GENEVA, SWITZERLAND We're going to have to make this quick. My eyelids won't be open much longer.
Abroad Lesson No. 2: A rearranged body clock is no laughing matter.
I am finally free of jetlag symptoms for the second time in three months. The first bout, which would have tested Moses' patience, plagued me for seven weary days and seven sleepless nights. I was a mess, plain and simple. My French teacher woke me up in class one day and called me an "Ugly American" --sans the metaphor. Eyes glazed, body numb, I craved only normalcy until I adjusted to Central European Time.
The second time, the fatigue just wouldn't go away -- mostly because it was being reinforced every single night.
"Jetlag symptoms" were the opportunity costs of choosing to leave home this fall. I salvaged a spring semester full of March Madness and college baseball, but at the expense of the World Series and the presidential election. That choice set the stage for some late nights this fall.
Luckily, where there's a TV in Europe, there's CNN International -