March 30, 2004

4:36 P.M. – O’Hare Airport in xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comChicago, Illinois

We slept in until 9:00 since we had time to spare on our schedule. Breakfast was leftover pizza from the night before. Daddy spent the morning removing a virus infecting one of the laptops, while Jeff, Emily, Amanda, and I worked on our journals. We caught the 2:15 shuttle from the Sheraton directly to O’Hare. Our luggage was checked, x-rayed, and stowed on the plane without any problem. We ate a quick (late) lunch at the “Great American Bagel.”Our plane starts boarding at 6:50, so there’s time to kill between now and then. I’m watching CNN news at the terminal gate. It’s a little disturbing to see terrorism reports and updates in every other feature. You can’t hide in your closet for fear something terrible will happen, so, you might as well live life and take risks. If you think about the odds, driving down the highway poses far greater risk of death than being at a pizzeria when a suicide bomber strikes.

9:23 P.M. – On the plane to Frankfurt, Germany

Gosh, this plane is crowded – I mean, really crowded – there isn’t a seat to spare! Unfortunately, the plane is so full, there’s no room to change to a seat with working headphones. Mine seem to have some sort of malfunction; they were working fine before we took off, but once we got in the air, all I’m getting is static. Even though this flight is headed for Frankfurt, I really wasn’t prepared for the sudden immersion into the German language! The American Airlines flight crew broadcasts everything over the intercom first in German, then in English. Most of the people on board speak German as their first language. It’s a really weird feeling not being able to understand the language which is being spoken all around you. They’ve served us dinner, which like all airplane food is not worthy to be mentioned for anything but its awfulness!