Vegas, Baby - Here I come

I slept more than I thought, although I woke up a couple of times. The thin walls had kept pretty quiet during the night, but the birds outside had been loud from 5am onwards. My alarm clock went of at 6.50am and my body screamed for more sleep. That wasn't possible today, sorry hun. I made myself ready, repacking my backpack for the flight and headed back to the tram station. I found it without needing any help of Google Maps and was proud of myself. It took way longer to find my group at the Delta Check-ins, though. Finally, I heard Nicola, our FAM-Trip leader for the week, speak to others and realozed I stood right behind my group. You should think with the eyes open, I could see...
She gave me a backpack and a water bottle of Brand USA and I went to check in. A look on my boarding passes gave me the satisfaction that I'd sit on the window seat during both flights. Nice!
Then I picked up my invitation letter to the Priority Lounge of Delta where I was told that they've waited desperately for my arrival. Banter.
I went through the pass control without any problems and even found the Lounge in seconds. Dana and Ann-Christin, the two girls that I would share my camper with, sat already on a table. Sadly, the lounge wasn't as big as the Lufthansa Business Lounge I was at back in September 2023 on my South Africa FAM-Trip, so that I sat down on another table. Then I recognised Marit, another women on the FAM, and I asked whether I could sit with her. "Sure thing!"
We ate breakfast and drank coffee talking about our jobs. She worked at TUI which was quite interesting to me. I hate TUI, naturally I wanted to know how TUI is as an employer. Spill the gods, Marit! It sounded more like beaurocracy than fun, so I was quite pleased with me not falling for them. An orange juice later, we made our way to the security checks which were rather unspectacular and fast. Then we gathered at the gate where Nicola greeted us all officially to the FAM-Trip. A round of names later (I could only remember around 4 more than I already knew) we boarded the plane. I was happy when I saw, that I would just be sitting next to one other person, as the plane had 2-4-2 seat rows. I was even happier when I saw the guy I'd be sitting next to for the next 9,5 hours. He was as young as I am, blonde with blue eyes, wearing a suit. He looked at me with kindness in his eyes. We started talking pretty much the second my bottom hit the seat. He was American but he spoke rather good German. I found out that he has lived in Germany for about 2 years and was now heading back to Milwaukee. His name was Jared and he was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ. As much as I wasn't religious, I still found him quite fascinating. An American that was interested in learning new languages! One in a million if the American stereotype is true. And handsome as well. See Michelle, if you just think positive, you will be rewarded. And it got even better. Because we were talking all the time, I didn't put my ear buds in to listen to my usual music to calm myself down before the flight. But I was calm and my ears didn't hurt at all. Yesssss!
This would be an easy flight now.
The lunch was surprisingly tasty (tortellini with cheese and tomato sauce, dessert was Tiramisu) and the Stewardesses made sure we were all very hydrated all the time. The entertainment system was alright, I could watch Barbie (I actually quite enjoyed it) and Booksmart (bit over the top sometimes). I also found a pretty cool Podcast on Formula 1 (F1 on the edge) which I binged through as much as possible. At least until my entertainment system completely broke down. It just stopped mid-sentence and never came back...
Well, then I'd have to talk some more with my neighbour Jared. We talked some more about the cities and lakes that we flew over. And then we were already landing!
As you need to enter the country even if you're flying further, you got to go through passport control, get your luggage, recheck it and go through security again. Americans...
At the passport control, I was grilled by a very handsome but extremely uncomfortable guy. I felt as if I was questioned for murder, having to tell him every detail of our trip. However, after taking all my finger prints and knowing how much money I have with me, he let me through. Gosh, that I definitely did not like...
The picking up and rechecking of the luggage was quick though. We've even been sniffed by dogs but my "fanny bag" didn't contain any drugs or explosives. I must have hidden them well... What I did "hid" pretty well as it seems we're my apple and banana that I got through security and everything although I learnt later that that is actually forbidden. After having to pay 1000€ for an apple in Australia last year, one could think I've learned from my mistakes... Well, they don't know me yet, it seems.
Everything took way less time than I always anticipated, so that we could relax a bit at the gate before boarding onto the next plane to Vegas.
The next 4hrs seemed somehow longer than the 9h flight to Detroit. Therefore, I had a lot of time to think about everything.
Detroit is a big city, however, it doesn't look big. There were only a handful of skyscrapers and then just one-family-homes for miles and miles on end. They have so much room here, it's insane. In Germany, our big cities are crowded, the houses are huge and build into the sky. We don't have space. Also, our cities grew organically. The American cities all look planned with their perfect blocks and net-like structures. Even their farm fields look planned. It's crazy.
After two more movies (Beautiful Days and Anyone but You) we landed in Las Vegas. From above, it looks like someone just spilled some houses in the middle of the desert. They come out of nowhere. It looks as if someone made a world in the desert for SIMS 4.
To my big surprise, we didn't need to go through any passport controls anymore. We just picked up our luggage and off we went. No unpolite officers anymore then.
We got picked up by a huge bus with leather seats that could have been used for a way sexier group than we were. Driving through the city, it was just insane how many skyscrapers and just tarmac there was. So many lights and flashes and colours. It was a big contrast to the bleak desert around. Arriving at our hotel the Rio Hotels and Casinos, the sense overload got even worse. Loads of different people, colours, patterns (especially at the bottom), lights and signs. Women dancing on tables, men standing around Poker tables to lose their money to the casino. I was so glad, when we finally got our room keys and could find some peace in our rooms. For an hour, I could enjoy the huge suite just for myself and calm down a bit. I was awake nearly 24hrs now... I was so freaking tired. But we had to go to dinner. Damn it.
Quickly jumping under the shower to rinse the last 14hrs of flight off of my body, I changed into Vegas worthy clothes and headed to the restaurant. The Burro Baracho is a Mexican restaurant with lots of huge plates with meat, cheese and beans. As I didn't want to eat something so heavy right before bed, I decided for a salad (even there: cheese?!) which I could barely finish.
The lemonade I ordered was pink, very chemical and disgustingly sweet, so I only drank a quarter of it. Welcome to the US.
Luckily, everyone was as tired as me, so that we called it a night pretty early, so that I could fall into bed for a much needed hrs long sleep.Okumaya devam et