Part One: In Transit
#OccupyPearson2015
It was supposed to be a smooth day of flights, connecting at Pearson International in Toronto, then Panama City, then Quito. Our first flight left at 5:15 am CST, and that went really smoothly. We all showed up, met up with David (when he told us to behave and whatnot, before going off to check in for his own flight), and checked in. With the exception of a screaming cat/child at the beginning of the flight, it went really smoothly. When we landed, there was an American plane at our gate, so we had to find another one to go to. We had an hour between flights, so once we finally disembarked, we ran to the bathroom and grabbed our bags. Our connection was in a completely different terminal, so we figured out how to get there using the train thing that they have. We were all determined to make it in time, walking in a flying V formation (not even kidding, people moved out of our way; we were clearly on a mission) down the hallway to our gate. So far it was going great. We were (I was) joking about being on the Amazing Race, and how we were kicking ass making it to the gate so soon.
Road Block
Of course, we jinxed ourselves. Okay, maybe it was me; I was convinced that it was going too well, and travelling just doesn't work like that. When we walked up to the gate, there were three employees standing there and nobody else. We immediately found out that they stopped boarding the flight an hour before it was scheduled to leave - we touched down at 8:45 am EST, and they closed check-ins at 8:55. We were doomed before we even got there. Despite my angry arguing, they said that there was nothing that they could do, and it was the fault of our travelling agency. Panicked, we tried calling Suzie in Winnipeg, and David, but to no avail. Maya went to find an information desk, and we decided to call the Travel Agency. Hollette did the calling, and we got through to an emergency line, where we encountered Angie. She became our main contact through the following hours. We were still blocking the check-in counter, and Hollette's phone was dying, so we all shuffled over to the only electrical socket we could see, by the payphones. We all huddled around the phone (yes, we looked ridiculous), as Angie assured us that she would sort it out, and we would probably be able to make an American Airlines flight for 11:30, connecting through Miami to Quito. She said she would need to get everything confirmed, and she would call us back with the details. We marched back over to the first terminal where we arrived, and waited for her confirmation. I bought fries for everyone because we hadn't eaten since before arriving to the airport in Winnipeg, and we sat around. Finally she called us back at 10:30, and said that four of us (Maya, Hollette, Meghan, and Alanna) could make the AmAir flight, but two of us had to get on a Delta Airlines flight to JFK Airport in New York, then through Panama City to Quito. We weren't sure if we could make that work without approval from our coordinators, but since the flight was going to leave in an hour, we figured we'd try. The four who were supposed to get on the flight went up to the desk, and found out that they couldn't be checked in (which we kind of expected at that point, because of the time). We were stuck in the same position as we had been a few hours before.
As we were trying to figure out what we would do next, we finally got through to Suzie (she had been at the gym, and saw all the missed calls as soon as she got out), and updated her on our issue. She said it was fine if we could split up, as long as we made it there that night as planned, and nobody was by themselves. We heard back from one of Angie's coworkers, who said that Angie was surprised that they couldn't make the AmAir flight, and that she had several people working on our case. We went down to have Subway, and when everyone was finished, Angie called us back with Tyler Wiebe from the University. They told us that we wouldn't be able to catch another flight that day, so we would have to stay at the Radisson on Dixon Rd., and we would be able to fly through Atlanta the next day, with a 9 hour layover. Maya and Meghan had to pay for their rooms, but we were assured that we would be reimbursed for the cost of the rooms and our food, because it was the agency's fault that this all happened. We resigned ourselves to the fact that we wouldn't make it to Quito as planned, and called a shuttle to the hotel.
When we got to the hotel, nearly everyone napped right away. It was a long day, and it was starting to take its toll on us, despite the fact that we had remained composed and mostly cheerful during the whole thing. After a little while, David checked with us - Suzie had reached him and told him everything. Our flights for the next day had changed yet again, and we were now scheduled to leave Toronto at 7:45 am, to Houston, then a 6:30 pm flight to Quito. Having everything figured out (and remaining wary, assuming everything would change again), we decided to go for dinner at the Kelsey's nearby. It was interesting at the very least - our server was ridiculously awkward and we were nearly convinced that we were going to be on Undercover Boss. Eventually, we went to bed and prepared to wake up at 4:30 am for our flight.
Day Two
We woke up at 4:30 and took the 5:05 shuttle as planned. We thought everything was going smoothly, until we realized that only three of us had received two boarding passes, and as a result, the other three would have to pick up our bags and re-check-in. Also, one of the rows that we were scheduled to sit in was overbooked or something so a few of us got bumped up to Economy Plus seating for free - basically, more leg room. Nice, but definitely not worth paying for. When we arrived in Houston, Alanna, Madi and I went to get our bags, and coming back in, Security stopped Alanna and searched her stuff thoroughly, poor girl. The last thing we wanted was more stress. They eventually let her through and we all joined for lunch, and hung out for the hours that we had until our next flight. Other than being delayed by almost an hour, Our next flight went as planned, and we arrived in Quito at around 11:00 pm or 12:00 am. We met up with David and Francisco at the airport, and got dropped of at the homes of our host families. I unpacked, and we went to bed.
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