I’ve proclaimed my allegiance, in earlier posts, to the Socially Awkward Travellers (SATs) of the world. And I’ve confessed my lack of facility with “tips.”
But I’ve learned a doozie in these first days of 2012: carrying a microscope on your flight is an instant conversation starter.
I was asked if I could bring a microscope with me to my school’s campus in Costa Rica. No problem, I thought. It makes me feel important, and like a scientist, which I don’t usually get to do.
The box measured just under the requirements for a carry on. But how to carry it, exactly? A colleague thought campus mail services could rig something up with rope, but then I remembered the IKEA bag. As the photo above reveals, the bag was a fine fit. Durable, and emitting a satisfying crumply sound when fussed with. Adjustable, with two sets of straps I think of Shorties and Shoulders.
Carrying this IKEA bag through airports took me back to my Moldova days, when I lived there as a Peace Corps volunteer. The Romanian word for bag is punga, the “u” said “oo” like “moo.” When I lived in Moldova a few years ago, I saw an impressive array of pungi made of strong woven plastic. (Instead of the more grammatical pungi, we’d often stick on an English -s to pluralize it as “pungas”).
Sometimes if you need to carry heavy stuff, you’d ask someone if they’d want to Moldova the bag with you, as in they grab one handle and you grab the other and waddle down the street and up the stairs or to the minibus.
This time I had to Moldova with myself. The microscope wasn’t heavy but, as the packaging stresses, EXTREMELY FRAGILE. Awkward.
[adsenseyu2]
Are you a science teacher? asked one of the attendants at airport security. I started to say yes, assuming a simple answer was a good idea. But then I feared: What if he questions me about the chemical composition of a dangerous compound or the Latin name of a rare type of moss?
I wasn’t ready to bluff. I told the truth.
“Oh, an English teacher with a microscope, eh?” he said, with an eyebrow raised.
Did the microscope make it to Costa Rica? Stay tuned to Wander Chic Carry-on Mystery Theatre (cue the dramatic music: dun dun duh).