12 December, 2009

Arrival in Wisconsin




The flight home was as good as one can expect.  I was early to the airport and saw some of the new sections. There were places to check your email for nothing, places to charge your telephones, a food court and beautiful new stores.

I slept most of the way from Delhi to Paris, but you know how it is. Trying to get comfortable. I wish one could just rematerialize from one location to another.

I met some interesting people: two young boys in their late teens or early twenties from Slovenia. They were surprised to know that I knew where Slovenia was and even more surprised to find out that I had actually visited Ljubljana.  They thought I was British and I was surprised. "Your accent," one boy said, "you don't have an American accent."  I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted.

A monk from Tibet sat across the aisle. I asked him if he was going to go to Oregon to the new temple there. The Dalai Lama has built a beautiful new temple here in Oregon, Wisconsin. But he was going to Barcelona. Too bad, he could have ridden home with us.

Two lads from Mexico sat behind me. They helped me with my luggage and we talked about immigration and the problems in Mexico.

Then next to me sat this very sweet, unassuming man, who I thought was a Buddhist from Cambodia or Thailand, but he was an Indian from the northern part.

I waited four hours in Charles De Gaulle Airport and what a pleasant surprise. The new section looked like something out of the 25th century. Gleaming walkways, keyboards on the computers that switched languages, cute little cafes, moving walkways that worked, bookstores with languages other than French, and couches to lie down on.  Very impressive.

On the second half of the journey I met a man named Winston who works for charitable organizations. He told me about an alternative medicine spa in Nepal that cures all kinds of illness. He told me that I could get the rest of my lung capacity back if I were to spend some time there. I will look into it.

The TVs worked and I watched Julie Julia again for the 5th time. So much fun. I read my book and watched some silly serial pieces on the tv section.

Just as we were about to land we heard that 19 inches of snow had fallen  and the temperature was 4 degrees Fahrenheit (-16 degrees Centigrade).  A groan flowed through the airplane and everyone was asking everyone else where they could buy some coats and boots --  quick. The Joy.

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