Diana’s boss who is in the City at the UN never returned my phone calls so I could not hand off her computer, camera and $$.
In fact, I am typing on the computer that I planned to have left in NYC. Didn’t happen.
Now, it looks like I will have to ship it to her, unless he calls back and I send it overnight back to him in NYC.
Where does carrying goods back to Diana rank in the grander scheme of working in Darfur?
Cannot answer that from my perspective.
From Diana’s perspective it will be huge and I am sorry. Possibly he thought that I was spending more time there than one day. In Sudan, you never travel anywhere for just a day.
The weather in the City was wonderful. 60 degrees at 3 PM. Tonight will usher in rain for the next few days, including opening day at Yankee Stadium.
Why did they set up this rail car to ride backwards? Good thing that it does not make me feel ill.
Another observation, the roads and trains are less crowded. I understand from a friend that works at The Church Pension Fund, that the train stations in CT heading to the City are empty most mornings. Most worked on Wall St. and in banking.
That has had the ripple effect towards cabbies and restaurants. The City seemed less crowded as well.
We are passing along the small streams by the tracks where telephone poles are laying in the water. Some leaning halfway as if they were taking a drink, others as if they are bathing. Since their wires, like untied shoelaces, dangle in the water, I assume that they have been tossed aside for newer poles.
We are pulling into Newark NJ and people are debarking and heading home. The next stop will be the Newark Airport.
I have often thought of taking the train down to the Baltimore-Washington Airport rather than look for a ride or spend $$ on parking. I have never compared the cost, but should do so, considering the price of gas. That said, I would need a place to fly to.
Oh, as I sit on the train wanting to connect to the internet, I bemoan the fact that the US is not wireless.
Twice I called Diana in Sudan today, much to the amazement of the people at The Medical Trust. Cell phones are a wonderful thing. When I call her, it costs her nothing. So, I am trying to call her every other day around 2 PM. That is around 9 PM her time.
Dusk is falling as we travel south. Lights are coming on in homes and on the streets. The sunset in the west is still visible even at 7: 25 PM. Muted pinks, oranges and blues slowly giving way to dark blue and black, as I look toward the east. White smoke trails from planes zigzag throughout.
Dropping my eyes to ground level, what I see, without judging, is “tagging” in place of industry.
Some of the messages are so beautiful and done so well that I am tempted to forget that it is graffiti. Others, there is no need to be reminded. The tag tells of places to score drugs or sex, where you can sleep and not be disturbed, which areas are easy to rob.
But, I am also seeing rejuvenated homes. I hope those that did the work are able to stay in them.
Traveling by train is such a treat.
There are places to plug in your laptop and your cell phone, and use them both while they recharge. I can write this little ditty or play solitaire.
You can eat, or drink, depending upon your taste and depth of pocket book and ride home.
You can talk to friends or sit in the quiet car and relax to the sounds of snoring.
You can even sit in the café car, my sister’s favorite, and talk and eat and travel.
Or, you can be like me, and use the quiet to refresh. Who knows what is waiting back home?
We have pulled into Trenton New Jersey, the state capital. A Septa train pulls in along side us on the other track. Empty cars, commuters all home by now. It is now 8 PM and 22 minutes to Philadelphia, PA.
When I was growing up, most fathers traveled to work by train into the City. This feels so comfortable to me. And, they had someone waiting, waving hello.
That would really be nice. If cats could drive, I would make it so.
Well, my track ramblings are done. WE are pulling into Philly and I am packing up for the remaining 15 minute ride to Wilmington, DE.
It has been a nice trip.
I look forward to another soon.
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