Los Angeles - Day 1 - At the airplane

Before getting the airport

I went by to the airport by train and bus. I took me about 4 hours to get there. I did that because I didn't want to ask anyone else. It was a little risky because in the case of missing one bus, I could miss my my flight. Fortunately, I get there on time.

At the airport

My flight was a Virgin flight. The first difference that I noticed was that they charged 25$ for my checked baggage. I knew that some airlines charge more than their ticket prices, so I paid it without any discussion. Later I checked my booking, and I saw that I could bring my baggage to the airplane (as it was not big) as a carry-on baggage for free, but the representative didn't tell me because I didn't ask her.

I searched for a place to say my prayer. I went everywhere, but I couldn't find any place. It was also very weird to do it in the middle of the crowd! Even if I could find a corner, and somebody saw my praying there, they might think that I was a terrorist since they don't used to that, and I didn't want this to be happened. Then, I searched for a prayer room in the Internet, and I surprisingly figured out that the airport has one; however, it was late, and I didn't have time to say my prayer there. So, I said it on a chair in the waiting lobby. 

I was very hungry since I hadn't have my breakfast and lunch, and I wanted to get into airplane soon to wait for the food. I stand near the gate to get there before everybody. However, the second different thing happened. He called people group by group. At first, he call those who are disabled or old to enter the airplane. Then he called those who had a children. Then, he called the business class customers. Finally, he called other passengers section by section. Since my section was F, I got there after A,B, C, D, E. It was good because I didn't want to stand in line. I could sit on my chair and wait.

At the airplane

Hopefully, I was in the middle of the airplane, and I had a windows. The flight attendant was a very gorgeous. Since I was alone, I wish she could come with me to visit LA. I was thinking to myself that I am grown up, and I can ask her. But I couldn't. At least, I was hoping to get a beautiful next to me to be friends, and visit LA together; or I was hoping to have a young guy to talk to him, and not to be alone in the airplane. However, it turned out to be a 9-10 years old boy sat next to me. And her mom sat on the other side. Three girls were sitting in the other side of the row. I think that they planned it. It was better if one of them could sat next to me. I couldn't imagine that. "Oh my god, it gonna be a boring air trip." I thought to myself, and it was. The boy started to watch movies, and her mom started to read a fashion magazine. 

There were no headphones, so I couldn't even use the TV set there. Then, I noticed the second important difference. Since it was my first flight, I was not experienced at all. Everybody had his own headphones. They also had their own magazines and things to eat.

I waited waited and waited to get something to eat, but they brought us nothing. I fell sleep. When I opened my eyes, I saw that gorgeous flight attendant and her friend were bringing some drinks. I expected to get some food. Her friend passed me and I saw that he gave something to that child and mother, but I was not sure what was it. Then, she passed by me without giving anything to me. "Oh my god, I can't believe it." I thought to myself. "Did they forget to give me anything? Will they bring something for me later? Maybe they are going to bring the food later. So, I can wait until that time." they might give food to that kid because he was a little kid, and he couldn't endure being hungry anymore." After thirty minutes nothing happened, and at last I lost my hope to get something to eat. I just thought that it, they might doesn't want to give anything because it was a short flight. They might gave it when I was slept. They might simply forget to give me anything. The boy started to eat his delicious food, and I just watched it!

I fell sleep again, and I woke up we were close to LA. I started to play with the TV set in front of me. Then, I noticed that nothing is free in this flight. Movies, games, and all other items were commercial. There was also a place to take a credit card. I unexpectedly saw the a menu for ordering foods. This unraveled the puzzle of getting food in this airplane. I could easily order it using this little electronic device. All I needed to do was to choose an item and take my credit card. This also explained that why they gave the food to that boy. However, it was late, and we almost reached LA.

For the first time after one year, I saw real mountains. I remembered when I was in Tehran, and I used to go for hiking in the mountain trails every week. I really missed that. LA looked like to be a big city, but I couldn't see as many trees as I expected from the airplane. I also couldn't see tall buildings, and it was like a flat city.

Our flight had a 30 minutes delay. I get LA a little later than what I expected. Fortunately, LA time had two hours difference.