Prague Journal

Monday, August 30, 2004.

Matt was up early and we were all repacked (we didn’t disturb the 70-pound suitcases, of course) and in the car at 8:30. Rick took the scenic route through town so he could show Matt were we used to live (before he was born) and to point out some interesting landmarks. We got to the local Radio Shack shortly after 9 a.m. and he had his cellphone in hand by 10. It turned out that that was the right thing to do since he ended up getting a different plan – and a fancier phone – than he would have had we gotten the phone set up in Denver. He also met another Wesleyan freshman and her father, a NATO public affairs advisor from Brussels.
By 10:30, with a much happier (and stylish) Matt, we arrived at the Science Building, the location of the bulk of our essential tasks. Matt got in the check-in line while Rick went upstairs to Tony’s office to retrieve the guitar and boxes that had been sent earlier. Having checked in, Matt headed to the Computer Store to pay for the laptop that was waiting in his dorm room.
Matt said that he knew where Clark Hall was, but we asked the security guard outside the Science Building for directions. In better-than-Southern style, he gave us directions and admonished Matt to learn his way around before classes started! We dutifully headed to the football field where all the Clark Hall parents were parked to unload their kids’ things. Some people had brought refrigerators and microwave ovens and fancy stereos. Matt’s pile of stuff looked small by comparison, although I’m sure that some people thought our van held things only for Matt. Having deposited the son and his possessions in his new residence, Rick and I headed out toward the airport around noon, an hour later than we had intended, but with quite enough time to make our 2:15 flight.
Good fortune shone on us again as we got to the airport before any line had formed, although a long line soon followed. The only hitch was the security screening, which revealed my nail scissors in my carry-on bag, a prohibited item according to the Hartford folks. A bit annoyed (mostly at my own stupidity for having put them in a carry-on bag), and having to comply with regulations, I went to the gift shop to mail the offending object to Matt; they would not mail anything overseas, nor did it seem prudent to risk trying. I rejoined Rick to board the plane. As it turned out, I probably had time to put the scissors in our checked luggage which had already been taken downstairs, because the plane was delayed an hour and a half, partly due to President Bush’s visit to Connecticut and partly due to the bad weather from a hurricane in North Carolina blocking our path to Washington, D.C.
The flight to Dulles was smooth, but we arrived with little time to spare to make our connecting flight to Frankfort – or so we thought. We sprinted (well, we walked as quickly as two people can while loaded with four 40-pound bags) from one end of Concourse D to the opposite end of Concourse C in what we thought was just the nick of time, boarding after nearly everyone else was seated. As it turned out, this flight was delayed as well, having had a fuel problem which took an hour and a half to fix.
We had gotten business-class seats on all our flights – my frequent-flyer miles having been put to good use upgrading – and were treated quite well with the food and drink that come with first- and business-class seating. The gentleman seated next to me was a Senior VP for the company that had installed the security systems in Athens for the Olympics. He was headed for Athens and had good advice for us for our impending trip there for the Paralympics.

posted by JWinn @ 7:19 PM