destination Buenos Aires

It was a clear, sunny day as she was crossing the Atlantic on board of Iberia flight 278, destination Buenos Aires. Some thirty thousand feet below she could distinctly see the ocean and what appeared to be small boats floating on the water. Her mind was still tormented by those last five years of hard study,

"Three times two ... is seven. Four times eight ... is twenty three..."

Did she get it right? It didn't matter anymore. As she looked down again on the ocean she let her mind fall gently asleep as if that combination of sun and sea had a calming effect on her.

At the age of 23, she had just finished high school. Math, that horrible math, those formulas and numbers, had left her five years behind her schoolmates. But now that she had succeeded in her 12th grade math exams she felt really free. She would start life anew. No more number crunching in her life. No more. Her eyes still closed in her dreams, she woke up to what seemed a nightmare:

"Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon, this is the Captain speaking, just to give you some information on our flight. We are flying over the Atlantic Ocean at an altitude of thirty three thousand feet or eleven thousand meters; our cruising speed is five hundred and sixty miles or about nine hundred kilometers per hour. Outside temperature is minus 50 degrees Celsius or minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit. We expect to land at Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires in about nine hours. Thank you for your attention. Enjoy your flight."

Her mind was paralyzed by that barrage of numbers. She decided to put up a brave face, though, as she was not afraid of numbers anymore, or so she thought. Outside temperature captured her mind. As she looked through the window, she wondered, now with a confident smile in her face:

"Oh, what a nice temperature that is, minus fifty eight degrees Fahrenheit. That must be the temperature now at praia da Figueira da Foz".