Of California Dreamin'...

The greasy aroma from the McDonald's fills the airport terminal here in San Diego. I am sitting here, with nothing to do for the next couple of hours until my flight, and I thought I might remember my blog and put up an entry. It has been a while, but then, there has not been much to report. I do not wish to bore my readers with the exposition of the mundane details of my life, although, I assure you, this engagement I am in has been anything but mundane.

With all of these perfect people strolling around here, with their perfect fashion, crisply cut hair, bug-eye sunglasses and shoes worth a month's salary for the average Sudanese, it seems odd that such a place as McDonald's could gain a foothold. With movies such as "Supersize Me" that reveal the atrocity that is fast food, the dependence that America continues to grow on this food amazes me. But I digress...

Sara and I were treated by my Dad's parents, known to me as Papoo and Yiayia, the Greek aliases for granddad and grandmom, to a weekend here in the land of the fruits and nuts of marriage counseling and a chance to 'get to know the new daughter'. Sara had not yet met my older brother, Brian, so this also turned into an opportunity to remedy that, and add to Sara's growing list of 'firsts' with me. She has never been to California, and has never seen the Pacific ocean. This is no longer the case, as for one of the evenings we went out on the town and strolled the beach briefly until the chill of the night air and the freeze of the water compelled us to seek higher ground.

Our travels began early on Thursday, mine flowing smoothly from Charlotte, but hers gaining complications from the outset with delays from weather, and then in Chicago from a broken seatbelt for the pilot. Evidently such accessories are not kept in close supply on United flights, and the weary passengers were made to wait for over an hour in their seats until the problem was resolved. Thus she arrived quite tired and grouchy (not really), several hours late, hungry, but like myself, very happy to be together again.

The next several days were filled with late nights, late mornings, long and deep conversations, learning, laughing, smoochin', and datin'. Friday night saw us out on a date, with the highlight being Sara not being able to find a Carnival Cruise ship docked in the harbor. "Where?", she said. "Whaddya mean 'where'," I said. "Oh." She said. That wasn't really the highlight, but it was quite funny to me. I'll probably earn a slap for telling this, but oh well.

After finishing our study book on what it means to be married, and how to pull it off well, we grabbed free passes from Yiayia and took off for the San Diego Zoo. Sara, of course, had never been, and I had not been since I was a wee little'un, so it was quite special. Mostly I just enjoyed being somewhere with the woman I love, doing exciting things, and eating ice cream together.

God gave us a brief thunderstorm Thursday evening, but the rest of the time was gorgeous and typical San Diego. We walked each morning along a trail near to the house, coming back each time to a great meal provided by Yiayia.

The best part, in my mind, was the way that my Grandparents received my bride-to-be, making her feel loved, a welcome new member of the family, and so on. I was proud to present her, more proud to be with her, and the time together served only to bring us closer together, adding to the longing we both share for June 2 and beyond. Papoo is going to perform the ceremony, a desire of mine as he performed my parent's wedding, my Dad's three brothers, and recently my only older cousin. It seemed fitting to me, and I'm glad that it is going to work out.

So now I'm back at the airport, having kissed my lady goodbye, the weekend is over, and we now face another period of being away. This time it is only for eleven days. On April 5 I am sliding back into the saddle and riding cross-country to see Sara in Decatur for Easter weekend. We can handle eleven days. Insha'allah.

There you have it.

Regards,

Jonathan