Departure and Arrival

For all the planning and preparation this trip has required, you'd think I'd know to plan for the actual departure. Todd and I arrived at LAX around 6:35 Friday morning so that he could drop me off before work. He needed to leave just after 7. I had falsely assumed that I'd be flying out of Tom Bradley, the international terminal, when I really needed to be at United, terminal seven. We had already parked, unloaded, and walked to Tom Bradley. In our pre-dawn rush Todd reframed the situation, suggesting the confusion was a welcome distraction from our departure from one another. Let's hope our parting was a little quicker, and perhaps less painlful.

It was somewhere over the Pacific in route to Tokyo that I had what felt like a small panic attack, but may have been attributable to typical discomforts one feels when flying. I think the symptoms resemble one another. My watch was still set for California time (another mistake), and I kept imagining Todd returning from work, the piles of items I left behind, and the cats' food dish that might need replinishing. I guess I was grieving a loss of the familiar and fearing the unfamiliar. I got up from my seat, had a little pep talk in the bathroom, and took Tylenol Simply Sleep (in case you are wondering this is only a sleeping agent and is not a pain reliever).

In some ways travel time allows for a transition of mindset. A layover in Singapore helps too. I arrived in Singapore around midnight Singapore time. As if I needed more reasons to love Singapore than my dear colleague, Leslie, the Singapore airport gave me another. I checked into a transit hotel (rooms in the terminal that are booked for 6 hour slots) where I slept horizontally again. In the morning I drank a cafe vanilla at Coffee Bean thinking it might be my last (but I later found out they are in Jakarta too). I decided to exchange my US dollars to rupiahs before flying to Jakarta. After I handed over the bills the conversation began:

"Miss are you a millionaire?"

[I was expecting some personal questions from Indonesians, but not of the financial nature and not from a stranger in Singapore] "Um what do you mean?"

"I am just asking about your financial background," he said slightly sheepishly.

"Oh well, no, I am definitely not a millionaire." [Where is this going?]

"Now you are," he said grinning.

Relieved, I started laughing and he did too. Rupiahs hit the million mark when you exchange $100. Not only did I feel like a millionaire after rest and coffee, I was one. I felt ready to depart for Jakarta.

Flying over the islands that make up Indonesia, I remembered the things that excited me about this trip. I remembered that there is often joy in the unfamiliar and the only way to know for sure would be to try it out. Now in Jakarta, I am still feeling pretty good. With the help of Nelly from the Fulbright commission, I have tended to some errands and acquired a handphone. These tasks alone would have taken a day if I had attempted them. Leaving one place and merging into another will continue to be my task for the days and weeks to come. I am not sure what that will mean, but so far the early mishaps have been met by more recent fortunes. And for that I am very grateful.