Long Journey Home, Nice People

Our lab shuts down for 3 weeks of holidays, so it’s vacation!  Luckily I was able to catch up with my sister and her kids in Orlando, then go home for Christmas with them.  So now, I am writing this on my 37^th hour of my 39-hour journey from Santa Cruz to Orlando (due to much bad luck and a missed Amtrak train).

In the last two days, a lot of people have paid it forward for me:  The taxi driver lowered the set airport fare for me.  The waiter told me he couldn’t substitute ham for chicken on a sandwich. then gave me both free of charge.  The station guard walked over to confirm I had correct change for my bus fare.  The man I flagged on the street gave me a 4-block ride to the Amtrak station (he wouldn’t accept my money, and unfortunately he drove a hair too slow).  The Amtrak station lady offered me free cookies and for one of her co-workers to drive me to a restaurant nearby.  The 2 different hispanic young men in a local restaurant in Miami both looked at me and offered a “Buen Provecho” (basically “enjoy your meal”), without even judging whether I could understand it or not.  My neighbor on the train offered up potato chips, her sandwhich, and a ride from the station if I needed one.  It's amazing how far a smile will get you.  I'll have to pay it forward, as well.

Grumpy from travel, I think of two things.  (1) When I asked my taxi driver, he said he has never left the province of Santa Cruz.  This is typical- no Lake Titicaca, no La Paz, and no salt flats in their lifetime, let alone another country.  (2) An 11 year-old girl we befriended once asked us “how long does it take to travel home?”.  She couldn’t understand our answer: ~18 hours (typical).  When her family moved across Bolivia from outside La Paz, it took 5 days of uncomfortable buses and terrible roads.  And if she ever wanted to return to see her old friends, it would take just as long.  But she will likely never have that opportunity.