journal entry #1~death by iberia

I suppose sitting in the Madrid airport, waiting for my flight to Johannesburg is a fine time to start this journal. I look at the blank pages and wonder at what will fill them...

So far the flights have been brutal. Our first and possibly greatest error was booking flights on Iberia. The seats are disappointingly small--even sitting perfectly erect my knees are jammed against the seat in front of me, impressions left in my skin by the corners of the in-flight magazine. The hours loom ahead, broken only by the promise of watching Hidalgo or The Prince and Me on smallish tv screen partially obscured by a balding head.
Even the one joy of flying--unlimited beverages--is brutally snatched away. The flight attendants, who mostly speak no English and apparently have been instructed never to smile, appear briefly to give you a 4 ounce glass of water or soda. Somehow they then manage to disappear completely for the remaining 9 hours of the flight, unless you miraculously fall asleep, in which case they will unfailingly appear and run over your foot or ram your leg with the elusive beverage cart.

I thought I was supremely lucky when I discovered an empty row of seats in the back of the plane, and I stretched out in luxury and fell asleep. I vaguely remember waking and realizing I was being jolted off the seats by turbulance, but I was so tired that I simply braced myself and slept again. When the Benedryl wore off and I woke, it was with the alarming realization that I was about to puke. Me? Airsick? Not exactly the type of new and self-actualizing experience I was hoping for. After a bumpy landing, I boarded the shuttle to the terminal and felt the nausea again. Looking around, I was dismayed to realize I was surrounded by people, standing packed into the bus and swaying from side to side as if they somehow knew the effect this would have on me. Fortunately at the last possible moment the doors opened and I rushed to the nearest garbage can, puking as people streamed past me on either side. Welcome to Spain!

I'm feeling better now. We had a few hours in a hotel to sleep and shower. Now boarding the flight to South Africa armed with Dramamine.

hola, Madrid!