January 4, 2010—Cairo to Frankfurt

All was set when 1:30 came. We walked down the street to our waiting bus and headed for the airport. It takes about an hour to get there. As we neared the airport, we dropped Hala off at her apartment complex, giving her our tip envelopes and promising to return to Egypt. At the airport, a self-important security guard announced that no one would be admitted until we showed our e-tickets… He saw no problem with that. When his nonsense was pointed out to him, he demanded documents to get e-tickets. I had a list for the Brevard group which I dug out of my bag. By the time I showed it to him everyone had gone through on other lines. He looked at the paper and it was obvious he couldn’t read English. He sent me to another line where I walked through, without showing the document and setting off the metal detectors. No one cared; they waved me past.

Something that we consumed during the previous day was affecting some people. Lynne was very ill and Bob was apparently having troubles too. Marlene took care of Lynne and we all made our way through customs and boarding security. I wrote as I awaited the boarding call. Once on the plane, we strapped in and took off on time. Breakfast was served but there was something in those pancakes that hit a lot of people wrong. By the time we got to Frankfurt, lots of people were complaining of diarrhea. I dozed a little on the flight, not being able to relieve my upset stomach until we were over Germany.

We made our way to our connecting departure gate. The airport workers were dismantling hundreds of cots. A snowstorm the previous day caused numerous flight cancellations and many people spent the night in the airport. The flight before ours was the daily Lufthansa flight to Seattle. We heard them announce that they would provide room and board plus € 600 to anyone willing to give up their seat. When our flight came around, they offered the same deal. Six of the Brevard students, Curtis, Dean, Brian, Chelsea, Hunter, and Clint, plus Ryan and Elena all wanted to do it so I elected to stay with them. I was surprised that no one from the TWU group stayed. Using my cell phone and conferring with Bob and Anne, we insured that everyone could still get to their final destination. Bob, Anne, and Drew were flying to California the next day so they couldn’t stay with us. They agreed to bring Monté back up to Brevard with them. Mark had a connecting flight in Atlanta.

When it was confirmed that we could all stay, the Lufthansa people sort of told us where we could get our vouchers. This turned into a chaotic nightmare. An hour later, we finally found a guy who had his act together and he got us our vouchers. By now it was mid-afternoon so the Lufthansa desk did not have the cash we were promised.

We took a shuttle to the hotel in Mörfelden. The language barrier took effect. The first students on line came back to report there were no rooms left. We took the shuttle back to the airport where we were assured that there were still rooms being held in our names. I got everyone back on the bus and took their hotel vouchers to wait in line for about an hour. Everyone in front of me got rooms. When it was my turn, they gave us each singles but after the first six, the clerk said, with distinct Teutonic authority, “There are no more rooms.”

It all made sense now. I calmly asked, “But there will be?” to which she responded, “Yes, of course, as soon as they are ready.”

I took myself up to my room and dumped my gear. The rooms were beautiful and very comfortable. I went back down to the bar, knowing where to find the students, and ordered a dark beer in my best German—I know very little German but can use what I do know, and I know beer! Eventually, everyone got their rooms. There was a great buffet dinner in the dining room. When I was finished, I got another schwarzbier and went up to my room. I took a shower and watched BBC and CNN. Others headed for the sauna. Elena was clearly enjoying being of legal drinking age. To my knowledge, no one overdid it.