(Thirteenth of a Series)

As we traveled from place to place, we took the precaution of phoning ahead one day in advance to confirm arrangements with everybody we were counting on. And this habit did correct a few disasters. As it stood, we were in the Prague airport on the way to Egypt, and we still had not confirmed our Egyptian hotel reservation. And confirmation seemed vital, for we were scheduled to land in Cairo at 1:30 am local time.

We couldn't use our cell phone from the Czech airport, for the signal was too weak. Since we had plenty of time, I decided to call from a payphone. After several failed attempts to place the call to the Egyptian hotel, I let the international operator place the call for me. She explained that calls from a Czech payphone into Egypt were blocked. She suggested I call either from a mobile phone, or from a privately owned land line.

More under my breath than as a rebuttal, I noted that neither option was feasible.

She had one final suggestion: Sir, perhaps you could try placing your call from a different country.