July 18: More In Transit

Airport in Chicago. I get my oatmeal breakfast and don't realize I have to exit security and be re-screened. I dash over to the Terminal 5 International departures... there are about 150 people milling around with no apparent order. Someone near me asks, "Is this the right place for international departures?" and is told, "Yes, it was very slow earlier so we didn't set out the queue ropes." I actually chuckle out loud and think, this is good preparation for what I've heard about the so-called organization in Africa.

Swiss Air Flight to Zurich. Swiss Air is seriously better. The seats, the service, the food (free), the design of the tray tables, the bathroom sinks, the little personal TV remotes rather than touch-screens that just make you end up punching your neighbor's seat. My very beautiful seat mate, a young woman reading Hebrew but who speaks English to the steward, may be lovely to look at - but she does not believe in deodorant.

The Zurich airport at 6:25 AM is a amazing. Silent. Clean. Squared Away:

Zurich. I lost my Elemental water bottle on the plane. It's just past midnight at home but I am wide awake. I'm waiting for Meggie to arrive. The night before I travel anywhere, I distract the gods by asking John with a smile, "I wonder what I forgot to pack?" So far, over the Atlantic? I've forgotten:

• Pocket knife
• Prescription nasal spray for my post-nasal-drip issues that happen, from time to time
• To use the State Department's registry program to tell them where I'll be (if I need to be retrieved)