FizzyLizzy

on the part of the American cousins-to-be that is

Do you like my Hungarian? Is it better than your fiance's?

Our little group, who took two flights on American yesterday, appears to have amazingly dodged the bullet. After their delayed flight from Costa Rica to Miami, their flights to New York and Minneapolis went smoothly. And I will give a little good publicity to American here. Upon hearing that Katherine's group would probably be spending the night in the airport, the American flight attendants let them take as many blankets as they could carry off the plane. It turned out however, that they didn't need them. American ended up putting them up in a hotel (not a dump either, a Wyndham) and gave them food vouchers. I suppose that with all the bad news surrounding the airline, it was really in their best interest. But they really didn't have to considering that the group's plight was no fault of the airline.

The flight from Costa Rica left on schedule. I thought about my girl sitting on that plane, finally on her way home. Two hours later I'm trying on pants at the Gap and my phone rings. It's the phone tree. The bus that was supposed to take the group to the airport never materialized therefore they missed their flight to Dallas. They are now scheduled to fly to Miami this afternoon on a flight that is already delayed 4 hours due to weather in Miami. They will spend the night in Miami, fly to New York the next morning then onto MSP. Seems quite convoluted, but with a group of 18 I suppose the logistics are complicated. The word through the grapevine is that they are "viewing this as just another adventure." Katherine's a trooper, so I think she'll be as fine as anyone could be in this situation. I just hope everyone's luggage makes it through.

I'm no stranger to travel difficulties. In fact, this provides me with the perfect opportunity to tell my own tale of woe. In 1990 my bargain-basement fare from Athens (if you can call $1000 round trip bargain basement) included an overnight layover in Brussels and a catching a connecting flight in New York to MSP. All that with a one-month-old kitten in a carry-on pet bag that the tender-hearted FizzyLizzy had to save from certain death in Greece. Aside from an uncomfortable night in the Brussels airport, everything was going pretty well until the flight from New York ran late. Somehow at JFK I ran into a kind airline worker who whooshed me through customs and called ahead to the Northwest Airlines ticketing agents who were ready to catch my bags as I ran past. No exaggeration. However, when I got to the gate the plane was ready to depart and they had given my seat to a stand-by. They ended up holding up the flight...for my bags. My bags made it to Minneapolis but I was stuck in New York. It all becomes a blur after that point but the rest of the story involves a shuttle to La Guardia, sitting in a chair in the terminal next to some unsavory characters (only feeling safe because there were maintenance workers cleaning the floors nearby), flying to Chicago the next morning, then finally home. Whew. Top that one, Katherine.

Don't ask me how this show ended up on our TV this afternoon. I suppose it's something we really shouldn't share with others. However, while watching it Paul found out that some people are shipping their parents off to retirement communities in Mexico and India because they're cheaper. Do you think our parents would get the hint if we gave them Hindi phrasebooks? Better yet, how are the retirement homes in Poland?

Apart from the call at 11:20 p.m. on Sunday from a phone-tree parent to say the group had arrived in Costa Rica, this is all we have heard so far--an e-mail from the husband of one of the chaperones:

The girls are having a great time and are getting along really well. Survey on the food is mixed - some love "rice and beans" and some never want to see it again!

They've seen many different kinds of animals - howler monkeys, caymans, lizards, iguanas, frogs and lots and lots of birds. The classic quote so far - "This is just like the nature channel, LIVE!"

Today is a quiet day. Tomorrow they will go white water rafting (a change from the planned zip line excursion) although Marian wanted me to assure you all that since there's been little rain the rapids are really only class 1 or 2 - slightly more than the Minnehaha Creek and nothing to worry about. Sunday will be Arenal and Hot Springs.

Though there have been many, this has been among the longest weeks of my life. It feels so strange to have no tab on the pulse of my daughter for this long. Did she get sunburn? Does she like the food? Is she homesick? I'm pretty sure that by now the answer to the last one is "no". And hopefully the cereal bars and granola bars will tide her over. : ) Sitting in the Special Care Nursery at the hospital holding a 32-week preemie, could I ever have imagined her life? No.

Next thing you'll tell me is that they eat horses too.