Gwada 07 Remix!

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Gwada 07

Vacances en famille du 3 au 15 Novembre 2007

Pour la première fois depuis longtemps je ne voulais pas retourner à San Diego. Je passe toujours un bon moment quand je vois ma famille mais en général après une semaine je "suis bon". Cette fois-ci c'était très différent. C'est possible que côté logistique tout est bien tombé. D'habitude quand je rentre en Guadeloupe tout le monde travaille et les enfants sont a l'école donc c'est difficile de vraiment profiter de mon séjour si je suis le seul en vacances. J'ai eu la chance en Novembre de trouver mon frère, ma soeur, Titine et Pascal en congé; les enfants en vacances scolaires pendant presqu'une semaine, ce qui nous a permis de nous voir pratiquement tous les jours. Le jour de mon arrivée (le Samedi 3) nous avons fêté le 6ème anniversaire de mon neveu Lorenzo. Le Samedi d'après nous avons aussi organisé une fête pour l'anniversaire de Patou (qui en fait tombait le Lundi 5) et là j'ai vu des amis d'enfance que je vois en général une fois par an. Je connais Titine, Céline et Christine depuis l'âge de 11ans (celà fait donc 29 ans que l'on se connait). J'ai connu Pascal au lycée en 1983 et nous sommes restés amis (la plupart des gens le connaissent comme "cousin". J'ai aussi eu la surprise de revoir une copine d'enfance, Dominique, que je n'avais pas revu depuis le lycée. Cela ne nous rajeunit pas tout ça!!!
Bien que l'on ai rien fait d'extraordinaire, j'ai apprecié chaque seconde. J'au aussi passé une après-midi sympa avec mon père.
Le jour du départ (après avoir rallongé mon séjour de 2 jours supplémentaires), une fois assis dans l'avion, j'avais les larmes aux yeux. Quitter tous ces gens que j'adore pour retrouver mon petit train train à San Diego, (bien que j'aime ma vie ici) m'a un peu serré le coeur.
Vivement que j'y retourne l'année prochaine.

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Family vacations - November 3 to 15, 2007

For the first time in a very long time, I did not want to go back to San Diego. I always have a great time with my family but usually after about a week "I'm good". It was different this time around. Maybe it is because logistically speaking everything fell into place. Usually when I go back to Guadeloupe everybody else works and the kids are in school, so it is difficult to really enjoy my stay when I am the only one on vacations. I was lucky in November to find my brother, my sister, Titine and Pascal on days off; the kids were out of school for almost one more week, which allowed us to see each other everyday. The day I arrived (Saturday 3rd) we celebrated my nephew Lorenzo's 6th birthday. The following Saturday we also had a party for my sister's birthday (which in fact fell on Monday 5th) and there I saw childhood friends that I usually see once a year. I've know Titine, Céline and Christine since we were 11 (we have known each other for about 29 years). I met Pascal in High school in 1983 and we remain close friends (most people know him as my "cousin"). I also had the surprise to see another childhood friend, Dominique, whom I had not seen since High school. All this really tells how old we are!!!
Although we did not do anything extraordinary, I loved every second. I also spent a nice afternoon with my dad (there is definitely progress there).
The day I was leaving (after I added 2 extra days to my stay), once on the plane, my eyes teared up. To leave all those people I adore to go back to my routine in San Diego, (although I love my life here) broke my heart.
I cannot wait to go back next year.

November 3

I am back at the Air France counter around 8am and I get my boarding pass right away. We leave on time at 10:15. The flight is almost empty today. We land at Haiti's Toussaint Louverture International Airport right on schedule.
The disembarking passengers leave but the continuing ones must remain on board. They re-fuel and the new passengers arrive.

We take-off again this time on our way to Saint Martin. We land at the Juliana airport at 2:24pm. Passengers disembark but again continuing ones must remain on board.

A few new passengers get on for the last leg and we are ready for departure. Planes are having communication difficulties with the Tower and it looks like we will take a delay. There are a dozen of aircrafts waiting for their turn. We leave at 3:45pm. This is a quick flight. We land only 37mn later and are only 10mn late. It is always a great feeling to be in Guadeloupe. So many memories growing up here. And of course most of my family and some great friends still lives here.

My sister and my niece came to pick me up. I am so happy to see them. We drive right away to her house. There I change because it is so humid I am sweating doing nothing. I thought it was humid in Miami but here it is even worse.

We hang out a little and then go my brother’s. My nephews Florian and Lorenzo run to give me a hug. I have not seen them in over a year now. It is Lorenzo’s 6th birthday party. We stay there talking, laughing, enjoying cakes and sparkling cider until 1am!!!
I LOVE MY FAMILY.

November 2

Around noon, I go wait for the hotel van. It is about 5mn to the airport. The desk clerk tells me that there are no rooms available right now but some are being cleaned.

I finally get my room around 1:30. By that time I am exhausted. I barely slept on the flight from SFO to MIA and have been up since I landed here. I settle and get on the bed to rest a little bit and of course fall asleep.

Journey on!

Michael dropped me at SAN and I used the self-check-in kiosk to get my management card to go through security. It is so much easier when you are in uniform. You show your ID and go to the front of the line or use the “crew line”. We still have to take our shoes off and our laptops out of our bags, but we are exempt from the liquid restrictions and we do not wait in line. Just that is already a big plus. I never understood why we have to go through the same screening as the regular passengers in the first place. After 9/11 all employees had a FBI background check. We were photographed and fingerprinted. And still we have to go through security check-points everyday we work. Going through this process does not necessarily annoy me but the fact that not everybody is checked, does. There is no consistency in our operations. In LAX for example, most employees just swipe their ID card to access the secure areas and get to work. Flight Attendants and Pilots are the only ones who have to go through security. In my opinion everybody who has access to an aircraft should go through; from the Caterers to the Cleaners, to the Mechanics and the Customer Service Representatives. You cannot randomly decide who is safe and who isn’t. And what was the purpose of the background check? Look good for the Medias? We will never be safe as long as airports will have different rules and different level of security. The saying “your chain is only as strong as its weakest link” should be the motto.

Except for business travelers who fly as much or sometimes more than Flight crews, most people go through security a couple of times on any given trip. If I work a domestic 6-day trip, I will go through security at least 5 times; take of my shoes, my belt; remove my laptop from my bag… I wish there was an easier way. There are so many things I could use that are already on the aircraft if I wanted to do harm. I would not need to bring anything from home.

In SAN I went through with the liquids in my toiletries and although they were in Ziploc bags, I thought they would be taken away, since I was not in uniform. They didn’t. In SFO when I went through, they told me I was only allowed 1 bag and they took my shaving cream, my moisturizer and my cleanser. I did not get upset. I know they are only doing what they are told. However we have 2 airports with 2 different levels of security. I also had to go through extra screening. I guess buying a one way ticket raised a red flag. I hope it was the one way ticket and not what I look like!!! The lady at the AA counter was really nice. I believe the computer randomly chooses people who will go through extra screening, and “suspicious” passengers are automatically “marked”. The TSA agent, who is from Brazil, was really nice but went through all my stuff. Thank God, I had come here early. My flight is late anyway.

On the flight from SAN to SFO, the crew was at the most “there”. No pre-departure beverage was offered although I was sitting in First Class. I was asleep when drinks were offered after take off but I woke up a good hour before landing and was not approached to see if I wanted anything. Maybe since I was on a Stand-by ticket, they thought I did not deserve a drink!

In SFO, I bought my discounted tickets for AA and AF at the UA ticket counter in no time. There was nobody in line and the agent was nice.

Now I am waiting for my next segment. SFO to MIA on AA. The flight is late and now oversold. I might have to spend the night here in San Francisco. It is not a big deal, but it delays my departure from MIA. No flights get me there in time for a 10:15am departure. So even if I left tomorrow morning, I would have to spend the night in Miami and try to fly the following day. I have 2 weeks off but I hope I will not have to spend half of it in airports.

Part Deux!
I made it on the flight from SFO to MIA. We were slowly moving down the jet bridge and I was thinking of ways to give the crew candies I brought for them (it's not a bribe; just being nice). I did not want to be too obvious and make a big deal of it. We finally got in sight of the aircraft entrance and I was at once disillusioned. The 2 flight attendants were in a deep conversation and completely oblivious of the passengers embarking. I kept my candies. We were on a 757. It is a little different from ours. 22 seats in FC (we have 24) and I think more than 156 in economy. The mid-galley is half the size of ours. There are no jumpseats by door 2L but 2 passenger seats instead. By the emergency window exits there are 3 seats on either side, where we only have 2. I got to my seat, 34A, and settled. The other 2 flight attendants were in the back galley. The crew was not even doing the minimum that is asked of them. I was happy and thankful to be on the plane but my critic mind was going full swing. Never on any of my flights, have crew members been so uncaring and unaware of what is going on in the cabin; and I have worked with some lazy people! The flight was uneventful. Most people, including me, went to sleep right after the beverage service. We landed in Miami around 5:45am.

Part Trois!
The Air France counter finally opened around 7:30am. I get the bad news a few minutes later since I am the first one to check in. I am stuck here as the flight to Guadeloupe is full. I was not expecting this. You just can never tell with those flights. It is only about 10am here so I literally have 24 hours in Miami. I found a hotel by the airport but I cannot check-in until after 11am. I will have breakfast here while I people-watch. Lots of cute guys. If I was a senator, I could check the bathrooms and still do "nothing inappropriate"!!!