Log 32: Island Hopping
My stomach felt like it was about to burst, but I had to finish what I’d started - it was too late to back out now without total humiliation.
A few hours earlier, I'd actually been really proud of myself for remembering to fill up my 32 ounce water bottle. Now, as a portly TSA agent watched me silently while I chugged those 32 ounces to get through security, I was less proud. Today, I had made the crucial mistake of forgetting that the TSA is anti-water.
“You can drink it or dump it,” the agent had informed me after I pulled my hydro flask out of my pack. Well, I sure as hell wasn't going to dump it - there was bottled water in there. “Hypothetically… where would I dump it?” I inquired. I didn't see any bathrooms or even trash cans within sight. “You gotta go back out of security,” he answered. Well, that sealed the deal. “I should probably hydrate anyway,” I explained, unscrewing the cap. When I downed the last few drops from my bottle, I tossed it back in my pack on the conveyor belt.
“Do you know what gate you're at?” TSA man asked me. “Uh, yeah, A18 I think,” I told him, not entirely sure why he needed to know. He nodded thoughtfully. “When you get through security, there's a bathroom a little ways from your gate down to the left.” Oh, I see. Very thoughtful of you, sir. “Awesome,” I said with a smile. The bathrooms were actually super cute - the little stick men and women were adorned with little Hawaiian shirts and shorts.
When I arrived at A18, as I sat down to wait for boarding, I was quite literally serenaded. Two men and two women, all wearing bright blue flowery patterns, began to sing and dance the hula in front of myself and a few other gathered passengers. Soon, they had the attention of everyone at our gate and the next two over. When the performance ended, they were given a lively applause.
Highlight: Earlier that morning, I'd packed up all my things and lugged them down the stairs of the Polynesian Beach Hostel for the last time. Strangely enough, I had some goodbyes to say to people. As I sat in the lobby (which is actually just a couple of beach chairs sitting outside with a little table between them), a guy from my dorm, Rich, walked in the front gate. “You leavin’?” he asked. I nodded. “You had breakfast?” I told him that in fact, I had not. He jogged out of sight over to the communal kitchen, and returned with a tupperware of hard boiled eggs. He dropped two into my open hand, just as my uber pulled up to take me to the airport.
Lowlight: As I’m writing this, the child seated in front of me on the plane is absolutely screaming. Also I really need to pee.
