November 10, 1:24pm PST
Location: Gate 101, International Terminal of SFO
I'm looking out through the large bay windows onto the San Francisco Bay.
It's unthinkably beautiful, as always. The giant pastel blue beetles of
AirTran glide smoothly over the passing traffic on 101. The sun greets
some scattered clouds and shines on the green hills of California. A
massive gray plane awaits to take me to foreign lands, but it's like I'm
already a foreigner, gazing with these other strangers at a land that is
not theirs any more, departing both wistfully and with excitement.
I found an adapter ($8!) and bought two. Hopefully it's the right kind.
I bite into Karine's apple. She's wrapped in paper towel before
putting it into a plastic bag. You don't do that unless you love
someone, do you? I mean, if someone really likes you they might think
to give you an apple. That's kind. But if you wrap it in paper towel?
I think maybe the last person to do that was my mom. I once told my
dear friend Sarah that I'd probably marry the first person that
honestly was intent on cooking me vegetables. And I think that Karine
wants to cook me vegetables. How can two people care for each other
and be good for each other without being in love? It's a mystery to
me. My mom encouraged me on, pointing out that for the first nine
months or so she was with my dad the two felt no tingles of love for
the other. Maybe a slow burn is best? But it's odd all the same. I
guess I'll just roll with it, which is easy to do, since it's pretty
nice all the same. :)
They're boarding first class and I've finished my apple. Four
scruffy Germans sit in front of me, sipping coffee and sorting their
boarding passes. I realize I don't speak much German. No wait, I don't
speak ANY German. I hope that's okay. I also really hope I can buy
some Tunisian dinars in Frankfurt. I think I'll read Guns, Germs,
and Steel again -- I had started reading it three years ago but lost
the book in my last move. My brother surprisingly and kindly sent me
some stuff from my Amazon wishlist totally without explanation;
probably a birthday present? It just showed up. I had a wierd moment
where I tried to figure out if I had bought it and forgotten about it
before I noticed the billing address was my brother's home in
Plymouth. Very nice of him.
Okay, time for me to board.
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