Getting There
I left my door in Santa Rosa at 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 28th for a flight from San Francisco International Airport at ten minutes after midnight. Add the driving time and 5 hors layover in Taipei, plus 5 hours flying to Bali, plus an hour and a half drive to Candi Dasa in a mini bus and it coms out to roughly 30 hors travel.
I sat for most of that time in a flying machine. Not only is it a miracle that it can get off te ground with hundreds of us in side -- with our lap tops, cameras, over-stuffed carry-ons, and a hold full of all the things a person have away from home.....but the it is also a miracle to me to me that it stays up fairly smoothly and evenly -- uncomplainingly.
I tried to remember the first time I flew to Europe from South Africa -- it was a little Dutch airline called Trek Airline. Pretty small plans if I remember correctly - having to stop on the way to refueld in Egypt I think. I do remember that we had to get off the plane during refueling and South African passport holders were shown into a separate holding area.
And then I got to thinking: I had all kinds of folk I was planning to meet and visit in Holland, France and Austria. And I had no cell phone or email to set it all up. How did we manage to be so dependable and reliable and organized?
Everyone met me at the planned rendevous and at the right times on the right dates. We managed rather well. And calling home from Paris to say I had arrived safely was no small accoplishment. I wanted to call collect -- so that made all kinds of intresting additions to the phone call process with operators having to talk to operators and verifying and agreeing and conncting.
I should have just paid but there were no ATM's and banks were closd - you get the iea.
And we all managed just fine.
I love my cell phone tho.
I love the web.
And it has changed so many things - like 'coming home' for example. I answered 45 work emails today already while waiting in Taipei, chatted with close friends on Yahoo, conncted to my Godson's dad via Facebook in London and left word for my mom and aunt via SMS.
Now coming home from a big long trip is almost like walking in from the next room. "Hi, I'm headed to Trader Joe"s, need anything?"
Er... I was just on the other side of the world in a flying machine.
Sigh.
I'm watching a lady three rows ahead on the plane. She is putting her face on. She has a brilliant system: Folding out pallette of colored powders, various brushes, and a tilt up mirror thingy. Everything goes on at a particular speed and swiftness. None of this is random.
Oh god....she is doing the black stuff on the eye lins - mirror (different one) up close, mouth stretched down to make it easier - oh God, please let there be no turbulance.
I have to get out of this flying machines soon.
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