How do you start to describe a day that has had no beginning? I will try my best to describe this bizarre situation, in which my fellow Cornellians and I have endured. Formally a day begins at 12:00 AM, so this is where I will pick up my blog.
As the clock’s hand struck midnight, we were still wondering when our supposable flight was to board. About 45 minutes later we were relieved to find out that our plane was about to board. As we went to get our boarding passes scanned, each and every one of our tickets was denied. Come to find out we had two different plane numbers on our itineraries and actual tickets, and hence we missed our plane. So waiting for over six grueling hours for our plane, was for no good cause because we were at the wrong flight. As our heads hung low and our faces full of disappointment, we still had no clue as of what was in store for us.
While our chaperones frantically searched for any available flights in the near future, all of us students proceeded to call our parents for support and possible help. Some parents were frantic, yet helpful, others were nonchalant, and calm. We were unable to find any flights whatsoever, and so our chaperones advised us to sleep on the airport floors, benches, or chairs. I tried my best to fall asleep, but nothing seemed to work. I decided that it wouldn’t hurt to stay up all night just one time. We laid, and talked on the hard, cold airport floor for hours. But because of my great support system of my family, friends, and chaperones, I was able to endure that horrid night.
The hour hand on the clock continued to run, and my body would not fall asleep. But just when all seemed lost, Mr. Ramsey came with joyful news that we had gotten plane tickets for Hartford, Connecticut. This made us all very happy but it was still 2 AM, and we had not gotten any sleep in almost 24 hours. We called every local hotel, but none had any vacancies. We finally contacted the Hilton, and their first available room was at 6 AM. Great for us, we only had to wait another four hours to get some rest. One of the chaperones suggested that we go to the Hilton earlier than 6, and maybe the Hilton staff would feel bad for us and sneak us into a room. But with the all the great luck we were having this plan failed. We did wait about three hours in the hotel’s lobby before we had an early breakfast at around 6:15.
Finally our rooms were ready after breakfast, and we happily went to get some much needed rest. Because of our late reservation at the hotel, only two rooms were available. Also because there was a surplus of males in our group, two of the five males would have to stay behind to receive a room at a later time. We all rested for about five hours, next we were off, back to the airport to catch our 4 PM flight.
Lucky for us, there were no further complications regarding our travel. We boarded the plane in a timely fashion, and landed safely in Hartford, Connecticut. Because Hartford is approximately 4 hours away (driving distance) we boarded a shuttle to pick up our two rental cars. We divided ourselves into two teams, team Kaplan, and team Ramsey. I had the pleasure of riding with team Kaplan, which included Mrs. Kaplan of course, Wing (Dyana), Jackie, and Chris. We had a pleasurable ride filled with laughs, jokes and periodic singing. We all stopped for a quick bite to eat, use the restrooms, and relax. We jumped right back on the road, and finally arrived in Syracuse, New York at approximately 1:20 AM
Great news and luck began to follow us. Our luggage was sent from the airport, directly to our hotel. I finally have a new pair of clothes to wear! The best part of today for me was sharing great moments with my support system, my fellow Cornellians, chaperones, and distant family. I can’t wait to see all the great attractions and experiences New York has to offer us!
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