Robb Montgomery

My family and friends have asked me to tell them my impressions from the last 30 days spent training journalists overseas. I was out of country for the entire month of February with stops in Germany, Denmark, Italy, Croatia, and Egypt. I could start this start this story by deglamorizing it and recalling that the last time I saw my luggage was when I boarded this wee Alitalia turboprop at seven a.m. for a flight from Zagreb to Milan.

Flying over the Adriatic Sea

Perhaps it was while we were buzzing low over the Adriatic, the airline decided I would be be better off wearing the same clothes for four days in Italy. In the end, it took 13 days and dozens of calls (And lost time) to have my bag shipped home to Chicago. Every call to Alitalia led to a new promise of delivery and so I kept waiting. They lied - every time. That’s another blog item for another day.

But it was not all bad - I now have a new Berlin / Egyptian wardrobe. I even left a new case with clothes and two suits in Egypt so when I return there in three months I’ll have new clothes waiting and no delay or problems at the airport.
Now, if only I can stick Alitalia with the tailor’s tab. Only seems right to try to exact a small measure of compensation for the misery their lies dealt me.

I have a “photographic memory”
I would be lost if I didn’t have my camera with me. It allows me a “photographic’ memory.” In other words, I have to take pictures to remember things. It’s not really an option with me - it is how I am hard-wired.

It becomes easier to be on the move and learning new customs and pieces of the language. I doubled my Arabic language vocabulary this time out.
So, I am certainly never bored as all of my senses are assaulted and easily overloaded. Funny after being immersed like this for thirty days - it is the very infrequent American (And often very loud and obnoxious) tongue that stands out and not the sound of words from people using words I frequently cannot understand. And the grating tones usually spout from a tourist or a boasting business man.
“Ugly?” Perhaps. Certainly traveling on my journalism ‘train’ has taught me a lot about diplomacy.

My mom asked me what it is like to shift between so many cultures in a short time. I said that I get to process all that I have experienced only when I photo blog or write about the impressions, people and sights right away.

Those experiences and exchanges become cemented in my conscious when I get the chance to return to a place. That’s what I really enjoy because only then do you begin to experience things the way they really are.
Returning allows your brain to sort through the many new layers of things and nuances of a culture that your overloaded senses couldn’t appreciate the first pass through.

This third week in Egypt was a real breakthrough as I found myself moving easily between their world and mine without being conscious of the transitions. We made some real progress and can now build on the foundation we have been laying there for visual journalism education.

So that’s it for now. I am busy booking passages to visit newsrooms in Pennsylvania, Warsaw, Calgary and Vancouver over the next 30 days. Wish me luck - I am seriously thinking of leaving the bags behind and winging it. It is really amazing how much stuff you don’t need - they seem to have stuff no matter where it is you are going.

BTW, has anyone seen the battery charger for my camera? I am going to need it to remember my new adventures.

-30-

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