(santiago -> santa cruz) oxygen

i had an eventful journey on my flight from santiago to santa cruz. we had
to go through la paz, where we had to take all our
stuff off the plane and go through customs and then
reboard. towards the end of the santiago-la paz leg,
a guy i'd been chatting with in the airport before
the flight (who happens to be a pilot for the airlines
but was just on a trip visiting his brother) came back
to my seat and asked me if i'd like to go into the
cockpit. this is something you never get to do
anymore in the states, so of course i jumped at the opportunity. he said to
bring my camera. i had just been sitting in my seat
looking at the pictures from yungay. the
memory card was full but i took the camera and we went
up the the cockpit. when i got up there, we were just
flying over calama, so i took a picture of it for alfonso
from there. my new friend took a picture of me with the
pilots and the instruments. then they let me stay
there for the landing! i'd never done that before in a 727.
after we landed in la paz everyone was getting off and i had to
make my way back to my seat. i grabbed all my stuff
(SO heavy) and left the plane. when i got in the
customs line, i started to feel woozy - light headed
and nauseated. i made it through the immigration line
and started feeling worse and worse. there was a
bathroom right next to the boarding area, and i sat in
there for a long time on the toilet with my head down
between my legs. i felt like i was going to pass out.
i dind't know if i could get up. finally i thought
if i dont' get up i'm gonna miss my flight, so i got
up slowly and barely made it out the bathroom door and
onto the floor. i was right next to the line of passengers, and
everyone was staring at me. i guess i didn't look so
hot cuz people were coming over to me and saying stuff
to me in spanish with concerned looks. i couldn't think straight enough to
tell them i didn't speak spanish. someone rushed away
and came back with an oxygen mask, and that made me
feel a lot better. an american lady who spoke spanish
really well started translating. eventually they
wheeled me back out to the plane in a wheelchair and i
got back up the stairs and into my seat. but when i
got back there, the plane was full and i realized my
camera was gone. i don't know exactly what i did with
it, but i think i accidentally left it on the plane.

i'm so sad to have lost all those pictures. there were some really good ones of our experiments.

when i arrived in santa cruz, we stayed behind and
filed a report, but i don't have much hope of finding
the camera. the guy who had invited me to the cockpit
spent some time asking the plane-cleaners whether
they'd found it, and he also had someone go back into
the airport and look, but no joy.

i hope he writes me and might be able to keep an eye out for it on future trips through la paz.