Pilgrimage

We always think of a pilgrimage as the fact of GOING somewhere to have a spiritual experience.

But we forget that we have to come back. And I think it is in that process of coming back that you realize how much you won.

I woke up at 8.30, arranged and cleaned Laurent's apartment, took my shower, threw the garbage away, locked all the window shutters, put the keys in the envelope, turned all the lights off, locked the apartment and left the keys in the guardian's mail box.

It was raining. Pouring. I was 10 blocks away from the train station. And I could not believe that there were no taxis in the streets! I walked, as part of my pilgrimage, to the RER. I was wet and I changed my shirt in the station. But still, I was coming back. I was happy to realize how privileged I am. How can I not write about this. RER to Charles de Gaulle. 45 minutes. Then I had to take a bus to get to the terminal.

The AA clerk was very nice, I had no problemas at all. A woman next to him recommended going to Hippopotamus, a chain restaurant, for lunch. I told them that I met my friends for gay pride in front of the Hippo in Bastille. The clerk was all happy, and we ended up talking about gay pride, and how he had a fantastic time too. He told me that there were between 700 and 800 THOUSAND PEOPLE!!! WOW....



I went to the restaurant, ordered my appetizers, and when I was waiting for my main dish, I looked up and saw my friend Kata Quijano! In the restaurant! I stood up and yelled her name, we both screamed in the middle of the restaurant, and hugged. When I was ready to fly to Balto, after I was accused of being a terrorist in Miami, I saw my friend Alex Castillo at the cuban restaurant in the airport. Now that I am leaving Paris, I meet my friend Kata... She was my student at the Universidad de los Andes, in Bogota, a brilliant photographer and ballet dancer. She was picking up a friend that was coming from LA. I joined her table to finish my meal, power talked, gave her the phone number of Carlitos and Sandra, and ran to catch my plane.



I ran so much I hurt my leg. Uneventful flight, stupid cute movie with Queen Latifah - Last Holiday. Don't get me wrong, I love stupid movies, they're not stupid. Then XMen 2, I started reading Zamyatin's we. BTW, I really like Queen Latifah... I loved her in Chicago. She has a powerful voice.

Chicago. The plane was a little late, I had to take the tram and run again to go through immigration and customs. I thought about checking my email with my cell phone... I had 200 spam messages in my UMBC account. They took forever to be deleted. But it was worth checking my mail. I had a welcome email from Josh. WOW.... I read it and I cried while I was waiting in line to go through security. What a great man... I also cried when I was in the train to the airport in Paris.

The connecting flight was full, I spent my time reading Zamyatin - AMAZING - playing solitaire and a 2D space game on my Treo. Paul was waiting for me at the airport, it was nice to see him. He has a little dimple where the spider bit him. But he's fine. The trip helped me understand how important friends are, and Paul is a friend.

We got home really late, I did not call Josh because of this. I wanted to though... And Phil called me too. I unpacked, and talked for over an hour with Paul about the trip, moving, his paintings... And went to bed around 1am

I woke up at 7 this morning, which is OK, I do not feel the jet lag - YET

And I have been working on the photos in my site and on all these postings.

I'm home.