When I got to the airport Thursday I checked on my flight to see if the upgrade I requested had any chance of coming through. The gentleman at the counter was very kind, but replied “upgrade? Honey, we’re going to have to downgrade people.” The volcano had erupted the night before, and all flights to London were suspended. My flight to Chicago was meant to continue on to London, so they changed planes to avoid flying such a large one a relatively short distance. Unfortunately, that meant that nearly 20 people were left behind. I was not one of them however, and I made my way to Louisville and met Justin, who picked me up as he drove in from DC. We later picked up his girlfriend Vanessa, in on a later flight. We stayed over in Louisville and crashed at an airport hotel.

I had a great time in the Pacific Northwest, and a wonderful time at the wedding in Kentucky, both of which I’ll yammer on about later. Now I am here on the East Coast until at least next Monday, as my flight last night was cancelled due to the volcano. I’m super tired and running a bit low on clean clothes, but luckily I’m at my friend Justin’s place, and he has a washing machine! Tomorrow I’m taking a bus up to NYC so I can see some more of my friends, then heading back down here Sunday to catch (hopefully) a flight back to London Monday night. I have access to the interwebs, and have a copy of my thesis on a thumb drive, so I can even do some work. Which means I should get up and get moving – it looks lovely here today.

Plus, it could be so much worse. Yeah, I’m not really able to properly study this week, and yeah, my body is sort of stiff and exhausted from all the different forms of travel / sleeping accommodations, but at least I’m not stuck in an airport in a country where I don’t speak the language. At least I don’t have to pay $150/night to stay in a less than stellar airport hotel, or rely on food vouchers from an airline. And the best part is this reminder of what amazing and generous friends I have – putting me up in their homes, giving me their keys while they are out of town, and just generally offering whatever help they can. It’s pretty awesome, to say the least.