emae is the black hole of travel. a day at the airport.

i started writing this whole story out, but i got hand cramps and it was just too long.

so here is how my friday went in short hand:

1. got to the airport to check in for my flight at 1:00. had called twice before to make sure the flight was going (as it was raining for the first time in over a week and sometimes flights do not go to emae when it is raining. seriously.)

2. Sat for 20 minutes reading before i realized i forgot the MEAT i got for matt (yes, he and i are now 0-2 on remembering the meat. i do not want to talk about it).

3. figured 45 minutes was enough time to get the meat and back to the airport (about a 7 minute trip both ways).

4. called matt to let him know "i might miss my flight" because it took longer to get the meat than expected... ("why didn't you just leave the meat??" he inquired, laughing, "because i knew you really wanted it!", i replied frantically). i haven't felt so american in a long time...the bus driver thought i was nuts.

5. made it to the airport five minutes before my flight is supposed to leave. run into my friend louisa, she's on the same flight. it hasn't left yet. wheeew.

6. call matt. laugh.

7. wait for TWO hours (rain delay or something).

8. hear the flight is cancelled. call matt and tell him such.

9. hear the flight is not cancelled. repeat.

10. get onto the plane. get to emae island. circle emae island. head back to port vila.

11. okay, at this point, i am losing my mind...the weather was miserable and made the tiny plane worse than a rollercoaster. i spent the twenty minutes back to port vila convincing myself NOT to vomit and that there must have been a really good reason that we weren't able to land. like safety. and my life.

12. by the time we land in vila, i am smiling and laughing with the other people on the flight again (we are pretty good friends at this point), when the pilot turns around (it is a REALLY small plane) and says, "sorry about that folks, we weren't able to land because of cows on the runway." wait....wait, WHAT?? i asked him to repeat what he said, "cars??" i ask, clarifying, "cars on the runway???", "no, cows...blue cows". WHAAAAAT??

13. i call matt again, "are you on a truck? (as in, are you on your way to my side of the island?)" he asks. nooope. i hang up and try to figure out when the next flight will be (seemingly, the story should end here. nope).

14. louisa (my friend i mentioned earlier...) and i go up to the desk to figure out when we can fly next. monday. ugh, monday. okay. we go to hand our tickets to the guy at the same time. my parents taught me to be polite. i let louisa go first. then, the guy lets us know that there is ONE seat open for the monday flight. yep. LOUISA got it. ha. i was put on the waitlist and called matt, yet again to fill him in. HOW, how HOW???

15. it is 6:30 at this point. i meet up with heather and robert, who are at happy hour. they laugh at my story and make me feel much, much better.

16. a phone call saturday morning while at the mama's market from the airport. i'm on the flight.

17. so, tomorrow, i'll try it again. emae is on the verge of being the bane of my existence. it has some serious making up to do. i'll keep you posted.