Home for Christmas

I am here. I got here around 1 in the a.m. on Tuesday. My parents were there and mum had a bouquet of flowers for me and hugged me forever. It was nice, really nice. I was home again.

The trip was....disconcerting. I flew from Dallas to Frankfurt, about nine and a half hours. I flew Lufthansa, the German airline. I have decided that Germans are evil. OK, perhaps not all Germans, but they are not the nicest people on the planet. Especially the air hostesses. Evil, evil women they were. This one stewardess, this freakishly tall, blonde, mannish looking thing, was so mean to me. There i was minding my own business trying to put up my heavy carry on suitcase into the top compartment which was about fifty feet from the ground. Ok, so not all of us are freakishly tall and this cabin was higher than most. I was struggling, i admit but i would have eventually got it. She sighs in an exaggerrated way and grabs it from me exclaiming how she iddn't understand why passenger packed bags they could not handle and that i should not pack like this. I was looking at her like she has turned five different shades of insane right in front of me. WHat? Did i ask for your help? No, i was perfectly fine without you chum. Evil cow.

Then i get the Frankfurt and am trying to meet up with my gran. Of coarse they won't let you out, even just for a second, past security (even if you are going to remain in the airport) without a visa. I knew that, i was just asking to see if i could get somehting to my gran or something. Pah. Ok, they are so inept, i dunno why they call themselves the informtion desk. I asked them where the Flyers Bar was, my gran had told e she was able to go there and i should meet her there. They had no clue what a flyers bar was. So i walked around for two hours and finally gave up. I did however find a Haagen Daaz. Ah Haagen Daaz. The one thing the Germans did right. I had my classice rasberry sorbet and was in a happy place again. Then i had t resolve myself to the idea of waiting anouther eight hours for my next fllight. See, this is the trouble with cheap tickets. Bad seats and long layovers.

I made though. I got onto my five hour flight to Iran and got here safe and sound, life was peachy. I missed my family. I missed the way we do stuff. Together. We actually set the table every night, say grace and have a proper supper. I haven't done that since the last time i was here. We even prayed together after dinner, like proper prayer session and all. And the laughing. I never laugh as much as when i am home. Mum and dad are so kooky and Farai and Stephanie are such little idiots. There is always a story here. It's great.

They got a fishtank. Somehow that seemed important just then. And i'm back to watching four different INTERNATIONAL news stations with CNN International, EuroNews, BBC World, and Sky News. It's brilliant. Oooh. Mum was wearing a black leather jacket when they got me from the airport. Yup, identical to the one i just brought her from the States for Christmas. Damn. Well that is going to be fun. I might get a chance to buy her something else in Dubai.

Farai is writing board exams. His last one is on the 21st. We were all supposed to go to Dubai on the 19th or something. Now it looks like only me, mum and stef will go. That sucks. Unless we go after Christmas. But then that would mean postponing the whole gifts thing and Stef just will not hear of it. Speaking of the little bugger, she's almost as tall as me now. And she just turned 13. She might be another Aunty Debra. Really really tall. Mum is also quite tall actually. I dunno why the first borns never get the tall gene. I could be a model by now. Well...in theory.

I woke up this morning at seven and cried for an hour. I am really happy to be home and all, it's nothing of the sort. I just realized that what i am running away from is not geographically confined to any one place. It is haunting me wherever i go. I thought i could come home, leave it behind an move on with my life. But like a ghost that haunts you, you never really get rid of it, it just has to decide to stop plaguing you with despair and fear. Or you get so used to it that you forget it is there with only occasional reminders every now and then. Lingering in the past, i've learned, is the best way to accumulate these ghosts. I need to focus ahead. Just thought i'd throw that in there.