Pakistan Journal: The longest flight ever

As the plane left the runway, I sent up a silent prayer and brief cheer! At last the adventure had begun, but first we had to land in LA.

We had checked out luggage through LA so we had to pick it up and head to customs. We were met in baggage claim by two young women from the organziation that sent us. They were there with smiles and luggage carts to help us get from one place to another. The infamous pipe-bending machines were already in LA so luckily we didn't have to cart them all over the airport. Our first stop was the Cathay Pacific desk where I found out that I would be sitting in the middle for our 15-hour flight to Hong Kong. I'm 6'1'' and middle seats are made for 10 year-old little girls! Oh well, a little discomfort will be worth it right? In LA we wheeled and dealed until they accepted our 10 (100lbs.) pipe-bending machines on to the airplane. God knew that we needed them and had paved the way for them to get checked all of the way through to Hong Kong. Our next roadblock would be getting Hong Kong to check them through to Islamabad.

After we checked in, the girls (Jennifer and Jessica) told us that they had a feast prepared for us. Later we found out that we were headed to In-N-Out. For non-West Coast people, this is quite possibly the greatest fast-food burger joint ever. I'm not much for fast food, but I figured, "What better to end my American time with than an All-American meal of a double cheeseburger and chocolate shake?" I indulged as we sat outside and watched planes land for the next 45 minutes.

I was dreading what had to come next...my final phone call to Jaci. I had been alright up until this point because I knew that I was still in phone range. I called as we were leaving the In-N-Out and was able to talk for 30 minutes. I finally felt at peace with leaving Jaci in California. I knew that she was going to be okay, especially because my buddies and our community here were going to take great care of her (which they did--now she's really used to the royal treatment!).

Next stop--customs. Made it through with no problems and prepared to board our longest flight of the trip: a 15-hour non-stop flight to Hong Kong. I love to fly so I was thinking that this 15-hour flight was going to be a great adventure and that I would be totally fine. What I wasn't taking in account was the fact that I had injured my back a month prior and it was still pretty sore. Within 30 minutes of the flight, I was uncomfortable with no where to go. The tiny woman sitting in the aisle seat (who should have volunteered her spacious spot to the tall American sitting next to her) spoke no English so I decided to ignore any discomfort and enjoy my personal T.V. screen that worked sometimes.

After an hour in the air, the captain came on and told us that we would be landing in Seoul, Korea for 45 minutes to refuel due to a strong head-wind. 300 people groaned but I was excited because one of my closest friends was adopted from Seoul. He had never been there (since he could remember) so I was excited to fly over and tell him that I had seen Seoul. 45 minutes turned into 1.5 hours, making our total travel time 17.5 hours from LA to Hong Kong. Luckily I ws able to sleep several hours so by the time we reached Hong Kong I was doing pretty good in the jet-lag department.

The Hong Kong Airport is pretty "westernized" so our cutlural assimilation didn't need to begin quite yet. Our next stop was Bangkok though. Cultural assimilation would need to happen quickly!