Many farewells, great confusions and a case full of Dragonfruit!

I think I am back in Yangon! Physically. Probably. I hope the head follows later. I left four weeks ago on home leave, and returned late yesterday afternoon. With the bonus extra flight into Scotland the travel takes over 24 hours without stopovers of more than a couple of hours, much longer if the layover is longer.

So I arrived home yesterday after a highly eventful flight (details coming) exhausted, disoriented and disconnected with reality. I struggled to stay awake until bedtime, in order to get back into Yangon time as soon as possible and especially to avoid that awful first day back, when you have to get up at what is late evening back in the UK. By 7 pm I was losing the battle, and I must have dropped off while reading around 7.30 pm. I woke with a start, from a vivid dream that I was in someone’s garden, by an electronic beep and found myself in total darkness. With absolutely no idea where I was. Not a clue. Eventually I heard an engine noise, which is our generator, the lights came back on and I realised that the beep was the UPS (Uninterupted Power Supply) and that I was home, woken by a power cut.

I am back indeed, with a great deal to tell and a massive backlog of correspondence and bloggery.

The past four weeks have flown in, with more gadding around the planet than I had sought and the greatest time and energy on special time with family. In particular, The Wedding. Suffice to say that my daughter was the most beautiful, radiant, stunning bride in the universe.

After the wedding, the goodbyes began. Farewells to friends and relatives who had travelled from near, far and very far. Some whom I had not seen for many years, and some who I had not previously met. At the beginning of the week, a sad farewell to my grandchildren, and to the bride and groom as they headed off on honeymoon. A staggered farewell, not making it any less painful but for once less abrupt.

And then I was faced with the daunting task of packing and preparing for my own journey. It is always a challenge to cram all of the bits and pieces I have collected on leave, to add to my existing luggage. Those little things I cannot get in Yangon, or papers, letters and the like. (Shhh – and books). Shopping for weddingry, however, means rather more to pack than usual and delights which are not so easy to transport back.A fascinator, glittery shoes with heels, fancy flat glittery shoes, fabric (for the mother of the bride creation), a shawl and those little items which are small on their own (favourite tea bags, nail varnish, moisturiser, gifts from the bride and groom, wedding favours and even a piece of wedding cake) but which sure add bulk and weight when you start packing them.

And this time, I had a number of copies of the Dragonfruit Anthology to bring back with me – most precious cargo! I had discovered when posting copies the day before, that they weigh 0.44 kilo each. I had soon added around 4 kilos of baggage and found that they take up a fair bit of space in the one check-in bag I am allowed.

Finally, I packed everything I needed (having left the usual warm weather woollies and essentials at my daughter’s place) and made my first attempt to close the case. That attempt failed. Failed by a mile, there was no way my poor suitcase was going to come anywhere near closing. The jettison had to start. Out came the glitter high heels, followed by the pretty blue flats. It still wouldn’t close. Then the shampoo and a few more things I can live without were extracted and eventually, with enormous complaint, the case was persuaded to close. The cabin bag was prepared carefully and as I put the last items into that other groaning bag, I found trouble! The previous day I had treated myself to some goodies from “Lush” and they were in my little carrying bag (having survived a drenching rainstorm in Edinburgh without turning into a fizzing mess). They were most certainly not allowed in cabin baggage, nor was I sacrificing them so I had to spend another twenty minutes trying to squeeze them into the corners of the case, crumbling as they were forced into a tiny space.

 

I was finally ready to leave for the airport, for the first leg on the 24 hour journey, with a head full of memories, many stories to tell in the coming days, great confusion and a case full of dragonfruit! Is it any wonder I arrived in this disoriented condition?