On My Way to Greece (And Turkey)

Monday October 11 – I am accustomed to staying up most of the night before a trip, packing and organizing and taking care of odd details, grabbing two or three hours sleep at most and heading off into whatever adventure has raised its head. This time, however, I was not being picked up until after noon, and so I had a chance to work, to get some serious sleep and to spend a fairly relaxed and civilized morning. I did some work on the calendar, I had a lovely shower and packed, I had lunch, and even thought the Super Shuttle was 20 minutes early, I was ready.

I was the first one picked up, and the next person on was from Phoenix, Arizona. I made the mistake of saying, “Hi there” when she boarded, and this was obviously a signal to chat. So I learned about her life in Phoenix, her visit to New York, her friend who had just moved here, her feelings about the Super Shuttle being 20 minutes early (she was NOT pleased) and her impressions of New York (way too busy and frantic and not at all like Phoenix). I forebear from mentioning that this was one of the reasons many of us love New York – but then someone else boarded, and since I was in the front seat (one of the perks of being picked up first – to make up for the long ride) I could start ignoring the conversation in the back seats.

Got to the airport (Newark) long queue, and a very confusing mechanical check in system. Seats with more leg room available for a mere $89 – if I could have used some of my accumulated air miles I would have gone for it, but of course that is not an option. There are no human beings involved, just wave your passport under an electronic eye and answer a series of questions, and off you go.

Now to some this may seem an easy way to go through the process, and while there are baggage assistants who actually take your bag, physical attendants are few and far between. I’m sure the airline thinks this is a grand idea, saving on all those nasty salaries. But I wondered as I checked in how this squared with all the security we are supposed to be conscious of and worried about. As our party gathered in the food court near our boarding gate, one woman told the story of her checking in. She had the same kind of confusion I did, and when she saw Jane Patricia, she didn’t even bother to read further (after all, how many Jane Patricia;s can there be in the world?) and got her Boarding Pass and headed off to the security area.

While she was waiting in line, she mentioned to someone that her pass had the wrong last name and all sorts of excitement broke forth. Had she not mentioned it, could he have boarded? Who knows? The other Jane Patricia is in our little group, and was a wonderful way of introducing yourself to someone. But it does make one wonder about security. As did the discovery that another two of our group (with different names) had the same seat. That also got worked out before we boarded, but again, this is the kind of crack security we are spending millions and who knows how much on?

But meet we did, the old friends reuniting and new friends fitting easily into the mix. People making last phone calls, buying snacks for the plane, eating in anticipation of the airline food, visiting facilities and walking. I kept finding people and making introductions. I also went to the gate personnel and arranged for the blind members to board first – except that when they started to board, none of them were around. I got two on, one made it through on their own, and the last were among the last to boars. We are nothing if not an independent group.

Overseas planes in the tourist section are pretty much of a much. I have a notebook computer, so I am able to work in the increasingly smaller space, I have noise reducing headphones, a folder full of crossword puzzles and a Kindle, with several new books loaded in for the trip, and the breviary. Yes, I found how to download the breviary (the office that priests say each day) onto the Kindle. I love the printed breviary, with the thin pages and the ribbons and the sense of connection to generations of priests before me who have walked corridors and sat in churches quietly reading these same prayers. But when one travels, not having to carry this heavy tome is not a bad thing. And while I recognize and agree with the notion of witness value, having people see one read an obviously religious book, it always made me feel a little self-conscious, like “Watch me, now I’m being holy.” With the Kindle, it’s just a man in a black shirt reading a book, and it could be the Bible (which I also have loaded in) or Balzac or anything in between. Anonymity can be comforting.

Drinks – since you can’t pay cash and have to use a credit card, I had a double. One sits in my pocket for later consultation but the first one was very nice indeed. Dinner was a choice between chicken and pasta or beef and rice – I chose the beef and rice. I am a reasonable cook and I have lived in a lot of interesting places with carrying cuisines, and I simply do not know how they can take a piece of beef (assuming that it really was beef) and do whatever they do to make it turn out like what accompanied the rice. Sigh. I’m old enough to remember when flying was fun and I can remember a number – yes, as in many – really good meals on airplanes. Even in coach. Those days are obviously gone, certainly on Continental Airlines. Now I understand the people who were eating before we left.

So I’m going to continue to work on the calendar material so I will be ready to send it to the designer when we get to the hotel, and then read and perhaps nap a little, and then it will be morning and what Continental laughingly calls breakfast, and then we go through Customs and see if there is someone there to meet us. I think I’m going to call a meeting at the hotel, so the members of the two groups can meet and we can coordinate schedules and Mass. I think we have the afternoon off and a group dinner in the evening.