Well, after 2 years, 4 months and 20 days out of the
country, I got back home to the US on Saturday morning. It is at the same time
totally normal, and exceptionally mindblowing, to be here.
Why yes, my first meal back DID include Watsonville strawberries!
And yes, I did take a picture of it…
There are people everywhere, I swear my plane from Joburg to
Atlanta could have held half my village. (My feet also didn’t reach the floor,
which probably made me more grumpy about that experience than I could have been…)
I barely exchanged 3 words with my neighbor, which seemed different, since in
Namibia it would be impossible to sit next to someone for 16 hours and not get
to know them.
But, people are also generally nicer than I remember! I
always categorize Africans as being friendly and helpful, while Americans are
in too much of a rush, etc. But everyone in the airport was kind, jumping out
of their way to let the passengers about to miss their connections through. When
I was baffled by the new passport-checking, customs machines in Atlanta (yes,
there are MACHINES at customs instead of real people, and yes, I couldn’t
figure out how to use them) there was immediately a really nice guy who came to
help me. And he only laughed a little at my despair. And, although it turned out I had the
wrong number in my phone (!), my neighbor on the flight to Tampa (who happened
to be the PILOT from the Joburg flight! small world) let me borrow his phone to
try to call Aunt Pamela to let her know our plane had landed. We also found an
exceptionally kind and helpful guy at the AT&T store who did his best to
help me figure out how to make it work in both the US and Namibia, and got it
set up in just a few minutes.
There is too much traffic. I can’t remember seeing so many
traffic lights, ever, and I have to say that I am so grateful to my family
(thanks Aunt Pamela!) for taking care of me and driving me places! Between the
traffic itself, and the cars on the ‘wrong side’ of the road, and the HUGE
highways, I don’t think I’d survive on my own.
Running on the beach in Tampa
So far, in the last 2 days, we have gone to the beach, some
shops, Quaker meeting (really awesome!), gone birdwatching, and done some projects at the house. It
is busier than Namibian life, even though we are on holiday. But most
importantly, I have enjoyed spending time with my family and am so excited that
more of them will be coming in to FL in just a few days, and then that I will
see the other side of the family in about a week! If anything, I think that
Namibia, and being away from home for 2 years, has taught me that it is about the
people =)
