Two of my bags are lost. A helpful New Zealand Air agent chatters through his walkie talkie, then directs me to a back wall, there they are. I clear customs and my sister Ann and her guy Steve are there ready to help me transition from one world to the next. I am wearing jeans. This is the first time I've worn pants since my arrival in The Kingdom last October.
People in LA drive so fast! I am gripping the dashboard of the Honda Element as we tear though the desert to Palm Springs. We dash through town. I think Steve is a maniac. I check the speedometer, we are only doing 40... I know its gonna take a while for me to transition.
Palm Springs is probably one of the driest, whitest, richest places in the world. Couldn't be a bigger change from Tonga.
Everyone is so thin! The women are so beautiful! There are restaurants everywhere!
We stop in a McDonald's. I only get a Diet Coke to help keep me awake after the looonnnng trip. I struggle to order a Diet Coke instead of a Coke Light.
We hit their perfect desert condo, I dump my stuff.
First meal? Outback - A salad (remember those PCVs?), STEAMED BROCCOLI!, a loaded baked potato (I know, it is a root crop) and a real steak. Not exactly a Big Mac and Fries, but it hist the spot.
It has been a couple of days now. I am clean. Really clean. Even my toes are clean. It feels strange. We went to a vegan place last night and ate a great salad. I think about my veggie friends in Tonga and wish I could mail them one.
I stop at a T-Mobile store and scarf a SIM. I am reconnecting to The World. I choose a 480 area code. I have decided to make Scottsdale my Home Base.
I can't help but check on earthquakes in Tonga. I Google the Shaggy concert, no word of riots, I am relieved.
I am thankful I have Ann and Steve to give me a space station between Tonga and Earth to decompress. So now I need to find a place to live in Arizona, buy a car, insurance etc.
Back into The World.
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