The time beyond time.

My travel days (I say ‘days’ because I left on April 21st and arrived on April 23rd) began with my son Rafael driving up from Fayetteville to spend time with me and see me off.  While I swept and he helped move suitcases out to the porch for staging, and got the final things friends were to pick up also on to the porch with a note on each one….he told me about new developments in his life – moving to a new unit in the army, the 82nd infantry division,  airborn.  I was surprised to hear that he was leaving the medical unit that he had loved and where he seemed to thrive.  He felt that this was the next right step for him.  We had a final meal together, eating up my left-overs, then cleared out the fridge and he took some stuff, and Becky dropped by to take what was left and give me a final hug and send-off.  Kira also stopped by for more well-wishes.  Then Kathleen arrived to pick me up and deliver me to the airport.  Raf helped load my suitcases – heav-yy—into her trunk, final hugs and kisses, and we were off!

Kathleen took a picture of me with my cart loaded up with my four (or was it five?) suitcases, my backpack, sunhat and umbrella…..I had to make two trips, checking two bags at a time.  And of course there was a snafu as their computer didn’t show that I had already paid for the extra bags with airline miles online.  They wanted me to pay with money and then try to get reimbursed afterwards since they were at a loss about what to do.  I said sure, that was an option, but let’s see what other options there might be….I found a receipt for my miles transfer on my phone with a receipt number and that seemed to help.  After about thirty minutes they were able to check my bags and let me go on.  One final hug and good by-for-now with Kathleen, and I was on my own on this journey.  But not really on my own, being help and guided by the Divine for sure.  But stepping out, stepping off the cliff into the unknown…..finding my wings…..

The first flight to Atlanta was uneventful.  I had planned this flight sequence because it seemed helpful that I would be getting on to my looong flight just before midnight, but during the flight to Atlanta another plan took form.  This was going to be the best time to make the switch to my new time zone (14 hours ahead) by staying up and not going to sleep until I was on my new time zone.  Yikes!  That meant staying up all night on the flight until 6 in the morning my time, then sleeping until just before we arrived around 3 pm. That would give me about 8 hours of sleep till an hour before arrival. 

During the layover, I found a place to put my feet up on the wall, and rested as I could without falling asleep.  The Korean airline put out a bunch of snacky food, but everything I checked had sugar in it, so I passed. My friend Eve called and we chattered away as I was getting in line and preparing to board.  Somewhere in that sequence I must have left my cool umbrella there at the gate. 

On the flight, I settled in to my aisle seat, and when they closed the flight felt my body deeply sigh and relax as I realized that I had all three seats in my aisle to myself!!  Indeed I was being held. 

I went about trying to set up the wonderful headphones/head wrap that Janey had given me so I could listen to some of the recordings and music I had planned to listen to – but none of that worked as there was no internet on the plane, or none that I could figure out anyway.

I can’t recall exactly how I stayed awake, but I did.  Oh yes, they served a meal, which was my dinner – or was it lunch?  As I had turned my watch ahead.  I watched movies and meditated and walked around and did exercise and put me feet up against the window, massaged my feet and legs.  I put on my compression stockings right away.  Several hours in I was aware that my feet were feeling quite tingly and heavy, so I walked around some more and massaged my feet and legs all over again, and again.  At one point they felt excruciating, and it occurred to me that maybe one shouldn’t keep those stocking on for too long, so when it was time to sleep, I took them off.  It was such a relief that I fell right asleep after taking my bedtime supplements and melatonin and putting in my earplugs and eye mask.  I slept through their “breakfast” and awoke to hear the loud speaker announce the arrival.  I was panicky when I awoke because I could not remember where my eyeglasses ended up, and without them I really couldn’t see much.  Everything in my three seats and on the floor was in total disarray. I had opened up all three comfort packages of blankets and pillows and slippers and toothbrushes…..and stuff from my backpack was strewn everywhere.  My glasses showed up in the seat pocket, which was such a relief.  I did some deep breathing and wiggled my toes to get grounded and calm down.  They gave information about customs that I barely took because they were talking so fast and I was just waking up.  I did hear that there would be a problem if we took meat of any kind through customs, and I asked about my venison jerky – sadly, it left it all behind on my seat (a decision I regretted later as I never even went through customs!) 

Overall, the 15 hour flight felt like I had passed through the eye of a needle……

We arrived in Seol, South Korea and I had about a four-hour layover there.  I remember being told to look for the “transfer” area, and saw it lit up in lights at the top of a moving staircase.  Once inside, I explored around and was delighted to find a small drinks/snacks area, a large internet lounge with comfortable couches ehre people were sacked out, an actual napping room, a place to get massages, a shower room, and more.  The showers and massages didn’t open till 7 or 8, the food place had nothing for me except water, so I headed for the nap room.  This was a dimly lit large space with -not beds exactly- but curved lounges that you could recline on, with plexiglass dividers between each one.  I found an unoccupied one, found space for my backpack and carry-on, and stretched out.  At that point I realized I was right next to a snorer, practicing loudly.  I considered re-locating, but found it hard to imaging moving my body and actually getting up, and instead opted for sinking as deeply as possible into the supportive something-what-was-this-exactly-that-was-holding-me... and I was gone.

When I woke up I made a reservation for a massage, then opted for the shower experience.  Everything was different somehow—how the shoer turned on and off, how the cupboards and drawers operated…there was a type of fan that you stood on and lots of warm air rushed upwards, I figured it was to dry you off, and it did feel quite, well, tantalizing actually.

The massage was, different also.  The masseuse, a woman of Asian descent, did not speak my language, so the usual introduction and telling her where I wanted attention and what was off limits did not happen.  I do remember communicating with gestures some essentials, such as needing something under my knees and under my ankles when I was face down.  She massaged my abdomen, and at first went in what was the right direction but then went in the opposite direction and I managed to convey that I wanted it the original way.  Then she went on to my breasts. Now that was interesting though I was rather defensive at first, but told myself to try to relax and just experience it.  I did try but she was so aggressive that I finally gestured for her to stop.  All in all it was not the most relaxing experience.

I realized that I was famished and walked out of this area to find something to eat.  I opted for an “Authentic Korean Restaurant” which I loved.  I had a hard time deciding on the different broths and other offerings, but ended up choosing a sea fish broth with mussels and various sea vegetables, which was delicious, with a handful of other sides of interestingly flavored and colored substances.  I kept the small abalone shell from my bowl.

Then it was time to go to my gate and get on my final flight to Guam.