Borrowing Clothes in Beirut

BEIRUT, Aug. 13, 2006 — -- I have four shirts and some pants in Budapest, or they might be in Paris or Damascus. Those are nice places to have belongings, unless of course you are in Beirut, which is where I am right now.

This adventure began on Thursday in New York City. ABC was sending me to Beirut to replace ABC's David Wright, who had been in that war-ravaged city for a month and had done simply unbelievable, unparalleled work. He was also dressing very nicely. So I figured that I would pack accordingly, bringing plenty of stuff for foreign war coverage that could last a couple of weeks.

The only problem with my plan was the international terror scare that gripped the world the day I was due to leave. I arrived at JFK International Airport four hours early, but that didn't keep my flight from leaving four hours late. As a result, I missed my connection in Paris for Damascus, from where I was supposed to drive to Beirut.

This might be hard to follow so far, but it gets worse. Just to recap: At this point it is Friday afternoon, and I am in the Paris airport, and the last direct flight to Damascus has already left.

This is when ABC's foreign assignment editor Michael Kreisel stepped in (I am including Michael's name because of the amazing work he did, and also in case there is any legal action).

Michael figured out how to get me to Damascus by flying on Malev Airlines. Malev is the national carrier of Hungary, so my flight would take me through Budapest. This sounded like a grand plan, as I always wanted to see Budapest, or at least the airport. The only potential pitfall was my luggage. All I had with me was my carry-on bag containing my computer, iPod and some books, but no clothes or deodorant.

My luggage, that had/has all my clothes, toiletries, chargers, etc. remained somewhere in the Paris airport luggage system. I tried to explain to several French officials that I needed my bag transferred somehow to this Hungarian flight through Budapest. The lovely French helpers alternated between telling me that everything would be taken care of and that there was simply no hope.