Fishes Live in the Sea...

...as men do a-land; the great ones eat up the little ones.

I'm going to be very nerdy and tell you that this bit of Shakespearean philosophy is quite meaningful after my eventful flight to Togo. Bear with me.

First off, despite my love of travel, Airplanes + Me don't mix well. My first memory of being on a plane is of my sister throwing up all over me. Since then, any and all storms, cancellations, technical difficulties, rude people, baggage problems and potable water issues seem to find me. It's quite funny.

And by funny I mean that you probably don't ever want to travel with me.

However, the Red Sea parted on the day I left DC for Togo. Imminent thunderstorms passed. A record heat wave through Europe moved on. A full rainbow (not kidding!) bid me Bon Voyage as I drove across the Potomac. Nala was easily boarded, I had an Exit row, and - get this - two empty seats next to me.

Miracle upon miracle!

Things changed pretty quickly in Paris. I could hear Nala crying three floors up as the escalator ushered me down to the baggage claim. No one could tell me where to take her out to go to the bathroom, so I laid out puppy pads in the middle of the terminal in desperation. Of course she proceeded to pee everywhere but.

As I cleaned up one pile of pee, she moved as far as her leash would allow and start peeing again. This happened about 6 times before I sat down surrounded by doggy urine, a giant crate, 3 suitcases and one freaked-out puppy in defeat.

No one at De-Gaulle airport took pity on me.

After a 20 Euro bribe to an airport baggage guy to help me get everything to our next terminal, I thought the drama was over.

But this is me we're talking about, so of course it wasn't.

Going back to Mr. Shakespeare, his second point about the darker side of human nature - or at least our faulted behavior toward one another - is something I've been mostly sheltered from. The strong do not eat the weak in America! We are all created equal! No one is naturally a "great one"!

I'm not totally naive to the real picture of the world, but I've not yet seen it up close and personal. I think that's going to change quickly here.

I awoke on the airplane to two men fighting. Rather, one man yelling at the other in French, and the second man sitting in silence trying to ignore him. A huge commotion broke out because of it with half the plane trying to calm the situation down, with the stewardesses eventually threatening to call the police.

All I could gather was that the Togolese man who was yelling had previously tried to engage the European man, who said he couldn't speak French well. Then the Togolese man heard him speaking French and lost it. He loudly berated the other man for not being honest, for being disrespectful on the way to HIS country, for belittling his pride, etc. This and other things I didn't quite understand lasted for a good 30 minutes.

Before I even stepped foot in Africa, I saw some of the tension that still exists between Black and White, African and European, Colonized and Colonizer.

It all felt so foreign to me. Complicated. Sad. I hope that once my feet are a little more planted, the jarring presence of history will soften with what's actually present.

Anyway, here's to thousands of air miles and all the little ones ahead. (Speaking of which, Nala, our runt of a puppy, is doing just fine).