disneyland and airline adventures

saturday, february 17

on saturday we went to the place where kids' dreams come true - disneyworld! we went to the magic kingdom, and although i thought i've seen the castle before i don't think i ever went to this particular one. so it was fun, and it was basically a way to relive my childhood.

during the long lines we played a game to pass the time - basically where you go around in a circle naming examples of a particular theme until you run out. and if it takes you more than 10 seconds, you're out. it is unexpectedly addicting and we went through a whole line playing one game, each time shuffling around in a group circle when the line would move. good topics include: countries, fruits, disney movies, animals, vegetables.

other highlights are: i went on a (small) rollercoaster, and we met mickey. i wish i had gotten video of alicia and erica rushing into the room and giving mickey a big hug. we were first in line so we had mickey's attention first, and made a big fuss about taking a group picture. in the meantime, all the little children had to stand in line and wait...muhahahah. but they got the last laugh because i freaked out before going onto the rollercoaster, designed for 5 year olds riding their first coaster. the second time was better because i knew what was coming and realized there was no huge drop. if you didn't realize, i have an insane phobia of rollercoasters that is slowly going away.

finally, at night it was the chinese new year, so we figured going to ming garden would be a good way to celebrate. plus, richard had gushed about their general gao's. when we got there, it was maybe 10:30, and they were in a HUGE rush to close, so they hurried our ass in ordering and brought the food out maybe 8 minutes after we placed orders. the portions were unexpectedly small though and we ended up all being somewhat hungry. but it was ok because all day we'd been eating junk food at disney.

sunday, feb 19

it was a bit more of a chill day this day because we had planned to sleep in. but at 3 AM erica calls, and tells me that jetBlue had called nathan, and had told him that all jetBlue flights were cancelled and they would not be able to fly anyone home until at least tuesday. this sent us into a panic and nathan into a shouting fit. we debated whether to get up at 7 to try to catch any standby flights possible...but decided to wait to see what jetBlue would tell nathan later.

at 6 AM, jetBlue calls alicia to say that her flight had been reinstated, but instead it was at 5:30 instead of 7:30. That was fine.

at 8 AM, erica calls me again so i could check on my computer to make sure jetBlue would still be running. that was ok, so they were still going to go to disney for the second day. i was offered the rest of their leftover ribs, but i didn't want to get up to get them from the lobby. now i wish i did.

so basically i got a good night's rest because i was so tired between each call that i fell asleep instantly, and basically had a long series of powernaps.

alicia and i spent the day in the local neighborhood. we went to ripley's, which was cool because of the point of view displays they had - a room that was so tilted that the pool table looked like the ball was rolling up the table, and a room with psychedelic spinning stars that made you lose all sense of up and down, as well as lose your balance and your lunch.

then we went to a chinese buffet - my dream for the last 4 months, and my dream for the next four because i don't think i'll be able to eat that much in one sitting again.

but the finale of this whole drama is that in the end, all was well. we went to the airport together because everyone's flight was at 5:30. after the jetBlue people checked in their bags, we decided to go down for one last look in the lost baggage section, and alicia suddenly saw her and dan's bags, that had JUST GOTTEN IN from boston in time to be shipped back with them on their return trip. so in the end we all had about an hour to eat some food and have a beer, and reflect on how hectic, yet satisfying, the whole weekend had been, before i left my boston crew again. until collegiates...stay warm and kick hard, tBos.