Departures

The first one was the worst. Adi was supposed to leave last Monday at 8pm. We spent the first half day running around the city for some last minute shopping, unsuccessfully. Got home around 4pm and started calling cab companies to schedule a ride to JFK. He was stressed about his luggage size – having to carry a lot of stuff for other people – so he wanted to get there earlier just in case he’s over the limit and needs to take some stuff out. We left at 4:30, which was way before what I was suggesting.

We arrived at the airport at a little over 5. Got in line for check-in, noticing how few people were over at the KLM line. An attendant offered to help us and asked what time is our flight. We answered 8pm and she looked puzzled. “The only flight we have is at 10pm”.

I check my email (Adi forwarded me his reservation). It said 10pm. We were 5 hours early.

What followed was an in-depth examination of the insides of JFK’s Terminal 4 for about an hour and a half. We got some dinner at one point and when it got close to 7 Adi went past security. His gate was opening at 8:30, and from what I heard afterward, even the plane left 1 hour later than planned. Total wasted time: about 6 hours, which could have easily been avoided if one of us would have double-checked the time. Not to mention I had it in my calendar, phone, and even email, staring me in the face. Guess that’s what sleep deprivation will do to you.

Mihnea and Ilinca left last Wednesday. I had them check and double-check the time their flight was departing (11:30pm) and they insisted I don’t go with them to the airport. I called them a cab for 8:30pm and sent them off to Terminal 4, where KLM (the airline they all arrived with) was operating. We hugged and said goodbyes in front of my building and off they went.

Half an hour later I get a phone call from Mihnea. “Ummm… which is the terminal for Air France?”. Apparently, due to the fact that they were going to Paris for 4 days instead of back to Romania, they changed airlines. I looked it up (it’s 1 by the way) and send them to take the Air Train. 15 minutes later I get a text message saying they got there ok and they’re on their way to France.

Vlad left today, at 5:40pm. Surprisingly – if you know Vlad – he wasn’t late for the airport. And he got the airline and time of departure right, so everything went smoothly. We spent some time browsing magazines in the terminal and afterward he went to the security checkpoint. Should get home by tomorrow afternoon, local time.

Back at my home, the apartment feels too quiet. After 2 weeks of people shuffling around, TV, music, games, snores (oh god, the snores) now everything seems eerily silent. Which is why I’m blasting music while I write this and thinking about when to have my next Wii or Rock Band party. Soon.