Flying first class

As I was entering the line for security at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, I glanced to my right... and recognized the man that was standing there.  I did a double take and saw that his wife and two sons were also present.  They were in the fast line; I was in the slow one.  When I got through, I saw that they had waited for me.  I had been in their home one time for an afternoon tea when I was on Special Meeting rounds in Missouri my fourth year in the work.  Turns out, they were heading to Greece for a vacation cruise, and we were on the same flight to Where Was It Again?  Miami?  Atlanta? Houston?  Anyway, there.  Brian does quite a bit of traveling with his work it seems, so we went from security to the VIP lounge.  I had never darkened those doors before, so it was a rather educational experience.  I was delighted to have some crushed ice there!  (I had been longing for some while I was home, but the Sonic in East Peoria is no longer in business.)  Before long, we needed to head to our gate.  Once there, Brian went up to the ticket agent and did some finagling.  And that's how I ended up in first class for the initial leg of my trip back to Ecuador.  I felt sorry for the son who got booted out of his first class seat for my benefit, but he didn't seem to mind too much. He got a seat next to his brother in coach.  (So really I evened things out, creating equal opportunity seating for the brothers.)  We had extra drink service, hot towels to wipe our hands on before our meal, lots of leg room, cushy seats, blankets and pillows, and a host of other services that we didn't even know to take advantage of!  I must confess that it was nice to have travel companions for that stretch of the journey.  Also, it was nice to be at the front of the plane when we arrived at our destination because I didn't have much time to make my connecting flight.  

I did make it, however, and enjoyed my coach seat all the way to Guayaquil.  We arrived somewhere around 7:00, I believe it was.  Ronny Palma and Luísa Guzmán met me at the airport, and we went directly to the terminal to see if there were any buses that would pass by El Cristal that night.  There weren't.  I phoned Brett Hammett to see what we should do, and he offered to come to Babahoyo (about an hour and a half from El Cristal) to pick us up.  So, Luísa and I got on a bus bound for said city where we met up with Brett and Norman Coloma.  We finally made it to El Cristal somewhere around 10 or 10:30 on Wednesday night.  I found the door to the departamento where I was to sleep locked when I arrived and thought I might have to climb in through the window.  However, I was able to get the attention of my roommate, and she very kindly came and unlocked the door.  I was very ready to crawl into my little bed!