It is 5:26 a.m and Courtney and I have been sitting in the Luton Airport for about 2 and a half hours now after taking the 1 a.m National Express bus from Oxford. No, we did not choose to get here this early, it was just the only bus that would get us to the airport on time in order to make our flight to Barcelona at 7:45 a.m. We were the first people to get through security this morning and tried very hard to get comfortable on the hard benches that have a bar in between each seat in order to maybe catch a few hours of sleep before the terminal got packed with travelers. Courtney was lucky enough to get comfortable and fall asleep. Me on the other hand, I resorted so laying on the cold floor and trying to read my book wishing that I would fall asleep. Nope, didn’t happen. Waited until starbucks finally opened at 5 am so I could get a coffee and something to eat, to hopefully make the time go by a little faster. I was wrong, we still have 2 hours left which actually feels like about 10...
Backing up a little bit to right before we went through security, Courtney and I ran through a bit of a difficulty. We were told by one of our friends that has traveled using easyjet before that we were allowed to bring a carry on bag and a big purse. Of course, we found out that that was definitely not the case when we walked up to security. The lady would not let us through so Courtney and I were forced to walk back down the stairs and try to fit our gigantic purses inside of our backpacks. Being the typical girls that we are, we had already overpacked our backpacks and so we had to take out clothes and wear them through security over the t-shirts that we already had on. Also, thank goodness we were both wearing leggings because we were able to put our jeans on over them. We walked through securtiy looking like two huge people getting ready for a northeastern snowstorm. Of course looking back now an hour and a half later, we think it’s a bit funny, but at the time I was ready to pay 60 pounds and just check one of my bags. Thank goodness I didn’t do that!
I am actually surprised that the airport is as packed as it is for a Friday morning this early. There are loads of people trying to curl up on little chairs with their jackets and get some sleep, while others are reading magazines or books, and of course there are the select few couples that are trying to make the time pass by by simply gazing into each other’s eyes, snapping selfies on their iphones, and cuddling up as if there were no heat in the entire building.
I am always amazed to see how people dress when they are traveling by plane. I would think that everyone would like to be comfortable and wear something like leggings, or yoga pants, or sweatpants, with a t-shirt and sweatshirt on. Nope, but of course there are those girls that are dressed up in their tight little dresses or dress pants and their cute tops with heels on and their hair looking as if they had just walked out of a salon. I mean HELLO PEOPLE, isn’t it 5:30 in the morning?! The guys on the other hand, all seem to be wearing similar outfits. Jeans and a casual top with comfortable shoes. Unless they’re business men of course, then it’s the whole suit and dress shoes attire carrying their breifcase (or some call it a manbag).
I honestly have nothing better to do than observe the people around me, so that is exactly what I am going to blog about. The man sitting in front of me looks as if he is going traveling somewhere. Maybe staying in a hostel? He looks to be twice my age but he’s carrying a backpack with a waterbottle on the side. He’s reading a book, and pushing his glasses up about every few seconds when they start to slide down his nose. I wonder where he’s going... Maybe he’s going to visit someone? maybe a long lost lover? Or maybe he’s traveling somewhere to do some research. He seems like a pretty intelligent man, or maybe it’s just the glasses...
Another couple sitting right near the “intelligent man” look ready to go on a vacation together. The girl is one of the ones that I described earlier, all dressed up, carrying her starbucks coffee, and furry purse (that’s right, I did say furry purse, it looks as if she skinned her own cat to make it), while reading a woman’s health magazine. I wonder where these two could be going. Maybe to visit one of their parents? Maybe to go on a mini vacation just the two of them? They look to be only a few years older than me so I don’t think that they’re married, but they are definitely comfortable enough with each other to not have to be all over each other all the time. Sometimes I envy people that are in happy relationships, but then I remember “oh yeah! i’m abroad and beyond happy to be single!”
Right before Courtney and I left for the airport, we met up with my friend Paris that is originally from Oxford that I met out one night at Clems. I may have written about her in a previous blog but she is genuinely one of the sweetest people I have ever met. I feel as though it’s been pretty hard to meet international friends because I always seem to be around a huge group of girls that are really loud and, I can imagine, a bit intimidating. Yet, I managed to meet her and we just clicked right away. She talks about coming to America all of the time and traveling all the way across it. I love how she always asks me questions about America and where I think she should travel and what she should do. She answers all of my questions that I have about British people as well. She even introduced me to what the word “Posh” really means: people who have money but don’t typically show it off. It’s sort of the British way of saying “old money”. I feel like I am still learning something new every day that I’ve been abroad, and I can only imagine the amount of knowledge that I am going to gain just within the next 5 weeks!
No comments:
Post a Comment