Nightmare in the Air

Okay, so the nightmare is not actually IN the air, but at the airports inbetween. This story begins 29 1/2 hours ago in San Jose, Costa Rica, where I boarded a small bus with a few of my classmates and was taken to the San Jose airport, where occurred Problem 1: when I went to check my bag, it weighed 14 pounds too much and rather than pay $100 for the extra weight, I sat down in front of the counter and started digging through my luggage removing the heaviest things. I got the bag down to 50 pounds, but gained an extra carry-on bag that was definitely not meant for extended use. The handles keep ripping, so I retie them. They've gotten gradually shorter and shorter until now they're just big enough to hold on to.  Problem 1 solved. My flight didn't actually leave for another 5 or so hours, so I curled up on a bench hugging my two bags and slept on and off for two hours. I bought a cinnamon roll (a cinnamon roll from La Canela costs about 70 cents, but a cinnamon roll from an airport Cinnabon costs $6. :p), then got up to walk around and met some friends from school that I spent an hour or so with before my flight was to leave. I was waiting at my gate, but it was getting REALLY close to departure time and we hadn't started boarding, so I double checked with the attendant and discovered Problem 2: my flight had changed gates. I frantically speed-walked across the airport (luckily, it's a small one) and managed to get to my flight in time. Whew! Problem 2 solved. The flight went well enough and we landed in Miami and began the process of Passport Check and Customs. There were a billion zillion people, few of which knew exactly where to go. I waited and waited in line, and by the time I was accepted into the United States, I encountered Problem 3: my flight for Denver had departed. I waited in another long line and was able to get my flight re-booked. Problem 3 solved. And on to Problem 4: my next flight, from Denver to Salt Lake, was with another airline and with my new itinerary, I was not going to make it in time. I tried calling the airline, but the automated man-voice just referred me to their website, which was of no use to me as I do not have a laptop. So I flew to New Orleans and spent 5 hours writing in my journal, reading, and attempting to sleep on two chairs in the drafty airport. I had pancakes for breakfast, went through security, and got on a flight for Dallas/Ft. Worth. Once there I had just enough time to catch my flight to Denver. Once in Denver, I went to the ticket counter and was so lucky because there was a flight leaving within the next hour and one seat had just opened up. Problem 4 solved. I was so relieved and I went through a very long security line and made it to my gate. My watch showed I had a few more minutes, so I quickly visited the restroom. BUT (Problem 5) when I handed my boarding pass to the man at the gate, he looked at me oddly and said, "you just missed it." He pointed out the window at the airplane sitting right there, not moving, but with the door shut. My watch was slow. At this point I had been traveling for 28 hours and away from home for over a month. Until now I had been slightly stressed, but okay. But when I realized I had missed my plane home by just a few minutes and I didn't know how long I would have to wait to catch another one, I started crying. I was embarrassed because the lady behind the counter probably thought I was being a big baby, but she was super-nice and gave me some tissues and a bottle of water and told me it was going to be okay. She turned out to be right; she was able to book me on a flight that left only an hour and a half later. Problem 5 solved. So here I am at my gate, very ready to be home. I made it through more than a day of travel, from San Jose to Miami to New Orleans to Dallas to Denver and unless, heaven forbid, something else goes wrong, I should be back in Salt Lake City within 2 hours.