Day One – Tuesday 15th
April
First
Impressions
My first
encounter with America on this trip was a rather terrifying one that involved being
led away from immigration in Minneapolis by a member of airport security, who
had taken my passport. Now as it turns out the matter was innocent enough, with
the issue stemming from my returning to America so soon after I’d finished my
exchange programme in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, they were just making sure I wasn’t
coming back in an attempt to immigrate to America illegally.
While I ultimately had nothing to worry about and everything
was resolved quickly enough, with plenty of time to catch the connecting flight
to Las Vegas, the incident served to highlight just how damaging to the
American psyche 9/11 was. Security has
become paramount, to avoid an attack like that from ever happening again, and
every possible threat, no matter how small, has to be followed up and
investigated.
Stepping off the plane in Las Vegas
it becomes apparent that you’ve arrived in a fantasy land. Slot machines are
waiting just outside the gates beckoning you in with the siren like call of
easy money, bright lights are flashing all around signalling to the new arrivals
that you are about to abandon any sense of normalcy and videos advertise the
shows and adventures you can indulge in just outside the doors. The airport is
a tunnel that transports you from reality to fantasy, with the cheery tunes
blaring from the slot machines acting as your guide on this journey.
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