Day 21

I wrote a few days ago, that railroad stations have something ominous going for them. This morning we left from Paddington Station in London to go the Heathrow, as I looked up at the roof of the station, I understood why.

Our flight was to go to Washington D.C. first, and then from there make the connection to Mexico City. The flight left late from London, as first we had an electrical problem that needed to be fixed and later as we were already taxing down to the runway, we had to turn back because a Korean couple were not allowed on board as their passports had gone past their due date (like Yogurt does) and their suitcases had to be retrieved. For security reasons no bags can leave unaccompanied by a passenger. We left one and half hours late.

We arrived in Washington and missed our connection to Mexico. The airline put us up in a hotel and we left the next day. Luck was with us, as I found out later. An hour before our arrival in Mexico City the airport had been shut down as a plane had just landed in middle of a rain storm and had a punctured tire that had to be cleared from the runway right away... The experience with the Concord crashing due to debris left on a runway must have been the reason for such a precaution. All the planes that arrived during this period, were sent to other airports in the country, ours fortunately was able to land at our destination, we only had to cope with waiting for an hour for the plane to find a parking space with so many planes backed up from the long shut down. Flying isn't what it used to be.

The next days I will be at home in Mexico City, before I leave on Monday once again, this time for New York City.

Pedro Meyer
July 9, 2001
Mexico City, Mexico.

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