still in North America...

Our trip started out smoothly. Maybe too smoothly. Cole drove me, Whitney and Ashley from Iowa City to Alex's house in Chicago (THANKS COLE! You are the best). Me and Cole said our goodbyes (holding back tears, but we made it...) then I headed out with the girls for some lunch and shopping in Chicago. A nice little afternoon. In the morning, we woke up, my global phone came in the mail with plenty of time to spare, and we took a cab to the airport.

Bags all under 50 lbs, perfect. Through security with no hiccups. Calmly waiting at the gate for our Chicago-Montreal flight, watching Lost and Glee, when we realized a fatal flaw in the plan. Our flight was delayed, meaning we would only have 30 minutes (or less?) to get off the plane in Montreal, through customs, back through security and onto the Paris flight. I made a call to Air Canada customer service and probably encountered the most incompetent person of my life (I only wish I remembered her name for my extensive complaint).

When I asked about our flight problems, she immediately rebooked all 4 of us on a flight through Toronto to Paris. She assured me that we would have 1 hr 20 minutes to make the connection. Here we were, thinking all was well in the world and that we would make it to Paris the next morning.

FALSE ALARM. As the flight approached, my dad (thanks dad! for being vigilant) informed me that we had not 1 hr 20 minutes, but only 20 minutes to make the connection. Apparently, the lovely customer service woman was unaware of the problems caused by TIME ZONES. Alas, we had to choose between staying in Chicago, and flying to Toronto with the chance of the plane being delayed and being able to make the connection. We decided to take our chances.

On the plane to Toronto, the flight attendants gave us a message from the pilot-- get your bags after customs and see the connections desk for flight vouchers. Ashley was worried that she would lose money on the train pass she bought. She needed to use it by today-- Thursday-- before turning 26 and becoming ineligible for the youth pass.

In Toronto, we were given false hope AGAIN by Air Canada customer service (incompetent #2), who told us we could connect to London, then to Paris. But alas, at the flight desk, we were told the flight was full. The result was 4 generally disgruntled and exhausted future lawyers.

But in the end, we finally encountered a kind woman at the flight desk who sympathized with our plight. She gave us 2 free rooms at the Holiday Inn Select near the Toronto airport, plus breakfast and lunch vouchers. We are about to use the free lunch vouchers as I speak. So, all in all, the hotel is nice, with comfy beds and delicious food. Not a bad consolation prize.

More updates to come-- lets see if we can make it out of North America today! Flight to Montreal at 4, then to Paris at 8. We can only hope that our string of misfortunes is over.