And in the End…

• I’m sad to leave this country.
• I’m sad to leave the people.
• I’m sad I lost my new, expensive camera on the plane home.
• I’m sad to lose the memory card in my camera that had a bunch of last-day photos of Don Toí±o, Gail and others.

I made a tentative vow to myself to continue studying Spanish, and to return for a longer time once Lulu goes to college. [Ed. note, 12/3/07: Read about how a gal keeps her promise.]

Our flight took off from Guatemala City in the middle of a powerful thunderstorm, unheard of here in December. Our flights were on time so the trip was easy, except we had the misfortune of picking seats whose backs didn’t recline. I fidgeted and squirmed miserably all the way home. On the bright side, we shared our row with a quietly friendly man from Quetzaltenango who insisted on buying me my airplane dinner. Airplane food tastes much better when it’s made possible by, you know, the kindness of strangers. This guy’s wife and family live in Guatemala but he has to work in the States and sees them only once a year. He was devastated to be leaving.

In San Francisco our luggage was among the first off the plane, we got through customs quickly, and minutes later we were at the shuttle stop. The only things missing were the shuttles. We waited. And waited. Here’s where we were when the new year rolled in.

Here’s where we were when the clock struck one.

[New Year’s photos courtesy of Lulu]

At last a Salvadoran shuttle driver bound for downtown SF took pity on me because he had just taken the same long flight yesterday. He agreed to take us across the bay if he could find other passengers. He drove into the night, to reappear half an hour later with a hefty load of East Bay-bound travelers.

We got home around 2:00 a.m. Our menagerie was happy to see us.

The end.