Lima to San Jose via Miami...and still in Miami

Our taxi picked us up around 5:15 this morning for a short ride to the airport. We checked into our first American Airlines flight, had a coffee and a doughnut at the conveniently located Dunkin' Doughnuts (where I nostalgically thought back on the many weekends spent at my Grandpa's house), browsed the duty free shops (where I made made perfume selection for the day so I could smell nice, something I do at every airport since leaving home--perfume has become a luxury) and waited for our flight. We were excited for the trip to San Jose, Costa Rica, even if we had to fly via Miami. But our excitement was quickly stomped out as soon as we got on the plane and discovered that, although it's an international flight, we had to actually pay for alcoholic beverages! What a disappointment! Leave it to American Airlines to be the one to refuse us our natural rights as international travellers! It didn't help our moods any by the fact that the plane did not have TVs in the backs of each seat (every flight since we left Australia has had them, except for the small domestic flights). Not only that but they only showed one movie on the 5 hour flight, then shut the TV screens off for the rest of the trip. We did get a hot breakfast though, even if it was served by rude American flight attendents.

We reached Miami without any dramas. We headed to the international transfer lounge but were stopped short by some immigration officials. When we showed our passports, one woman handed Nigel an I-94 form, saying he needed to fill it out. This is a form for an electronic visa. Innocently, we questioned why he needed this form if we were just in transit between international flights. The woman was less than friendly and basically said "Just fill it out."
"But why?" Nigel asked.
"You just need it. Ask those people over there," she rudely replied, pointing to other immigration people a few feet away.
It did not escape our attention that she herself should know why travellers need certain forms, being an immigration officer and all. When we finally did get an answer, it was a rude, annoyed and patronizing reply "Because. You are going into a domestic area."

Ahhh, lovely America! What friendliness. Welcome home.

There have been a few countries so far where the immigration people are abrupt and seem not to enjoy their jobs. And the odd country has quite friendly personnel working their borders. But in all my travel experiences, it has been the people at Sydney immigration who are consistently happy, friendly and seem pleased to be of assistance to each person who passes through their gates. Likewise, I think it is the American immgration people who are consistently rude, obnoxious and up on their high horses.

So, on Florida terra firma, we set out to waste our 5 hour layover by exploring the airport. We treated ourselves to bagels for lunch (and anyone who knows me, knows what a treat this was!), and we couldn't get enough of the FREE water from the soda machine, WITH ICE! We just drank cup after cup, and we didn't even have to pay for the cup. What a treat! We then wandered around looking for a Costa Rica Lonely Planet. We had flashbacks of being in Heathrow airport looking for a Brazil book, which we never found. And, we never found a Costa Rica book either. In fact there was not one guidebook of any brand in the whole airport. Weird!!

Around 6:00 pm we headed to our gate, anticipating the 6:30 departure, only to find that it was delayed by about an hour. So, we picked a piece of carpet and sat down to read and do some crossword puzzles. Nigel had a little nap, and I didn't wake him a while later to tell him our flight was delayed even longer to about 8:30. And then they switched the departure gate, so all of the passengers waiting gathered up their gear and trotted across the airport to the new lounge. Now, we had been debating all day long whether or not to buy ourselves a US$7 beer from the Sam Adams kiosk we kept passing, and up until now, we thought we did pretty well to resist. But the gate change was the last straw so we happily gave in and got a pint each. While we sipped these cold, tasty beverages, Nige rang his parents and sister, and I rang a sister and my Mom. Thanks guys for ringing us back so we could chat! It was a real treat to talk to them, as it had been a LONG time. My Mom happened to be in Maine at the time, and we were so excited to be in the same time zone for the first time in well over a year. She was happy we were in the USA, but made the point that we were probably safer in Lima than in Miami. Good point Mom.

As 8:30 came and went, passengers on our flight started getting antsy and people started asking questions and demanding answers. Apparently our plane had a "mechanical problem" which they were fixing and they would update us as soon as they knew any changes. I got chatting to a cute Canadian couple, as I had noticed them reading a CR Lonely Planet, and seeing as how we had no idea where we'd go once we got to San Jose, I asked to borrow it to jot down a few hotels. Kim and Suesh are both PE teachers, and were actually starting their 3 week honeymoon. Not a great start for them, but what can you do? We also chatted with Jamana from SF, and they all made the time pass rather quickly. Nige got bored and went to argue with one of the irate customers who was being a real ass. He wanted to know exactly what was wrong with the plane. The poor counter staff were getting hounded with questions and abuse. Nige asked the guy, 'What does it matter what is wrong with the plane as long as it gets fixed right?. Are you an aircraft mechanic?....'
'No'....'
'So they could tell you anything and you wouldn't know what it was right?....' replies Nige.
'I guess so....' the guy shrugs.
'OK, then they are fixing the flux capacitor.'

Around 10:30, after witnessing several arguments at the counter and one pretty abusive one, the AA staff announced that they couldn't fix the problem on the plane, and we had to wait for a new plane. This would require us to stay over night in Miami and depart in the morning when the plane would arrive from San Francisco. You can imagine the obscenities flying about from a bunch of irate tourists (some of which we really felt bad for, ie those with kids, those who had pre-booked hotels and tours etc--but that's why there're travel insurance!). But Nigel and I were so excited. Staying in a REAL hotel! With hot showers, towels, soap, shampoo, and CONDITIONER! And TV! And 2 free meals!! Woo-bloody-hoo!!!

We queued up with about 300 other passengers (some people just went to their homes in Miami) to receive our hotel, dinner and breakfast vouchers. Nigel and I couldn't contain our excitement as we looked at the hotel voucher and saw we'd be staying at the Sheraton, Miami airport. We left our luggage at the airport or on the plane or wherever it was (as most passengers did) and hopped on the Sheraton shuttle for the quick trip to the hotel. When we walked in, we knew we were in for an even bigger treat than we anticipated. This hotel is pure luxury (to us anyway). The lobby and rooms are all decorated much to our style, not some gaudy carpeting and cheesy artwork. There were exotic flowers, bamboo screens, simple black and white photos decorating the walls, and black and chrome fittings in the bathrooms. And I nearly fell over when I saw that the free shampoo and conditioner was actually Pantene (I have been using nothing but Head & Shoulders for the last 8 months, with no conditioner).

Being 11:00 pm, we weren't too hungry for dinner, but didn't want to pass up on free food, so we met Kim and Suesh in the hotel restaurant for a late meal. I had a Caesar salad (yum!!) and Nige had soup, and a root beer! Back in our room, we both had a shower for about 20 minutes each, WITHOUT flip flops. The bed was huge, full of pillows, and so comfortable. The TV was huge. With so many channels. I didn't want to waste one second of that luxurious bed and fell asleep quickly. And Nigel didn't want to waste one second of that TV, so he stayed up late watching movies (funnily enough, we learned later that Kim went right to sleep while Suesh stayed up watching TV too).

Yeah, American Airlines, you can delay our flights any time...

**Note: as much as we complain, and will continue to do so, about the staff of American Airlines, the staff members at the gate fielding all of the questions and dealing with plenty of irate people were very nice, calm and helpful. I guess ground staff and flight staff go to different schools. The ground staff butters you up and gets you in a good mood, and the flight staff just ruins all their hard work.