speed, signal strength, status

The stats for the wireless network connection on my sister's laptop. Absurdly and equally apt this morning for my mental state. The past week has been all about welcomes and farewells. I think about the web of people I'm connected to, across the world - speed of connection, strength of signal, status of relationship.

It's cold and wet in Bristol, at 7am. In 40 minutes, the taxi is due, to take me to the coach station. Coach to Heathrow, flight to San Francisco, BART to Oakland.

Going "back" to America sounds weird; "back" implies it's the place I started from. But I've been talking, for the past weeks, about when I come "back" to Nairobi. More and more, America feels like a way-station, a transit point.