My first air travel which became an international one! - Part 3 final!

"Jaane kya hoga rama re….." I joined the queue which moved towards the US customs and security checks. As the queue made a curve closer to the counter. I couldn’t see what was happening at the counter. The only thing I could see is, a person far in the front taking out his laptop from the bag and placing it in the plastic basin and then his watch and then his shoes and then.......... oh, is he removing his belt..? What the heck is this..? Should I strip to my shorts for the security "Checks"...?  Belt would have metal item so it is to be removed and kept in the basin. But still, I haven't seen such a procedure of removing belt for these checks. As soon as the queue moved forward, I could see the counters where customs personnel in navy blue pants and white shirt with their royal caps. There was a lady officer too. An Indian guy was standing 3 persons in front of me and I heard the officer asking him to dispose the shaving gel he had which was probably more than some specific qty which one can carry in his cabin baggage. Hopefully, I had all these stuff in my check-in baggage and I was not wearing a belt with my jean. I got through the checks quite easily and moved towards my gate A63. I still had 2 hours to go and I was feeling hungry. I thought of getting some food from the cafe there, but didn’t know what to take; rather I was not in a mood to experiment the new stuffs I saw at a cafe. So managed with my cookies, cashew nuts and dates which I carried. I saw a small book shop near the gate so got in and was 'browsing' through them and I got to see some of those books which were "banned" or meant "precious" in India ;-) Should I buy one...? hmm... nope, would buy on the way back.

Around 12 noon I boarded the United Airlines UA-941 which would reach Chicago O'Hare Intl airport at 3.15 in the afternoon after a non stop 9 1/2 hr flying. The cabin crew were not that interesting compared to Lufthansa, few ladies in their 40's may be :( I felt damn sleepy and decided to sleep after the breakfast which consisted of a veg burger, apple, banana, strawberry and the like. Quickly finishing it, I slept. A few hours passed and hearing some noise, I got up and saw t they have started serving lunch. Not much to say about the "asian veg meal"....Sigh!! I was sleeping through the rest of the journey. As we were approaching Chicago, the air hostess gave us a declaration form for customs check and I ticked "foodstuffs" as I still had those nuts and dates with me. As the plane ran through the runway I saw something interesting. The runway was built over a subway or rather the subway was built under the runway...hmm.. whatever, it made me remind one of the forwards I got as an email. Yes, that place was Chicago and I am experiencing it! Chicago is also called as 'windy city' and found that it is damn cold and with the wind it would be even worse. Weather forecasts say “5 Fahrenheit, feels like 1 F. Chicago is one among the largest airports in the world, so lets see what does this have for me...

My connection flight to Minneapolis was at 5PM and before that I had to collect my bag and go through the immigration checks and get my I-94, a legal document which would bear the last date of my stay in US. I had to catch a train from the international terminal to reach the immigration check. The queue for these checks was divided into two. One for US citizens and green card holders and the other for tourists. I joined the second queue; the officer had some basic questions and verified my finger prints. He stapled the I-94 to my passport "OKKK! I AM NOW IN THE US!!" I moved forward following the "connection flight sign" and had a walked through the customs to whom I handed over the declaration form. They asked what food do I have and I replied cashew nuts, and immediately they asked "raw or roasted". For a second, I got confused as to what to answer (tired and sleepy, it happens..!!) and I smiled and replied "roasted". I moved to the baggage check-in area and tried to spot my flight from the display. Alas! It has been cancelled.........! I enquired to an African-American lady crew standing near the display the reason for cancellation. She said it has been cancelled due to bad weather at Minneapolis and added that I need to check at the gate for my next flight. One thing to mention is that the lady looked very funny and even speaks in a very funny accent and the figure, OMG! as if a baby elephant standing on its 2 legs!!

I saw a huge crowd at the gate. They put me on a wait list for the next 2 flights. I had to call up my colleague, Sreedeep, in MPLS and inform the situation, but had no coins with me to make the call. My banker was kind enough to advance me $100 and $50 notes and some travellers cheque!! I got the money the previous day of my travel and didn’t have time to get smaller denominations. However, I bought a bottle of water from the shop for $3.00 and got the change. Then, I called up and informed my colleague of the situation. 4 hours passed but my ticket was not confirmed. In between, I called up my pick up cab service at MPLS and informed them of the cancellation and that I would let them know as soon as I get a confirmed one. I called them up again for the third time and this time even before I introduced myself, the lady on the other side said "Hi, Rajath” she recognized my voice. It was almost 9 and I walked around the airport and saw a general help desk and there I asked for a confirmed ticket as I didn’t want a wait list again! That lady was nice enough to give me a confirmed one at 10....... NEXT DAY MORNING!! 5pm to 10 am means a 17hr stop over..!! I further enquired whether I would get free accommodation for that night at some hotel to which she replied that, once you are in US you are a domestic traveller and they don’t provide accommodation to domestic travellers. Wow! Even so nicer, huh!!

I roamed around the airport and it seemed like that I have seen these places before. Yes! One of the sequel of "Home Alone" where the family rushes through the crowd towards their gate. That was Chicago airport. A huge skeleton of a Dinosaur was kept near the helpdesk. I wandered every nook and corner of the airport and watched the Audi's and Limo's cruising outside in the cold streets. I walked towards the end which leads to the car parking lot, but being alone didn’t want to take any risk venturing outside. Another interesting fact is that, one of my friends, Vinod, was in Chicago at that time, which I came to know only after a month of my arrival! Had I known that earlier, I wouldn’t have to spend this F***ing 17 hrs here! I decided to sleep at my gate premises and found a comfortable long seat where I lay down on my stomach with my shoulder bag under my chest. New place, will I be able to keep myself and my bag safe here? I didn't see much security officers at that time. May be because of low traffic, fewer officers. I saw a young couple in their mid teens making space at the ground, right below the gate counter. They spread a sheet and this girl lay down with her head on the boy's lap. Soooooooo young couple, even guys and gals in their 20's hardly do this (or rather get a chance like this :P) in India. Probably they might be dating eachiother. I spotted them smooching at a time even though my eyes were off from them :P "Labom ko labom pe sajaao......"  Ok, its time to sleep and wondering whether to curse or not at this situation I slowly went to deep sleep hoping for a new day, new things at a new place........

Thanks a lot for spending your time.....