We got back from AZ Sunday night and had dinner at Ted's parents' house. Monday was a whirlwind of packing and shopping. There are a lot of little things I miss here (Cream of Wheat - Thanks Q!, Cream of Mushroom soup, scalloped potatoes, Peanut Butter Captain Crunch) and with Eden coming I had an extra suit case. We traveled with 4 checked checked bags: Eden's clothes, my clothes, academic regalia for graduation, and food.

Tuesday was Eden's last day of school and so she had an awards ceremony. Ted had two important meetings so he needed the truck. Ted's mom so graciously (maybe also somewhat too trusting) loaned me her PT Cruiser. At the ceremony I got a chance to talk to Mrs. O'Leary, Caravel's so awesome science teacher. I think the best part of ceremony for Eden was that school was over for the year. 

 

Afterwords I raced back for a meeting with the Dean. It was productive. The issue that I have is that I would like to see SGSB act as a bridge for the Faculty of Economics, Sarajevo to achieve accreditation and then SGSB's programs would basically be absorbed into the local school. This would probably take 10 - 12 years. The vision that seems to be shaping up now is more for SGSB to be a stand alone operation that would serve as an investment (read "cash cow") for our subcontractor and UD would walk away in the next 2 - 3 years. In either case, I am being offered a position until the end of the USAID contract (June 2008). After that, I would not be involved. It is doubtful that our subcontractor would hire me so I would have to just hope that UD would find something for me. My read is: I have one year to find something else.

So next was the mad dash to the airport. We arrived at 7:40 p.m. for our 8:50 flight - don't gasp - international flights close one hour before flight time, so we were perfectly fine...except one GIGANTIC oversight on my part - the actual flight time was 8:20. The ticket agent handed me back our passports and perfunctorily announced, "This flight is closed". I immediately took full responsibility for the situation and asked if anything could be done. She shot me a look that clearly said, "Gimme a break, lady", but then she seemed to be staring at my right elbow. There was Eden, pouring on the waterworks, and the charm. She complimented the woman's nails and told her she was totally disappointed. Lo and behold, it turns out we could get on the flight no problem. WOW! I was just bursting with pride. My little protege has seen me beg my way on to 5 or 6 flights in her lifetime so obviously she had been taking notes. (Wonder if the ticket agent felt a little played when she handed Eden the boarding passes and Eden said, "Thanks. Let's move it!" and dashed off without a hint of her recently morose state).  Let me give a special nod to U.S. Airways for helping us out when I definitely didn't deserve it.

...then the fun was over. We sat on the plane for 2 hours while they attempted to locate a Martin Frick who had checked bags but was not on the flight. But eventually we were off to Munich. We sent a text message to Auntie Ingrid wishing her a Happy Birthday, but I don't think it went through.  Eden slept like a log...a log that was laying all over me.

So there are 2 HUGE charges on my Wilmington Trust account that I didn't recognize.  Unfortunately, Ted discovered them on Saturday after they were closed so I had to wait until this afternoon (my time) to call.  So I get the representative on the line and she puts me on hold while she looks it up.  She comes back on the line and says, "Well I cannot say the name of the company.  Can I spell it for you?  It's L-u-f-t-h-a-n-s-a."

Is it really true that your average American has never heard of the German National airline?  

More vexing is that the flight arrangements for me and the kids are still not completely resolved and I am supposed to head over a week from tomorrow.

Trying not to panic...
Breathing slowly....
Serenity now, serenity now, serenity now {beating my ears with my fists}...
Wooosha....wooosha... {rubbing my ear lobes}

News you may have missed:

Bomb attacks in Iraq killed 183 people and wounded hundreds in Baghdad Wednesday.
Mumbai Rails Put Riders at Risk: 3,404 people, or about 13 each weekday, were killed in 2006
Nigerian security forces killed 25 militants; scores of people have died in election-related violence 

Come to Bosnia and ask: "What would you do if a gunman burst into your school, office, home, whatever?" and chances are, they will tell you what they did.  It's not a hypothetical question here - or in many parts of the world.  Ask that question in Iraq, but insert "armed US soldiers".  Ask that question in my home town, but insert "Miami-Dade Police", and I will tell you of my own narrow escape and of a dear friend who did not make it.

Please do not take my words as dismissive.  As a university administrator, these events are very real to me.  As the story unfolds, names and faces of students who I had attempted to have removed (largely unsuccessfully) from the campus community flash through my mind.  You must understand that in this day and age, college attendance is viewed as a fundamental right - A right that many believe that should not be stripped away regardless of academic ineptitude or psychopathic behavior.  It has become a legal quagmire that most school administrators choose to avoid by just trying to ride out the student's tenure.  

As an aside to the UD community, Monday was a day where I would have exchanged knowing glances with Cynthia, Tim, and John.  They are the front line, and for many years I stood with them.  No one would ever guess what we know and what we have seen.  VT does not have something wrong; UD is not just shy of a lunatic asylum.  Every college and university has students that scare them.  If you went to college, there has to be at least one kid that set off those subconscious alarm bells (remember DJ?  No, not Joines!).  There have to be people at your office that you could imagine would be capable of this.  I keep hearing that VT should have done more, but I assure you this is Monday morning quarterbacking.  There are at any given time dozens of students on campus that do things that could be classified as "concerning", "distrubing", "disruptive", and even "threatening".  As far as I know, "you are wierd and you make us uncomfortable" is not a grounds for dismissal.  Thankfully, otherwise I surely would have been kicked out.

The reality is these people are 1% of any population, and 99.99% of them hold it together, but then one takes it to the next level and we all see how much trust we have to place in other people everyday.  Every time you go to a movie theatre, go to a football game, go anywhere that a crowd has gathered, you are literally putting a large part of your safety into the hands of people exactly like yourself.  When that kind of trust is shattered, as it was on Monday, it is hard for people to resume normal life.  People start expecting some greater authority to protect us from each other.

Look at what has happened to air travel...

...she was awakened by the sweltering heat and the stench of b.o.  Did she nod off or pass out?  She wasn't sure.  She was relieved to see that she was still clutching her purse.  Only she knew that hidden in it's depths was half a granola bar.  Although he stomach grumbled, she didn't dare sneak a bite lest one of the other captives should catch a glimpse of it.  Right now, they all seemed docile and resigned to their fate, but that could all change in a flash.

As she pondered her situation, anger welled up inside her.  Nausea started to overcome her as she realized that she had paid $1200 USD for this experience.  "That's it!", she screamed to herself, "I am never flying again"...

This story based on Wall Street Journal:  Fliers Face a Brutal Summer