Day 2 - On the Plane

Sunday, March 13 – Day 2

I changed yesterday to day 1 because there is no epic adventure without that initial step out the door. Choose your beginnings with care then enjoy the awesomeness that life holds.

About ten minutes after writing about race (again, pre-jetlag lag time), I was washing my hands in the airport sink and realized that race mattered as much or more in Baltimore or New Orleans as it will these next five weeks. Quite possibly more. [Note from the future (April 17^th): True.] There, it’s a daily, in-your-face tension point. If you’re white in certain neighborhoods of Baltimore, you’re either a police officer or a census worker. Chances are good that if you’re not a police officer, the “po-po” will keep tabs on you until you head back to safer streets. I may notice how much more I stand out in some parts of the world (city or continent) than in others far more directly now that I’m not protected by the group anonymity of my khaki-and-grey team, but we as a collective unit stood out as much then. This is one area in which, for me, being in a group bred complacency and singularity breeds awareness.

On a cheery note, I don’t anticipate having to knock on many doors this time around.

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Let’s say it’s a very good thing that bananas were my next food challenge. Breakfast on the flight: blueberry yogurt, European biscuit-crackers, a “mini banana bread loaf,” and a banana. I am proud to say that, in a complete reversal of years of (carefully cultivated!) banana-avoidance practices, I ate the entire banana. I mixed it in with the yogurt; it had been refrigerated for storage, which helped the generally-questionable banana consistency. I never would have chosen a yogurt,-banana,-and-orange-juice breakfast three years (or three months) ago. We are more capable than we think. We may veil our capacity for change in an attempt to avoid the work of changing, but it is there and it is immense.

In other accomplishments, I miraculously slept nearly six hours on the flight. I never did watch the other 80% of Due Date.