7/29 That was unexpected: watching some olympics and feeling, more than realizing, that this is now my country and I am eligible to root for it.

7/28 Hard to remember when, in these last few days, I was on which continent. In this entire cross-global, multi-day, multi-timezone blur of a journey, I see the eyes of my son watering up when I left him.

7/27 Due to the late rebooking and a delay of the transatlantic flight, we will now fly EWR – BOS – FRA – LHR – GOT. All these short hops feel the same: one or two hours waiting, one or two hours flight. Airports turn into a blur.

7/26 Woke up in the early morning hours with sudden, urgent concerns why it seemed almost impossible that I’d get my passport later this same day so that we could fly tonight. My lost passport had come from the agency in Philadelphia, and could I really assume that any agency in the country, in this case New York, could re-issue this passport? This would imply that for example the photos would have to be in some sort of federally accessible computer system already. Also, the original of my naturalization certificate was now in Philadelphia – would this have any bearing on my elgibility for getting a passport from New York?

My nerves were a wreck, and with three other people sleeping in my apartment, I resorted to walking up and down the outside corridor for what must have been almost two hours. I then tried to get passport photos early on a Friday morning in Manhattan. The streets, having quited down over night, were slowly coming back to life as some cool air moved gently through them. The CVS at Amsterdam and 86th, supposedly open 24 hours, had a hastily written note in its door saying that it was closed and one should go to 42nd street instead. I went back home, turned on the kitchen light and hoped it would not disturb the sleeping children a few feet away too much. I filled in the form I was supposed to fill in, then got my stuff and, after checking Google, tried the CVS at Columbus Circle (57th), only to be told that photos would not be taken until 8, but my appointment at the agency was already at 8. Tried the Duane Reade across the street, where the cashier did not even understand the word passport photo and said no.

I walked down another ten blocks to a CVS at 49th, and was told the photo person would come at 7, in 10 minutes. I witnessed the weirdest wake-up activity in that CVS, which is actually pretty massive, with two full floors, and apparently a shift of security workers, or renovation workers, coming in, among which I waited for my passport photo person. The picture looked just a anemic as you’d expect when someone has slept barely two hours.

So I took an Uber to the passport agency, where, behind metal barricades, lines were already forming outside the building at 7.30. It was a peculiar contrast between the disarray, if not, in places, desparation of the people lining up, the shoddiness of the government building, including the heavily scratched foggy plexiglass barriers. and the efficiency with which applicants were processed, the knowledge of the workers about even obscure situations like mine, and the definitiveness of their answer – yes of course, we have same-day service. I was given a pick-up time of 2pm, five hours later, and at that time I could indeed pick up my passport, a full one with ten-year validity, and the entire multitude of security holograms encasing my picture, the one I’d sent to Philadelphia.

7/25 These are the days that would not have happened if the passport had arrived on time.

7/24 When a man has everything stolen from him, he remains calm. He needs two days to get himself organized again. All it takes him is a few phone calls. – I’ve thought of this passage from Wäis Kiani a lot over the years, and I clearly have some more work to do to get there.

With the passport, it wasn’t even that difficult, and could have been reduced to the stepwise resolution of a few well-defined problems. First, is the passport somewhere here in the building, and can I get hold of it? Even if I cannot get the doorman to go through all the packages in the mailroom again and again – and I was angry and mean trying to make that happen – it simply means that this question has to be answered in the negative. Even though the passport might be somewhere in the building, there isn’t a plausible way for me to find it with complete certainty.

At 7.30 in the morning I went to the local post office, talked to the sole employee in the hall with a bizarre sculpture of medusa-like air-conditioning hoses near the entrance, and even after he disappeared into the innards of the building for a few minutes to “check the shelves”, there was no trace of my passport.

You’d think there would be a way to get an emergency travel document if you’re traveling the same day, but as it turns out, you either get an actual passport, manufactured for you on the same day, or you get nothing. To get a passport manufactured for me, I had to get an appointment at any of the passport factories in the country, but all the nearest ones – New York, Connecticut, Philadelphia – were completely booked for the day. I considered for a moment to fly to Buffalo, NY or St. Albans, VT during the day, before our flight, but that was just ridiculous.

Once you resign yourself to the fact that you simply won’t make the flights, and will need to postpone them, it’s not that hard. I got an appointment here in New York for Friday morning, and was able to rebook all of the travel with little to no financial loss. It’s not that hard. Just be calmer about it.

7/23 Back in Manhattan and there’s no passport. State Department says it was made, USPS says it was delivered to my mailbox, but it is nowhere to be found. I’m supposed to travel with the children tomorrow. Utter panic, trying my utmost to wrestle it down. We will find a way. The worst that will happen is a few days’ delay.

7/22 Rather casually, after two years of coaster rides to which my daughter persuaded me, I have now reached the state of not being afraid of anything. It is now pure appreciation of the geometry, the gravitational and centrifugal forces. What still needs to be explained are the screams, both mine and those of the others.

7/21 Hersheypark: Comet – Storm Runner – Wildcat’s Revenge – SooperdooperLooper – Skyrush – Candymonium – Fahrenheit – Great Bear – Lightning Racer. Halfway through the day, J texts and says that Biden has dropped out.

7/20 Three-hour drive to Hershey, Pennsylvania in the evening. Hotel with two gigantic rooms, one for the kids and one for me and J. Weirdest feeling to leave the kids in that room by themselves. We’ll meet for breakfast tomorrow at 9, before going to Hersheypark, where coasters are waiting for us.