The flight over was uneventful but crossing the official US border at LAX proved to be a pleasant surprise. The INS people kept true to their name -- Immigration and Neuterization Service, or is it Naturalization? -- and were relatively friendly. That is to say - friendlier than a hungry pit bull but not quite as friendly as the striking blond that was waiting for him in the reception hall of the Tucson International Airport. In this case friendly meant that they agreed not to perform a full cavity search even though the computer records clearly showed that Ofer had previously visited Columbia.
At this point Ofer decided that referring to himself in the 3rd person wouldn't be quite as fun as exploring the new world in person would be. And so after another flight, a warm reunion with Teresa, and a short drive home, I found myself in the flat that Misha and Teresa share.
The following day was my birthday and we (Misha, her boyfriend Ali, Teresa, and myself) celebrated by going to an Indian restaurant. I had been travelling in Indian lands for seven months and not had any Indian food. Sorry, let me rephrase that. I had been travelling in Native-Central-American lands for seven months and not had any Indian food. That day was also when Teresa and I found ourselves in what is commonly referred to as "a relationship".
We spent the next couple of weeks exploring the Tucsonan valley and nearby attractions. Among these was the Not-So-World-Renowned Tucson Roller Derby, or as their own website calls it: "All-female, amateur, flat-track roller derby league in Tucson, AZ".
That's the politically correct version of what actually goes on there. A better way to visualize this sport is to imagine what the athletes of the Women's Wrestling Association would do if they would all get 50s skates and let loose in a round arena. And to those of you who wondered - yes - I also mean the skimpy costumes.
It was quite entertaining to meet some of Teresa's students in the audience and realize that the following conversation did not seem strange to any of them:
Teresa: Hi Name Withheld! How are you doing?
Name Withheld: Great! Waiting to see my mom skate in the second match! And wanting to kick her ass for giving me a name like Name when she knew well enough that her husband's surname was Withheld!
After this adrenaline rush we spent the following days relaxing: we visited the Air and Space Museum; explored the surrounding desert; and went to an actual American drive-in movie theater.
It was then time for Teresa to go to Europe with her students - if you want to read about this just go and read her blog - Café Cobblestone.
Teresa left me her little silver car to explore the great US and A with, but before embarking on that journey I spent a few more days in Tucson. I checked out the cutely named Picacho Peak
And spent a few more days catching up with Misha. We had an all-American burger and also went to see the wild-wild-west town of Tombstone.
More Ketchup tomorrow - when we will hear about history's shortest coast-to-coast road trip.
