charles degaulle airport

i had the opportunity to look at this lovely ceiling for approximately nine hours on friday. i mistakenly thought i was safe from mad chaos, being that i was not traveling through london, but no. the chaos was not a respector of countries, it would seem. after a tearful goodbye to slovakia i was catapulted into the rudeness that is western europe. i know it's a gross generalization, but can i help it if i've scarcely experienced anything to the contrary? after having waited in line a while, i got sent to the end of another line, which was huge. little did i know, however, that that would turn into a cakewalk when compared to the lines that lay ahead of me. i made my flight, but it was close. and, by the way, they charge you for airplane food on austrian air. i arrived at cdg in paris about 9:30 and my flight to newark was to leave at 1:15 so i thought to myself, "i'll just relax, have some peanuts and juice, and in a few hours i'll find the gate i need to go to," all the while feeling sorry for the poor suckers standing in the eight-mile line to who knows where. soon enough i found out that it was going to i know where...the united states of america. so i went through this line where they were kind enough to lighten my load significantly of some expensive items of the liquid sort. i must admit, the security guards that searched me were sweet, though. they tried to help me keep as much as possible. i went in the secure area and waited. everything was delayed. i fell asleep and awoke at 3 and ran to my gate, only to discover that i had another 3 1/2 hour wait ahead of me. this wait was due to the fact that they decided to search everyone again, and this time without mercy. they took my new nalgene even though it was empty...and to make a long story short (too late) i spent the night in a ghetto in newark, nj and at 4:30 the next morning went to wait in a line that will dwarf the rolling stones line tomorrow. but i cleared that one, too, with even enough time to buy a bagel. of course this was all in the name of safety, and i'm glad for that, really. it tested my patience, which is not a bad thing to have tested regularly. and it made me happy i live in a state with more cows than people. cows don't fly.