We finally have our luggage!

Kirsten Christensen I know many family members and friends have been concerned about the baggage, so I wanted to let everyone know that we have every piece accounted for now!

After returning to the airport yet again earlier today, along with Nicole Neumann in our group, we happened to get a very concerned agent at the baggage office. She said she was quite certain that the bags were all in Berlin (and probably have been this whole time) and are just in the queue with ca. 3,000 other bags waiting for delivery.

I told her we could certainly wait longer if necessary for our clothing and other personal items, but that it was so disheartening to hear that our bags were likely in the same building we were sitting in and yet I was not able to get to the $2000+ worth of Eurail tickets we needed by tomorrow. She understood immediately how big of a deal this was and made several calls directly to the baggage people. She even tried to get us permission to go down there ourselves and couldn't but assured us she would stay on it. I actually believed her. She is the first person we've talked to who gave me any hope that she might be able to resolve this.

About an hour after we got back into town after leaving the airport, she called to tell me the bags had all been found and could be picked up immediately. She suggested we pick them up, rather than wait for the delivery service to send them out, or it might be several more days. We were very happy to do that after all we've been through. Once we got there we still had a bit of a wait, and then we almost didn't get the bags after all, because I didn't have my passport on me and the guy said my driver's license didn't count as an official ID. He relented after I think he could tell I wasn't leaving, and I nearly shreiked outloud with joy when he brought out a cart stacked high with luggage, many with neon-yellow Wang Center tags easily visible. Nicole and Jon and I then managed to wrangle 7 big suitcases from the cargo area where we picked them up, through the frigid, windy night into a taxi. We got the driver to give us a special rate to take the bags to our three houses. We each took an extra bag or two and will get them to the other students in the morning. On the way the very cheerful driver took us on a Berlin highlights tour. That was a nice way to celebrate!

I'll go back to the airport tomorrow to personally thank Frau Gabriel, the woman who helped us. Give her a shout-out wherever you are.

Thanks to all of you for your good thoughts on our behalf. The group has been so good-humored about all of this all along the way, for which I am enormously grateful.

And I think the rest of the trip will seem easy after all of this!