I’m a Stranger Here

I arrived in the US on November 26th, 1996. The plane arrived in Dallas from Brazil very early in the morning – it was a cold, icy November and my connection to Tucson had been cancelled. I had no way to reach John, except through their friends Micky and Bob – and she was very helpful. She managed to put me in a plane from Dallas to Phoenix all the way from Tucson, AZ. All I had to do was sit down and wait – and what a waiting period it was. I had moved to the US to marry John – my love, my friend, my soul mate. Left everything I knew and had in Brazil. Saying goodbye was the hardest thing I have ever done – goodbye to my friends, my mom, dad, brothers and sister, the nieces and nephew that I was going to miss so much… Inês, my second mother… the friends that I did not have a chance to say goodbye… I sat and waited at the airport thinking about that – about my departure. Time is non-passing when you travel by plane – you cross aerial frontiers and time zones and you don’t even noticed – the hour in your watch or internal clock is no longer, but the actual hour you’re leaving does not feel real. So there I was, stuck in the DFW airport (that later on would be so much in my life), living an unreal time, thinking about my past time, and wondering about the future I was about to live. Then I boarded, flew, arrived – and everything was OK – John was just waiting for our new life in Phoenix, AZ – with promises and don’t- knows – and the two of us!