Hasta Manana y'all!

My flight back to Mexico today is a night flight which means I will be landing after dark which I have heard is a sight not to be missed. I know from my vast 3 weeks and 2 round trip flights so far that Mexico City is enormous - it stretches as far as you can see. Michael (our developer and IT genius) flew in at night and tells me it is Christmas with Santa Claus. As much as I am sad to be leaving home once again I am really looking forward to seeing this. I've requested a window seat and hope I can get it and I'll try to take pictures. In the meantime, here are some daytime views from the airplane: Mexico City lies at the bottom of a "bowl" created by mountains. The air pollution is kind of rough on me - the second I step off the plane my eyes get red and watery and kind of stay that way until I get back. Evidently the winter months are the worst so I am really hoping we get this project finished before December! Nevertheless it is a breathtaking view from the airplane.The above shot is about 15 minutes out of Mexico City. I always ask for a window seat. This really isn't smart because if you have to get up it's a true pain unless you end up with empty seats next to you. But I love looking out at the ground. When I was flying to and from Japan we flew over the southern coast of Alaska and it was just the most amazing thing - so rugged.

I used to be terrified of flying. In my previous life (the early 80s) I remember one flight from Houston to Ontario, CA that was so frightening I wanted to hit the pilot when we finally landed. Also I've had a couple of commuter flights that made me understand what it's like to be a falling leaf in autumn. But when I started this job and was ordering truckloads of orange juice and toilet paper into warehouses it finally hit me that there are tens of thousands of flights per day and maybe once in a blue moon there is a problem. Now I'm more terrified of driving 285 than flying. The sky is full of highly trained professionals with other highly trained professionals watching their every move. The ground is full of idiots who use their vehicles as weapons. I just watch the flight attendants. If the day ever comes when they freak out I will freak out but until then I'll just white-knuckle my armrest if there is turbulence!

How could you not love a sight like that?

Sam (da boss man and cool dude with tattoos) called this morning. He's been bouncing back and forth between Mexico, Santiago, and his home in Reston, VA for the past few weeks. I never know exactly where he is but he went home to Reston this weekend. Turns out we will both be in the international terminal at Hartsfield this afternoon and so I'm leaving a couple of hours earlier than planned so we can catch a late lunch and get caught up in one of the fine terminal dining establishments.

It's really difficult to blog from the hotel. For one thing the hours in Mexico are all crazy - in the office at 9 (I like to start working at 7) - lunch for 2 hours at 2 or 3 -- back to the hotel by 7:30 or so unless there is a business dinner in which case back to the hotel around 10 or 11. The hotel charges $5 per hour or $22 for 24 hours for internet in the room. I hate getting only one hour because I feel like I then have to be tied to the laptop for that whole hour but also hate getting 24 hours when I know I will maybe be online for a little while. It's not my money - this is all expensed - but I think I'm too frugal for my own good. Anyway, since I will be there this time without Sam or Michael to dine with I might be online more and will try to check in a bit.

Adios for now!