Distance is a Bitch

Ricardo and I are planning a trip to the US in September because my step-sister Ann, the girl on the right in the photo below, is getting married in Bernalillo, New Mexico!! Exciting news that definitely warrants a trip home to celebrate together.

In addition to the good excuse that we will be in the wedding, it's high time for me to pay a visit to my dad and step-mom, pictured below. I haven't been back to New Mexico since I left the US in April 2005, and I will gladly admit that I am homesick and can't wait to spend some quality time with that part of the family (and eat as much green chile as is humanly possible in 10 days).

I must also pay a visit to these fabulous girls, my friends Tara and Marlene. I miss having friends. As pathetic as it sounds, I haven't made any friends here in Mozambique. I have some acquaintances, and know a girl that I hope will with time become a good friend, but I can't really say I have anybody right now that I can call up to go out for a coffee, or sit at home and make jewelry together, or go out to a movie and gossip with. I miss my friends, especially my girls back in 'Burque.

And of course my friend Tomas. He and I have been buddies since middle school, through good times and bad. This photo was taken the last time I was in New Mexico, back in September of 2004 (God, I just realized what a long time it's been!!! Is this right, or am I forgetting a trip somewhere in there?)

So here's the catch: Mozambique is, like, the most impossibly far away and impractical place from which to travel to New Mexico. Even more so that South African Airways did away with their direct service between Johannesburg and Atlanta. The easiest (and, coincidentally also the cheapest) way for me to get to the US from here is to fly first to Brasil, overnight in São Paulo, then head to Albuquerque via Dallas the next day.

The only problem is that every time I go to Brasil I want (and feel obligated for many different reasons) to spend at least a week, ideally two. And of course, since I haven't seen my dad in ages and always love spending time with my mom in California, I want to stay at least two weeks in the US as well. We also need to spend enough time for my dad and Ricardo to bond, as it will be the first time they meet. :)

So when I stopped to work out the details of our trip to the US, it became apparent that I would be away from Maputo for at least three, probably four weeks. Yikes! That's a really long time to be away from a girl that is supposed to be holding down the fort business-wise, and who also has two kittens that will need to be looked after by a cat sitter.

I'm realizing now that there are a couple of crucial details regarding the upcoming months that I haven't shared yet with the blog world. The first and most relevant for matters of the heart, the business, and our upcoming trip is that Ricardo will be leaving for Brasil in about 20 days. He will be in Rio from late July through early December to take care of some pending matters and personal business. (Was that vague enough for you? Good. It was supposed to be...) So basically I will be alone here in Maputo, keeping everything running and in control with our business, and hanging out with the kitties.

I feel sad and excited and grateful and relieved and confused and worried and lonely and happy all at once about what this time apart will bring. But it's not in this post that I will muse about the implications of temporary geographical separation. For now I'll just moan about how it makes planning oh-so-difficult.

Ricardo will go from Rio to Albuquerque. My original plan was to fly to Brasil, meet Ricardo and hang out for a few days, then fly together to the US for the wedding. Then I would fly back to Africa via Brasil after a nice vacation with Rico and the fam in the US. Then I realized exactly how much time this would all entail, and that I would be tired and probably stressed at the end of it all, and questioned whether or not I'd be able to get anything done or spend any quality time with my friends and family in a trip where I'd spend about 5 days in each city/state/country.

I thought for a bit and made a decision. I will not be flying via Brasil. I will wait until December to go to Rio and accept the fact that - in large part thanks to the fact that Ricardo will be staying part of the time at our Casa Rosa in Santa Teresa - things will not completely fall apart if I don't go to Brasil next month. I will dedicate the days I would have spent in transit and in Brasil to spending more time with my family and friends, and Ricardo and I will simply meet up in the US for our vacation. This is a decision I know I will not regret, hard as it was to make for some reason.

So now the big question is the following: what is the easiest and cheapest way to get from Maputo to Albuquerque? Right now the deck is stacked in favor of flying Lufthansa via Johannesburg, Frankfurt and Denver. Ugh.

I'm afraid to count how many hours of flying time this trip will entail, but rest assured at some point I will tally it all up and complain righteously in a future post.