Flying around Thomas

When we got to the airport there was almost no one there. I went up to the counter to check in, and was met by a quite stressed ground crew that had no idea weather the plane would take off or not. The phone was constantly ringing, and passengers decided not to go to the airport. There had not been any planes taking off the last couple hours, but I was still hoping. When they were about to check me in it tuned out that they could not do it before I got an e-visa to the USA. I had never needed an e-visa before, and to be honest I did not expect the US to be that high-tech. Australia has been using that solution for years, but my experience with American authorities, and especially the immigration office, has always been indicating the opposite of efficency and improvement. I asked since when I needed a visa to visit the US, and they claimed that it had been like that for a long time, and that they started some time last year. I told them I was there in the end of November, and they said it was implemented after that. I asked them how I could obtain the e-visa and get on the plane, if it was leaving, and they told me to buy a pin code for the two public computers available at the airport and apply for the visa there. It could be updated immediately, and I could come back and check in. I got the information about what web-page I could find the forms at, and got in line. Everyone at the airport was going on the same plane as me and the one to LA, and no one knew about the visa.

The computers were slow and just as I hit submit, after filling in a long application with more or less useless information, Windows shut down. I had no idea wether or not it went through, and had no option but to ask in the counter. I was lucky, it went through, but the next issue was that I did not have my tickets out of the US printed. The computer with a printer at the service area was not working, and the only option I had was to get in line for the computers, get into my e-mail and take pictures of the ticket. After another try I got my boarding pass and was headed for the security check. They were about to close down the security and go home, but let me through when I said I was willing to wait out the hurricane on the airport if I so had to. I got on the plane as the last passenger who had checked in. They closed the door behind me and took off more than half an hour before departure time. It was a close call, and since a lot of people who were stuck on other islands did not think the plane would take off, or were stuck in Nadi because of the rainfall, the plane was about half full.

I was seated at an emergency exit, and as we were taxing the stewardess gave us the most thourough emergency briefing I have ever experienced. It was down to the smallest details, and she pointed out me and another big guy to be in charge of the emergency rafts, showing us where they were, telling us their weight, and how we best could hold them when attatching the slides to the aircraft. One girl about my age on a different exit, I was over the wing, asked to be moved since she thought she wouldn't handle an emergency very well, but they needed someone to sit there, and asked for a volunteer. A man from the row in front of her signed up. The captain warned us that it would be a bumpy ride, and I was reading the security on board brochure very carefully, as we were the last plane to take off from Fiji before the hurricane hit.

After about 40 minutes the ride became really bumpy. I think a little turbulence is just fun, and enjoyed the tickeling feeling I got in the stomach every time we hit an empty air pocket. During the course of the next couple of hours I had a hard time not being disrespectful to the people around me who were crying, but I really did my best not too seem too excited.
The hurricane was between us and Hawaii, so we had to fly around it, something that turned out to be harder than it was supposed to. The winds were so strong that both of my hips were bruised from hitting the armrests, even if the belt was as tight as could be. There was no way they would be able to serve any food, and bathroom visits were impossible. The storm turned out to be so bad that we had to turn around, and do an emergency pit-stop on American Samoa to refuel. The plane had used too much fuel fighting the wind. People were praying all over the plane, and a lot of people were scared. I was a little worried we had to get out of the plane in Samoa, because it would take a lot of time to reboard. On the ground we did not have to get out of the plane, but only unbuckle our seat belts. Like that would have helped if the plane blew up while refueling. Anyway, being on ground again we were able to eat, and the food was served.

About two hors later we were back in the air, ready for another bumpy ride. The same story repeated itself all over again untill we got clear of the hurricane Thomas and could fly a few easy hours to Honolulu.