Modes of transport

On Monday 8th September, Guadalupe the babysitter moved into our house to stay with Maya for ten nights.


I gave her a cuddle and understood what Ahmed must feel every time he's left Maya. Very sad!

One Way of Getting from Tijuana to Abu Dhabi (not recommended, too long):

Car #1: Drove to the San Ysidro border.
Foot: Walked across to the other side (El otro lado - in Spanish. It took me several weeks of hearing people refer to 'el otro lado', before I realized they meant San Diego. Makes it sound very alluring...which it is).
Trolley: (No, not a shopping trolley, a tram for us non-Americans) to San Diego centre.
Train #1: San Diego to Oceanside. Amazing views along the way of the coast, and at times, the train was practically on the beach. Beautiful with the sun setting.
Train #2: Caught another commuter train to Los Angeles centre. Incidentally, a Metrolink train, which three days later had a horrific crash, killing more than 25 people.
Bus: Airport shuttle to LAX.
Plane #1:Los Angeles to Toronto. Sat in the lounge for four hours, because all those connections were so amazingly efficient. The flight before mine was an Air New Zealand to Auckland, so sat eavesdropping on all these strong keewee accents. Wishing that Maya and I were taking the same plane.
Plane #2: Toronto to Abu Dhabi.
Car #2: Ahmed came to pick me up!
Bed: Not a mode of transport, but very welcome at the end of all those planes, trains and automobiles. Literally.

I think the only modes of transport missing there are horse, hot air balloon and spaceship.