Tired as after four thousand hours of overly dried air and booming engine noise! I wondered whether US customs would select me for a special going
over because I’ve kept my wispy greying middle eastern beard this trip – and I do have IRAQ as birthplace in my passport!Those guys at US customs in their black uniforms and ‘Dept of Homeland security’ NEVER smile. Don’t waste taxi driver clichés like: “Been busy?” or “ Worked here long?” or “ Ever done a cavity search?”
Well .... The guy did all the stuff they now do, fingerprints, picture, stamping passports, scribbling on visas, handed me back my papers .... and then said “ Follow me sir”
AND I DID GET MY OWN SPECIAL INTERVIEW! With a ranking officer in an even more intimidating black outfit – with sidearm. Turns out it had nothing to do with beard or birthplace ... It’s a technicality because they are changing their procedures on the sort of study visa I have. Be warned any future students! The fact that I don’t LIVE fulltime in the US throws a blip onto their computer earning me an interview!Then I collected my bags
and waited for the bus-shuttle to Pasadena, about a 40-minute drive northwest of downtown LA.
There is a ring of quite tall mountains around LA,
which itself is quite flat, the mountain chain is further away than it look. Quite bizarre, the weather here is a beautiful tropical low 30s but the mountains to the west are seriously snow capped. Quite stunning, actually.Had a long chat with Barbara, another passenger. She is 55, from St Louis Missouri here to surprise visit her mum for her eightieth birthday. She has two boys; Seth 23, a slack computer animation graduate working for Target in Arizona! [LOL sounds like tautology] who is going out with the gorgeous Maree, who seems to have a plan for his life! [Don’t they all]. Mat, 21 is an engineer with the Marines. “It’s ironic, when I was young I was a peacenik! Protested against Vietnam, flower-power and all – and even now, I think the Iraq war is all wrong – but my son turns out a marine!”
Barbara is a Christian who goes to Grace Church: “ I feel that they believe I’m a heretic because I keep saying Christians need to learn to THINK and question stuff, but they are all so predictably conservative. Sunday faith and then they live secular lives Monday thru Saturday!”
I like Barb! She has had a hard life! Her hubby walked out on her when the kids were toddlers. She lost her job and battled as a ‘self employed’ artist for the next many years. Her second husband, an ex-army vet has had a major breakdown and can’t face life, and she’s just discovered that she has a major illness herself – so she can’t work anymore or do her glass-art either- and yet she is so friendly and positive!
“ I don’t believe in being bitter, it just destroys you. You have to accept your life, the good and the bad and look for the positives. There is always so much to be grateful for, there is always hope. My faith sustains me.”
Interesting – you can never tell where angels pop up!
This is the front of the main part of FFuller -quite scenic actually...
So tired tonight (LA time) I keep dropping out like a phone in the mountains! I keep telling myself to keep typing or whatever... the next thing I recall is that I’m asleep, bizarre thing is jet lag. I’ll just type aonther pragarghhghhhh tehn Ill go to spleeeeeeeee....
