We had an uneventful flight from Los Angeles to Newark though Tiffany and I were not seated next to each other. However, we did manage adjacent seats on the flight from Newark to Tegel airport in Berlin. I had the misfortunate of sitting next to an obese American male who demanded not only the armrest, but proceeded to hang his elbow over the armrest into my personal space. Furthermore, the boor did a poor job of covering his mouth each and every time he coughed, which was consistently throughout the eight hour flight. The characteristics of his coughing spats were indicative of some undiagnosed malady and I did not appreciate his sharing his diseased aerosol with me or the other passengers on the plane. To calm myself, I mentally reviewed the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic plaques and thrombotic events in obese men, and endured the disgusting conditions around me. I further vowed never to travel without TB masks again. Continue reading ‘Eastern Europe - Day 1′