Of course, what flight is complete without some sort of delay? Trust me, I remember my first international flight (truth be told, it was my first flight ever), 
and I ended up sitting in O’Hare for 7 hours awaiting the arrival of the place I was taking to Poland, because it got stuck in Poland. On my way back from that summer trip, I got stuck in O’Hare AGAIN, for another 7 hours, as my group watched lightning strike the tarmac for what seemed like forever. My flight from Miami to Madrid, on the other hand, was only delayed for approximately 3 hours. The problem is, my layover in Madrid for the flight to Prague was less than 3 hours, and I didn’t even make it to Spain before my other flight took off. If you’ve ever actually gotten stuck ON a plane for a delay, you might know my discomfort. A nine hour flight is hard enough, when you start it by sitting on the plane for 2 prior to takeoff (the first hour of the delay was spent at the gate), it starts to become intolerable.
Stuck between to 30+ year old men, neither of whom seemed to know much English, I was cramped in the fifth to last row of the plane. As a middle seat, with an odd set up of legs on the chairs in front of me, I’m not even sure my personal
item made it under the seat until about half way through the flight. Maintenance and fuel kept us on the ground a little while longer, not due to their incompetence (though I was starting to wonder), but because no one is allowed on the tarmac if lightning is within a mile of the airport. This made me question how much of anything gets done in the Lightning Capital of the World, or why it was safe for us to be sitting in the plane. I almost finished a complete movie (Thor: Ragnarok) PRIOR to take off. As cramped as we were, at least the inflight entertainment was good. I rounded out the trip with The Greatest Showman, The Shape of Water, and Pitch Perfect 3 (but, that was to fall asleep to).
Of course, delays like this aren’t a big deal when you have built in time to not 
be rushing. I’m arriving in Prague almost 4 full days before I have to be, so I have time. Plus, the flight was squared away before I landed and lunch was on 
American (the airline). The only problem is I have someone waiting for me on the other side. I actually had to contact my mother to update my person because the only contact I have for him is email, and my connection in Madrid’s airport seems to only be enough to communicate on Facebook. Though, if nothing else, at least I have a beautiful view.
My flight from Madrid to Prague was uneventful. I actually got some sleep on it 
and it only took off about half an hour late. My contact met me with a sign (that was a cool first experience) and got me squared away with a transportation pass and my dorms. Because I got in so late, after thanking him, unpacking, and meeting my roommate, I washed the flight off of me, registered for internet, and got some much needed shuteye, with the expectation that I would be meeting the blok’s office manager at 8am the following morning. Time is only a little off punctuality here, and I have discovered that most things don’t open until 10am.
Raven K 