February 28; Day 1

Airplanes. These things seem to always have problems. I guess what I really mean is the whole experience of airplanes and airports, the whole air travel thing always has issues. the airports (even Chicago O'Hare) were practically deserted and super easy to navigate. So I guess it's no surprise that I'm writing this at 6:30 PM New York time, on the plane  that was supposed to take us to Rome 45 minutes ago. NO, don't freak out, nothing really bad happened. The plane apparently  got in late, so even though we've boarded, we've still had to wait while they load out luggage and do maintenance or whatever it is they do. (oh, funny thing: one of the people in front of us on this plane was complaining because the tray in front of her wouldn't close. they just duct-taped it to the seat and moved her further back on the plane) Oh, the pilot just spoke, and apparently they've been ready for 30 minutes but they don't have a "push back crew," whatever that is. I'm gonna stop writing because I'm tired and bored.