Arriving in DC - Tales from America

October 3rd, 2008

Arrived in Washington DC Dulles Airport. The queue at immigration was really long. Pretty scary stuff, had to wait in line and tell a very serious looking chap who I was staying with and why! So many questions and I forgot where I was staying and my palms started sweating...shit I was scared but had done nothing wrong! Just the eternal guilt kicking in again I suppose. Customs was much more pleasant, I got my bag and spotted Athena straight away. She'd not really changed much in the eleven years since I'd last seen her in Salzburg..maybe a little rounder and recovering from a kidney infection but essentially she had the same laconic aura of weary worldliness and it was sooo great to see her again! We had to wait a little while for Natalies boyfriend to show up so we sat on the airport floor and caught up on the last decade or so of our lives.

When Paul Pembleton arrived (what an apt name!) he was very irritable, like a bear with a sore head, obviously not the travelling type! He works for JPMorgan in the UK and I think was pretty worried about his job prospects considering the current climate in world banking.