest it by the pool in between packing. :)

I'm in San Antonio today but tomorrow I go to Puerto Rico. My little flight attendant video is doing pretty good on youtube... I have almost 300 plays... funny stuff! More adventures to come... :)