An Unexpected Side Trip

7 MAY – 8:20 pm

ATLANTA – I missed my flight by 8 minutes! I was in the airport talking to Cathy as I was running like hell from Concourse A to Concourse E. By the time I arrived at the gate, the plane left with Cathy on board! Amazingly, they would not wait although they verified through my sister that I was in the airport. Re-routing did not work; there were no guarantees that American Airlines would honor my ticket although Delta would gladly get me to Miami if I really wanted to go (memo to me: don’t buy a bulk ticket in the future. Yes, they are cheap, but your options are extremely limited if you run into trouble). I’m stuck in Atlanta, but Sonia has re-arranged our flights to Cusco. I’m not sure what has happened, but she assures me that all will be well and that her family will meet Cathy in Lima later tonight.

I’m staying at the Country Inn and Suites, a boring and overused airport hotel in College Park, Georgia. Delta provided me with a discount voucher, although they did not need to because it was weather, and not a mechanical failure, that caused me to miss the connection. In keeping with the weirdness that has been ,my life as of late, a self-proclaimed voucher scalper offered to buy my ticket and take me in an unmarked minivan to a Best Western. I was tempted for a moment, because I just wanted a bed at that point, but I politely declined. After settling in at the hotel and ordering a pizza, I walked to the nearby Kwik-E-Mart to buy a bottle of wine (Pizza and wine are what I indulge in whenever I’m feeling sorry for my self – those are my pity party supplies). Unfortunately, the county blue laws meant that the liquor refrigerators were locked. I was however offered some bootleg outside the store. I declined that as well.

The pizza was excellent! I ate the entire 12” pie! As I write this, I’m watching Desperate Housewives and soon I’ll go to bed. It’s been a wonderful day despite it all. Tomorrow I’m going to wake up early, go to town, and check out the Georgia State Capitol and the High Museum. The Georgia Aquarium, though by all accounts the largest and most fabulous fish tank in America, is also very expensive, and I want to save my money for the real deal: Peru.

8 MAY

ON MARTA – I’m tired. I’m heading back to the airport to finally catch my Lima flight. Unfortunately, the High Museum was closed today, but I enjoyed myself anyway.

Atlanta at 10 am on a Monday - a sleepy metropolis.

I am seeing the strangest things today. Just now, a black man in a baseball cap was dancing on the train. Maybe dancing isn’t the right word: he was standing absolutely still while nodding his head rapidly to and fro as he listened to his CD Walkman. Everyone in the car was stunned into silence, as we were witnessing an apparent feat of human bone structure. He moved like a bobble head. Needless to say, as he exited the train, bobbing away as he walked, we all erupted in laughter.

Earlier this morning, I saw something just as unusual. A man boarded the train, and he was jangling three or four Eisenhower Dollar coins in his open palm. He would stop, put the coins in his back pocket, gesture, shift his weight around cockily, and take his coins out and jangle them again. He was met with bemused stares, annoyed glances, and shaking heads from the passengers. The poor guy reeked of alcohol.

The beautiful gold dome of the Georgia State Capitol.

Anyway, I had a pretty good day in Atlanta. I went to the Georgia State Capitol and joined a tour of young school kids. I enjoyed tramping through the Governor’s office and sitting in the House Chamber as they debated a bill extending a school recess, the Governor, played by their teacher, threatened a veto unless the kid-legislature added an extra fifteen minutes to the school day. The bill passed the House, but failed narrowly in the Senate.

Schoolkids voting on the recess bill.

Nice streetside dining near Georgia State University.