So the day is finally here, after months of planning and preparation Jun 12, 2014 is here. After months of talking about it, today is the day I head out to watch soccer at the home of soccer. It was a couple of years ago that I personally realized that Brazil might be the perfect place to watch a soccer world cup, and if I was in the US that would work out great geographically too. Also, I think I'm at a phase in my life where I can set aside the money and time to do something crazy like this, so why not. Well there are tons of reasons why not but I'm glad it worked out and now here I am, on my way.
Many thanks to Diwakar (henceforth referred to as Walker) and Ravi (henceforth referred to as Boochi), I think the planning for the trip went pretty smoothly and all three of us put in our part which gives me a good feeling in itself. I met Walker and Boochi while getting my Masters at UF and I'm glad I did. They both speak Tamil and they went to college with some of my buddies from high school, not sure why that's important but its just a fact.
So today has been pretty eventful already and I still haven't left the US. My flight from St Louis left at 6 am this morning which meant I had to wake up around 3 50 am. I parked my car on a street right next to the train station, by my calculations I should have only one parking ticket when I get back which should work out to $10 for 10 days of parking, not too shabby eh ?
This morning while double-checking my documents I realized that I was missing something which might be important on the trip back, I tried to find it in my inbox but I couldn't find it, so I've emailed something about and hopefully I hear back, best case scenario no-one asks about it, worst case I might find it a little hard to enter the US. I'm sure it will work out fine.
So how do I have access to a comfortable chair, a cup of ice tea by my side and a desktop computer with a huge monitor you ask. Well, I decided to go crazy a little bit and buy access to a day pass to the American Airlines lounge i.e Admirals' Club. My reasoning was I could print out the documents in my inbox and get to relax for a little bit, a 6 hour layover can be tiring when you leave at 3 50 am, I can get some sleep, etc etc. Yes, I know, I could have done without it but this way I know how this works and whats in it. So the next time I think about visiting one of these lounges I 'll know whether its worth the trouble or not. So far, its been quiet and feels like a separate world inside the airport world. Will I do it again, probably not, unless, I have to print something really important or I don't have to pay for access to the lounge :)
Well folks, five hours to go before my plane heads out from Miami to Manaus. There are posters for the world cup all over the airport and I even saw some performers in skimpy clothes dance along the terminal to some pretty loud beats , no idea how that happened but it was awesome !
Also I feel that the Miami airport is very different from the St Louis airport. For one, its way more international and that is clearly evident. St Louis with its one international departure to.. wait for it.. Canada is as international as a veggie burger at Hardees. Both STL and MIA aiports have their pluses and minuses but I like how the TSA staff at the MIA airport are more friendly and seem to understand that the whole security check thing is a pain in the ass, I would even label them slightly more relaxed. The staff at the STL airport seemed more uptight to me. I might be wrong and there might be reasons for both but these are just my impressions from what I see, just like the rest of this blog :)
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day. Here's to a wonderful world-cup !!
Many thanks to Diwakar (henceforth referred to as Walker) and Ravi (henceforth referred to as Boochi), I think the planning for the trip went pretty smoothly and all three of us put in our part which gives me a good feeling in itself. I met Walker and Boochi while getting my Masters at UF and I'm glad I did. They both speak Tamil and they went to college with some of my buddies from high school, not sure why that's important but its just a fact.
So today has been pretty eventful already and I still haven't left the US. My flight from St Louis left at 6 am this morning which meant I had to wake up around 3 50 am. I parked my car on a street right next to the train station, by my calculations I should have only one parking ticket when I get back which should work out to $10 for 10 days of parking, not too shabby eh ?
This morning while double-checking my documents I realized that I was missing something which might be important on the trip back, I tried to find it in my inbox but I couldn't find it, so I've emailed something about and hopefully I hear back, best case scenario no-one asks about it, worst case I might find it a little hard to enter the US. I'm sure it will work out fine.
So how do I have access to a comfortable chair, a cup of ice tea by my side and a desktop computer with a huge monitor you ask. Well, I decided to go crazy a little bit and buy access to a day pass to the American Airlines lounge i.e Admirals' Club. My reasoning was I could print out the documents in my inbox and get to relax for a little bit, a 6 hour layover can be tiring when you leave at 3 50 am, I can get some sleep, etc etc. Yes, I know, I could have done without it but this way I know how this works and whats in it. So the next time I think about visiting one of these lounges I 'll know whether its worth the trouble or not. So far, its been quiet and feels like a separate world inside the airport world. Will I do it again, probably not, unless, I have to print something really important or I don't have to pay for access to the lounge :)
Well folks, five hours to go before my plane heads out from Miami to Manaus. There are posters for the world cup all over the airport and I even saw some performers in skimpy clothes dance along the terminal to some pretty loud beats , no idea how that happened but it was awesome !
Also I feel that the Miami airport is very different from the St Louis airport. For one, its way more international and that is clearly evident. St Louis with its one international departure to.. wait for it.. Canada is as international as a veggie burger at Hardees. Both STL and MIA aiports have their pluses and minuses but I like how the TSA staff at the MIA airport are more friendly and seem to understand that the whole security check thing is a pain in the ass, I would even label them slightly more relaxed. The staff at the STL airport seemed more uptight to me. I might be wrong and there might be reasons for both but these are just my impressions from what I see, just like the rest of this blog :)
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day. Here's to a wonderful world-cup !!
Woohoo! Let the great adventure begin :D
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