I'm writing again so soon because I don't want to write the things I should be writing. I have to finish this cover letter to the news director at Fox in Austin. I am applying for another internship there. I'm just nervous because I know we had conflict this summer and I'm not even sure there's any chance they'd accept me there again.
And I can't feel half of my mouth. I just got back from the dentist because I had to get a filling. I always feel ridiculous there because I'm so scared and they all know it. I'm terrified to pain. Aching I can deal with, but pain is different. Luckily my dentist is nice and humors my fear of the drill. I told him I was getting the filling over with because I'm leaving for Barcelona in a week and won't be able to see a dentist. He numbs my mouth with some pink gel on a long swab and then get out the HUGE needle. I swallow hard and tell him I'm not numb enough. Anticipating that needle makes my mouth dry up and my hands sweat. He says to open really wide and take a deep breath. I feel the panic feeling like I'm about to jump into deep water, but I do it. I feel the needle entering my gums and pinching. He tells me to think of the guys walking around on the beach in Barcelona and asking me if I'm American and saying, "We like Americans." Then he asks if I'm smiling at him. I am slightly smiling because he's being such a goofball. He thinks it's because I'm thinking of Eurotrash trying to hit on me. Haha. My mouth starts numbing more severely and he gets out the drill. It's nothing too bad. I am filled now. My mouth is slightly seeping drool. I can touch my lip and feel nothing. My lips looked dry in the mirror. I can't talk normally. Once this wears off I'll feel the minimal ache of pressure and start moving my tongue around over the filling. At least I'm fixed up.
There's too much stuff I need to do before I leave...I know I'm going to forget stuff. I need to figure out how I deal with money over there. What are traveler's checks? Do I need those? They sound so 90's. I need to find a way to back up important stuff from my computer since my external hard drive is a non-compatible piece of junk. There is packing to be done...eventually. I need to make copies of documents to leave with my dad. Today I at least feel a sense of accomplishment because I took care of that cavity.
It's almost 4pm and I haven't eaten anything. I don't know what the rules are for fillings. I feel like if I tried to eat/drink the stuff would fall out of my mouth. My lip feels like silly putty.
Oh! I'm regaining feeling!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
Stocking Up
My mouth has a bad flavor and my hands are cold. It's too cold in my room at home. It's usually too cold anywhere I go.
I feel like everything I write in here should be related to travel. Right now I can only relate what I write to leaving. Saying goodbye to people is probably going to get annoying, quite honestly. I can recognize that "saying goodbye" is socially necessary at least. I usually comply. I just feel like I've had to say so many long goodbyes in my life...I'm tired of them. I want to say goodbye and walk away. I rarely look back after long goodbyes because I feel more optimistic that way.
Yesterday I got out the cell phone I'm supposed to use in Spain. I got a text message from someone/thing unknown. I could mostly understand it...something about phone calls. I assumed it was Spanish spam. I chose my new ring tone, which is called "Lounge". It's pretty jazzy. I started thinking of how it would be weird to get used to a new ringtone. But probably no one's ever going to call me anyway. I'll be glad to be free of phone calls (for the most part) while abroad. My favorite ways to contact people are: 1. in person 2. text msg/chat 3. phone calls
Phone calls are too in between. But sometimes it's the best we can do.
I was going to get up to brush my teeth of this rancid flavor, but just decided to start eating the saltwater taffies my grandpa brought me. The box is sitting right next to my computer on the ground. Cinnamon is still the best, but damn, I'm out of those.
My toothpaste was probably the most popular thing about me this weekend. I went to a friend's beach house in Galveston. I brought my Mint+Green Tea Extract toothpaste. It was a hit with drunk people. Lauren and I had a mini tooth brushing party in the bathroom. It was fun to experience such a rickety house while being in party mode. Less than an hour after my arrival I was up on a deck when a loose board was knocked off, hit the propeller of the boat and drifted out toward the bay. We spent time on the roof, on the deck, peeking our faces through the mini blinds, playing games, attempting to cook food, eventually driving toward civilization for meals and doing lots of talking. Some conversations less coherent than others. We tried going to the beach. I mean, we did. It was pretty gross. I stayed out of the water at first, but was coaxed in. I experienced many little sea nasties that made their way into my bathing suit. Black bits of rubbish, some sand, I'm sure some alive things. After about ten minutes of complaining I had to get out. The waves weren't even that good. My greatest accomplishment was not burning at all. It'll be awhile before I go back to the Galveston beaches.
Today I spent with my grandpa since it was my last chance to see him before he left. My sister and I took him to the IMAX (in 3D!) to see a movie about the "Five Great" in South Africa. Lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and Cape Buffalo. Sometimes I think my hair makes me look like a Cape Buffalo. It was pretty interesting until about halfway through I got distracted and started thinking about other things. On the way home we stopped at a candy store. Request by my grandpa. (This is where I get my mad candy genes.) He wanted to buy some chocolate to bring back to people. We were actually in The Chocolate Bar and my sister noticed that next door Candylicious was hiring. She wants a new job. My grandpa is frustrating the guy at Choc Bar because he wants solid chocolate in a fancy box. Apparently they don't sell it like that. At one point the salesman gave me a look of desperation. My sister and I waited in the background amused by our persistent grandpa. :) My sister turned to me and said, "This is enough to make me not want to work at Candylicious." Then we were both handed $100 cash. He said it was better than buying us chocolate.
We all ate dinner at my dad's house. Red beans and rice with mustard greens. My dad's a good cook, but it seems tonight he picked things that would give us all sufficient gas. Thankfully I haven't been affected. We all watched The Three Stooges together and some more Mythbusters. I wanted to take a walk instead but my grandpa and sister were too tired. I said goodbye to him quickly and drove back to my mom's.
Now I smell like my dad's house.
I'm stocking up on new music.
I'm stocking up on the people I love.
I'm leaving so soon.
I feel like everything I write in here should be related to travel. Right now I can only relate what I write to leaving. Saying goodbye to people is probably going to get annoying, quite honestly. I can recognize that "saying goodbye" is socially necessary at least. I usually comply. I just feel like I've had to say so many long goodbyes in my life...I'm tired of them. I want to say goodbye and walk away. I rarely look back after long goodbyes because I feel more optimistic that way.
Yesterday I got out the cell phone I'm supposed to use in Spain. I got a text message from someone/thing unknown. I could mostly understand it...something about phone calls. I assumed it was Spanish spam. I chose my new ring tone, which is called "Lounge". It's pretty jazzy. I started thinking of how it would be weird to get used to a new ringtone. But probably no one's ever going to call me anyway. I'll be glad to be free of phone calls (for the most part) while abroad. My favorite ways to contact people are: 1. in person 2. text msg/chat 3. phone calls
Phone calls are too in between. But sometimes it's the best we can do.
I was going to get up to brush my teeth of this rancid flavor, but just decided to start eating the saltwater taffies my grandpa brought me. The box is sitting right next to my computer on the ground. Cinnamon is still the best, but damn, I'm out of those.
My toothpaste was probably the most popular thing about me this weekend. I went to a friend's beach house in Galveston. I brought my Mint+Green Tea Extract toothpaste. It was a hit with drunk people. Lauren and I had a mini tooth brushing party in the bathroom. It was fun to experience such a rickety house while being in party mode. Less than an hour after my arrival I was up on a deck when a loose board was knocked off, hit the propeller of the boat and drifted out toward the bay. We spent time on the roof, on the deck, peeking our faces through the mini blinds, playing games, attempting to cook food, eventually driving toward civilization for meals and doing lots of talking. Some conversations less coherent than others. We tried going to the beach. I mean, we did. It was pretty gross. I stayed out of the water at first, but was coaxed in. I experienced many little sea nasties that made their way into my bathing suit. Black bits of rubbish, some sand, I'm sure some alive things. After about ten minutes of complaining I had to get out. The waves weren't even that good. My greatest accomplishment was not burning at all. It'll be awhile before I go back to the Galveston beaches.
Today I spent with my grandpa since it was my last chance to see him before he left. My sister and I took him to the IMAX (in 3D!) to see a movie about the "Five Great" in South Africa. Lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and Cape Buffalo. Sometimes I think my hair makes me look like a Cape Buffalo. It was pretty interesting until about halfway through I got distracted and started thinking about other things. On the way home we stopped at a candy store. Request by my grandpa. (This is where I get my mad candy genes.) He wanted to buy some chocolate to bring back to people. We were actually in The Chocolate Bar and my sister noticed that next door Candylicious was hiring. She wants a new job. My grandpa is frustrating the guy at Choc Bar because he wants solid chocolate in a fancy box. Apparently they don't sell it like that. At one point the salesman gave me a look of desperation. My sister and I waited in the background amused by our persistent grandpa. :) My sister turned to me and said, "This is enough to make me not want to work at Candylicious." Then we were both handed $100 cash. He said it was better than buying us chocolate.
We all ate dinner at my dad's house. Red beans and rice with mustard greens. My dad's a good cook, but it seems tonight he picked things that would give us all sufficient gas. Thankfully I haven't been affected. We all watched The Three Stooges together and some more Mythbusters. I wanted to take a walk instead but my grandpa and sister were too tired. I said goodbye to him quickly and drove back to my mom's.
Now I smell like my dad's house.
I'm stocking up on new music.
I'm stocking up on the people I love.
I'm leaving so soon.
Friday, August 17, 2007
With family before departure.
I'm sucking down salt water taffies from Ocean City, New Jersey. My grandpa bring us all a box every time we see him. I love the cinnamon ones.
It's been time with my family for the past few days. Everyone's living in separate places now, so it's different, but okay. I have three houses to bounce around between.
My grandpa got in Wednesday. It's been a year since I last saw him and the first time I've seen him since my grandma died in October. He seems to be doing well, just like I always remember him. We haven't really done anything extra special since he's been here. Mostly we're all hanging around at my dad's...talking and eating.
The night my grandpa got here we watched this DVD I made for my dad of the newscast I anchored at KVR. It's this weird inside joke we have. Ever since I started anchoring newscasts in 11th grade he'd ask me to say this certain line on the air. He's a huge fan of The Three Stooges. On one of the episodes Moe says, "Quiet numbskulls, I'm broadcasting." So my dad's been asking me to say it on air for five years. I always act annoyed, but I actually think it's funny. So our last newscast of this year was a joke newscast, so I finally said it on the air and gave my dad the copy so he could see. He laughed really hard. Now he's probably going to ask when I'll say it again. :) Then we all watched Mythbusters and found out that your eyes CANNOT pop out of your head if you keep them open when you sneeze.
I spent the night at my sister's that night, but we hit up House of Pies first. I ordered something with chocolate and bananas, but it had way too much whip cream. I'm generally not a fan. We sat there and talked for so long. We got the bill and kept talking more and more until the waiter came back and tried to refill my sister's coffee. It's great to lose track of time with someone when you're so engaged. I think we were talking about our weird family. While we were in the car that night we thought we heard gunshots around Westheimer and Montrose. Houston's ghetto fabulous.
I slept late today (actually yesterday) but it was raining all morning so I didn't care that I missed it. My mom had called me and left two voicemails. First warning me about the weather and collapsing roofs. Then to tell me my cell phone for Spain came in the mail. (I saw it tonight and it's SO cute and compact!)
After lazing around for awhile we walked down the street to my dad's. It was almost 4pm by that time so he wanted to start preparing dinner. Him and my sister went to run an errand so I chatted with my grandpa, who can talk forever. But in a good, non-annoying way. He explained growing up in Newark and all of the racial problems that developed there between the blacks and the Italians. Apparently they built projects there because so many people were coming from the South, but they built them in the Italian community right across the street from the most popular church. My grandpa said they would have these big feasts at the church and processions in the streets to honor saints and the people in the projects would throw stuff at them. Eventually there were riots in the town in 1967 and most of the Italian people scattered to go live in other places. My grandparents moved out in 1962 when my dad was a little boy. Then he told me about all of the jobs he had when he was younger. Like shining shoes for money to go to the movies and working in an Italian grocery store from the age of 11 until 17. Then he got this job in some kind of warehouse place and the basement where the boxes were kept was all messy and disorganized when he got there. So he spent extra time cleaning it all up and everyone was so happy with him. Then he stacked the boxes up and would sleep on top of them during his shifts. He said that people would ring bells when they needed someone, but when his bell would ring he could sleep through it because people assumed he would be busy with something since he established such a hard-working reputation for himself. He'd only sleep for an hour or two, but it's so smart. I'm so proud of his cunning ways.
Then before dinner he wad slipping his feet into my sister's girl shoes to be funny. And then he tried putting his foot in my worn out Birkenstocks and it went in and he says, "OOOOOooooOOOh!" Implying it's so bad that I wear shoes that his big man-feet could fit into.
After dinner my dad started telling stories of his frat days at the table. There was one time when he took an engineering exam and KNEW that he'd failed. So him and his friend gave their keys to another friend and went out to party their cares away. They were at some happy hour at another frat and there was a guy there making sandwiches with a mushroom shaped chef's hat on. My dad and his friends (who were on their way to drunkenness) went up to the sandwich maker and told him they wanted to wear his hat. He told them that they couldn't. They were still sober enough to devise a plan. It had gotten dark outside by this time. They found the fusebox and took position. My dad was at the front door, another guy was waiting by the sandwich maker and their third friend was at the fusebox. The friend turned all of the power off. Then the other guy stole the hat from the chef while it was dark and panicky. My dad was at the front door making sure his friends had a clear path to escape. Out in the streets the frat guys were chasing them. My dad didn't have the hat so he was asking the angry frat guys what they were chasing after. They couldn't really say anything...the guy with the chef's hat got away. The three friends met up and took turns wearing the chef's hat to all the other parties they went to that night.
Later tonight we played Monopoly. For more than two hours! Too long. At one point we were all really into it. I like making private transactions in that game. I was the first to lose. I wasn't careful enough with my money, but I was the first to build houses. Towards the end I got a throbbing headache with a warm face. It keeps happening. I hope it's the weather or something.
I'm getting too used to spending time with people. During the school year I was more used to being alone for long amounts of time. Over the summer and especially the past month I've been around people almost all the time. I think I'm equally happy alone and with others. Sometimes I really need to be by myself though. I know too many people who are scared to be alone for large spans of time. That might suck.
It's almost 5am and there is no reason I should still be awake.
It's been time with my family for the past few days. Everyone's living in separate places now, so it's different, but okay. I have three houses to bounce around between.
My grandpa got in Wednesday. It's been a year since I last saw him and the first time I've seen him since my grandma died in October. He seems to be doing well, just like I always remember him. We haven't really done anything extra special since he's been here. Mostly we're all hanging around at my dad's...talking and eating.
The night my grandpa got here we watched this DVD I made for my dad of the newscast I anchored at KVR. It's this weird inside joke we have. Ever since I started anchoring newscasts in 11th grade he'd ask me to say this certain line on the air. He's a huge fan of The Three Stooges. On one of the episodes Moe says, "Quiet numbskulls, I'm broadcasting." So my dad's been asking me to say it on air for five years. I always act annoyed, but I actually think it's funny. So our last newscast of this year was a joke newscast, so I finally said it on the air and gave my dad the copy so he could see. He laughed really hard. Now he's probably going to ask when I'll say it again. :) Then we all watched Mythbusters and found out that your eyes CANNOT pop out of your head if you keep them open when you sneeze.
I spent the night at my sister's that night, but we hit up House of Pies first. I ordered something with chocolate and bananas, but it had way too much whip cream. I'm generally not a fan. We sat there and talked for so long. We got the bill and kept talking more and more until the waiter came back and tried to refill my sister's coffee. It's great to lose track of time with someone when you're so engaged. I think we were talking about our weird family. While we were in the car that night we thought we heard gunshots around Westheimer and Montrose. Houston's ghetto fabulous.
I slept late today (actually yesterday) but it was raining all morning so I didn't care that I missed it. My mom had called me and left two voicemails. First warning me about the weather and collapsing roofs. Then to tell me my cell phone for Spain came in the mail. (I saw it tonight and it's SO cute and compact!)
After lazing around for awhile we walked down the street to my dad's. It was almost 4pm by that time so he wanted to start preparing dinner. Him and my sister went to run an errand so I chatted with my grandpa, who can talk forever. But in a good, non-annoying way. He explained growing up in Newark and all of the racial problems that developed there between the blacks and the Italians. Apparently they built projects there because so many people were coming from the South, but they built them in the Italian community right across the street from the most popular church. My grandpa said they would have these big feasts at the church and processions in the streets to honor saints and the people in the projects would throw stuff at them. Eventually there were riots in the town in 1967 and most of the Italian people scattered to go live in other places. My grandparents moved out in 1962 when my dad was a little boy. Then he told me about all of the jobs he had when he was younger. Like shining shoes for money to go to the movies and working in an Italian grocery store from the age of 11 until 17. Then he got this job in some kind of warehouse place and the basement where the boxes were kept was all messy and disorganized when he got there. So he spent extra time cleaning it all up and everyone was so happy with him. Then he stacked the boxes up and would sleep on top of them during his shifts. He said that people would ring bells when they needed someone, but when his bell would ring he could sleep through it because people assumed he would be busy with something since he established such a hard-working reputation for himself. He'd only sleep for an hour or two, but it's so smart. I'm so proud of his cunning ways.
Then before dinner he wad slipping his feet into my sister's girl shoes to be funny. And then he tried putting his foot in my worn out Birkenstocks and it went in and he says, "OOOOOooooOOOh!" Implying it's so bad that I wear shoes that his big man-feet could fit into.
After dinner my dad started telling stories of his frat days at the table. There was one time when he took an engineering exam and KNEW that he'd failed. So him and his friend gave their keys to another friend and went out to party their cares away. They were at some happy hour at another frat and there was a guy there making sandwiches with a mushroom shaped chef's hat on. My dad and his friends (who were on their way to drunkenness) went up to the sandwich maker and told him they wanted to wear his hat. He told them that they couldn't. They were still sober enough to devise a plan. It had gotten dark outside by this time. They found the fusebox and took position. My dad was at the front door, another guy was waiting by the sandwich maker and their third friend was at the fusebox. The friend turned all of the power off. Then the other guy stole the hat from the chef while it was dark and panicky. My dad was at the front door making sure his friends had a clear path to escape. Out in the streets the frat guys were chasing them. My dad didn't have the hat so he was asking the angry frat guys what they were chasing after. They couldn't really say anything...the guy with the chef's hat got away. The three friends met up and took turns wearing the chef's hat to all the other parties they went to that night.
Later tonight we played Monopoly. For more than two hours! Too long. At one point we were all really into it. I like making private transactions in that game. I was the first to lose. I wasn't careful enough with my money, but I was the first to build houses. Towards the end I got a throbbing headache with a warm face. It keeps happening. I hope it's the weather or something.
I'm getting too used to spending time with people. During the school year I was more used to being alone for long amounts of time. Over the summer and especially the past month I've been around people almost all the time. I think I'm equally happy alone and with others. Sometimes I really need to be by myself though. I know too many people who are scared to be alone for large spans of time. That might suck.
It's almost 5am and there is no reason I should still be awake.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
A few weeks away.
Today I got a bunch of stuff in the mail about Spain.
I found out where I'm living. Right in the middle of the city in the Barri Gótic (Gothic Quarter). The owner, Anna, is a designer. I'm not sure what she designs yet. She has a dog. There is one other exchange student living there, but I have my own room. The residence is in a building that's part of a plaza...Plaça Sant Josep Oriol. It's really close to Las Ramblas, the main tourist street in Barcelona. It's a 20 minute walk to school. The Barri Gótic is a medieval neighborhood...one of the oldest parts of the city. I'm SO excited. I keep looking at pictures.
I found out I'm going to Paris in November for a few days. We're also taking trips to some nearby towns...one being Montserrat, this monastery located on some intense cliffs. And a trip to a national park in the mountains. I have been trying to decide where I want to try to travel outside of the program. I'm thinking: Southern France, all over Spain, west coast of Portugal, Morocco, England. I don't think I can do it all, but I want to try. I'm tempted to try northern Italy, since I'm only going south when I'm there with my dad.
There's going to be so much to learn and to see. I have these goals...like I should learn to take nice pictures (improve my photography skills) and exercise, like running on the beach. I am also slightly tempted to try to get some color on my skin for the first time in my life. I've always opposed tanning, but I want to spend a lot of time at the beach. I think it's pretty close to where I'll be living. I also want to buy fresh fruit from a market every day. Oh yeah, and it would be nice if I could learn to speak Spanish.
I found out where I'm living. Right in the middle of the city in the Barri Gótic (Gothic Quarter). The owner, Anna, is a designer. I'm not sure what she designs yet. She has a dog. There is one other exchange student living there, but I have my own room. The residence is in a building that's part of a plaza...Plaça Sant Josep Oriol. It's really close to Las Ramblas, the main tourist street in Barcelona. It's a 20 minute walk to school. The Barri Gótic is a medieval neighborhood...one of the oldest parts of the city. I'm SO excited. I keep looking at pictures.
I found out I'm going to Paris in November for a few days. We're also taking trips to some nearby towns...one being Montserrat, this monastery located on some intense cliffs. And a trip to a national park in the mountains. I have been trying to decide where I want to try to travel outside of the program. I'm thinking: Southern France, all over Spain, west coast of Portugal, Morocco, England. I don't think I can do it all, but I want to try. I'm tempted to try northern Italy, since I'm only going south when I'm there with my dad.
There's going to be so much to learn and to see. I have these goals...like I should learn to take nice pictures (improve my photography skills) and exercise, like running on the beach. I am also slightly tempted to try to get some color on my skin for the first time in my life. I've always opposed tanning, but I want to spend a lot of time at the beach. I think it's pretty close to where I'll be living. I also want to buy fresh fruit from a market every day. Oh yeah, and it would be nice if I could learn to speak Spanish.
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