there and back again

That's the name of Frodo's book, right? Well, the Fellowship of the Kenya GP 2012 has now broken up (I fancy I'm probably the Legolas of the group, what with my unrivaled hair and archery skills. Brian, of course, is Gandalf--HA HA--and Mama Hannah can be Galadriel).

Anyway, we are back in America. My fever burned itself off somewhere en route to London and we have landed safely in JFK. I say some very inadequate goodbyes to people, and then I'm off to catch my flight back to LA. Last year the whole initial re-entry into American society was dizzying--I was running around trying to find an outlet for my phone to charge while trying to meet up with Candice, etc. etc...and I went to the bathroom and for whatever reason the automatic faucet at the sink kept spewing out water and I was having a minor panic attack, thinking about all the water being wasted and how many people could use that water back in Kenya...I was one big cultural schizophrenic.

Today, though, I'm...fine. I meander over to my proper terminal, and change out of my overly warm sweatpants. I buy a smoothie and a new Muji pen without freaking out that I am spending money. I board my flight. I sleep on and off, and then I'm in LA. I nearly walk into a wall at Burbank Airport but other than that, I go outside and there is my mum and brother. We fetch my luggage, and meet dad, who comes around with the car. Everything is normal. Everything is fine.

I don't feel particularly eloquent about my arrival back to the States, so I'll just let someone else speak for me. It was Frodo who said, after the long journey he's had, "How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart, you begin to understand, there is no going back?"

How, indeed. I've been to Kenya there and back again, twice--and I'm still trying to understand this.