Bienvenidos a Miami ...

Well day 1 of traveling started out well enough ... I managed to pack exactly 49.5 lbs per suitcase and get away with bringing three carry ons : )

Apparently my good luck stopped at security because once we boarded the plane (tiny, three seats across) we sat on the tarmac for over two hours. It ended up that I would wait four hours in total before I got back on a flight to Miami. Having found out that my connection to Santiago was cancelled I was very nervous about spending the next 24 hours in Miami before the next flight.

It turned out to be nice to spend the night in a big bed (covered by travel insurance) and I spent the entire next day at a gigantic mall. I saw a movie, got a haircut, and went into every store twice. Now I'm heading back to the airport to try again. The reason for the cancellation was allegedly weather - I even had a supervisor of American Airlines tell me there was snow on the ground in Santiago which is absurd -- it was 55 degrees. (Good thing too because I talked myself out of bringing my snow boots!)

It's amazing how bilingual Miami is. Every single person in the mall today - without a doubt - spoke spanish. I saw postings in windows which required applicants to be bilingual, and was asked in spanish at a shoe store if I needed help. It would have been nice to have been able to get to the beach, but being around all that language was a nice introduction to the reality of the next six months. eek! Maybe on my next trip through I'll ask my questions in spanish also ...

All for now, wish me luck for the next flight!