Bummer!! Delayed, but not denied - that's a plus, right?

So, my friend, Elisabeth, was supposed to arrive today. She's been in Italy for a bit, after attending a wedding there. She got to the airport, checked in, checked her luggage, and then, when she got to the gate prior to the scheduled closing time, and well before take off, not only was it closed, all the counters were deserted too!!

It appears that her luggage may have made it here, but she sure didn't! She's stuck in Rome, without a flight here at this exact moment... and no recourse either - at least not tonight.

Hopefully she'll be given another ticket over, and if not then she'll be buying one for tomorrow (fingers crossed) and will reconnect with her clothes, and us, in the evening.

Bummer!!

On the plus side - she missed a drizzly dreary day that would have involved lugging her stuff all over historic Prague trying to locate me at work... it was lousy! And my new shoes, the ones I got at home, which I love, are NOT meant to be worn when traversing wet or slick walkways... I slid in the metro, on the escalator, in the tram, and slid and fell when approaching an intersection - that one was a little scary but fortunately I didn't fall in front of a car - but I did hit someone with a full water bottle when it flew out of my hand on the way down!

And one more plus - apparently she is the answer to every Italian male's dream and has enjoyed the attention and overtures - the Czech men are as emotive as a blank cement well. The people my age and up do not initiate conversation and rarely make eye contact unless and until you interact with each other quite a few times on some sort of regular and semi-intimate basis ( a clerk at the coffee stand is not enough, a student's parent, after a few weeks, will smile - or at least acknowledge you without a furrowed brow). It is a major cultural difference. Even younger Czechs will frequently admonish the American students with what appears to me to be innocuous questions, saying "That's rather personal" and then shutting down the conversation.

I hope the difference isn't too drastic, but after spending a few weeks with attractive successful men loudly proclaiming their interest and affection she may feel an acutely bitter chill in the air. Which, combined with the rain will make for a lovely and heartwarming reception! Oh boy!!!