At 4 a.m it definitely felt as if it was earlier…oh wait it was! Daylight savings time is not the ideal morning to travel on, however, for Chi-Urbaners it was a morning we had been waiting for for months. All ready to go we boarded the plane only to find out that there was some mechanical error, the engine was not starting on its own. To most of us that was a concerning issue, but the pilot mentioned it as if it was a normal occurrence. We waited on the crowed, warm, and stuffy plane and the pilot came on the loud speaker to tell us that the machine they were using to start the engine was not working properly and that they are scrambling to find the backup machine to start the engine.
It was nearly half hour after our scheduled departure time as we still sat in Spokane, nervous if this plane was going to make it to Minneapolis. Good news came our way shortly and we were able to depart and arrive safely to Minneapolis. Then it was quick flight to Chicago’s airport. Excited at 3p.m that we had at last made it to our destination we were able to take a shuttle to south side of Chicago. Arriving at approximately 4p.m only to find out that the door to the Chicago center was locked and no one was in the building. We waited outside in the windy city and soon decided to stand inside the local convenience store to stay warm. Awkwardly the employees started at us, probably wondering why there were eight students with luggage just standing inside
their store. We then decided to head to the local Starbucks, as we were 490 feet away our chaperone received a phone call that we can head inside the Chicago Center building. There had been some miscommunication and they were not expecting us to arrive until 6p.m. We turned back and walked through potholes and puddles to the center and waited in the basement until a coordinator showed up twenty minutes later.
It was quiet an adventure getting to Chicago, but after getting settled in and receiving our schedule for the week I know this trip is going to be filled with excitement, adventure, and an opportunity to be thankful of the privileges I have.
Yusra Hamidani
Sophomore