Pago Pago?

I realise that my blogging has been so pathetic of late that you've probably all stopped checking, but just in case, I thought it was about time I filled in the details of my adventures on the way back to Ithaca.

The plane was a little late leaving Sydney, and with a short connection time in LA I was a bit worried that I'd miss my flight to Philadelphia. I shouldn't have bothered. About 4 hours in to the flight some poor guy suffered a heart attack, and an announcement was made that we would be dumping fuel and then landing in American Samoa so he could be treated properly. 90 minutes later we landed at Pago Pago International Airport, where we were to stay in our seats so that the emergency crew could go about their work. However we were then told that local regulations prohibited refueling of the plane with passengers on board, so we all made our way to the front of the plane, down the stairs and on to the tarmac. Police who looked more like rugby players directed us to a small waiting area with indoor seating and a grassed area. At 27C I decided to sit on the grass and chat to Frida, my new friend. Here's a picture she took of me.

Finally the plane was ready and we reboarded, off to LA. We were 5 1/2 hours late, which meant that the customs staff in the United terminal had left, so we were bussed to a different terminal to clear customs. No bag dramas, and I finally made it down the length of the airport and back to the United terminal to find out how I was getting home. The line was about an hour long with plenty of familiar faces from the plane. I ended up flying to SF in a really good seat, then taking a red eye flight to Philadelphia where I spent a fabulous 6 hours in the airport before taking my originally scheduled flight to Ithaca (I was supposed to be staying overnight in Philadelphia). I've never been so happy to walk into the terminal at Ithaca airport.

The last 3 weeks have been filled with moving house and a conference in Aspen. More on the new house to come (I promise).