Famished in Frankfurt

It is 3:10 a.m. Or at least it is in Portland and in my body. It is actually 12:10 p.m. on Saturday. I’ve been here now since 8:40 this morning. My flight doesn’t leave for another 2 hours and I’m starting to feel like I’m losing my mind. I’ve been up now for 19 hours, and by the time I arrive in Cairo it will be more like 25 hours.

Around 11 a.m. I decided that I was hungry. So I went to the little sandwich/coffee stand in the middle of the hallway. They don’t take MasterCard. I briefly debated with myself if I should bother going to get Euros. At an exchange rate of $1.35, I decided to not bother.

An hour later I started wandering the concourse (and losing my great seat at the gate) looking for a store selling real food and water. Or maybe a currency exchange station. I wandered in and out of the travel stores. Unless I want perfume or chocolate, I was out of luck! I thought I found something… but it was only a store selling reading material. I could have purchased caviar and champagne, but it’s not quite the right mood for that menu.

Finally I wander down the concourse, past my gate and to the other side. There’s café called Illy. Thank God - they take cards! I order a Ciabatta Caprese (sandwich with mozzarella, tomatoes, and fresh basil). It’s 4.40 Euros, but I don’t care. I ask the guy behind the counter how much a bottle of water is. He asks me if I want sparkling water or not. I really didn’t care and wanted to know how much the two swallows I’d get out of the bottle were. 2.40!! I told him I didn’t want it, and he rolled his eyes and acted impatient. I suppose if you work at the international terminal you run into a lot of people who don’t know your language, are functioning on little sleep, and are otherwise different from you. I don’t have the patience for European rudeness. I ate my sandwich ($6.00!) and left. I’d rather be dehydrated for a short time rather than give into paying $3.25 for a half liter of water. Then again, maybe that’s the normal price for water in Germany.

I’m rambling now… my head hurts and I feel I’m in my own universe with people orbiting around me, coming in and out of my consciousness. They only exist if I pay attention to them.

I’ve read USA Today, the Financial Times Weekend Edition and watched two flights leave my gate so far… I hope mine is next.