Anticipation

 On July 5th, 1973 (40 years ago today), I began a journey that I did not know what was in store.  All I knew was that I was about to embark on a trip to Europe and Israel, as part of a college History course.  The tour was being conducted by my Speech and Theatre professor at Anderson College, Mr. Vivian, and I was going with some friends from school, as well as some current and retired school teachers, mostly from the Anderson area.  There were 16 people on the trip, and I was the only guy except for Mr. Vivian.  Consequently, he and I would share a room in the hotels. 
 We left Greenville/Spartanburg Airport around noon and flew to Charlotte.  It was a short flight, and then on a flight from Charlotte to JFK in New York.  We got to NYC around 4, and had about three hours to kill before our flight to London.  One thing I learned early on was that I had to watch my friends like a hawk, because they all had a habit of wandering off, which is what they did.  When our flight was called, the girls were nowhere to be found.  Panic set in.  I ran through the concourse looking for them.  When I finally found them, we had just a few minutes left.  This was one theme that would be repeated in all sorts of ways.
 Our plane to London was Pan Am.  They gave each of us shoulder bags.  Our dinner on the plane was Roast Duck.  It was kind of swanky.  I have never been able to sleep on a plane, so I watched the film they had for is, which was "The Thief Who Came to Dinner" starring Ryan O'Neal.  I am sure it is a good film, but it was rather difficult to follow with no sleep.  Of course, I was also excited about what was to come, or what I thought would come.  Sometimes, one's thoughts are not quite what actually happens, and I would find that out during the trip. 
 The day ended somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.  Next stop--London.