'Don't cry. Whatever you do, just don't cry.' That's all I could think. We were maybe 30 miles outside of Prague with no cell phone credit, no Czech currency, hot, stinky, and stranded. It had been the worst drive I've ever had...maybe the worst drive anyone has ever had.

That morning, we had waited at the DMV to register the car with Oma who was very nervous and confused about the number waiting system. Nick must have explained it to her five times, but she's getting older and was very frantic. That ends when we get called in, but then we almost couldn't register the car because Nick doesn't have a German ID card. Luckily, the woman lets us through and we're on the road. About two hours into our five-hour drive, traffic stops. We don't move for 10 minutes. It's already so hot and poor Fritz doesn't have A/C. We start to move and get detoured from the accident we can SEE just in front of us. We take a wrong turn, end up driving in a circle for 30 minutes, but then finally find the road. 'Ok, all is good, just a little scenic detour, right?' Nope. Now we're in road construction. Again, so hot and stinky it's too much to even talk.

Finally on the road, two hours delayed, we cheer up. And then we stop for gas just outside Prague..and the car doesn't start back up. We jump it and it's not the battery. And this is when I want to cry. This is when my mind goes blank and I just wanted to snap my fingers and be back home watching a movie and checking out of reality. But of course, that didn't happen. What did happen is we pushed the car to a hill, and Nick jumped in and threw it into second. Came back Little Miss Sunshine style and scooped me up. Fritz shook the entire way to Prague. Luckily, Nick's student's father owns a rental car spot and had a mechanic, so all we needed to do was get it there. I swear I don't think we talked for 30 minutes. We were both concentrating on keeping the car running in the stop-and-go traffic of mid-day Prague. Think LA with trams and pedestrians and out-dated streets and light systems.

Finally to the mechanic, we grab our stuff and head out. We go to the bank, change some currency, and make our way to the house. Luckily, the guy moving into our room delayed his move-in date so we had a place to crash for the night. A couple showers, a burger dinner at an American spot and a couple glasses of white wine later in a rainstorm and we were back on track. Tomorrow would be a better day.