10/1/04-I'll never eat veal again...

I'm sitting in my seat on the Lufthansa Flight 648 from Frankfurt to Almaty. I think I'm beginning to know what veal feels like. Our flight to Frankfurt was long, but not bad. We were able to snag a bulkhead seat, so we had pretty decent seats, along with decent food and plenty of movies to watch. After arriving in Frankfurt, walked to a tram which took us to the next gate. After we finally found the gate, we came a line which can only draw to mind the words "cattle call". They were checking people into the boarding area, which was about 1/2 size needed for the people in line. Our opportunity to ask for an exit row or bulkhead was gone. A great opportunity lost…

Right now, we are an hour out of Almaty. It is almost 10:00 PM Almaty time. We are packed in rows and rows of humanity. Mary Jo could give the guy in front of her a haircut. And to make it nicer, her seat won't go back. (That makes Mary Jo a very miserable person.) The other pain has been the extreme temperature changes. Not outside, but in the airplane. Our plane to Chicago was a sauna, then I had a blanket on me in the next flight and now I hot again. After 20 hours of travel and no shower, let me just say that we are not a pretty picture.

But I complain enough. We knew this was not going to be pretty. That is all part of the package that makes up our adventure. Tomorrow, it continues.