Day 1: A Post in Two Parts, most likely

 

We are off...taking off at roughly 8:30pm, we had a fairly easy path towards the plane.  Our pilot informed us that we are flying into the Sunrise and that it would be a fairly quick flight of just under 7 hours.  Some of our kids have never flown before, so 7 hours might seem like an eternity.  I am starting tonight's blog at 9pm (Boston time) and will pause for dinner service.  After dinner, I will try to get some sleep. I will probably hold off on posting this entry until we are on our second flight.  We have about 2.5 hours from Munich to Madrid...so it seems like it will be a post in two parts.  

But, who knows...maybe I will be happy with what I've written tonight and will not feel the need to post again until Friday's touring has wrapped up.  

I took an Uber from Saugus to Logan today. My driver's name was also Richard. He is originally from Kenya and we chatted about international travel as he drove me into town.  One topic was the number of bags he would bring when going home versus me traveling to Europe for just over a week.  It was an enjoyable ride and I gave him a five star rating.  When I said goodbye to Richard, I entered Terminal E and saw Mr. Sepulveda immediately. He had just arrived too.  We hopped right in line to check-in and soon we waiting in Terminal E for the rest of our group to arrive.  Slowly, but surely everyone arrived.

Checking in with large groups can be conducted several ways.  Our way, one for a medium sized that lives near the airport consists of the kids getting into the queue and going through it alone. This has benefits and I think helps some kids start building some independence.  It also allows those parents/guardians who stay with their children a few more moments to be together.  We saw at least three other schools enter the same line as us (yes, they are all on our flight).  Each school came on a bus and all entered the line together. They were Shawsheen Tech, Durfee, and Groton-Dunstable. They all had more kids than us too.  The Lufthansa gate agents worked efficiently today.  The line grew with each of these schools, but they flew through check-in rapidly.  

After our final student had made his way through the line, we said our final goodbyes and made our way to security.  The plan here was simple...I had TSA Pre-Check on my boarding pass, so I went through that line. Mrs. Agola entered the regular line first and Mr. S was the last one of our group to get into line. I zipped right through and was surprised that it wasn't that busy given the number of people we saw checking in at the ticket counters. As our group made it through, we congregated and made our way to Gate E10.  We had plenty of time to grab a snack. Some kids got pizza, others ordered Asian, some ordered two meals, lol.  I held off.  I actually haven't had a sip of caffeine today. I really want to sleep on the flight and decided not to have a diet coke or anything that might keep me up. I did get a Ginger Ale though.

At last, it was time for our group to get in line and board the plane. It is a double decker! I think we are all on the first floor, but I am not 100% sure.  After I finish typing, I may go upstairs to look at it. I think most of our group is seated with a few others in our group. One of our young men was across the aisle from me and a flight attendant asked him if he would leave his aisle seat to allow a little girl sit next to her father. He said yes and moved to the new seat...as I type this the little girl is asleep sprawled out onto her Dad. It is sweet and it goes to show the caliber of students who decided to travel on trips like this.  I am proud of our kids.

Dinner was just served.  I am going to sign off now and try to finish this blog in my morning!  If I can't sleep, I will be back.

One of our groups of kids on board and ready to go!

For those who have never read my blog before, I apologize. First, I can have fits where I write too much. It is basically a stream of consciousness.  Second, I try to blog about the food that we have while on tour. This isn't something one should apologize for, except that I really like airplane food!

Tonight was top notch!!!

I ordered Beef Stew.  It was really good.  The first course was a cucumber and couscous salad. The cuke was thickly sliced, cool, and crisp. It rested gently upon a medley of couscous lightly drizzled with oil and mixed with some sweet red peppers. It was the perfect way to begin my meal. 

The Beef Stew was served piping hot. I took my dinner roll and put it into the same vessel as the stew to soften the bread and melt the butter. After eating the salad, I started in on the carrots and mashed. The carrots were a little el dente (just the way I like them) and the mashed boarded on whipped.  With every bite, I got a hint of the Beef stew flavors until it was time to dig in.  The beef was tender and rich with flavor. It melted in my mouth.  The portion was a little light for my usual meal, but it worked well on a tray.

For dessert, Lufthansa's expert chef prepared a marbled brownie.  This delectable treat was more like a fudge than a brownie. I sampled it before taking the picture to see if I wanted to eat it or not. I ate it! While very rich, the brownie accompanied the main course really well. It was not a lot of food, but it was all comfort food. I think this meal will help me fall asleep.

And this is where part one of tonight's post will end. I am going to try to sleep for the next few hours. If all goes well, there will be a few more lines added in the AM and when you wake, you will see that I slept and feel ready for the next day!

Part Two: Kind of...

Well, I'm still on the first flight and I'm not quite sure if I've slept at all yet. I definitely tried to catch some Zzz's. But I'm up again and I don't think I'll find anymore sleep on this plane, wherever I look (they have curtains hanging up preventing me from going upstairs). We are scheduled to land in about two hours. The plane is still quite silent, but I expect the final service to begin soon.

Thanks for reading everyone. If you enjoy this blog feel free to leave a comment or let me know online. It really makes my day when someone mentions it to me. Which reminds me... There is another Rick Lavoie who lives in Massachusetts and works in Education. He's way more famous than I am. He's traveled the country giving speeches and presentations. Well, recently, he sent me a small package and a note. He's read the blog (Hey, what's up? If you are reading it again). 

So, maybe today's post should be a tale of three Richard's. From my Uber ride to this moment, things have been going well. We will land in Munich in a few minutes and trek to the gate for Spain. I'm glad some of these kids will get a taste of Deutschland. It's beautiful. I'll post along the way, but for now, I'm signing off. 

Mr. Lavoie, currently stretched out as much as on can on an airplane. Hopeful for a few more minutes of shut eye!