Good 'Ole Red, White, and Blue

Wow, I am back in the United States. I am not all the way to Georgia yet--I'm in Philly for a few days for debriefing--but I am on rich, American soil.

I stepped of the plane and into the muggy heat, relishing the smell of cut grass and the song of many, many grasshoppers.

But rewind and start at yesterday. Yesterday I packed and cleaned, slept, packed and cleaned. Mid-afternoon Kirsten came over and we went shopping in Upper Norwood (where I was living) and we had "afternoon tea," which was really iced coffees for us. We met Megan back at my flat, Kirsten left, and Megan and I met Sue and Paul at a nearby restaurant.

We ate, talked, and laughed. It was a grand time as I said my final good-byes to the couple. It has been a great two months. So this morning I rushed around getting ready for the day and cleaning. Petra and Carol saw me off, and Neil was kind enough to talk Megan and me to the airport. We left at 7:30 a.m. for our flight at 12:30. At least we had plenty of time!

The flight was good. I watched two movies, read about a third of a good sized book, and talked with my seat buddies. One was an older man with a thick accent whose daughter has a Ph.D. and loves learning about other cultures. The other was a young man around my age who just spent 2 months in Kenya, teaching English. He is taking a year off of school, Princeton, that is.

But, yeah, the flight was good and someone from CLC picked us up. We had a supper of American pizza, and we were situated in air conditioned rooms. Debriefing will begin around noon tomorrow, and end in the evening (after which we can leave). I will make my way back to Savannah slowly but surely--I'm not sure when I will get there.

Something interesting: In the car on the way to Heathrow we heard the radio announcer say that pregnant women in the U.K. are being told not to take the mentality of "eating for two," because of an increased number of obese pregnant women! Megan laughed and said, "They can't tell pregnant women that! Their hormones are all out of balance--they will all cry."

Another interesting thing: Sarah Jane and Mac were closer to an airport different than Heathrow, so they flew out on a different plane. However, this meant that they had an 8 hour layover, and we just found out their connecting flight was canceled. So...I think they are going to miss debriefing and just head home. In a way I wish I was doing that too...