def _normalize_path(self, path):
        """
        Takes a path and returns a simple absolute path as a list of directories from the root
        """
        if type(path) is str:
            path = path.encode()
        path = path.split(b'\0')[0]

        if path[0:1] != self.pathsep:
            path = self.cwd + self.pathsep + path
        keys = path.split(self.pathsep)
        i = 0
        while i < len(keys):
            if keys[i] == b'':
                keys.pop(i)
            elif keys[i] == b'.':
                keys.pop(i)
            elif keys[i] == b'..':
                keys.pop(i)
                if i != 0:
                    keys.pop(i-1)
                    i -= 1
            else:
                i += 1
        return keys
Takes a path and returns a simple absolute path as a list of directories from the root