“It should not be physically possible to get from the banks of the Pepani river to Wyoming in less than two days, because mentally and emotionally it is impossible. The shock is too much, the contrast too raw. We should sail or swim or walk from Africa, letting bits of her drop out of us, and gradually, in this way assimilate the excesses and liberties of the States in tiny incremental sips, maybe touring through South America and Mexico before trying to stomach the land of the Free and the Brave.”
– Alexandra Fuller, Scribbling the Cat