...continued

So the nice SkyCap men bring me to customs, at this point I have been waiting so long that the 6 other international flights passengers had already cleared out so I walked the gangplank to the customs official alone. He eyed my baggage warily and looked at my immigration card:

"Cayman Islands. So what is it all?"

"Um, metal poles, cloth, sandbags."

*giving me the hairy eyeball* "What were you doing?"

"Shooting a Sports Illustrated/Taco Bell commerical."

*eyes brighten, looks around behind me*
"Is there a supermodel on your flight???"

"No, sorry. We flew her back to Brazil."

"Oh. Okay. Well on behalf of our president, George W. Bush and the Government of the United States of America, Welcome Home."

Okay so it wasn't so dramatic as it could have been but after I got through customs I had about 30 minutes to re-check my bags, find my way through the badly signed Miami airport, re-go through security, wait for a tram to take me to my terminal and then RUN to the gate. Thankfully I was flying first class, so I got to bypass the huge line of people but even then it was still really close. As soon as I sat down in my plush leather seat, the flight attendant asked me what if I would like a drink and I never in my life asked for champagne more seriously. Don't be jealous. After that madness I deserved it!

The topping to this whole trip was getting into JFK airport and waiting for over an hour for my enormous amount of baggage that never came and having to go home hoping against hope that I didn't just lose $30, 000 worth of equipment, because that would seriously mess with my final budget.

Well it's over now and I am proud that I made it through without attempting to drown myself in the crystal blue Cayman ocean. I'm also happy to go back to coordinating for a bit where I can rest easy knowing that the weight of all important decisions does not rest on my shoulders.