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Article overview Now at Chicago O'Hare Airport, the family flies to Miami on an American Airlines A300. Originally published in December 1998. Re-edited in March 2000.	flight to lima, part 2 by Sergio Ortega a little wider in space... ...and in food service? he journey continues as the Boeing 757 has just crossed the bridge taxiway and parked at the ramp at the Chicago O'Hare International airport. Then comes leg number 2: Chicago-Miami on AA again, but this time on the wide-body Airbus A300 Vast terminal Flight: American AAL915 Equipment: H/A306 Origin/Dest.: KORD/KMIA It is the first time we stop by at Chicago and we are impressed by the very vast terminal. We stop by and look at the duty-free shops in the boarding area. We look at our boarding passes (the agent gave us the boarding passes for the two flights) and go directly to Concourse K, gate K-12, and wait patiently. Because Chicago is on Central Standard Time (CST), we are a little confused. We landed at what we thought being 11:44AM and before we know it, 11AM started all over again. My first thought here was that this is the busiest airport in the world, with an average of one aircraft movement (take-off or landing) every 45 seconds. I am impressed too. Our second flight is American Airlines flight AA915, non-stop to Miami, continuing on to Bogota, Colombia. While we wait, my father takes the new camcorder and films the terminal and the airplane as it is parked at the gate. Then, an announcement made our stomachs twist a little. Something that could change our plans again! No changes, please! Over the P.A., a gate agent announces that flight 915 is full and asks if there are passengers willing to give up their seats and take the next flight to Miami sometime in the evening. And my sister started panicking: "Mom, you gotta go to the counter now! They can't change our plans"... Of course! We can't take the next flight! We have a plane waiting for us in Miami, and it leaves at 6:10PM. Fortunately, they considered our connection and we stuck with flight 915. Thank goodness! And Thank goodness also that my mom doesn't have a turbulent kid like the one sitting in front of us with his mom near the gate. He started punching his toys and... his mom... in the twins... afterwards. He yelled he was hungry and was tired of waiting. A few minutes after the frightening announcement, it is already boarding time. It starts with the "Passengers travelling with small children". The kid asks his mom if they have to board now and the mom replies: "No, you're a 'medium' child!". What's "37C"? Right after that, it's our turn to board. At the time I had no idea of what the airline seat numbers would mean, but I found out on that day that 37C is a seat in the very last row on an Airbus A300! But it wasn't too bad. Even if we couldn't recline our seats, it was quite a change from the narrow Boeing 757. I still remember my sister's comment on the home video: "This plane looks larger". My dad replies: "It IS larger". My father has the window seat (37A) and he lets me have it. So I sit down, ask my sister to stow our coats (which will be obsolete in Miami!) and I am starting to feel a little coldness as the aft door is open and an LSG SkyChefs truck is delivering what will be our inflight meals later. A while later, the doors are closed, the FASTEN SEAT BELT and NO SMOKING signs turn on, and the plane pushbacks from Gate K12. As the plane rolls to the runway, I see the cars entering into the Chicago O'Hare terminals and I take a Werther's caramel from the Banana bag I am wearing around my waistband, expecting some ear pains when we take-off. And I see our left wing wiggling a little like a paper sheet. A little scary I must admit! We taxi into position and hold, then it's full power and the nose lifts up. "A light lunch" A while after we're airborne and we haven't crossed the clouds, the television monitors in the aisle show the very same safety instructions we have seen before take-off, but in Spanish, for two reasons I might say. Number one: the plane continues to Bogota and there are a few Colombians on board, I presume, and number two: Miami is English AND Spanish! But it isn't like that for our flight attendants! The head flight attendant speaks over the P.A. system, welcomes us on flight 915 and announces the program for the day. 45 minutes after take-off, a "light lunch" will be served and 15 minutes later, it's the HBO entertainment program. Landing is scheduled around 3:30PM, EST. My head says "Yay! We're eating"... But once the flight attendant gets near our seats with the kart and asks me if I want the "Chicken Quesadilla" or the "Shrimp Cocktail with Salad", I am quite perplex. What the heck is Quesadilla! It sounded like "Casadilla" to me, "Casa" being "house" in Spanish. I wondered if they had "naked" chicken (no sauce, nothing). I told the flight attendant, "Could I have the chicken only, please?"... She showed a rather serious look and handed me my food tray. Surprise, surprise. My sister has no idea what "Quesadilla" means and takes that choice. "Quesadilla" contains the word "Queso" and it means "cheese" in spanish. And she hates cheese! Ha! Anyway, the portion was very small and the taste was hiding somewhere. But because we were starving, we didn't care. My parents however really enjoyed their "Shrimp Cocktail with Salad". The portion was smaller than ours though. But the airlines have their way of making the portions sound large enough. Along with the main course, there was a chocolate mint patty, bread, butter, salad with dressing and a drink. I picked a Coke, and regret it now! Dizzy! After gulping the "Quesadilla", while watching the HBO entertainment program, I start feeling dizzy and my stomach starts spinning like a jet engine. At one moment, I have to go to the bathroom, erm... the lavatory immediately. I rush and find four people waiting in line. By the time it's my turn, nothing happens in the digestive system. I go back to my seat and the plane starts its descent to the Miami area. The screen now shows the "Landing in Miami" video about the location of the American Airlines counters and gates at the Miami International Airport. We don't need that now: we are flying on another airline in Miami. Small airport? I look out and see around Miami mostly trees, and a few roads. Where are the Everglades? I wonder if we're really in Miami because I expected flying above a city. As we land, I see nothing but trees from the left side of the aircraft and as we roll, I see a few American Eagle ATR-42s and Jetstreams J-31. I am wondering if we're really in Miami because I expected a huge airport like O'Hare. I later notice that I always get that impression when I land on very large airports. And the full opposite when I land at med-size airports! We deplane with our many hand bags and we are really disoriented. We have no idea where to go, where to reach the AeroPeru counter. We see two of the flight attendants (brother and sister, I imagine) who served us on flight 915 and ask them for instructions. They tell us to take the TrAAm to Concourse "B". We walk, walk, and walk much more and finally reach the counter...
	This is part of a series of 5 articles on a trip from Montreal to Lima and back. Click on the numbers below for easy navigation.
	All A300 pictures: by Sergio Ortega, captured and modified from Microsoft Flight Simulator 98. © 1998-2008, airodyssey.net. All rights reserved. Disclaimer, trademarks, privacy policy.		< Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next >