The Beginning

Woke up at 830 this morning to shower, shave,and set off for the journey toEurope. Dave was already up when I gotintheshower, prenteindingowork onhisthesis. Although, he may have really been working at it because there was a certain apathy and frusraion inhis demeanor. Meanwhile,Iam fll of pinn & winearer. I’m excited and I’m ready to taste the wind and smell the day. I grab my bag and pronounce todave that I am on my way out the door. “Dae!”, I say. “I’m outta here!” I’m going to live my life!” This usually incites a chuckle from dave when I tell him I’m going to live my life. A bit of an inside joke about living in clorado. Everone is always so serious about their extracurricular activities there. You can’t juske go for a bike ride. You have to do a 30-mile road climb to Evergreen. You can’t just go skiing on a Saturday afternoon. You have to get up at 4am and beat the traffic on i-70 and drive to a secluded spot near a resort and hike to the fresh powder and make jokes allday about the losers that buy lift tickets and ski at resorts with the Texans. So whenI tell dave that I am going to live my life, that means I am about to get radical Colorado style and no one better get in my way. And the funny thing is, I am not sarcastic today. Today I am actually about to get radical. But dave is writing histheisis. He is clearly not as fired up about life today. So when I say”dave!” I’m outta here! I’m going to live my life!” He responds with a “yep…later.” But I can’ be bothered by his aptathy. I say, “Okay! And I’m gone. Cath the zero bus to MarketSreet Station at 930 am. Cath the Af bs to DIA at 1025 am. Check my bag. Got some sort of black grease on my pants somehow. Srange because I’m not frying anything at the moment. Hell, I’m not even in a kitchen. I’m a the god damn airport. Ph well, I can’t be bothered. I’m living my life. If I get a little black grease on my pants for no reason while I’m standing in the baggage checkin line, then so be it. That is hardcore. I’m traveling so hard core today that I got black grease on my pants from just standing in the bag check line. That is living. I’m living my life right now. I check my bag, hustle thru security, inhale a sanwhich,and obard m flight to Chicago o’hare. 130 pm flight. Arrive at 5pm central time. Immediately board plane to franfut, germany. Flight takes off at 630pm central time. I sit next to a cool grandma on her way to Prague and Austria to see where her parents grew up. I also sit next to a cute grad student from Texas State. Yes, I’m in the middle. Sleep is not an option. Pot roast for dinner with instant mashed potatoes, carrots & peas I’m feeling festive so I order a glass of wine. A cheap cab from California. I’m on my way to Europe and I’m drinking a wine from California. lame. So much for festivity…ness. We eat dinner, watch two movies, and the sun begins to rise. Strange. It is 130 am central time and we are being served a light breakfast and watching the sun rise. I skip the meal and attempt to sleep one last time and eventually give up and start writing this blog. We arrive in Frankfurt at 9:30am local time. It is 3:30am for me and my body is crashing. I have to spend two hours in the check in line and then attempt to order some food before I board my flight to Istanbul. My mind is so warped from the jet lag that when the cashier speaks to me in German, I respond in French...And I only know five words in French. But she understands French so we were alright. I sit in the airport for 3 more hours in wait for my last flight. sit and watch the same half hour German program on the tv in the lounge in an insomniatic daze. never actually fell asleep. Just stared into nothingness. Finally, I get on that last flight and sleep the entire 4 hours to Istanbul. I wake up when we land and I feel refreshed and excited. It is 6pm Turkish time and it feels normal. Might not have jet lag issues. I find my luggage and my hotel driver and get to the hotel very quickly. I meet up with some classmates and we immediately go explore the city. We eat a decent fish dinner, but nothing spectacular. This city is crazy. It is like San Francisco on steriods and crystal meth. Crowds everywhere. Taxis barreling down thin windy streets with no regard for pedestrians. Street merchants urging anyone and everyone to buy their goods. People. People. People. Every which way you turn you bump into someone else. We cross a bridge that runs over the Golden Horn. The inlet that connects the Marmara Sea to the Black Sea. Gigantic mosques everywhere. stray cats everywhere. a spectacular view of the bridge that connects Europe to Asia. Deep blue water and gorgeous views in every direction. Spectacular.