Leaving Barcelona in the Midst of the Coronavirus Pandemic
Sunday, March 15
The taxi picked Cece, Natalie and I up at 2:30 am, after we all had barely slept. We arrived at the airport by 3 am and quickly realized that the American Airlines kiosk was not open. Upon investigation, we learned that it wouldn’t open for hours. However, we made some friends with other Americans heading home and eventually found out what number desks would be American once the workers arrived. Apparently they were supposed to open three hours before the first flight, but that did not happen.
Cece and I at 2:54 am in Barcelona - El Prat Airport.
We started the line with our friends and many people quickly followed. The line ended up being hundreds of people long, so we were thankful we made these friends who had helped us. I was nervous about making my connecting flight with a short layover, so I booked a flight for 6 am the next day from Miami to Chicago just to be safe. Once the workers arrived and started making the line with the rope barriers, a couple tried to cut the line but they were soon told off by one of our new friends.
My suitcase was extremely overweight despite me packing all my shoes and heavy items in my carryon. The American worker asked me strange questions: what I do for a living, where I go to school, and who was my favorite professor. One of our new friends had a skateboard as he was asked about the tricks he does and other odd things. I’m not sure fi they were checking our mental state or what, but it was odd.
Natalie, Cece and I made it to our gate as we were on the same flight to Miami. They asked everyone waiting to look at their passports. In security or border patrol they wrote some code on the back and certain people had to be screened. None of us had the additional screening.
I made my way to the last row on the plane and sat in my window seat. Since I was in the last row, there was only an aisle seat - no middle. An older Polish lady sat next to em and we chatted. She had a connecting flight to Dallas so we expressed our worry that we wouldn’t make our other flights.
After watching a few movies, eating airplane curry and sleeping in odd positions, we began our descent in Miami. The pilot said that the screening process would be explained upon landing. Some people in our program had waited for hours before deplaning so I was expecting the worst. When we arrived at our gate, the previous flight was still there, with people still deplaning. Great, I thought - I will probably miss the next flight.
Eventually, we parked at the gate. They handed us each a form to fill out how we felt and asked If we had traveled to places in Asia - no mention of Italy or any European coronavirus hot spots. Weird. Anyways, I filled it out quickly, hoping to get off this plane ASAP. Then it was announced that they would be releasing people by their connecting flights. Hallelujah. There were two connecting flights earlier than mine, and one happened to be my Polish neighbor’s Dallas flight. I wish her well as she deplaned and retrieved my carryon from the overhead bin.
I snapped a photo to send to my mom once I arrived in Miami.
My flight was next, so I went down the aisle as fast as I could. As we left the jetway, I was expecting to get my temperature taken. Instead, I was greeted with workers wearing face shields and masks, asking if everyone felt normal. After waiting in line, a man in a mask asked if I had symptoms and I said no. He handed me a paper about symptoms and quarantining. That was the entire screening. A bit concerning how lax it was, but I had a plane to catch.
I then had to take the air shuttle to pick up my checked bag and saw my Polish friend on there. After grabbing my luggage, I headed to customs where the border patrol agent asked if I received a sheet on coronavirus. I replied yes and hurried to drop my luggage so it would make it on my next flight. After all that, I Went through security where I almost for to dump out the water in my Hydroflask (I had filled it up in Barcelona for the long flight). I dumped it in the trash where I was told and a worker cursed me out in Spanish. Not too sure why, but I know exactly what she said (lol). I got to my new gate with time to spare, but didn’t even want to grab a lunch - or whatever meal my body was supposed to have next, time zones confuse my eating schedule too much.
I finally boarded my flight home to Chicago and texted my parents that I had made it. Because it was within 24 hours, I cancelled my flight for the next morning and got a full refund. My parents met me at the airport and we claimed my luggage before heading home. Of course, I made them stop at White Castle to get me some Impossible burgers (without the cheese) - time to go back to being vegan full-time! It was also time for quarantine.