Sunday, February 19, 2012

.on a jet plane


its 1:33 am and i'm surprisingly not tired despite a grand total of about 9 hours of sleep in the last 48.

waiting for the taxi to come get me at 3 Am - then check my perfectly weighed 50 lbs bags on to Chad.... ($800.00 lesson learned from last flight...this time a scale was utilized)

on to DC - probable luxurious nap on floor of airport, near a wall - waiting my three hours unti I get on Ethiopian Air for 15 hours of delirium, bad tv, and mentally making fun of skymall and fruitlessly trying to make the vents blow tepid air in my direction.

will have lengthy mental arguement to myself about whether or not I will be brave and talk to my seatmate - will culminate in conversation initiation as a direct result of conscious decision to engage in risk taking behavior as self-betterment strategy. may or may not result in life-changing conversation or event.

will wander through Ethiopian Airport, being herded down long corridors, up stairs, being told to wait in mysterious lines that dissipate or become frenzied based on the mood of the agent and the languages of the travelers. will second-guess the line, probably switch several times, and start pulling out rusted french phrases only to realize all the Ethiopian agents speak english anyway.

the next 4 hours to the capital will be shorter in comparison, I won't know what time it is, I won't care, and I will start the dreading the moment i push and shove my way through tchadian customs, heaving my 3 bags through the scanner and adamantly insisting i don't need help to enterprising good neighbors.

will feel momentary panic as i wonder if the trusted taxi driver switched his phone number, and wonder why i just finished complaining about the wind chill 48 hrs earlier outside of ATL.

and the yellows and the greens and the hot wall of thick crispy air will be strangely comforting, i will crack peanuts between my teeth and roll down the window and breathe the sauna of brilliantly colored humanity and i will smile as i hate it

and be glad to be back in this feverish salty wild enterprising land

and i will tuck the mosquito net around me and fall into a blistering sleep, thinking how was it only 40 hours ago that I laid in air conditioning and how could i not have appreciated that more? but i will be strangely happy

strangely
strangely
strangely

happy

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