Leave the United States: Tampa to Miami, east from there, and straight on ‘til morning

Finished a last-minute phone call with my Peace Corps recruiter then joined Ian while he squeezed in a final session of “Dance Dance Revolution Max II” in the guestroom. Judi met us at Ian’s at 10:30a, Ian and I packed the last of our travel items, and the three of us rode to the Tampa airport to make the 1:23pm American Airlines flight.

TPA to MIA 125P-225P First Class American Airlines

Miami International Airport’s Concourse E lounge offered refreshments, trail mix, and couches, which we forsook in search of a computer mic-headset and airplane power adapter, which we located at a Brookstones. At an exchange booth, I presented a fold of Traveler’s Checks, remnants of bygone Malaysian travels. At the 1.378130 conversion rate and less the 3.85% transaction fee, I walked away with far fewer Euros than the number of dollars with which I’d shown up.

MIA to MAD 505P-735A Business Class Iberia

Local time in Madrid is GMT +1. In college days, I received many a 4am phone call from my youngest brother, who must have sincerely believed post-midnight in San Francisco was the best time to ring me in Pennsylvania. Often after my groggy hellos, I was posed with the questions “Why are you still awake?” and “Shouldn’t you be resting for class?” Well, this could be my chance for payback if daily I utilized siesta to deliver to my brother high-priority data such as the local weather in Spain and what food Ian left on his plate at lunch. The kink was that the payback wouldn’t be single-fold: there’s Corey in CA who I would begin to payback for numerous sleepless exam mornings, and then there’s the phone carrier who I would also payback after using their overseas calling lines. International sibling razzing just isn’t worth it.