Leaving Warsaw

I’m in Warsaw’s Frederick Chopin Airport having a cup of coffee waiting for boarding time for my flight to Budapest.  The airport has a new terminal that has been built and ready for months, but still isn’t in use • some problem with fire regulations, I’ve heard, so I wait in the old terminal.  This new airport issue is a big political issue here at the moment.

The restaurant at the airport is like a “blast from the past” • an old-fashioned cafeteria where nothing looks too appetizing, some dishes look extremely un-appetizing, the paint on the walls is yellowed and the only decorations are dusty plastic plants and faded posters.

As always, going through security is a slow hassle…. Empty your pockets, take off your belt, take off your watch, take off your shoes…. Somehow the metal detector still goes off… being groped by a stern security guard….  The metal detector wand…  Eventually you make it through.  This is a real pain, and also happens to be a great opportunity to lose or misplace things.  I had to pull everything out of my back pack before finally having an emotional reunion with my watch, the one Olga gave me when I finished graduate school… I was sure I’d lost it in the confusion.