Since we last spoke things have changed. As usual. I cant be relied on to make up my mind and keep it. I am the queen of changing plans.

The plan now is to move to New York. I have my reasons and it seems like a good idea at this point.

Im running out of money and I really dont want to be stranded in Cambodia or any other country in a few months. The west coast sucks and I think NY and I would get along well. I mentioned it a few times to people that I was thinking about it and the news has spread like wildfire.

So as of right now its official. Of course it could change, it is me we are talking about, but I dont see many other options on the horizon. I need to find a place to live and a job to hold me over, which shouldnt be too difficult, to make me feel secure.

The plan is to get a job and go to EMT school. I think Id be good at it and I can take it anywhere which is important for someone like me.

I was hoping to leave Portland September 30th to scout out the scene in NYC but I have instead come down with a nasty staph infection. Its in my face and its fucking disgusting but there isnt much I can do at this point. I had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics and now Im covered in hives. Sexy. But whatever. It will go away in a few days and I can go back to my normal activities. It looks much worse than it really is.

Its been a boring few week outside the infection. I went to the beach for a day. And met my mom on Mt. Hood while she was camping but other than that its mostly been all about drama, illness, fixing bikes and watching DS9.

Ive watched about 20 hours of Star Trek. Cant complain. I love DS9.

I was supposed to get tattooed today but cant because of the staph so Im hanging out with my mom instead.

As always I have pictures to share but Im lazy and dont feel like dealing with uploading them. Maybe soon...


xoxox

DC was a blast. It was so great seeing so many wonderful people and getting to spend quality time with them. I made Indian food one night and hung out with everyone all together. A lot of my relationships have changed in the course of the past eight months but most were for the better. I made a lot of friends as well and Im always happy about that. I also watched the entire first season of True Blood. Vampires are so cool.

New York has been equally rewarding. Surprising, I know. While I haven't had enough time here to really get to know people I have seen some good friends, met people Id like to get to know better and eaten more vegan ice cream than I ever should have. Perfect if you ask me. As always I wish I had more time here but my life is all about moving and changing. Everything is temporary.

Tomorrow is my flight to Portland. Its been said a million times before and Ill say it again, Im nervous about going back. Things have changed a lot and Im not sure what it will mean for my time there. I have plans to see friends in Seattle and possibly SF but if I cant take it after the "family camping trip" Ive decided Ill make my way out to the East Coast again.

I am a fickle lady. Being back is messing with my mind and I don't know what I want anymore. Its great to have no obligation and to be able to do whatever tickles my fancy at any given moment but right now its a lot. Ive had a lot of fun so far and wish it could never end.

I have missed my friends and soon Ill realize how much I miss my family as well. This has put me into an existential crisis over my life.

What is more important to me: seeing the world and meeting new people? OR my connections with the people I care about?

I miss being known and knowing people. I miss having time and space to complete or work on projects. I miss making friends for more than a few days. I miss not lowering my standards for company because Im lonely (no one should assume this is them).

Dont get me wrong. I love traveling and seeing the world and Im no where near finished but maybe its time for a break. Who knows. Maybe in another week Ill change my mind again. Knowing me, that will be the case.

For now my excitement is getting the best of me. To see my family and friends and to shoot another SG set and to ride bikes...etc. etc. Yay!

Good Days Followed By A Bad Day

Since I last updated a lot of things have happened. I'm currently in DC after a weekend in Richmond. Its been really nice seeing everyone, making new friends, eating vegan food, hanging out and not stressing about things.

I am a little stressed today but its been a bad day so far. I have a really nasty ear infection right now. My left ear has been bleeding the past two nights and the lack of health care coverage here has made it difficult to get it treated. Its now spread to the other ear and I may have a slight sinus infection to go with. Sexy.

Today was spent searching for the clinic so I can get this shit taken care of. Joanna came with me for moral support and company. We walked all over trying to find the place and ended up at the drug rehab center. Oops. I finally found the clinic but they cant see me until tomorrow. Bummer. I hope my ears don't bleed again tonight.

On the way back from the clinic I found myself confronting a very large man on the street. I'm thinking I should probably be more intimidated and afraid of people than I am. I have become somewhat aggressive with age and its bound to get me into trouble one of these days.

The asshole checked me on the sidewalk. I didn't do anything to him he just felt like being a racist dick and proceeded to push me over and say something about my being a stupid white girl. My hot temper gets the best of me. I wanted to smash the glass bottle I had over his face.

I have no patience and I feel like people are just pushing me to see how much shit Ill take before I snap. Its not going to be much more....I hate people.

But in lighter news, I spent the weekend in Richmond and had a great time. I made two pies while I was there and hung out with friends. I also went to something called "Best Friends Day." Not exactly my cup of tea but it was fun none the less. Lots of drunk punks in a dirty lake. My ability to be a social cameleon ensures that, while I am fake a lot of the time, I have a least a decent time no matter where I go. That being said, it was fun enough and I got to see Torch for a hot second.

But now Im back in DC trying not to punch people and to clean out my ears. Ill be here until Saturday morning and then Ill head back to NY for the rest of my time on the East Coast. Its a shame I have to leave so soon. I have some really great friends out here and its sad to be leaving them. Sigh. Some day Ill be good at goodbye, maybe.

I would be lying if I said that I was really excited about going back to PDX. Im more nervous than anything. Mostly because I dont know what the next four weeks will hold when I dont really know a lot of people there anymore. It will be wonderful to see my grandmother but strange when it comes to pretty much everyone else. My mother is dating a guy and now they live together with his two kids. I have no interest in being big sis to anyone. Most of my friends have moved away or the relationship has changed too much since the last time I was there.

Riding a bike is what Im really excited about. And catching up with an making new friends.

I havent taken any pictures of my time back in the states yet and I feel bad about it. Ive been trying to be better about it but sometimes I just get so caught up with hanging out and having fun.

For today, I have a few more errands to run while people are working. Saves the Day is the soundtrack to my day and Im totally ok with that. Makes me so sad and happy at the same time. Im hoping this whole ear thing wont cost me a lot so I can get a new ipod but Im not going to hold my breath on that.

Sorry Im in such a bad mood and not better at updating all of you. Its the first time Ive had the time to update since I got here and now Im grumpy.

Getting to NYC

Oh my god. What a long series of craziness!

Ok. From the beginning. The journey to New York in total was going to be over 80 hours. Right from the beginning it was action packed! Well, not really. But some crazy shit did happen.

On the overnight bus from Pokhara to Sanauli, at about 2am, the bus tipped over. The roads in Nepal are pretty dangerous and narrow and sometimes there isn't enough space to pass one another. On a road that was bordered by one cliff and one hill, we were, thankfully, on the inside. The driver pulled over just a little too far and the wheels sank into the gutter. The bus tipped onto its side and was stuck. I wanst hurt, although a lot of people were. It took what felt like a life time to climb out onto the road.

So at 2am, in the middle of nowhere Nepal, six Nepalese men and myself went hitch hiking. Its totally normal and reliable form of travel there so we hopped onto the top of a lori and rode the rest of the way to the border. It was fun but nerve wracking because I kept thinking that if it tipped over too, it would be my end.

I reached the border of Nepal and India at about 6am. Woke up the immigration officer and after a 40 minute battle, he finally got out of bed and stamped my passport.

On to Gorahkpur. I had reserved a train ticket but, per standard Indian crap, when I gt the the station to pick it up I didn't actually have a place on the train. A 7 hour bus ride to Lucknow would remedy the problem and I could take an over night train from there. Simple enough right?

The bus to Lucknow ended up taking 10 hours. We got stuck in a major traffic lock, took a detour and ended up with our bus stuck in mud in some village somewhere. The only time I have ever thanked being a woman in India was when they told me that I didn't have to stand in knee high mud to help push the bus out.

I made it to the train station with only 10minutes to spare. Good God, it was stressful.

The train was posh though. 2AC with a bunch of women and chai and bed linens. I slept well.

I arrive in Delhi in the morning and spent the day napping, eating and wandering around the markets. I bought spice for Phil from a man who I chatted with and drank chai with for hours.

Later in the evening I went out to wander the bazaar at night. I stopped to buy bangles and talked to another man and his brother for two hours. They were Muslim and two of the nicest people in Delhi. They invited me to dinner with their family and to continue talking with them until I needed to leave for the aeroport. I accepted.

I forgot for that moment that Muslims eat a lot of meat and when I arrived for dinner was served Buffalo meat. oops. But, for me, it was a unique opportunity that probably wouldn't arise again. To avoid being rude I ate the meat and with the men no less. The women ate later in a separate part of the house and I was privilege enough to sit with them and see behind the burkas. Totally worth eating meat, even though it was nasty as hell, for the experience of a life time.

The eldest woman, I forget her name, invited me to her grandsons wedding. It is a great honor to have foreigners at weddings in India and since the family liked me and I them, she said that she would begin looking for a wife for her son and would have a big wedding next year. I agreed that if they boys emailed me and were serious about my coming back, I would be honored to be their guest.

Anyway, I left them to head out to the aeroport and to my wonderful surprise I found that the rickshaw drivers were on strike that day. Great. After an hour of bargaining and finding three British guys to go with we split the taxi for Rs. 800. (this was an outrageous price. Its four times what it should have been, even with four people. But they had wanted to charge me Rs. 500 on my own so...) There was a strike, what could we do?

At the aeroport, my bag was too heavy to check. I had to pack things with me and throw a few things away. I finally got on board and was finally off to Moscow. OMG!

Moscow was boring. The aeroport is lame, nothing there. I met a German girl who was just a doll. We have agreed to keep in contact and when Im back in Europe Ill have another person to go hangout with!

The 11 hour flight to NYC was just long and dull. I felt like it would never end and that I would explode with anticipation.

I kind of panicked upon arrival. I hadn't heard from anyone about a place to stay and couldn't get hold of Phil. It was all finally worked out and now I'm sitting happy in Brooklyn. Vegan dinner, a long sleep and a breakfast of bagels later and Im feeling relaxed. I just need a shower and to find a phone and everything will be complete!

Seeing Phil is just wonderful. I have missed him so much. And in a day or so, Ill head down to DC to see a few more people!

I still have pictures from Nepal to upload and all that but for now, Im just enjoying the fact that I can wear short shorts, eat western vegan food and fucking relax!

Can you open my magic box?

I dont really want to leave Nepal and go back to India. As much as I enjoy India, Delhi sucks and Nepali people are so much nicer. Its going to be a very long journey.

I leave tonight on an overnight bus to Sunauli, the border. Ill arrive at 5am, wait for the border to open and walk across to catch another bus to Gorakhpur. From there Ill get on a train. Its 16 hours by train from Gorakhpur to Delhi.

My flight out of Delhi is at 2am on the 18th. From Delhi Ill fly to Moscow where I have an eight hour layover. Then another flight to New York. Yuck.

So....
10 hours to the border
3 hours from Sunauli to Gorakhpur
16 hours on a train to Delhi
7 hours flight from Delhi to Moscow
+11 hours flight from Moscow to NYC

Total: 47 hours of travel. This does not include wait time/layovers/ and the possibility that Ill be going directly from NYC to DC, which is an additional 4 or 5 hours.

But for right now Im still trying to enjoy what Pokhara has to offer. Im a little ill today because I accidentally drank too much last night and got locked out of my hotel in the rain. Thankfully I asked one of the guys I was hanging out with to walk me home and when I couldnt get in he invited me to take the extra bed in his room. It was essentially on the other side of Lakeside.

I fell asleep to him playing guitar and singing songe in Swedish. Haha.

But to explain my over consumption of alcohol last night: I have a magic box. Its a small wooden box that has to be opened a very specific way. Beer here is really expensive so as way of getting out of my bill for one beer, we told the bar owner that if he could open it we would pay for the beer and taxes. If he couldnt, he would give us free beer. Turned out he couldn't open it and instead of giving us one free beer eacg it was bottomless glasses of whiskey. Oops. It was fun and I didnt get too drunk but it was certainly more than Im used to drinking.

I love my magic box.

Before I went to meet the guys last night I stopped into a jewlery shop and ended up talking with two Muslim men for over an hour about Islam. Some of you know how fascinated I am with Islam so I was really excited to discuss the Quaran and the history of Isalm.