25/10/12

Well the 25th of October was a long day. When you arrive at Bristol Temple Meads at  4.25, you find out that the station is closed. A man comes along at 4.30 to open it. The 4.47 to Paddington ws not busy - about 6 people in the carriage. It wasn't until Reading that some people had to actually sit next to each other. The Heathrow Express was very comfortable, but that all stopped when I got to the Delta check-in at 7. A lot of Americans, Britons and various others were there queueing, and is wasn't until 8.30 that I went off to buy a very expensive coffee.
The flight to Atlanta was full and we were asked not to congregate in the galleys, so people indulged in the inflight entertainment available in the screen in the headrest of the person sitting in front of you. There was a fair amount of choice, but the touchscreens weren't sensitive, so choosing other options meant the person in front did an impression of a woodpecker. But 2 decent vegetarian meals were provided, I watched Untouchanle again and liked it again before I thought I'd acclimatise myself with Spielberg's TinTin in Spanish. The soundtrack got in the way a bit.
Lots of queueing at Atlanta - passport, get your case, check your case into the connecting flight, Customs, security but eventualy I sat down for a latte that was too latte by a pianist playing Greensleeves. But it was interesting to be in Atlanta, which of course I knew intimately from watching Gone with the Wind umpteen times with Alice.
The Delta flight to Managua was also full, but no inflight films, and the vegetarian meals only streched to peanuts and water. On approaching Managua we had to fill in 3 forms including the address and phone number of residence in Nicaragua, but this didn't seem to bother the passport man - he probably only wanted my 10 dollars. So out onto the concourse to look for Irene, Joel's sister.
Joel is a Nicaraguan living in Bristol, and has been very helpful in improving my Spanish, highlighting that 'tomar' is the verb they use for 'take' and on no account was I to use 'coger', suggesting places that must be seen, and also arranging for his sister Irene to meet me athe airport - except she wasn't there.
So I waited amongst the crowds, had a look outside but then came back in as it was like the Palm House at Kew outside. 20 minutes later a young lady arrived carrying a sign with my name, so after the obligatory greetings and 2 kisses, she said (in English) 'oh you speak Spanish'. 'Yes' I said, 'but Joel told me that you didn't speak English'. To which she replied 'I'm not Irene, my name is Rachel - she couldn't come so her husband asked my boyfriend who works for him if he could pick you up'.
Yes her English was very good and they took me through the dark but lively streets of Managua to the hotel - Casa San Juan, where I booked in at 8 p.m., Nicaraguan time. 7 hours behind the U.K. I calculated it was 23 hours since I got out of bed in Bristol.