Into the unknown

Now that i am finally here, and a little bit more settled down, i'll dedicate a few minutes to update you all on how my arrival into the USA went.

Heathrow airport was good, not a lot of choice of places to eat when you wait for your plane to be ready, i mean there was Wagamama's and such, but nothing cheap like Mcdonalds or something. Nevertheless, i found a JD Whetherspoons which came in handy, had one of their breakfasts, which is a little more expensive inside the airport compared to the ones in the towns. Another pint of Fosters later and my gate was about to open.

So i headed down to gate 10e, which was actually a bus stop. The bus takes you out to where you're going, which to my understanding of Heathrow's layout was somewhere near Terminal 3. From there you board the aircraft, which happened to be a Boeing-777. Twin engined jumbojet which took off from runway 27Left and flew over the pond at no lower than 38000ft and no slower than about 500-600 Mph.
Upon boarding i asked a member of crew if there was any chance of visiting the cockpit before the flight starts, he explained that it was a little hard to do these days. So i went down to my seat which was 35c, An aisle seat in economy class which was near the rear of the plane. The legroom was way bigger than i remember it being in previous flights, which i was very happy about, and next to me sat a senior couple who were very nice to talk to and very polite, i explained how i didn't want the window seat because i'd hate to have to bother someone every single time i want to get up for a walk or use the bathroom, but that i didn't mind a single bit if they wanted to get out. I think they were fairly grateful for this and we got on real good throughout the eight hours we spent together.

Half way through the flight the same crew member came to me and said that it would be okay to visit the cockpit once we landed, providing it was all good with the Captain. So i asked again upon leaving the aircraft and i was invited to the cockpit, had a little chat with the captain, took a few photos of the flight deck. Really amazing to be actually there where it all happens, hopefully be doing that again in the flights to South America as regulations are less strict down there.

Once i arrived to Chicago O'hare Intl. Airport, i had to be processed through customs, along with the other 4 or 5 hundred people that arrived simultaneously on two or more flights. This process took an awfully long time, i watied for about an hour. On the other hand when it came to my turn, they just asked me a few questions about my travels - what i was doing, where i was staying, what was planned when i left the states - to which i answered very honestly saying i was visiting friends as it's a cheaper way to travel and didn't really have a lot planned apart from that. They were cool with it and on the first of October 2009 i got a toursit visa in the USA which lasts ninety days. Stoked!

Once i got my backpack from the conveyabouts i made my way to the departure hall where i was met by my friend Jonathan. Him and two of his friends - Ethan and Mitch - had driven about three or four hours to reach Chicago from Newcastle where they live. I wasn't aware of how far it was and the drive back was even longer, we got stuck in traffic for about three hours so we didn't get home until about 10pm. This was a very long day. I think i will be getting the train back, Chicago's highways are too busy for my liking.

Anyway after that we eventually got some sleep and woke up on friday at about eleven. We picked up Ethan and Mitch once again and drove down to get some "gas" and food. Prices of petrol are pretty similar to the UK - about 2 dollars 30 something a litre of unleaded. - The food you get in regular petrol stations is with all honesty junk. Crisps, chocolate, more crisps, a lot of stuff with preservatives and generally unhealthy. You can grab a warm cheeseburger from there for about a dollar but i even wonder what the hell is in that! It will be hard to eat healthy whilst trying to keep a low budget, but all i can do is try. Mcdonald's is a lot cheaper than in England, you can grab a regular BigMac meals for $4.59, thats with unlimited refills.

There's places like Taco bell with very cheap food also, but as i say i'm going to try keep it as healthy as possible.

On friday we went to a couple of skate shops, Imagine in Newcastle where i picked up a "chocolate" deck for $53, and Rise in a town about an hour away to grab a pair of Lakai Select shoes at $50. These were a little cheaper than you'd get them in England, i guess because they're not imported here.

We visited a couple of skateparks in the region which were very good, built to a very high standard - all concrete, good transition, smooth ground - and very well spaced out - something that lacks in a lot of British parks.

Today is Saturday and we should be heading down somewhere past Noblesville, the weather is just about holding but rain looks very probable.

I will be updating this better as soon as we get the Internet fixed at Jon's house where i'm staying, as at the moment i'm having to write this from Mitch's. I will be posting some photos i've been taking along the way very soon as well. We've been filming a lot of skateboarding as well so we'll hopefully have a short video edited and online by the time i head down to Mexico.















Having a great time here, thanks for reading this!

Your Son, Your Brother, Your Friend,

Santiago.

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