3-4-08 Left for Newark Airport at 3pm flight on Lufhtansa at 6:15. The day has been very emotional! I haven’t stopped crying for 2 days and the nerves, stress, anxiety and the unknown has really taken a toll. Susan was crying on the phone saying bye and it was emotional leaving Patrick, when he dropped mom off at my house. Joe drove us to the airport and we grabbed a bite to eat (and a beer) before leaving. Checking in our luggage was no big deal and nothing was mentioned about our suitcase weight being over. Joe walked us to the security gate and it was very hard to say goodbye. Felt like I’d never see him again. He continued waving to us the whole time we walked down the long hall to…..who knew. First flight was nice from Newark to Frankfurt and was only 6 ½ hrs and the service was great. The movie they had for us was National Treasure (the one we just saw and mom slept thru in the theater) we both slept thru it here too. Had dinner consisting of chicken, rice, veggies mixed together. Cheese, grapes, Cesar salad, and cheesecake with raspberry sauce on it…know how mom loved THAT! Lol Met a nice Jewish lady going home to Israel with her 13 mo. Old baby Alex. Very good and happy, no crying the whole trip. They had the bassinet for him that hooks right onto the bulkhead (wall), set it up with a little blanket and pillow and hood cover, very cute. So now we know what to expect for the trip home with Emma. We lucked out with the emergency row so we got to stretch out our legs! They offered us warm towelettes for our hands followed by a never ending offering of drinks. “Would you like some soda” 2 min later “Would you like some water” 2 min later“Would you like some red or white wine” 2 min later “Would you like Coffee or tea”. Then “would you like some duty free items (chocolate, liquor, cigs) all after we just ate. NO LADY we're trying to sleep! LOL Then our “breakfast” consisted of ½ a strawberry, 4 pineapple cubes and a partridge in a pear tree…lol… a cold roll with butter and jelly and a plastic wrapped slice of cheese. Yum. Jewish lady plopped Alex in my lap so she could go get her bags from other compartment. Honestly, not as bad as we thought. In Frankfurt, the airport Workers are on strike…. Started 2 hrs prior to our landing! Told us we’d have to sit in plane a while but surprisingly we didn’t have to. But we were told not to pass back thru security point b/c we wouldn’t be able to get back in. Tried emailing home on the kiosk in airport, but buttons weren't normal letters. Had to hold Control Q for the @ sign and the y and z were reversed on the keyboard. Found out that a pack of AA batteries in airport were about $20! Slept in airport for lay over. We were stuck in this little area till we left. We’re here for about 5 hrs. Many international flights cancelled but we’re ok for now. Got worried we’d be stuck in Germany with no way of contacting Lola who’s meeting us in Almaty with our tix to Karaganda. So much for seeing Germany. (should have realized THEN that this was a bad omen)