possibilities

My alarm went off at 2:45am, but I was already up. I grabbed my towel and showered, doing my best not to wet my already straightened hair. I dressed in comfy clothes, quickly plugged in my ipod for an update and went outside to warm up the car. Why was I up so early??
I had an interview with Continental Airlines today. They flew me from Columbus, OH to Houston, TX. To make my 6am flight from CMH to IAH, I had to get up extra early and hit the road. I went to bed around 9pm last night.
Getting to the airport was no problem (especially after I figured out cruise control), with very little traffic. I wasn't tired at all, my mind running in a thousand directions. After parking in the airport garage I made my way to the check-in and got my boarding passes, then went to my gate to wait for departure.
I sat down next to two ladies speaking in Spanish, and my mind immediately leapt to my beloved and Costa Rica. How I miss it...
No sleep for me on the way to Houston. I listened to reggae and watched the sun come up, looking over my resume. Nothing to tell...it was a good flight with clear weather and mild turbulence. After arriving to IAH and seeing I had fallen back an hour, I stopped and got a donut and some coffee. Nothing like Costa Rican joe, but a girl has to make do... from there I exited to terminal E and looked around for the transportation to the training center, which leaves every half hour. I was in the company of a redhead from NYC, also on her way to be interviewed. By the time the van showed up we were joined by a gaggle of other young (and some middle-aged) women also going to be interviewed. Our driver gave us some brief instructions on where to go when we arrived, and the drive was only about 5 minutes.
Once at the training center we entered and followed signs to a large classroom already half full with people, all of them there for interviews. I was a little intimidated looking around...there seemed to be some flight veterans in the crowd, with prim hairstyles and perfect makeup, as well as a slew of beautiful and interesting looking young people, and a few oddballs here and there (I only saw about 6 men total, but I didn't turn around to look at everyone). I sat next to a lady who had driven from Austin, who worked as a filing clerk for a VFW post. I never caught her name but she wished me luck and I did the same. Row by row we were asked to line up and hand in our resumes and check-in. I gave my resume (and I didn't have any letters of recommendation! I should have thought of that!) to a friendly woman who confirmed my name and my return flight information and directed me towards a guy with name tags. People kept coming in, and the room was starting to get pretty full. There was steady conversation all around me, but I found myself studying the blue info sheet that I got with my name tag, which described in more detail the job of a flight attendant and had lots of information about expectations, training procedures, etc. At 9:30am exactly the doors closed and a presentation began, with a description of the company and the job requirements for flight attendants. Afterwards we were greeted by the facilitator, a black woman named Marsha who was celebrating her 14th anniversary of being with Continental and who's magenta blazer distracted my eye. She opened the floor to questions, but there weren't very many. Then began the interviews...one by one our names were called and we were escorted by a staff interviewer to a cubicle where we sat across from each other at a desk. I forget the name of the woman I talked to (Cathy? Cristine?) but she was very friendly and took lots of notes, to be able to accurately represent me in a description for the senior recruiters she said. She started by looking over my resume, her eyes falling on the already circled "Spanish" at the top where I listed my degree.
"Where would you fall, on a scale of one to ten (ten being the best), with your comfort level with the language?" She asked.
"I would say a seven or an eight." I replied. I told her about living in Costa Rica for a year and how complete immersion does wonders for one's language skills...she said she had flown into Liberia and wanted to see a monkey.
We talked about why I applied for the position, what a challenge for me had been with a boss or co-worker, and an example of when I had to listen well and follow directions. The examples came easily, all of them fresh from the last high season. Then she allowed me to ask questions...
I should hear back soon. She was very kind and shook my hand twice before escorting  me out and recommending that I check to see if I could re-book for an earlier flight when I returned to the airport. I was the last one to hop into the van waiting out front to go back to IAH, and then with the help of two representatives at the check-in my flight was changed to an earlier one and I meandered down to the gate to wait and read my book.
I got home a little while ago, and I don't want to set myself up for disappointment by expecting too much from this experience. It was valuable and I learned a lot since this was my first REAL interview, but all I can say is that we will see how it goes!
What a busy, crazy day, viajando. Time to rest.

Pura Vida