Sarah Giesler
June 7 - Marseille
June 7 - Marseille
The warmth of the sun beats down, broken only by the soft sea breeze that - oddly - smells of chlorine. The seagulls’ cries recall those of the babies on the airplanes. It’s a gorgeous evening on the Mediterranean Sea - but Michael Meaney doesn’t know it.
He arrived in Marseille ten hours ago, but his suitcase has yet to make it. Meaney is in a foreign country with only shorts, a t-shirt, a KU jacket, a Royals ballcap and a backpack to his name.
“How did they lose my luggage?!” Meaney exclaimed after having dropped the subject for several minutes.
Meaney arrived at Kansas City International Airport at 10 a.m. on Monday, several hours early for his flight.
“The woman at the American Airlines counter told me several times, ‘This suitcase will meet you in Marseille,’” he said.
Meaney, a social studies teacher at Alta Vista High School, traveled to France yesterday via Chicago and Madrid (where his bag was left behind) with Mary Claire Gustafson. They met fellow teacher Sarah Giesler, who traveled on a separate airplane to Newark and Munich, in Marseille. When Giesler landed, Gustafson told her of Meaney’s predicament.
“I felt for him in that moment,” Giesler said, “because I’ve had my luggage lost before. I was lucky, though; mine was lost on my way home, so I at least had things at my house.”
The three teachers from Kansas City will spend the next nine days in France, interviewing people who have experienced displacement and writing about those stories as part of a Fund for Teachers grant.
“This is a working trip, so at least we can focus on our project,” Gustafson said. “We all hope Mike is able to get his suitcase as quickly as possible - but at least we have a washing machine!”
Meaney, though frustrated, seemed optimistic that he will see the rest of his wardrobe soon.
“I just hope Sarah and MC don’t mind if I start to smell,” he said with a facetious grin.
He arrived in Marseille ten hours ago, but his suitcase has yet to make it. Meaney is in a foreign country with only shorts, a t-shirt, a KU jacket, a Royals ballcap and a backpack to his name.
“How did they lose my luggage?!” Meaney exclaimed after having dropped the subject for several minutes.
Meaney arrived at Kansas City International Airport at 10 a.m. on Monday, several hours early for his flight.
“The woman at the American Airlines counter told me several times, ‘This suitcase will meet you in Marseille,’” he said.
Meaney, a social studies teacher at Alta Vista High School, traveled to France yesterday via Chicago and Madrid (where his bag was left behind) with Mary Claire Gustafson. They met fellow teacher Sarah Giesler, who traveled on a separate airplane to Newark and Munich, in Marseille. When Giesler landed, Gustafson told her of Meaney’s predicament.
“I felt for him in that moment,” Giesler said, “because I’ve had my luggage lost before. I was lucky, though; mine was lost on my way home, so I at least had things at my house.”
The three teachers from Kansas City will spend the next nine days in France, interviewing people who have experienced displacement and writing about those stories as part of a Fund for Teachers grant.
“This is a working trip, so at least we can focus on our project,” Gustafson said. “We all hope Mike is able to get his suitcase as quickly as possible - but at least we have a washing machine!”
Meaney, though frustrated, seemed optimistic that he will see the rest of his wardrobe soon.
“I just hope Sarah and MC don’t mind if I start to smell,” he said with a facetious grin.