Our final experience of the trip were the 23 hours of flight time, of which we both slept two hours. The return started with somewhat of a free for all approach to boarding the plane in Lusaka, which was slowed only by watching an empty-handed, healthy-appearing man have his wife, draped fully with only her eyes showing in her hijab, heft their suitcase up the long boarding staircase as the men in line behind them stood helplessly, not sure if they could ask to help. If anything I have a history of being overly culturally sensitive and accepting, but even I was having a hard time coming up with how that dynamic made sense. Admittedly I have become more traditional about having men heft luggage as I've gotten older, so in my 20's I might have thought this female-hefting was a sign of empowerment. The benefit of marrying a rafting guide is not only is he used to being a sherpa, it actually makes him feel nostalgic for his early 20's guide-lifestyle, so I let him carry around heavy loads whenever possible to let him reminisce. It took awhile to break me into this because when we met I was in the habit of carrying four pairs of skiis and a boot bag comfortably, but after 11 years of marriage I can say my back has never felt better. I am fairly certain Jeremy would have to have no arms and just one leg before he would stand for being empty handed while I lugged a suitcase onto an airplane.
Emirates as an airline was great, and a huge perk of flying with them is the camera they have mounted beneath their largest planes. It streams live images of the ground over which you're flying, and as we skirted beside the North Pole and over Greenland I sat mesmerized by the screen with my mouth literally open in amazement. The terrain was a mix of snow and ice with brown land visible in parts, especially in the creases and fingers of hilly and mountainy areas. The most astounding part, to me, was the presence of lakes amidst this amazing landscape, and I realized flying over it that it very likely will be the only time I see it with my own eye. As a result I alternated between looking at the streamed images on my screen and looking directly out the window trying to soak it in.
The other spots that stood out were the Caspian Sea and its shoreline and Montana and its lakes and mountains. Dubai was notable for its McPalaces (as opposed to the McMansions we've seen crop up in the U.S., which seem similar in their attempts to maximize the grandeur to lot size ratio) and its transition from urban sprawl to desolate desert. Much of Europe and Russia when I looked was covered with clouds unfortunately...can you tell we inexplicably didn't sleep during the flights?
After 26 hours we walked through the customs arrival doors at SFO and Josie screamed, dropped the stickers and crayon she was holding, and bolted under a rope to crash into me yelling, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" It was the most enthusiastic and adorable greeting I've ever gotten and she snuggled down on my shoulder like a puzzle piece that was missing. And then she asked when I was taking her to Africa....
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