Oh The Air Travel

On April 17 the Geostudies class of 2012 left for Costa Rica and what better way to travel there than by plane. For one of the students in our class it was their first time flying, Emily, and for others is was their second or third; which is rather exciting. We left the Toronto airport at around 6:30 that morning after leaving our school at 3am and were headed towards Atlanta, our lay over stop, on the smallest airplane I have ever been on. It had 20 rows, 4 chairs in each row and 3 chairs in the first class rows. Needless to say our group took up over half the seats on the plane. Personally, I had not been on a plane in almost 3 years and had forgotten the odd occurance of your ears popping as the plane is taking off or the slight rush you get at the realization that you are no longer on the ground. I would have to say that at this point everyone was incredibly excited to be leaving, smiles galore. We had the fortune of taking off just as the sun was rising which made for some incredible sights once we were above the clouds. During the 2-3 hour flight everyone played cards, talked, or got what sleep they could possible manage. Everyone's hopes were high with the anticipation of the next 9 days ahead of them.  Once landed in Georgia we all went through the motions of the airport, surprisingly there wasn't many on this layover, and then we found the food court. Many took the time to indulge on the cheap American food there was to offer, others took use of the facilities but eventually we all ended up at the same place, the gate, where we waited with even more eager anticipation for our next flight that would bring us to our destination. During our wait most of the class was transfixed by the garbage cans there that would grumble and moan after objects were dispensed in it, but after a quick look most moans the trash in the can seemed unchanged. Most of us were perplexed by what the noise was, and we never did end up finding out what it was doing. At the gate a few ladies took noticed of two incredibly attractive young men also waiting at our gate, who I later managed to get a picture with. After some time waiting it was finally time to board our next plane. Fortunately this plane was comparably larger than the last plane we took and it was much comfier. With my good fortune and being at the bottom of the class list I got a whole row of 3 seats to myself, Simms later joined me and we, along with Abby and Phillips, played a dice game Simms taught us. Many on the plane enjoyed Sherlock Holmes II and before we knew it we were landed, through customs and on a bus with the newly acquainted Horge, bound for Eco Arenal and the beginning of our adventure. After a jam packed 9 days the class returned to the Liberia airport to board our second last flight home. We made it through customs okay and waited patiently for our flight. Again, some of the ladies spotted a very attractive young man and his brother. We all boarded the plane and after a minute or two I became acquainted with the boy, who I would apparently be sitting beside for the whole flight; the ladies were quite envious. His name was Devon and beside him sat a very nice woman named Jamie and I had the pleasure of conversing with them the whole flight. We talked about Canada and the States, comparing the two when it came to school and weather, politics and money, and everything else under the sun. In all honesty I could not really tell you how the flight went since I was far to caught up in my conversations with my seat buddies. Although I could tell you they played the new mission impossible movie and everyone seemed quite content enjoying the ride or filling out our little green pieces of paper with something to say for everyone who went on the trip. I also learned just how incredible the American passports our, I was so intrigued with the different pictures on each page and a meaningful quote, It almost puts ours to shame. With some slight turbulence, as we had on each of our flights, we were landed in Atlanta once again going through customs and waiting our turn in lines. Ironically after getting through customs we ran into Dylan and his mother Charlette Pratt, 2 intriguing people we befriended on our trip. After a final good-bye to them we went our separate ways. The class once again took advantage of the cheap American food and indulged to their hearts desire, let me be the first to say just how different the food is in comparison to Costa Rica and I'm not sure which I prefer. After that many did their last minute shopping, some taking advantage of the duty free and others checking out the souvenir shops. For the last time we waited at our gate to get home. Everyone had their envelopes lined up for the little green pieces of paper. After each was filled they were sealed for us to open after our flight. Finally, it was time to board our final flight home. It was almost a bitter sweet feeling, another chapter of our Geo lives coming to an end and yet still much to look forward to. On the last flight many played cards and just remissnessed  about the trip. We had a very social-able flight attendant who kept things interesting and before we knew it we had landed in Toronto. For the final time we made our way through customs and had our final Spanish countdown. We all went out to Terminal 3 to meet up with our parents and go our separate ways home. Upon leaving we were handed our little envelopes full of those little green pieces of paper and everyone headed home. It was an amazing trip with travels of all sorts and I wouldn't change a single thing about it.

-  Ann-Marie Traynor