On the Way Home

I am writing this at Houston International Airport where I have a long layover. 

My flight from Mexico City did not leave until 10:30 A.M., so Alejandro and I did not have to leave his house at such an early hour as on previous trips.  It seemed to be strange to drive to the airport in daylight.  We did however leave early enough that we were able to have a leisurely breakfast in the terminal.  We said our farewell at the security checkpoint, and I proceeded to my gate.  When I got there, I discovered that my flight was delayed by twenty minutes.

Facemasks are still required at the Mexico City airport, and the vast majority of the people were complying with the rules.  Once we boarded however, and the door was closed, we were no longer under Mexico City rules, and masks could be removed.  I was double-masked... a surgical mask over an N-95... and kept my masks on for the entire flight.  The man seated next to me had the sniffles (it's unlikely that he had COVID since all of us had taken a test within the last 24 hours), but I was glad to be masked and protected from whatever bug he might have had.

Mexico City is still under an ozone alert, and the poor air quality was certainly obvious.  The sun was actually shining, but you would never know it from this photo with a dull, gray sky.  It goes without saying that the volcanoes, which on good days would be visible in this direction, were hidden by the smog.

As we took off, the view of the city below was hazy.

We passed over the archaeological site of Teotihuacan.  Even thirty miles north of the city, the view was still obscured by the haze.  You can make out the Pyramid of the Sun in the center, and the main street of the ancient city, the Avenue of the Dead, running diagonally in the photo.

In spite of our late departure, the pilot was able to make up for lost time, and in less than two hours we were descending, and the outskirts of Houston were visible below.  We arrived at the gate just a couple minutes behind schedule.

Once again passing through immigration and customs at Houston was a breeze.  The line passing though security again was not bad, and my flight for Cleveland will leave from the same terminal.  Within thirty minutes of stepping off the plane, I was in the United Club where I will pass the time on my long layover.