Istanbul

Not exactly a direct route from Washington, DC to Frankfurt. But, I go where the cheap flights go. The system confuses me sometimes. There are at least five different airlines that offer a direct flight from Washington to Frankfurt, yet it was cheaper to go an extra three hours East and then backtrack.

(As an aside, I would gladly fly on Turkish airlines again. The plane was quite new and in addition to the individual TVs with a great choice of movies (V for Vendetta! They won my love immediately just for having that film under ‘classics’) and a USB charger port on the back of the seat in front (I made absolutely no use of either of these things, since I closed my eyes as soon as I was fed and slept nearly the entire flight – a feat made possible only because their seats went incredibly far back ((enough for so that I, the amazing-sleeper-but-only-when-the-surface-is-horizontal-person, could in fact get to sleep ((( Okay, we’re getting triple-parenthetical here. I just want to express my distaste at the fact that since the word ‘I’ is already capitalized, we cannot capitalize it for emphasis. Yes, I know italics are an option, but sometimes, capitalization carries the emotion better….))) )) ) [I feel like I’m doing a programming assignment here, counting all my parenthesis and making sure I’ve closed them all...], they also had at every seat a tiny pouch that contained very cozy slippers, an eyeshade, lip balm, toothpaste and a toothbrush, and really, really good earplugs. The white noise is, for me, the worst part of being on a plane – and these earplugs certainly helped me to sleep. So, long story short, good experience with this airline!)

And I’m having a bit of a surreal moment right now at Kapi 210 (I assume that means ‘Gate’) – just a few seconds ago a young girl, probably six or seven years old, dashed past my knees with red/blonde hair flying everywhere and a backpack bouncing on her tiny shoulders. Then, a woman just a bit older than I am dashed past me, calling “Emily!!! Come back here!!” I was proud of my young self. I always did like to run. But after that moment,  I came and sat down, smiling a bit to myself and another woman sat down two seats down from me and I swear, she is wearing the one perfume that I ever wore consistently – which I did for about a semester during my Sophomore year at Mills, which feels like eons ago. So, I’m breathing in that scent right now and I have to admit, it’s kind of a nice memory. Scent memories are just insanely powerful.

All of a sudden, it’s December 30. I suppose that makes sense – I left Budapest on the 19^th. That’s almost  harder to believe than the fact that the year is almost over – the fact that I was in my tiny apartment in that great city only a bit more than a week ago.  The re-entry in Detroit was a little painful. Few things make me angrier than waiting in the line to come back into the States and seeing on more than five screens the cheesiest, most infuriating, “look how diverse we are, look, we still have cowboys and all families have two kids and a dog” disgusting video, “welcoming” videos to the states. It feel more like propaganda even than the media to me. I’m not quite sure why I loathe these videos so much – you see similar ones at most entry points to the states. Maybe it’s because I’m usually coming from somewhere that is very unlike America, and then all the cheesy and blunt patriotisms and “we’re so awesome”-ness in that particular brand of US-arrogance seem like a slap in the face. I actually love the US, I really do – it is my home. I love my family, my friends, what that country has turned me in to. But I don’t like that being the first thing that happens when you go back.  If I were a dog, I’d have my hackles up in that line.

But after getting through that line and staring down the employee who raises his eyebrows when I tell him that I was in Hungary to study math, I found my bag, re-checked it in and got on the tiny puddle-jumper to Erie, PA. There, I found my mom and sister and we headed home.

At home, I finally got the chance to see my animals again. Well, our animals. Technically, one of the cats is mine – she is the cat I care about most in the world, which says a lot – I’m not a cat person, I am realizing – or maybe it is more accurate to say that I am a  dog person. This particular cat, Summer, has been with my family for at least 14 years and is possibly the tiniest, daintiest cat you will ever meet, who keeps the delightfully soft fur  on her chest a pure white that would put anyone who has ever tried to keep their own clothes white to shame.

We decorated the tree, I saw old friends. I walked the dog, drank tea with my sister. I slept – that deliciously heavy jetlagged sleep – on a proper bed after a semester of sleeping on a couch.  It’s so easy to feel like you’ve never been anywhere else once you’re home again.

And then we drove to DC to visit the rest of the family. My family is quite spread out across the states, and DC was the area of highest concentration this year so we decided to have Christmas there. Every time I get to see my relatives these days, I get to know them better. This time, I had some particularly lovely moments with my mom’s mom, drinking wine and tea together, talking about math and music and travel. My mom drove us around the neighborhood where she grew up and I got to do one of the things I love the most and take multiple dogs to a dog park. :) We cooked and wrapped and opened presents, and eventually, my dad got to DC as well and my sister and I spent some time with him and his mother. We played pool and laughed, played card games and went for walks.

And now, all of a sudden, I’m back in an airport. I’m on my way to see Claudia, and I couldn’t be happier to be spending the New Year in Germany with her. My last New Years in Mainz, I was still pretty hard-hit with mono and the excursion to the Rhine to watch the fireworks was the most exertion I had had in about a month. This time, I’m in good health, on proper vacation (for the first time since last Christmas, I realized – because I started my summer internship before my classes ended at Mills during the summer!), and ready for this time.

I think we’ll be boarding soon. Time for one of my favorite, favorite things to do: listen to an audiobook while doing Sudoku. That’s how I get through these plane rides. Sudoku and Free Cell are so incredibly satisfying to me. No more work for me tonight. :)