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Published: April 8th 2009
Written during travel
April 7, 2009
14:56
After two weeks of anxiety and nerve racking discomfort I have finally fallen into a state of calm. Once I reached my gate at Dulles airport I had a sense of tranquility settle upon my shoulders; no more worries, no more waiting. I was on my way.
I waited for the plane to leave at a Mexican restaurant and had two margaritas to celebrate. I ate chicken enchiladas Verde, cold, but was content. I had wanted to eat Mexican before I left.
The plane left a half an hour early and was not entirely full and thus I ended up with three seats to myself. I spent the next 6 and half hours reading, writing and, once I found out they played my favorite musician Bon Iver, listening to music. Everything was falling wonderfully into place as I inevitably fell asleep.
I arrived in Dublin and made it to my gate with an hour and a half to spare. I enjoyed a cup of coffee while people watching and listening to the different accents drift in and out of my hearing range. The languages shifted as the time drifted and finally I boarded
Aer Lingus once again. I spent the flight napping and trying to ignore the child incessantly questioning her surroundings behind me. The flight was only an hour and a half and once I got off the plane customs took no time at all. I was barely questioned. The agent behind the bullet proof glass looked at me and said, “Where are you coming from?”
To which I replied, “D.C. to Dublin and then on to here.” He nodded and stamped the passport. That was that.
Following the signs that number in the stars I made my way to the tram with heavy suitcase in tow and was soon swept across the airport to Terminal 2 where the SNCF train station waited. I now had a little over an hour before the train arrived. The final leg of my journey was near and all I could think of was that everything was right and as it should be.
19:06
Writing on the train now after sleeping for two hours I now watch as the landscape of southern France rolls by under the overcast sky of the fading day. The clouds hang low over the earth and fields of green flash past with glimpses of farmsteads. All the tree growth is secondary; there is no old growth to be found in these parts. Not yet anyway. We stopped at Lyon Part-Deux where half of the train riders got off and other seats were filled by strangers going home or going far.
I have yet to exchange a word with anyone and would rather they think I am just one of them for now. There is comfort in silence, in waiting, in listening, and in observing. I am remembering my lessons in French. I am understanding something of the conversations exchanged. Not all of them but some of them. This gives me hope in acquiring fluency while I am here.
Nimes is just twenty minutes away now. The region is becoming more hilly and arid as we go further south. Old red tile roof houses cluster about small towns, squatting on open landscapes and holding the heart of households within them. I too will soon be harbored within an old clay tile roof house. What is to become my home for the next few months or so is in a small village on a narrow street called rue de la Croix. I remember it well and in my mind I have been there these past weeks waiting for myself to catch up to my spirit.
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toni
non-member comment
Perfection
Just that. Utterly perfect. It was the calm, sweet journey I dreamed of for you my LooLoo... Enjoy the stretch into new territory (I know you will!), and the settling into what is your next home, for now! =) Thinking of you, wishing you the best, and anxiously awaiting your next enty! ((hugs))-T