Because Vancouver was our first touchdown point in Canada, we would have to report to customs and then to immigration there. Despite the extra expense, we had opted for a Friday flight, mostly because it gave us a two hour layover in Vancouver rather than a 9 hour one we would have had had we booked a flight on Saturday.
But because Vancouver was experiencing some severe weather, causing the delays and cancellation of hundreds of flights, we were worried we wouldn't make our connection to Edmonton. Not only were we delayed in taking off, the weather caused us to wait an extra half an hour on the ground while they cleared our gate of ice and snow. The gods were testing me.
We finally disembarked , got through our first customs point, found our bags and moved onto immigration. We were thrilled to bypass the student and work-visa line and arrive first at the desk indicating 'New Immigrants To Canada'. The man there was extremely friendly and helpful but his job was more 'Welcome Wagon' than any official capacity as he orientated us to what we would need to do and apply for once we returned to Alberta. We in fact did have to go back to the line-up of students and temporary foreign workers and meet with an immigration officer there.
We told the man how soon our next flight was leaving and he said he would try to get us to the front of the line. " It kind of depends on what mood they're in", he whispered.
I looked over at the two stern faced immigration officers. They made Todd look like a ray of sunshine.
There's an episode of Seinfeld where Elaine finds herself on the subway during rush hour delays and power outages. As she stands between unsavoury sorts, desperately wanting to get where she's going, the viewer is treated to the inner dialogue of her mind. The fun and the funny come as you listen to her go from yoga chanting life affirming mantras, to bleeped out , full on screaming in her head. I was experiencing a little of that at that moment. I won't tell you which bit.
We waited.And Waited. And Waited. Until gratefully it was our turn. Credit again to the Chinese and to Children's Bridge as our documents processed without a hitch.
We grabbed our bags and ran as fast as we could, hoping to make it to our gate. Then deadlock. With so many cancelled and delayed flights there was a bottle neck both exiting the customs / baggage area and going through the next security checkpoint. Why they had only one -- ONE -- security screen for the hundreds of transiting passengers was beyond us. Cue more screaming inside my head.
This entire time Maylia had been extraordinarily good tempered but was getting pretty icky. We hadn't wanted to stop at all until we reached our gate, so she had been marinating in her diaper for a while . It was quickly developing a sponge-like consistency and would seep every time she would shift in my arms. I was getting pretty icky too.
While in line we had heard that our flight had been delayed and we made an Amazing Race like dash to our gate after the snail-like pace of the security check point.
10 minutes until boarding time -- enough time for a change.
One more tearful seatbelt wrestle with one more flight -- a mercifully short one this time. And once she was able to leave her seat she fell asleep in my arms and I kept her there until we landed.
No Customs this time. No security or immigration. Just grab our bags and go.
I've never been so thankful to see snow covered streets in my life.
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