The Nigerian cabbie taking me to the airport wants to know why I'm going to America. I wonder what to tell him. The bit about being a cowboy or the bit about being a super-hero? I check my watch: how much time have we got? No, I decide on neither: no more telling everybody everything there is to know about myself. I've exhausted the subject. I talk too much.
So I tell him the other side of things, that I just want to be in the States for the run-up to the election — maybe even to Chicago for judgement day, too. He looks at me in the rearview mirror: he's going to America for the results too, he says, him and his wife and two friends.
The world's changing, right? he grins.
I look out of the window and the past year flashes into my head — my degree, my break-up, my job, my parents — and then it flashes right back out of my head again. I've got my camera in my backpack and my boots on my feet and I'm in a cab on the way to America just as the world is changing.
Right, I say, grinning back. The world's changing, right?
Right, he nods. The world's changing.
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And not always for the better, as the past week's economic crisis, and tomorrow's Irish budget exemplify.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy Amerikay.
Boots, camera... action. Yes, it has a good ring to it.
ReplyDeleteHave fun on the road,Annie.
Lucky girl.
ReplyDeleteMake the most of it.
The very best of Welsh/Irish luck to you!
ReplyDeleteWe might even get to watch that change together. Good luck on the first leg of the trip!
ReplyDeleteDid you have fun with Madame Red?
ReplyDeleteI always regret turning down a trip to Berlin just before the wall came down. If history's being made, seize the chance to be there too.
ReplyDeleteI'm just looking forward to Palin's cogent explanation as to why she should have one, goshdarnit.
Lwc dda i ti Annie , a mwynha dy amser yn America :)
ReplyDeleteAmerica is a wonderful country.
Have a blast ...I know you will !
Not that I would wish Florida on anyone, but if you're going to be down this way (Tampa), let me know. Sangria on the beach, or smashing shot glasses at a Russian Vodka bar, up to you.
ReplyDeleteChange is good. As the Eels so eloquently put it, "Tired of the old shit, let the new shit begin!"
Good luck Annie, I hope you have an amazing time!!
ReplyDeleteHave a bud for us, take lots of pictures, and when the world changes, make sure it doesn't change you
Safe journey x
EW
Change is good. This change is great,Annie! I love your new look.
ReplyDeleteyay, yay adventure!
ReplyDeleteTravel safe.
ReplyDeleteIt seems the world isn't the only thing changing. Yet again your blog is a cultural microcosm.
ReplyDeleteBest of Luck, Girl!
ReplyDeleteHave a great time. Eat a burritto on Haight Street, you'll know the place when you see it.
xx
Good luck, Annie!
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely time, cowgirl! xf
ReplyDeleteCan you see the fires?
ReplyDeleteKeep safe!
Hey, thanks a million for all the good wishes everybody.
ReplyDeleteShe likes it: Thanks for the invite! Unfortunatey I won't be going down that way at all really. Maybe next time though...
Mary: No, I can't see the fires, but I got an email from Peter saying it was best I didnt make it out to Malibu after all as the soot is getting into everyone's lungs.
Annie have a great time. Election time in the US is great fun - you see a whole different side to what we see here.
ReplyDelete>The world's changing, right?
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm a BO fan I don't think he'll be exactly the second coming that people seem to think he'll be. Anybody who saw his speech to the American Israeli lobby (can't remember the organisation's exact name) would not have come away thinking "Change". End of the day the guy is a politician.
I hope I'll be proven wrong on that but I doubt it. Granted he'll be somewhat of a change from what is there right now.
Anyway, at this stage I think we should all rally around the underdog. Everybody likes the underdog right?
Paschal.