Out of Africa

Forty days on the road in Spain, Qatar and South Africa and we are ready for our 24-hour-plus trip home. It is Monday night here and we'll catch the 8:30 pm to Doha and connect for the long ride home arriving as the polls close. It is my fervent hope that by midnight they will know that Hillary won and we'll never hear from Trump again.  While we tried to avoid as much of this nonsense as possible, it was simply too horrible to ignore.  In all of the cities we have visited when someone found out we were from the USA, politics was all they could talk about.  Every single person who spoke to us about the election could not understand that out of a population of 350 million, these are the best two people that we could muster.  Everyone is terrified that Trump could win since they all know it would be an international disaster. I'll block all of this and try to watch a few good movies on the planes to forget it all.

There are two types of taxis in South African cities, metered and private. The metered are for those with money and the privates are a response to many people needing to get around and not enough public transportation. It works like this: someone with money buys a few vans, hires drivers to run them all day and most of the night, and they have very specific routes. There is nothing written on them but everyone seems to know how they work. As you are walking towards your destination, you hold up your hand and display a certain number of fingers indicating where you want to go. The driver, and they are all wild and crazy, then honks his horn, you turn around and get in and off you go. Very ingenious and I'm told quite cheap. 

We are at the airport now, third world experience until after immigration, and then it is like any large airport in the world with shops, restaurants, duty free and lounges. We got here early since it was supposed to rain and we knew the traffic would be horrible after four. It did rain during the trip but our Uber driver knew shortcuts, don't they all, and took us up a big hill that had huge mansions and grounds, absolutely lovely - and then we passed China Town. Our driver was none too happy with the Chinese since they drive the price up and the values down on everything they touch. We had to wait an hour before we could check in and the huge hall was dark, dank and did not smell of fresh rain on grass. We are finally settled into the Qatar Lounge and have another three hours before takeoff.

The trip was filled with highlights, meeting new people many of whom could become friends, traveling to lovely destinations - some with cherished memories, others bittersweet - and those in South Africa wildly delicious. Despite all the packing and unpacking, bus, subway, train and plane trips, in and out of taxis, Ubers and shuttles, we are still laughing at each other's jokes and toasting our good fortune. Home will be fun - back to a routine a delight, and being in my own kitchen, heaven. Come by for dinner some time!  Go Vote!  Cindy and Wm