To Kalifornija

Written 12/17/11           

Well, I’m up bright and early at 6am and ready to start the day.  Thank you jet lag.

            Yesterday I flew from Sarajevo to LA so I can spend the holidays with my family at my in-laws’ house in Pasadena.  The trip was a long one, but went very smoothly, and I made both of my tight connections in Vienna and Zurich.  I was pretty happy with my Swiss Airlines flights from Zurich to LA; the food was pretty good and the seats pretty comfortable, which is important for a 12-hour trip.  I was in the bulkhead, so I could stretch out my legs, and we each had our own little screens for watching TV and movies, so I didn’t get too bored.

            I guess I’m a sucker for beautiful landscapes, because the best part of my trip was enjoying the views from the planes’ windows.  (I was able to get a window seat for each leg of the journey.)  I left Sarajevo around sunrise, and it was really neat to rise up above the fog, and see an aerial perspective of the region.  All of the taller mountains were covered with snow, while the smaller hills are still green right now.  The fog, as dreary as it is on land, was beautiful from above, as it trailed between all of the mountains, filling up the valleys.

            The descent into Vienna provided another stunning view.  The city is quite large, with very unique architecture.  There were thousands of colorful rectangular buildings that created either a U shape or completely surrounded a square courtyard.  Every once in a while we also would pass an ornate, palace-like structure.

            Unfortunately, the views into and out of Zurich were obstructed by clouds.  We hit quite a bit of turbulence as we landed, since a winter storm was blowing in.  After I got off my plane, I looked at the timetable screen, and to my horror, it looked like almost every outgoing flight was being cancelled!  Fortunately, the planes used for transatlantic flights are big enough to fly through storms, so the flights to San Francisco and Los Angeles could still depart.  I quickly walked over my gate, and got there just as they began boarding.  Phew.

            The monstrous plane took off without any problems, and we barely felt a bump from the storm.  We flew north, practically over the Artic circle, before coming down across the Hudson Bay, central Canada, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, and finally landing in Los Angeles.  There was a neat little camera attached to the bottom of the plane, so if I wanted to look outside, I could watch a live feed from the camera on my screen.  Most of the time, all you could see was vast expanses of land covered by snow.  When we hit the Las Vegas area, I was able to see the strikingly jagged, red landscape of the American Southwest.  I even got to see the Hoover Dam, as we flew directly over it.

            I almost felt like I was in a dream when we landed in LA.  Seeing the palm trees and the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean made me feel like I’d arrived in another world.  All of the sudden, the little things in life got much easier.  I knew where I was going.  I could ask people complex questions, and understand their answers.  The guards at customs said “Welcome home Ma’am”.  I never thought I’d feel quite so affectionate for my home country. 

I appreciate living in the US, but I disagree with many of the laws and attitudes here that contribute to social inequality, environmental destruction, and elitist international policies.  Despite this, there are many things about my country that I can be proud of: the cultural diversity, the work ethic, the strong infrastructure, and the optimism.  It’s good to be home.