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Show THE ANDEREGG SAGA. ..15 to 27 JUNE 1974. 25 „ JC* With two Halliburton cases full of cameras and sundry photo equipment,, including processing tanks and chemicals, one small bag with one suit and one change of shirts and underwear, the pockets of my safari, coat bulpng with films (these always go with me to and from an assignement) I took off from Detroit airport. A tornado had been sighted between Ann Arbor and Detroit and the radio kept warning people to be on the look-out..., but nothing deters intrepid Anderegg. Needless to^say the start did not augur we'll and the flight was quite rough for a while. Ihe BOAC flight our of NYC was delayed for an hour...hydraulic leak. Since I had three hours to make my connection in London I was not going to worry for another hour. My first experience with a 747. When one comes up close to these behemoths one knows full well that such a monster cannot fly...but it does and does it seemingly so easily: Because of the inconvenience We were served a free drink. The meal, at 10PM, was the most delicious I have ever had aboard a 'plane* filet mignon with all the trimmings. Oleg Grabar was waiting for me at Heathrow and we soon were aboard Jordanian Airline plane (better known as Alia...the name of the King s daughter but for me it is too close to Alitalia). As on all the other mid-East airplanes I have flown there is no segregation for smokers and non-smokers. This is not pleasant. Arriving in Amman we were surprised not to have been met by someone, anyone! So we waited in line to clear customs along with the rest of the passengers. After some five minutes someone came to us and asked if we were who we were. Seems the delegation was awaiting us in the V.I.P. lounge: To which we repaired promptly with our bags. Or rather with my bags since O'leg's were not in evidence. Ihey finally showed up the day before we left, but in the meantime he had to buv a pair of work pants which were a screams huge around the middle and with too short legs. Back to VIP lounge...a most pleasant place where one receives free drinks! Receiving us were the Head and Assistant Head of the Antiquities Department, a Dean and a Professor. They were most apologetic that they were unable to secure us proper accomodations in a good hotel, but the arrival of the Nixon party (over 400 including the many newspaper oersons) pre-empted all the good spaces. Frankly I felt more at ease since I wear khakis for the most part. Sunday we spent mostly in various offices. I set the hotel on its ear when I requested three empty whisky bottles (for my solutions). They thought we were an odd lot when we arrived but now were quite certain of it. Later when 1 asked for ice •to cool down my solutions', not to ice drinks they didn't know what to make of it. Many years ago one Dick Undeland, who was then head of the U.S.I.S. Jefferson Library in Alexandria, Egypt helped me greatly in clearing our gear through customs. He visited us in the Monastery and again helped me clear the stuff out of Egypt. We managed to keep in touch through the years and the next time I saw him was in Saigon. A few vears later we met in Beirut where he was preparing for an assignement to Amman. I had no idea if he was still there so called him and sure enough they were still there. We all, O'leg Grabar, Renata Holod who had iust dropped in on her way from Afghanistan to Morocco and I, went to dinner in their lovely house high on a hill overlooking all of Amman. Great reunion, they were delighted to meet Oleg since they are quite interested in archaeology, and they were so taken with Renata that they asked her to lhmbmwaqeouilaiu ufcdostisrtdhc htes lk ea r etmspi ho. iabeierno iasnef nt thth Ieoopt,ihtrfto,nh* e ewg eh spalsesaT tantrso d in afaye nseeyutosmgolalt ea .smrwa r6ne litAy a dytMne aTe dh qarphpUn tu opeimdoiotrcam vuh oetysgaecgpi ygmlo rniaen aisgddwnsnta ht idotombis c eneatloalte ntsefhort h e v ,oga.eoio r t snluafea iyrl a w TtAs o tobheomJnareseme rstk eamch,wpQnubeh, aa uc!ne slsibhen selrlua . esdtTk rom ieuAo f adnemOot qnsgr ormauddwai i aghoemctcyi.yrmaee n.de t iwaen tolanll ,IuidylotTet ny fha gW orent osefodo tlf dou s ha ankntiserpred htgo les-aiesma dunbt e ccapkosri,eoy.iutsu vn to cs bewgnt uiure2 eucntear h d et a ah rse |
