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Nearly there, just a red-eye and a subway or bus to go.
Being back in travel mode is making me realise how much I love it, mostly for the apparently random encounters with strangers which occur so often. I have so much to tell already but I left my laptop at home - poor baby! And the net is mega expensive here.
In brief, here's four key "randoms" who entered my life today:
Eve, the poor Korean girl who's had a very stressful day: we met at the bus stop where she'd just missed the bus to the train station, and the next one was apparently due to arrive way too late for her to make her train, which would mean she'd probably be way too late to make her plane, leaving LAX at 4:55pm for Hawaii. She was headed there to visit her sick aunt, but was cutting it close already - the train itself takes over two hours, and then there's the bus ride from there to the airport, check-in formalities... And it was nearly 12 when I met her.
So she ordered a cab, told them her sob story - "I'm a poor student" seems to be a universal line! - explaining she only had $12 dollars; the cab driver said it'd be at least twenty. She struck a bargain at $15 with him, and I jumped in with her. The cab driver himself was interesting, claiming to have Russian roots, an Argentenian upbringing, now living in the States but with citizenship nowhere.
So, arriving at the train station and panicking at the queue, we were told not to bother pushing in as there'd been a delay announced, around 45 minutes. Aah!
Enter interesting person #3, the security guy: he gets special credit for recognising me as a Kiwi on first attempt; the grand majority go for British or Aussie.
By this stage my Korean friend is in tears, making calls to find out if she can transfer her flight to a later time: yes, but for $150 dollars. Not a great alternative.
Finally we board, and this is where interesting person #4 comes in:a German guy who comes to the States once a year to visit his sister. But I'm sure you're wanting to know what happens with Eve, the Korean, so I'll move along...
We make it to smoggy LA a little after 3pm and speed through the crowds to the bus stop: thankfully the half-hourly bus isjust pulling in, so we get tickets and hop on board. Enter interesting person #5: an American of Hispanic descent. He's a Christian and a counsellor, so we've got a lot in common and chat for the length of the journey. "I hope no one's hoping to catch a plane soon," he says, pointing out the traffic. Uh, she is, the girl next to me... We've got to pray for a miracle.
And a miracle happened: she made it! I went with her through the airport as far as I could go, taking a bit of a clever shortcut, then went to my terminal. She called me about ten minutes later to tell me she was on board. Hallelujah.
This super-long post - sorry! - is dedicated to my mum who inspires me by her making friends with people whie travelling. :)
Edit: I realise now that that was five people... D'oh!
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