Notes in Transit

(In Paris Airport:)


- Just had a really weird emotional response to coffee. It went like this: I get to my gate and, since I have 20 euros leftover from France on July, I decide to buy myself breakfast #2 for today. I get a cappuccino and a giant cookie, and without the stare-down and daily arguments that happen with Beninese mamans, the guy gives me the correct change. I sit down and take a sip of real espresso with real milk. And suddenly my trip home here and it's today and i'm going home to hug my Dad and Mom and baby sisters and there's a tear running down my face. Not sure how it got there. Will try to rein in the weirdness in public, promise.

- American parents seem neurotic and way obsessed with their kids. I'm watching a dad who just got on the floor to roll a ball with two-year-old Addison. Her mom just said (direct quote), "Want some more yogurt, Addison? Maybe? Okay, I'll come to you." in Daagbe, you (moms only, dads never) strap the kid to your back and forget about him till he cries, and when he's too big for that, you let him wander around the general area (playing with chunks of rusty metal and old plastic bags, eating dirt, etc.) until he either does something stupid (gets too close to an oncoming zemidjan) or cries for food. If stupid, you hit him. If hungry, you feed him. End of story. None of this playing with the kid or following him around with food... Kinda seems ridiculous to me now. Hah.

- This country is FREEZING. I'm wearing the warmest thing I brought to Africa (Jones jacket, thanks Caroline!), and am still shivering in my seat. Time for socks, and maybe even the spare tissu pagne I somehow thought I needed in America.

- I can smell melted cheese from my seat in the terminal. Not even joking. No one (except spoiled little Addison) is eating within two rows of me. This place is magical!

- The Frenchy-French accent is tough, but I really do speak French now! Sometimes, people even speak to me in French first. Probably just good manners in a France, but still. Win for me!

- It's looking like I'll almost definitely miss my flight to Cleveland because of customs and my layover time. Oh well. There's another flight a couple of hours later, so I'll get home tonight barring a blizzard or volcano explosion in Pennsylvania. Which I think is pretty unlikely, truth be told.

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-On the Paris-to-New York flight: am seated next to an entertainingly cranky gardening lady, who keeps badgering the staff about giving her another double-sized glass of free merlot. She's on her fourth.

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- At JFK: Sprint through the airport at top speed, caring not at all about how crazy and potentially homeless I look. Hair is at cavewoman-level disorder, and have forgotten to take off socks before putting on my duct-taped flats. Despite many strange looks, i make it to the gate on time! This time I'm sitting next to a lawyer who's doing really interesting cases... Between him and Leslie, I'm starting to believe that law is actually (gasp!) interesting to learn about.
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 - I'm HOME!  Family picked me up in Santa hats, and we're now going to my favorite restaurant for a feast before I sleep for 20 hours straight.  So happy!  So cold!  Merry Christmas, everyone!