A Humorous Guide to Leaving the Country

I'm in the process of moving...

2008-10-20T19:15:00.000+02:00

http://jasonconga.wordpress.com/

I'm in the process of bringing my blogspot blog over to wordpress. I think it's got more features that I like, including the tag cloud which you'll notice to the bottom right. So check out the site and soon that will be your place to get your 24/7 Jason updates, that is, until I get off my ass and get my own domain.

In the works

2008-10-17T14:15:00.000+02:00

hey all,
It's weird but having free time and getting older will make you do. No, no, I didn't buy a ferrari but I started thinking that I have to supersize this blog I have. I have found a voice for it but I don't always use it. I want it to have more access to my art and have the blog be only one aspect of it. I'm thinking of going over to wordpress and buying my own domain name. I'm not going to tell you so one of you 3 wiseasses swoops in to buy the domain name from under me. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure but one of you could even do it! hahaha

Anyway, I'm hoping to relaunch the website for the new year. I'll still be blogging on this one but hopefully I'll have something new for you, give you a chance to see more of what I've been doing with my life the past 10 years.

Stopping slowly

2008-10-14T18:58:00.000+02:00

Damn, two classes I'd hope to have this semester are not going to happen. That does open up my schedule but it means money that I won't have in the spring. I guess I should pick some pretty cheap holidays to do in the spring then, eh?

What am I thinking about, anyway? Well, I've had a lot on my mind lately, about me growing up (slowly), deciding that maybe I want to save (slowly) so I can buy an apartment in Freiburg and also what holidays will I go on next year.

New Year's -Hamburg/Denmark
February - Morocco
April (Easter) - Sardinia?/Israel?
May (Pfingsten) - NW Spain?/England (to visit Franziska's brother)?/Lichtenstein?
Summer - California/Hawaii

It would feel weird for me to stay home for a week that is technically "holiday" here for students. It's generally accepted that I am "allowed" to leave for that week, whether it be Easter or Pentacost or whatever but the point is, someday in the future my life won't be like that. That's another reason why I've been trying for the past years to squeeze as much travel in as possible and I feel it is my duty somehow to achieve an amazing feat, that being 100+ days of vacation for 5 years in a row. This is the fourth year. Can I somehow do it one last time before deciding to act like an adult? I think I can but the money from those lost classes will not help. It means that I will have to live more cheaply (which shouldnt' be hard because I used to go out and eat and drink all the time) and lately I have been eating at home more. I will also look for some new work in January but I guess for now my best bet is to think about where I want to go, decide I'll be able to afford it somehow and continue to write my novel and enjoy the hell out of my hammock. Any questions?

Starting slowly

2008-10-13T18:51:00.000+02:00

I gotta tell ya, it's been great starting work slowly after 9 weeks off. I only work 2 days this week and 3 days next week and that's working me into soft and easy. Many people wonder how I afford to live without working so much and while I can understand their questions, the answer is pretty boring. It's somehow cheaper to live here. I'm able to earn a larger percentage of my rent in a day than I could earn in the States. I don't work as much but I can earn my rent in a day sometimes. That type of rent percentage is just not possible in America for most people.

I also live pretty cheaply. True, I do waste money here and there and I travel a lot and I spend a lot on photographs and eating and drinking out but still, it's cheaper here. Not having a car or having to pay for gas or insurance is a big thing.

All I know is that I have enough money in my account to not earn a penny for the next 6 months and still be able to pay all of my bills. That is a good feeling. It allows me to feel relaxed. I am grateful for my life here.

Today, by the way, I earned nothing. :)

Cardinology

2008-10-11T16:35:00.000+02:00

The name of Ryan Adams' band's new album is Cardinology. I've heard about 8 of the 11 songs so far and am really excited about it. In fact, I've just pre-ordered a copy of it from Amazon, along wth a biography of the company Blackwater and a book by Naomi Klein called "The End of America". It should be interesting.

I'm bummed that Ryan isn't coming to the Continent for this tour, only the UK in November. Maybe in the new year, but I'll tell you, the show of his I saw in November last year in London was superb. I would definitely travel to see him play provided it worked out. But in November my parents are visiting and we're going to Barcelona together and so that is out.

He's playing in LA 8 days before I arrive in December. This happens often with my travels, but it's okay. Those are the breaks of being a jet-setter. No, I've never ridden in a jet (that I know of) and I'm no much of a setter but I am living that life, albeit in miniscule imitation. I have flown more than 20 times this year, for the 3rd or 4th year in a row. Only once was in business classs and that was a random upgrade. I will have visited 13 countries on different continents. My 4th year in a row with more than 100 days of vacation.

Granted, I've slept in some pretty awful hotels (Panajachel, Santa Rosa de Copan, Leon, Antigua, etc)and had some strange sleepng arrangements (Amsterdam, Brasov). I've eaten a lot of crappy food, and I don't just mean fast food and oreos. I'm talking about food of unknown provenance and cleanliness, nearly unbearable bathroom facilities and blah blah blah. That must all be taken into account. It's true, I "jet-setted" into somewhat undesirable areas but hey man, you don't always know where you're landing, right?

5 pages

2008-10-09T16:49:00.000+02:00

I'm not sure if I mentioned that I'd starting writing a new novel. Probably I have. Did I tell you I started the novel with the word 'fuck'? I don't know, I thought that gave it a modern twist.

I wrote 5 more pages today, mostly dealing with the protagonist teacher getting through a boring beginner english class and musings on the English and German languages. I know, I know, it sounds like I'd need pictures of naked chicks to make that sound interesting, I don't think it'll be that inaccesible, even to my mentally, uh-slower friends, heeeeeelllllllllllloooooo to you my friends.

Sorry for assuming that more than one of you was mentally slower, just going by the numbers of probability.

Paranoia = Reality?

2008-10-08T16:35:00.000+02:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/07/AR2008100703245_pf.html

Am I the only one who thinks this is disturbing as hell???

Here's an excerpt:

The Maryland State Police classified 53 nonviolent activists as terrorists and entered their names and personal information into state and federal databases that track terrorism suspects, the state police chief acknowledged yesterday.
Police Superintendent Terrence B. Sheridan revealed at a legislative hearing that the surveillance operation, which targeted opponents of the death penalty and the Iraq war, was far more extensive than was known when its existence was disclosed in July.
The department started sending letters of notification Saturday to the activists, inviting them to review their files before they are purged from the databases, Sheridan said.
***
But Sen. James Brochin (D-Baltimore County) noted that undercover troopers used aliases to infiltrate organizational meetings, rallies and group e-mail lists. He called the spying a “deliberate infiltration to find out every piece of information necessary” on groups such as the Maryland Campaign to End the Death Penalty and the Baltimore Pledge of Resistance. When Hutchins called their members “fringe people,” the audience of activists who filled the seats in the hearing room in Annapolis sighed.

The internet tubes

2008-10-08T13:42:00.000+02:00

I'm sure I don't use the internet to the fullest extent possible. I'm not even sure that I would want to but there are some things that make it the best thing in the world. I'm referring to getting music from the Internet and getting it into your computer or even just headphones with very little effort and just some time.

Right now I'm listening to a My Morning Jacket show from Chicago 2005 that sounds pristine. I used to have to send blank tapes to people and wait a couple of weeks to get some new live music or I'd make a copy onto tape of some live show I had. The shit was time-consuming but there was a slightly human aspect to it. Now it's just attaching to a newly formed nipple of information and suck at will.

I have been going gaga over some new Ryan Adams stuff (found on archive.org) from just in the past week. You can't imagine how close you feel to the whole world when you download a concert that had just ended 36 hours ago on the other side of the world and it is there for your perusal and or just file it away with other live shows until it's time to listen to some new ones. It could be overkill but it's like a huge sugar vein and it's not that easy to stop.

A disclaimer: I am only referring to downloading live music for my own use, not studio-released material. Nor am I selling anything. It stays on my computer.

Sorry for that disclaimer. I know I'm not that interesting but with the way information is sucked on, not being interesting can still be enough to start a new FBI "assessment" of me. I know it sounds like I'm exagerrating but this

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080913/POLITICS/809130315/1022/rss10

is a problem. I can't believe I've "become" such a far left person, just because I care about the Constitution and rule of law.

Anyway, more good stuff about the internet there. I can have more access to information and so my curiosity and thirst levels and nearly always satified by the internet. Don't get me wrong, I like reading and doing other stuff too, but I like feeling connected to the rest of the world, even if in brief moments.

So, now that the weekend is here :) what is on tap for the rest of the day?

*I'm going to work on the 3rd installment of the new novel I'm working on, "The Newropean" or the "The Neuropean".

*I've got to start on the Central America digi photo album. It's time consuming and only later rewarding in those moments when you get someone who will look at photos for 20 minutes.

By the way, I've added some new links to the right, places where I get a lot of my news. Some of you might wanna check it out.

Muthafucka's hammockin!

2008-10-07T18:15:00.000+02:00

Sorry for my foul language, I just could find no other way to express how absolutely decadent I feel lying in my hammock and blogging with my wireless internet in my room. It's true, I don't have a car, a nice TV or even a nice apartment, but none of that matters (to me). I'm a relatively simple guy and apparently wireless internet and a hammock will suffice.

The McCain campaign have gone off their rockers, sorry to make an old person joke but you gotta be kidding me. In a speech yesterday, to McCain's rhetorical question, "Who is the real Barack Obama?", a person at the event yells out "Terrorist!". At a Sarah Palin event, as she's telling her parishoners that Obama is "palling around with terrorists", someone yells out, "Kill him!". Now I do not hold McCain or Palin responsible for what some yahoo yells out at a campaign rally but the disturbing things are threefold:

1)McCain clearly heard the guy yelling "Terrorist!". McCain should have, in that moment, said, "Calm down, people, this is about his policies. Barack Obama is not a terrorist and you know it."

2)McCain, with nothing left in his tank except for bile, has decided to use it. He is going to drag America through the gutter in an attempt to Hail Mary his way into the White House. Not to mention that he has been wrong about so many key issues that are crucial to America. He's just going to say that Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright and Tony Rezko show that Barack Obama has poor judgement. There's no way that McCain wants to go down that road. For every Bill Ayers and guilt by association, there is a Charles Keating who is a guilt by guilt example.

3)Sarah Palin has some answering to do on a number of issues. A vice presidential nominee is not allowed to simply not hold ONE press conference before the election. She is also not allowed to, in my opinion, run for higher office when her husband will not even honor a subpoena in a highly relevant case, namely how she deals with subordinates and dissent. And finally, she has to answer some questions about having 60,000 dollars in per diem while AT HER HOUSE and then not claiming them on her tax forms. I was wrong, there is a fourth thing. I am not one to suggest that Trig Palin, the newest of the Palin clan is not Sarah Palin's child. But she should be more than willing to provide documentation that he is. There is no record of his birth at the hospital. We have not seen her medical records. This is all a sham. If there is no accountability, let's just go back to continental Europe in the 1700s when the monarch had absolute power. Then at least we'd know to stop asking questions.

ps I started writing a new book last night.

ruh roh

2008-10-06T19:30:00.000+02:00

www.keatingeconomics.com

Just published by Obama today, a 13-minute documentary about the Keating 5 Scandal, something most of us are too young to know that much about...

William Kristol

2008-10-06T18:51:00.000+02:00

It took me awhile to realize that Billy Crystal and William Kristol where not the same person. Well, not THAT long but long enough...One is an actor and the other is a hack. And the latter doesn't act so I'll let you figure out which is which...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/opinion/06kristol.html?ref=opinion

Sarah Palin, who has been as protected from the real world as a Jewish mother's only son has spoken. Sort of. She has been the Republican Vice Presidential nominee for all of nearly 6 weeks and has given 3 interviews (Gibson, Couric, Hannity) and had one debate. It was a train wreck from the beginning but after her first couple of interviews, when it became clear that this woman was STUDYING to become vice president of the United States, her handlers (as if she's a defector from the Soviet Union) thought it better for her not to do any interviews with, ya know, journalists. We can't have her out there being insulted by people without deference for her, they said. DEFERENCE. This press corps has allowed the Constitution to be shredded under their very noses and Palin's handlers want they more deferential. It's like a rookie on the baseball team expecting respect instead of going out and earning it.

Well, lo and behold, she takes a phone call from Republican hack William Kristol. The guy wouldn't be so bad if he weren't so bad. I mean, he has some ideas, but regardless they are completely seen through kool-aid infested Republican glasses. I have no problem with Republicans in general. Hell, my parents are Republicans and they are two of the finest people ever to grace this earth but this guy cannot see things as they are. I know how difficult this is. I also care a lot about this election. But for him to have the chance to have the elusive dodo bird, er, Sarah Palin on the phone, he can come up with nothing except for: wow, what about those Jeremiah Wright and William Ayers guys? Do you think it shows bad judgement by Obama? What is this, Pravda magazine?

Is this really where the McCain campaign wants the last 4 weeks of this election to go? Guilt by association? Because both of the people on the Republican ticket are just as guilty of this if not more than that muslim-sounding dude. McCain would have to become reminded of Charles Keating and G.Gordon Liddy, two pretty infamous people from the last quarter century of America history. And what about Palin? Her husband was in a secessionist party from Alaska? Their leader, before being killed in a plastic explosives deal gone bad, damned America and cursed the flag. Don't you think that your husband being in a political group whose goal is for Alaska to become its own country rather troublesome when you are running for vice president? Or what about HER pastor, a guy spouting ya-ya about witch doctors?

Is this really where they want to go? And the answer is yes. This is where Karl Rove has had the biggest impact on Republican politics of the past years. Take something you yourself are engaged in and accuse the other side of doing it. It puts them on the defensive and of course no one suspects that you yourself are guilty of it. Voter fraud, anyone?

Anyway, read this article and tell me again if you think the NY Times is "liberal media". Yes, they are against the war now but doesn't make me liberal? Maybe I'm a fiscal conservative and I don't think the costs are worth what we are getting for them. Hell, we could pay for probably nearly 10% of the bailout just with the war profiteering from the Iraq War...

Back to your regularly scheduled program...

work

2008-10-06T14:18:00.000+02:00

Tomorrow I have to get up around 8:30am, take a train and a bus out to an intersection and then walk two minutes to a company where I will teach 2 classes. I taught one class there in June and was ecstatic that they asked me about teaching a second class there, especially because my best paying school has their head up their ass and might not need me this semester. So this is a huge help.

I still have not hung the hammock, not sure how exactly I'm going to do it but want to have some expert help before I put my slightly overweight body on that thing. Falling down on a parquet flooris not exactly copacetic with a hammock.

I've been cold lately, mostly because it was hot as hell in California before I left. I have been havig trouble getting motivated to work out and/or jog because of the weather but I think something is gonna happen today.

Something else important that will happen today most likely is the beginning of a new book. Franziska is coming over later and will have some work to do so I am going to do some work of my own.

I turned in all the negatives from the Central America trip that I want to get enlarged. There are approximately 60 photos and I'm hoping to use 15 of them for an exhibition. I had an idea this morning to do an exhibition for Valentine's Day with hearts but who knows if I'll get around to that.

There is a new Rolling Stone article on John McCain that is a must-read. It's pretty damning and delves into things that have been largely overlooked by the mainstream media.

We are 4 weeks away from hopefully having a chance to turn the United States around and bringing it back from the abyss but who knows, maybe we're already too late.

Happy Monday!

I went to france today

2008-10-03T21:34:00.000+02:00

Was tired as hell, got picked up by Franziska and her parents about 10am, cold and windy with some hope for sun. I get into the nice mercedes and almost immediately told that I can call her parents by their first name, that's a big deal in the German culture. I then proceeded to make a joke that they were only offerring me that because I brought their daughter back in one piece from Central America. Doesn't matter, I'll take it...

We went to Colmar, then a new place for me called Eguisheim which is amazingly pretty, we had some local food (tarte flambee), and then her parents bought 4 cases of wine from a winemaker and we drove through another village and then over to Staufen for a coffee.

We went to a nice cafe there and had coffee and the girls had cake and her dad had a chocolate milkshake and for some reason my carrot cake never came. It worked out fine in the end because I had some of Franziska's. It was a little funny, the waitress was horrified that she'd forgotten, an unusual experience that tell you that's what kind of place it was. Anyway, they gave me a mini tiramasu and then her folks dropped me off. We'd only been gone 7-8 hours but I'm exhausted.

I'm listening to some Jack Johnson bootlegs I downloaded today, very nice...

Drinking with Colleagues

2008-10-02T11:56:00.000+02:00

Last night was the first night I had gone out with colleagues in more than 2 months and did we make the most of it. The boyfriend of one of them was visiting from Wales and he added to our discussions with serious ruminations on police reports and "transporting language", whatever the hell that means! We ended up hitting 3 places, all of us surprised that it was already 1:30am as we were leaving. But I had a great time, talking about Burning Man, various scenes and moments from Central America and childhood.

It's raining now and I'm not too motivated to do much today, the most important thing I have going on is a private lesson at 7pm. I also get to see Franziska for the first time in a week and a half. She's driving down from way up north with her folks.

I also picked up the photos from Central America yesterday. I wasn't too happy with the photos but there are definitely a few good ones in there. I'll be lucky to find 15 that could be used in an exhibition. I have to learn some more stuff about cameras and want to take a class or hang out with some more knowledgeable photographers because my zoomed shots were often grayed out for lack of light I'm guessing.

I had a phone call this morning with a company out somewhere (don't remember the name of the town) but they would like to have now a second class with me until Xmas. That is enormously good news, that means every Tuesday I can earn 120 euros in a few hours out in the sticks. That's 480euros/month until Xmas which is the foundation for most of my bills. I like...

It's now noon, I guess I can clean up my room some more and try and organize some stuff but I'm caught up in reading news and wondering whether I could stay up late enough to watch the Vice-Presidential debates tonight, it'll be on like 3am my time...

3.52am

2008-09-29T03:52:00.000+02:00

well, I WAS sleeping pretty well and then somehow at 2:57am, I was kind of awake. Now I'm sitting here, putting Central America photos onto a cd so I can take them into town this morning to get some printed up, thinking about watching a couple seasons of The Office or maybe even a Westwing. What do you think?

I have to work from 9-3:30pm, not a bad schedule but there is stuff I would love to do in the city before work, namely dropping off my 23 rolls of film, buying some deodorant, getting some money, ya know, normal stuff.

I have to work the same schedule tomorrow, Wednesday just 9:30-10:30am and Thursday 7-8:30pm. It's a good warmup schedule for just coming back. But I'm happy to be earning money again, I have to, if I want to keep travelling like I have.

Which reminds me. We bought our return ticket from Morocco to Basel. We paid a bit more for it, about 100euro/person for the one-way flight but it was pretty much the day we wanted to return, late on a Saturday night for a total of 13 days there. Franziska was right in the respect that 2 weeks would probably be enough there, especially after our intense ordeal that was the adventure of Central America. 13 days will probably be plenty to get a taste of it.

I threw out the suggestion of going to Norway for New Year's Eve. Franziska had suggested Denmark and I would be totally okay with that but if we don't do that, Norway is a possibility. Then again, we'll see. I'll have just come back from 2+ weeks in California and might not have the umph for more flights/"major travel" or simply have too much stuff with me to do it. :)

Is it too early to think about Easter and Pfingsten next year??? :)

A shout out

2008-09-25T20:54:00.000+02:00

Well, this is my last full day in the States for about 2.5 months until I come back for Xmas in mid-December. I'm sure that time will fly but still, I have to try and squeeze in all the American stuff I want into today. What will that include? In-n-Out Burger with my buddy Chad, doing some last minute shopping for DVDs (Chuck Season 1 anyone??) and also buying some more clothes with a gift card I have for JC Penny. I'm also going to BBQ with my folks and meet my buddy Zach to possibly watch the Dodgers clinch the division tonight.

And that leads me back to my shout out. I just wanted to give a shout out to my folks, who have always been there for me, supported me, even in the midst of decisions they weren't totally sure about, i.e., moving to Germany, going to Central America, etc. etc. etc...But they are so generous and caring and even though we are on different sides of the political spectrum for the most part, they are still good people! hahah, just kidding, of course they are. Anyway, this is just a little reminder for all of you out there to make sure to tell the people that mean something to you that they, well... mean something to you.

Cheers!

Morocco and Posse Comitatus Act

2008-09-25T00:30:00.000+02:00

Two big pieces of news to report: Franziska and I just purchased two tickets to go to Morocco in February! We're going to leave just after the next semester ends, leave on a Sunday and probably spend about 2-2.5 weeks there, starting in Fez and most likely making our way to Marrakesh, perhaps checking out the Atlas Mountains. It could be a great photography trip for me and, I'm happy to say, my first foray into Africa!

Second, a relatively disturbing pieces of news:
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/

Apparently some military is going to be deployed to the Homeland, somethat that has not happened really since the Civil War, the only exceptions being things like Hurricane Katrina and the National Guard, etc. Here are some of the main excerpts:

They'll learn new skills, use some of the ones they acquired in the war zone and more than likely will not be shot at while doing any of it.
They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack. . . .
The 1st BCT's soldiers also will learn how to use "the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded," 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.
"It's a new modular package of nonlethal capabilities that they're fielding. They've been using pieces of it in Iraq, but this is the first time that these modules were consolidated and this package fielded, and because of this mission we’re undertaking we were the first to get it."
The package includes equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets.
"I was the first guy in the brigade to get Tasered," said Cloutier, describing the experience as "your worst muscle cramp ever -- times 10 throughout your whole body". . . .
The brigade will not change its name, but the force will be known for the next year as a CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, or CCMRF (pronounced "sea-smurf").

Glenn Greenwald's analysis:

For more than 100 years -- since the end of the Civil War -- deployment of the U.S. military inside the U.S. has been prohibited under The Posse Comitatus Act (the only exceptions being that the National Guard and Coast Guard are exempted, and use of the military on an emergency ad hoc basis is permitted, such as what happened after Hurricane Katrina). Though there have been some erosions of this prohibition over the last several decades (most perniciously to allow the use of the military to work with law enforcement agencies in the "War on Drugs"), the bright line ban on using the U.S. military as a standing law enforcement force inside the U.S. has been more or less honored -- until now. And as the Army Times notes, once this particular brigade completes its one-year assignment, "expectations are that another, as yet unnamed, active-duty brigade will take over and that the mission will be a permanent one."
After Hurricane Katrina, the Bush administration began openly agitating for what would be, in essence, a complete elimination of the key prohibitions of the Posse Comitatus Act in order to allow the President to deploy U.S. military forces inside the U.S. basically at will -- and, as usual, they were successful as a result of rapid bipartisan compliance with the Leader's demand (the same kind of compliance that is about to foist a bailout package on the nation).

I'm sure they're going to protect the First Amendment, right? :)

ps I have no idea what is going on with the above news but it would seem that this is something that should get some traction with the news, but of course won't.

pss McCain wants to cancel the debate on Friday to help with the bailout. Uh huh...They won't let the media have access to Sarah Palin and now he wants to have even less exposure to his ideas...This all makes me sound cynical but...

Thanks, Diarreaha!

2008-09-22T05:35:00.000+02:00

Believe it or not, this is NOT about me getting the good ole Montezuma's revenge. We just had a wonderful afternoon in North San Francisco around Fisherman's Wharf, shopping and eating and walking and seeing sea lions and then we were in the parking structure, in the elevator going to our car. The elevator was full of Germans, middle aged ones from the middle of the country most likely. As we were getting out on our level, I said in German, "Schoenen Abend noch!" which means, "Have a nice evening!" and one of the guys answered, "Danke, durchfalls." This may not seem funny to you but here's why it is... Normally one would answer, "Danke, gleichfalls" which means, "thanks, likewise" but this little joker made a play on words into, "thanks, diarreaha". I'm pretty sure he didn't know that I would understand him.

I had a nice breakfast with my aunt's friends, Caroline and Dozer, a lesbian couple who have a 5-year old son. Super nice people, really laid back and their son was a riot. The place we met was called The Fat Lady and it was an instant classic. A review from Zagat's on the wall in the hallway started with "Experience a bordello without committing a sin..." I loved it so much I bought a shirt from the place.

Last night we had dinner at my mom's cousin's and he cooked us some goooOOoood food. It started with a antipasti platter with salami, prosciutto, and serrano ham, and figs and some bread and some olives. Then we had some pasta with homemade pesto. Then we had some amazing bbq'd chicken with succatash, grilled artichokes, onions and mini eggplants with tomatoes. We also had an amazing tomato and mozarella-like salad that rocked. We had cheese and bread and figs and walnuts and honey for dessert.

I'm driving home with my folks tomorrow and will have 4 more nights at home before having to go back to Germany but I'm looking forward to it, it's been two months!

Can I have $2,333 dollars from you to spend as I wish without a receipt?

2008-09-20T22:13:00.000+02:00

Apparently, the Treasury Secretary any day could be given 700 billion dollars to spend as he wishes without oversight. He's going to bail out Wall Street, I guess without making major changes to the regulatory aspects to these grand institutions that cannot afford to fail. How he spends this largesse can never be reviewed for its legality, as it says in the current draft of the Act that's being written.

How did corporations become more important than human beings? People all over America are losing their homes, foreclosures in August of this year up 27 percent from August of 2007. The people who brought us to this ruin are now going to be bailed out or what, or some dark unknown frightening thing will happen. It was the same as the "preciptious withdrawl" from Iraq, we just don't know what will happen when we leave, we don't know if it will be precipitious but we can't do it, we just can't. And here, with the Bailout, we have to, we can't question it or think about it or try and get the best deal possible for all of the worthless securities and mortgages and who knows what else we're going to purchase. Hell, we bought the largest insurance company in the nation, now what? Do premiums become cheaper now?

Maybe we should privatize healthcare like McPalin, because they'll run it into the ground and then the government will have to buy it up and then voila, we've got socialized health care.

We are now privatizing profits and socializing losses. Capitalism has lost, just a mere 18 years after Communism lost. Maybe there is something to that evil socialism thing...

p.s. That 2,333 dollars is the per person cost for the Bailout...enjoy! :)

The Bay Area

2008-09-20T17:20:00.000+02:00

This is my second time to the Bay Area this year, the first time in March and I'll be here one more time in December. I have grown to love this area, even though the Giants and 49ers are here. It is a big city with a West Coast feel, good Mexican food, hell good all kinds of food, last night I had an amazing burger with guacamole and jalapenos, it was delicious.

We're going to do dinner at my mom's cousin's place tonight, David and Carole with whom I stayed in March. David can cook like a madman and I'm looking forward to it.

It's a bit strange but last night was the first night in 2 months that Franziska and I didn't spend together. We have spent essentially every moment of every day together that whole time and we haven't gotten sick of each other... that's a pretty good sign, eh?

Anyhoo, I'll be back in Germany in one week and you'll start getting more blog posts with more photos from the trip, including some stuff from the Monterrey Bay Aquarium.

On a side note, since when did the government start using taxpayer money to buy up hundreds of billions of dollars worth of bad debt? Were "the People" conferred with at all? I guess this would be the last statement on the success of a "free market"...

Another video along the road in a village in Guatemala

2008-09-16T17:55:00.000+02:00

Sunset at Monterrico at the overpriced dinner

2008-09-15T04:57:00.000+02:00

Me and a volcano on Lake Atitlan

2008-09-15T04:52:00.000+02:00

Natural Beauty at Semuc Champey

2008-09-15T04:51:00.000+02:00

Swimming in a natural pool in Semuc Champey

2008-09-15T04:49:00.000+02:00

About to get bit by a mosquito in Lanquin, Guatemala

2008-09-15T04:47:00.000+02:00

Sunset on the day we saw the sunrise in Flores

2008-09-15T04:45:00.000+02:00

Sunrise at Tikal with birds and howler monkeys

2008-09-15T04:39:00.001+02:00

Temple 5 at Tikal...

2008-09-15T04:37:00.001+02:00

An amazing fish soup that came out poorly

2008-09-15T04:36:00.000+02:00

Our view from the hostel in Rio Dulce

2008-09-15T04:33:00.000+02:00

Sure, you can bring a chicken on the chicken bus...

2008-09-15T04:31:00.000+02:00

There are more than 15 people in that minivan

2008-09-15T04:29:00.000+02:00

San Juan Del Sur sunset

2008-09-15T04:25:00.000+02:00

The last day

2008-09-11T18:01:00.000+02:00

We have been bumming around Antigua the past 5 days, not doing much and it´s been great. However, I have been watching a lot of Fox News and man, does that channel have a fair and balanced problem? If you watch that channel for news, it is so clear that John McCain has to win the presidency or the world is doomed. Of course they do nothing in terms of actual reporting on the issues of the presidential candidates and just help blow up inconsequential things like "lipstick on a pig". I think it has contributed to me not feeling well the past few days.

Have another 2 weeks in California and then back to Old Europe, hope all ya´ll are well...

ps I got recognized in Tikal, Guatemala a couple of weeks ago. A guy walked up and said, excuse me are you jason brown? And I said yes and he said he also lived in Freiburg and was a member of couchsurfing... crazy, eh?

I went so you didn´t have to

2008-09-06T01:17:00.000+02:00

Just came back from 2 days at the ¨nicest of Guatemala´s Pacific coastal towns¨and you will be happy to know that I am saving you a trip.

It was 2 plus hours from Antigua and we arrived at a hotel we didn´t like but took it for 20 bux because it was right on the beach. Then we walked down the black sand beach over a mile to another place in the book that was infinitely nicer for 7 dollars more a night. The waves were monstrous and the undertow visible from the slant of the beach towards the water. We went back to our original hotel, lied about seeing someone we knew at another place down the beach and they gave us most of our money back and we laughed (as much as we could in the scorching humid heat) all the way back to our new hotel. It had a cute little pool and the best mosquito net of the trip, something not to be taken lightly at this point.

We could hear the waves crashing on the beach while sleeping but unfortunately it was just too dangerous to go in and there wasn´t another soul more or less on the entire beach. Our hotel didn´t have dinner so we had to go to the nice hotel next door. It was expensive and we had cheeseburgers for two straight meals. I wasn´t feeling well so I didn´t even eat dinner last night and a serious crazy storm whipped up last night and woke us up and I had to close the blinds more to keep some of the wind out. Woke up with about 20 new little bites, probably from an ant, all around my stomach. It rained and rained all morning and poured on the drive back to Antigua.

Tomorrow we check into the nice timeshare for our last 5 days here in Central America. I ready for civilization again, and looking forward to normal food! hahah

Lake Atitlan

2008-08-30T04:00:00.000+02:00

well, we have made it to one of our last destinations of this epic journey, bringing a trail of dust, bug bites and diarrehea with us.

Semuc Champey, the end of the world in the middle of Guatemala was something you do not forget easily. But wait, do I have to go back to Tikal and the Maya temples in northern Guatemala? We saw the sunrise sitting on the top of a Maya temple 70 meters in the air and had a great guide to show us these ruins that were at the height of power around 700AD.

We had 2 amazing sunsets in Flores drinking cheap beer on a small terrace on the lake and even saw a drunk local dive into the lake for our amusement. Thanks dude!

The long bus ride from Flores to Semuc Champey was 2 or 3 hours longer than they had promised but it was worth it. In the midst of a deep valley along a river was a small hostel with bungalows. The last 20 km of the road was steep and dirt and bumpy. 20km may not seem like a lot but I guess you have not been on so many slow bumpy roads like that in your life but the scenery was amazing, deep valley of lush greenery and corn and sheer limestone cliffs all competing for the fading sunlight.

There are some natural limestone pools for swimming, all the while the river is somehow flowing underneath the pools and you cannot see them. It was incredible.

Yesterday we got up at 6am, and from 7am to 6.30pm we were in private shuttles, paying a whopping 38 dollars each to get us there but in normal busses we would have needed at least 2 full days of travel to get there. We ended up choosing an overwhelmingly crappy hotel last night called Hospedaje Santa Elena which depressed us, us both having some food wanting to come out quickly and painfully, yeah!!! hahaha

We are in Panajachel, the biggest town on Lake Atitlan. Tomorrow we are going to the village of San Pedro. We bought 100 dollars worth of souvenirs today after some bargaining but I do not want to say what they were because some of them are for my folks and I know some of you would tell them!

Less than 2 weeks left in this 6 week trip, aching for some normalcy soon but I know it will come soon enough. Cheers yall!

I slept!

2008-08-24T22:57:00.000+02:00

Yep, still sweating but at least I got some sleep last night, had not had a good night of sleep in 2 weeks. We stayed on a Finca, like a working ranch and had a pretty good dinner and were asleep by 10pm. The reason we were there is because we were unable to get money in Livingston as I said and so we took off.

The boat to take us back to Rio Dulce did not work for a half hour and so we drifted in the waters between the river and the Caribbean. We got back to Rio Dulce around 3pm, finally were able to get money so I took money out twice and then took a bus 2 hours to the Finca. Along the way we saw a turned over semi that was burned out and still smoking a bit.

Shit is expensive here in Guatemala. The dinner was 8 bucks last night, twice was the dorm bed cost. True, the dorm bed was inexpensive but it has been a bit of sticker shock here so far.

We are taking a bus at 5am tomorrow to go to Tikal, some famous Maya ruins. Then we will have about 2 plus weeks to check out southern Guatemala.

Stay strong folks and be glad that the fear of diarrehea is not your first thought when deciding which food to order from the menu!

Sweat

2008-08-23T20:05:00.000+02:00

well, we tried to like livingston but it is just sweat and lack of money. my atm card doesnt work in the only atm in the whole town and you cant get a cash advance anywhere so we are leaving one day after arriving. we have seen some interesting stuff the past couple of days, slept in a bungalow on the river Ducle 2 nights ago and in a bungalow loft last night, sweating deliriously through attempts at sleep. I will give a more proper account of what has been going on in 2 or 3 days, but i promise you, stuff has been happening!

Oscar Wilde forgot a 3rd great tragedy

2008-08-20T01:19:00.000+02:00

His famous quote: There are 2 great tragedies in life, not getting what you want, and getting what you want. He may have forgotten a 3rd one that I experienced this morning in the most likely overrated town of Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras: Paying for what you want and not getting it.

Had a rough night of sleep, the little lady hasn't been feeling too well, don't think it's eboli but we're gonna wait it out. Point is, we desperately needed a hot shower this morning (me much more than her) and when I went to turn it on...it didn't work. I asked the unhelpful guy working about it, he turned a switch and it didn't work. I told him that since the hot water didn't work, we were gonna need some of our money back, seeing as that we paid for the more expensive room because of the hot water. His feeble retort was that we had used the television and fan, two other perks for pay 33% more for a room. I told him that that was all well and good and we could negotiate a different price than what I was asking but we were now asking ourselves why we had paid more for something we weren't getting. He said he didn't have any money. And that, more or less, even without an apology, was it. I told him again as we were leaving that I know it wasn't his fault but maybe next time they might want to have some money to have on hand because now, when I'm back from this trip, I'll go back to the same travel sites that I went to to get information and let them know not to stay there. It's unfortunate but that's how the world works.

Anyway, we're back in a place more to our liking, though I'm not a big fan of our hotel. We've planned to stay one night and then change to the much hipper and only 50% more expensive place. We had lunch there today and it was pretty damn good. Fresh food seems to taste better than I remember.

Tomorrow, we're going to visit Copan Ruins, one of the main reasons I planned a trip to Central America. We're gonna go early so as to avoid the heavy rains we're experiencing right now.

ciao and my next communique will be from Guatemala!

Sore

2008-08-17T03:12:00.000+02:00

Yesterday Franziska and I went on a 4 hour guided hike up around a crater of a former volcano and down to the green laguna below. It kicked our ass. My legs are sore as hell but it was a nice little adventure. Our guide, Jose, had a machete with him the whole time and even pointed out a small snake as we went by and another animal like a squirrel in a tree. You shouldn´t forget that the hike was around 5 to 6,000 feet so we were pretty winded. Franziska also has a nice bruise on her right thigh that I said looked like a nebula and a little chunk off the palm of her right hand. At times, we were literally walking on the edge of the crater with a sheer drop on one side.

We had planned on going to Suchitoto tomorrow but we started changing our mind, either to go up north into Honduras or first west to the capital of El Salvador and north to a town called La Palma to stay one night before heading up into Santa Rosa de Copan, just a couple of nights away from visiting our first Mayan (I think) ruins of the trip, Copan. After that it´s into Guatemala and the last 2.5 weeks of our crazy adventure.

We met a couple of surfers from Santa Cruz at the place last night and one of them is a park ranger at a state park near Santa Cruz where big 5,000 pound elephant seals come to mate and fight on the beach. We might have to check that out...

Alegria

2008-08-15T01:02:00.000+02:00

Wow, where should I start? Should it be crossing into Honduras yesterday and as soon as all 23 of us were in the minibus, the police stopped us and made all of us get out and even frisked a few of us, us being all locals and an Australian couple and us. We descended from the hills and made it again into the lowlands, to a place I´m free to call a shithole called Choluteca, Honduras. Now I´m sure there are worthwhile things there (like the small turtle pond by the colonial church) but we checked it out yesterday and it was not to our liking. At night we actually ordered pizza hut and watched a little TV until a gigantic storm blew out the electricity.

This storm, while somewhat normal in Honduras possibly, was the biggest of my life. It lasted over 2 hours of constant pouring and seriously, it was nothing but lightning every few seconds and sometimes thunder, a very strange thing indeed. We swung in hammocks for a half hour and just sort of watched the occasional flashes of brilliance while drinking an Imperial beer.

We couldn´t sleep because of bugs (again) so we were up by 7, walked around the ¨colonial¨part for a bit, found the turtle pond and thought okay, that´s enough. We took a taxi to the station and then a bus to the border, took a motorcycle taxi across the border and then a bus that was blaring the movie 300 way too loud and then another minibus and then another bus before getting to Alegria. This small village, 5000 feet up in the mountains of El Salvador is our first favorite place of Central America. It´s quaint and colorful, there are photo opportunities and the people are nice. We are going on a hike to a crater with a lake in it tomorrow.

Two days ago we went on a hot ass hike to a waterfall that underwhelmed us. Now we are nice and relaxed. I had a real sweet tamale yesterday on the bus for about 20 cents and today I bought a semi cooked ear of corn for a quarter. It was delicious...

hotel america

2008-08-11T18:14:00.000+02:00

vepWe told 2 different people yesterday, a woman working at the pharmacy and the french husband of the nicaraguan woman who washed our clothes where we were staying and they both said, oh no, you´re not staying there, are you? It confirmed our suspicions...

We left Granada and went to Catarina, a small village with a great view over a lake and of granada and of lake nicaragua. However, the village didn´t have enough to hold our interest more than an hour or so so we waited for a bus for Masaya, a place we hadn´t planned on going to but, wanting to think that our trip is fluid and not rigid, we decided to check it out. We immediately got a good feeling of it, found an okay hotel for about 9 bucks a night with a bathroom and shower about 15 feet away and then went out to explore the town. It turned out that one afternoon was plenty there and, like many nights on this trip, we were chilling on the bed and reading at 9pm. This trip hasn´t quite aged us but we´re acting like old people! haha

So we took a microbus with 15 people in it (think soccer mom minibus and you get an idea how packed it was) 45 minutes to Managua and thank god left right away. It had the feeling of despair and dirt and shantytowns. We saw a little girl´s birthday party happening in a dirt parking lot. Luckily, this new microbus was nicer than the first for the 90 minute journey here to Leon. We got here yesterday, took a taxi with another guy from the bus, checked into our drab and old school and barely passable Hotel America and then went to explore the town.

Our first choice for lunch was closed so we chose a vegetarian restaurant that had interminably slow service and we made the mistake of ordering a falafel and a curry lunch in a nicaraguan restaurant. You do the math...

We walked around more, checked out a free museum of old school religious paintings and more modern Latin art and then called the folks for the first time on the trip, I took many pictures of faded doors, got some cream for the rashes on my arms (thanks ,Hotel Esfinge in Granada!) and then went back to the room, showered in cold water and then went and dropped off our clothes to be washed which, along with the movie we saw after that was the highlight of the day somehow.

This trip hasn´t quite been what I expected it would be and there is a certain, vaguely miserable feeling to sweating nonstop, questioning the cleanliness of everything you eat or sit on or drink from, and not sure if this street is safe or not but we are having a good time together and just getting through the trip seems to be enough of an accomplishment.

We decided to leave Leon today and we´re planning on going to Esteli for a night or two, we´re moving faster on this trip than I´d planned but I think we want to spend more time in Guatemala.

cheers!

12 cocktails costs how much?

2008-08-08T01:25:00.000+02:00

you know you are far from home when you can drink 12 cocktails: 1 pina colada, 2 strawberry daquiris, 2 mango and 1 peach daquiris, and 6 mojitos for 15 euros. it set our night off on a good track, for sure. Unfortunately the air conditioning didnt work and I literally sweated all last night and it was pretty disgusting but I want any and all to know that the sweating would have occurred regardless if I had had alcohol or not.

We went 10 dollars over budget last night but it was worth it.

Now we are in Granada, a "beautiful" colonial town that is packed with people doing nothing. Our hotel is across from the chaotic market and costs 15 bucks for a room with a private bath but it does have a fan that we will be using to great effect tonight. I have done nothing but sweat all day.

It took us 2.5 hours and 2 buses to go from San Juan to Granada and cost a total of $4.50 for the both of us. We´re going to the movies tomorrow night, to see Get Smart in English with Spanish subtitles. We might do a canopy tour tour, we might not.

I also stepped in a small drain in the sidewalk and hurt my leg but luckily didn´t break it. it is swollen and it took a half hour of walking to find ice but it´s gonna be okay...I think. See ya soon!

Now THAT was a border crossing

2008-08-06T04:44:00.000+02:00

We stayed in Liberia last night with a nice guy named Max who is a teacher at the university and relatively complicated syllabi for his courses, even using the word ¨constructivist¨ describing the method!

We were up at 7am and he gave us a ride to the bus station and we waited in line with others and then by 8.15am were on a bus headed for Nicaragua.

Now yesterday was pretty crazy, with a big rig parked across the highway in some kind of protest and we later had to change buses because a bridge was coming apart so we literally had to walk across the bridge with all of our things, me sweating up a storm and onto a new bus for the last couple of hours through heavy rain.

But today, we get to the border and I´m immediately reminded of my border crossing from Paraguay back into Argentina back in August 2006. You can find a description of it probably on my blog.

Anyway, we wait in a line, find out it´s not a line and so have to change and some guy wants a dollar a piece for the entry cards we have to fill out. I give them back to him and we wait. Luckily, there was a very nice young Nicaraguan woman named Carla waiting ahead of us and she helped us through the entire process that consisted of waiting in that line and getting the stamp, then walking a kilometer across to the other side where a guy at a small wooden table is checking passports again, then into another line to get a stamp and paying 7 dollars, all the while with people wanting to selling us sweets or overpriced taxi rides or who knows what but she gave us the confidence to say no to all of them and then we had to pay another dollar to pass through some little gate where a guy is yelling that the bus is leaving, now 5 or 6 guys are standing around us wanting to whisk us away to San Juan del Sur but we decided to take the bus with her and then we would have to change in La Virgen.

Oh yeah, I forgot the whole point of this post! We literally crossed through a chain link fence that was broken open and Carla now said, ´Now you´re in Nicaragua¨. I couldn´t believe it! She was on her way home for 1 night to bring money home to her parents in Rivas. I told Franziska that it´s amazing in this part of the world people give money to their parents when usually it is the other way around for us.

We took the bus about a half hour, complete with a young boy of 8 or 9 with cross eyes walking through the bus asking for money and then suddenly we had to get out and wait for a connection but instead of waiting up to a half hour for the 50 cent ride, we paid a taxi 5 dollars for a direct ride to the town. We arrived, rejected the first room we saw because it was dark and depressing and opened up into the kitchen and communal bathroom area and then decided on a hotel around the corner which costs 24 bucks.

It started raining at that moment, around noon and we ordered a large, 1 liter beer for a $1.50. Then a Norwegian girl came and we talked for awhile, then 2 Canadians and then 2 New Yorkers (though they are actually from boston and south carolina) and the 7 of us proceeded to catch a buzz in the early afternoon and then walked down to the beach for lunch. I had a steak with jalapeno sauce which was pretty good.

We went back to take a nap but I mostly just sweated and now it´s after 8pm and we´re going to get a bit to eat soon... now THAT was a border crossing...

Liberia

2008-08-04T19:35:00.000+02:00

I am curious how my lunch will feel as it digests. We are the bus stop and have another 90 minutes to kill before our bus to Liberia. The first 3 days of our trip have been fantastic, staying in a Marriot as a gift from my folks. I sure hope the lil lady doesnt get spoiled from that. Our 5 hour bus ride today costs about 5 bucks and hopefully we will be couchsurfing with our first host of the journey. There are very few couchsurfers in this part of the world, a mere 47 in Nicaragua on hospitality club when, in comparison, there are more than 1,200 in Freiburg alone!

San Jose is a chaotic place and only reminded us not to venture too often into the capitals. The most poverty and danger await there though we have felt safe to this point.

It has rained every day so far at least a little bit except for the first day but it is humid as hell but the travel companion has made it all worth it. I also realize that I am a jackass for not having improved my spanish before leaving on the trip, I can usually say what I want but it is an adventure trying to understand what they are saying to me! hahahah

anyway, next update will probably be from Nicaragua, adios!

shots

2008-07-30T18:17:00.000+02:00

i'm going to get the last immunization shots before my trip to central america today, not to mention an overdue dental check up. tomorrow will be our last day in the States for 6 weeks, an adventure is beginning.

We went to the pageant of the masters last night, an "tableau vivant" art exhibition with real people in famous paintings standing still so it looks like the original. It's been going on for 75 years now and is probably one of the oldest art exhibitions in the world (one of, I said).

Today Franziska will finally get a chance to see what my local dive bar looks like and hopefully meet some more of my friends before we take off.

How are you?

the dreams

2008-07-29T07:49:00.000+02:00

So, a bunch of little things have happened as of late.

Still getting up earlier than I want, 7am this morning. My buddy Gino Casino was here two nights ago and we went out with my buddy Roman to Boscoes and then to the Spectrum and saw Stepbrothers, the new Will Farrell movie. he took off yesterday for san diego.

Franziska was supposed to come in last night but she got delayed in Newark, oh yeah! hahaha but I went down to San Diego today to pick her up. We visited Old Town in San Diego, had some Mexican food and then got through some traffic and finally made it up to the OC.

We did a bit of shopping, went to dinner and then came home to chill out. We were just in the jacuzzi for a bit and are now chilling out watching "Girls Next Door".

Oh yeah, the reason for the blog post title is that we booked at least one night in Costa Rica on the beach in a place called Los Suenos which is spanish for the dreams....

4.32am

2008-07-26T13:32:00.000+02:00

You know, that kind of time usually means I had a pretty good night but in this case it's because I'm jetlagged.

All things considered, the trip from freiburg to california went pretty smooth. Of course the first flight left two hours late but with a bit of stress and some luck, I was able to make my connection in Chicago and then 4 hours after that I was waiting for my bags, getting some Mexican food and watching the Dodgers win a 3-2 ballgame, then went to bed around 11:30pm but found myself up at 2:30am and again now at 4am.

As usual, I have good problems...

Sorry, more politics

2008-07-23T12:34:00.000+02:00

This is a clear choice that the American people have. I had the courage and the judgment to say I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war. It seems to me that Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.
---- John McCain, yesterday

I was going to print a reaction to this but I'll just give you a couple of links that break it down:
http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/07/mccain_meltdown.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/superprick-by-digby-this-is-clear.html

The weekend with Maya

2008-07-22T15:46:00.000+02:00

Wow, what a great time with Maya this weekend! She was visiting from Norway and we were busy:

Thursdy night, hung out for a couple of hours after midnight after she arrived.

Friday night, met up with a bunch of friends and we got wild, with some of us still with drinks in our hands at 4am.

Saturday night, went to a buddy's dj gig of electro music and were there until 2am.

Sunday we didn't do much because the weekend had been taking its toll and then...

Monday night we went to the Ben Harper show which was epic. I had a great time and the guy has some amazing energy.

How was your weekend?

I'm leaving in less than 3 days for the rest of the summer, woohoo!

A typical Thursday

2008-07-17T20:35:00.000+02:00

it wasn't.

I had to go to a meeting 45 minutes before class about money.

I sat in a cafe for my first class.

I talked about aliens possibly building the Egyptian pyramids in the second class.

I administered an exam in the third.

It started raining like all hell just minutes before my 4th class started and people were running for cover.

The last class of the day went about as normal.

I bought 18 euros worth of stuff at the market and ate some meat.

I have a long, stressful and rushed week and then I have 9 weeks off.

Executive Privilege

2008-07-16T20:03:00.000+02:00

The President apparently has invoked "executive privilege" to keep the Vice President's interview with FBI investigators shielded from public view. The interview was about his role in the leak of former undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame. The Vice President's former aide Scooter Libby was found guilty of 4 felonies. Bush commuted his sentence, somehow better than a pardon, though the 4 felonies remain. It was better because by commuting the sentence Scooter Libby was not allowed to testify before Congress so his secrets remained just that.

I'm listening to Donald Trump being interviewed by Howard Stern and they are talking about how Bush lied us into war. Stern just asked him:

"Would you put Osama bin Laden on The Apprentice?"
"Would you put Hitler on the show?"

Now they're talking about Paul McCartney's pre-nuptial that fell apart.

You see how easy it is to get sidetracked.

A modern handwritten letter nearly 5 years old

2008-07-15T21:03:00.000+02:00

(this became current again with Feith's and Sands' testimonies for the subcommittee of the House Judiciary, this about one of the leading Democrats, one of only 2-3 Democrats who were briefed about "enhanced interrogation techniques", wrote about what he saw and experienced. Think about that while reading this. This was a handwritten note)

http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/12/senator_rockefe.php

Senator Rockefeller's Hand-Written Letter to Vice President Cheney
July 17, 2003

Dear Mr. Vice President,

I am writing to reiterate my concern regarding the sensitive intelligence issues we discussed today with the DCI, DIRNSA, and Chairman Roberts and our House Intelligence Committee counterparts.

Clearly the activities we discussed raise profound oversight issues. As you know, I am neither a technician or an attorney. Given the security restrictions associated with this information, and my inability to consult staff or counsel on my own, I feel unable to fully evaluate, much less endorse these activities.

As I reflected on the meeting today, and the future we face, John Poindexter's TIA project sprung to mind, exacerbating my concern regarding the direction the Administration is moving with regard to security, technology, and surveiliance.

Without more information and the ability to draw on any independent legal or techical expertise, I simply cannot satisfy lingering concerns raised by the briefing we received.

I am retaining a copy of this letter in a sealed envelope in the secure spaces of the Senate Intelligence Committee to ensure that I have a record of this communication.
I appreciate your consideration of my views.

Most respectfully,

Jay Rockefeller

Douglas Feith

2008-07-15T16:53:00.000+02:00

The guy could be a war criminal who advocated going against the Geneva Conventions when it comes to enemy combatants. He's on www.cspan.org now testifying about his work. There's another guy on the panel who has written a book about how the Bush Administration and how torture came about. Feith is currently calling the guy a liar. This should be good. The opening statements of the witnesses is now and I have another hour I can watch/listen before my private lesson comes over.

Why can no one be held accountable? Some low level soldiers were convicted of torture and abuse the administration said it was just those bad apples but now it's clear that this was discussed in great detail by the most important people in the Bush Administration.

In 2 and a half weeks

2008-07-14T13:41:00.000+02:00

Franziska and I will be in Costa Rica.

I've been doing research the past weeks, slowly but surely and a route is beginning to develop. It looks like our 6-week trip to Central America will look something like this (while being totally open to change at all times)

week 1 - NW Costa Rican beach town (Playa del Coco?), and San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
week 2 - Ometepe Island and Granada
week 3 - Leon and Eastern El Salvador
week 4 - Gracias, Honduras and Copan ruins
week 5 - Rio Dulce and Tikal, Guatemala
week 6 - Huehuetenango and Antigua

There are plenty of openings and uncertainties along the way, namely:
*how will we get from Leon to Eastern El Salvador?
*should we fly from Flores (Tikal) to Guatemala or take a bus?
*which town should we spend the first days of the trip in?
*which national parks and natural reserves, volcanoes and Mayan ruins should we visit?
*where should we couchsurf and where should we get hotels?
*what is our budget?

Our budget has not been discussed yet but here's a basic idea:
42 days *** prices in dollars
transportation 400 (10bucks/day)
accomodation 850 (20 bucks/day)
food/drink 600 (15 bucks/day)
museums, etc. 450 (10 bucks/ day)
misc. 600 (15 bucks/day)
---------------
2900 dollars (70 bucks/day)

70 bucks/day as of today's exchange rate (thanks http://www.xe.com/) is: $1.58 = 1euro.

That means our projected budget is 45 euros/day as a couple. I'm sure that it can be done for less than that but you also see that I have made the budget as if we stay in a hotel/pension every night, and 15 bucks/day for miscellaneous, whether it be mosquito repellant, an extra bottle of wine, a nicer bus or room, probably won't be used every day but you never know. We will most likely spend a couple of hundred bucks on souvenirs as well.

The beautiful thing is that I already have all of that money for the trip sitting in my bank account. I won't have to go into debt to do it. That is a GREAT feeling. I'm going to try and rent out my room for the two months I'm gone but even if I have to pay the rent for those two months, I can afford it. That is a good feeling. I live a pretty low key lifestyle, with my crappy, hand-me-down television, old and beat up apartment and no car, but I'm totally okay with that. This is the sacrifice I make and now we see what I sacrifice it for.

1pm -- productive enough?

2008-07-14T13:02:00.000+02:00

I have gone jogging, showered and shaved, cleaned my room, organized my papers, boxed up some stuff, made a hotel reservation for my parents for November and now I'm listening to Howard Stern. Artie is telling his stories about being in Afghanistan doing a comedy show for the troops, some crazy stories to say the least.

This is my last full week in Germany until late September. There is still tons to do but I did "enough" today so I feel like that I can watch another episode of World at War, maybe take a nap and chill. I know, I got a tough life, but someone's gotta do it!

If I do anything else of interest today, I'll let ya know...

Be careful what you say to me

2008-07-09T23:44:00.000+02:00

...if you're in America, THEY might be listening now without going to a court first...

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/07/09/fisa_vote/index.html

goodbye to one part of the 4th Amendment

I am so disappointed in Obama...

McCain = Bush = ...

2008-07-08T13:31:00.000+02:00

McCain = Bush = trespassing ticket at public event?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lyaMrS0hzk&eurl=http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/

I guess you should watch the video before thinking too much about it but let me ask you this:

1)Bush is fundraising for McCain.
2)McCain wants to make Bush's tax cuts permanent.
3)McCain is the big surge backer.
4)They are in the same political party.
5)It was a public event.
6)Who is in charge here? A representative from the Secret Service made the guy in the white suit get a policeman to give a 60-year old librarian a trespassing ticket. Is there no accountability for who exactly made that decision.
7)Did McCain know about her being removed?
8)Was it his decision?
9)If he knew nothing about it, who decided she could not stay on public property?
10)How has McCain reacted to this?

That's a good start I guess... check out the video!

4th of july party for 38 seconds

2008-07-07T16:48:00.000+02:00

Making the most

2008-07-07T14:20:00.000+02:00

Man, the past 2+ weeks have been great. There was great football and then only mostly working on Wednesdays and Thursdays after some of the other classes' semesters had ended.

Take today for example... I woke up sometime around 9, went into the city with Franziska where I made copies of an exam I needed, I bought two new leather necklaces because the two I have now are getting old and I want them to be good for the trip. I also went to the ATM to try out a new bank card that I want to take to Central America. In fact, the last bank statement I got from them has turned into a "ticket to Central America" for me because as soon as it hit a certain amount, ~2700 euros, I knew that I officially had enough money to leave Freiburg for two months this summer. I got that about 6 months ago and it's been taped to desk so I would always see it and now it's in my box that is slowly overflowing with stuff going to California and Central America.

After doing those things, I came home and went jogging, took a shower and shaved and then went down to the supermarket with my roomie to get some things, namely apples, pudding, some schnitzel and egg noodles for dinner tonight.

It's now 2:28pm and I have the rest of the day free. I'm jamming out to some live Crowes from Philly from July 2nd and going to watch some more WWII documentary in a bit...

I guess you could say that I like my life here (again).

Sunday afternoon

2008-07-06T15:42:00.000+02:00

I woke up at 9:44am, Franziska still asleep for awhile, went and got some breakfast that we could have with some coffee and then graded some exams and chilled out for awhile.

Now it's 3:44pm and I'm listening to the Black Crowes playing Remedy from a mere 3 days ago. Franziska and I just had an interesting conversation about their music. At first she used the phrase "very mediocre" to describe their music and of course I couldn't let that sit there but in the end, it's okay, so we like different music, big deal. It's not like we're different religions or something...oh wait, nevermind.

The 4th of July party was a great time, about 7 Americans and their entourage took up two standard orange benches with a plastic American-themed tablecloth. We had ribs and fries and salad, there was some country and then some funk music with a dude getting down to the tunes.

One of my "friends" who shall remain nameless apparently did something which was quite foolish. As we were all getting ready to leave, he put some lighter fluid on one of the flags and tried to burn it. I didn't see all of this going down but just put it together afterward. It was a shocking moment for me and something that I totally disapprove of.

People are free to express themselves as they wish but within reason, right? I think I of anyone could make a case for being upset about many things happening in America and I could express many of them calmly and thoroughly but that kind of behavior is just straight up unacceptable.

So, Franziska has gone to a movie with her roomie, I think Fox and Oli will come over in a couple of hours to make dinner and then later the ole ball and chain will come back over... just kidding baby! hahahaah

Weekend and grading and ...

2008-07-03T20:15:00.000+02:00

quickly:

1)I've downloaded the first two shows of the Crowes new tour, from 6/28 and 29 from Hampton Beach. A new sound for them, not ideal but I'm digging it.

2)The weekend is here baby, 8:16pm on Thursday! Next class is 8am on Tuesday!

3)The exams came a week early but that's good! About 50 exams to grade from this school is one of the last 10 BIG things I MUST DO BEFORE LEAVING FOR CENTRAL AMERICA... I'll fill you in on the list later after I eat some chili con carne.

1/2

2008-07-01T14:18:00.000+02:00

2008 is half over. What are you doing with your lives? Seriously, a half of a year is gone and what do we have to show for it? I had one measley photo exhibition in Romania, have done no writing virtually with the exception of journaling, and have done some travelling. Ok, well, maybe more than a little but... And I do have a new girlfriend, that is definitely something. I have a new job (a private company that signed up for 6 weeks at 40euros/hour).

But what, really? In a way, I totally wasted the first half of 2008. In other ways, not at all. If I had no artistic inclinations, I think I would feel even more satisfied about my life but there is this constant quiet nagging (no, not the girlfriend, haha) saying to me things like:

*hey dude, why aren't working on "A Humorous Guide to Leaving the Country"?

*hey dude, why don't you finish "Selling to the Norwegians"?

*hey dude, when are you going to get all your negatives organized and make a portfolio?

*hey dude, when are you going to try and send some of your photos in to be published in magazines?

*hey dude, why aren't you taking pictures of Freiburg and the area in order to practice technique?

Those are just some of the questions that keep coming into my head but here we are, 2:26pm on a Tuesday and I have the rest of the day off, here's what I want to do:

*watch some WWII documentary
*drink something with ice cubes in it
*have dinner with my girlfriend
*go to bed at a reasonble hour because I have to get up early tomorrow

But hey, I enjoy this moment, it's necessary, I need the downtime because often I'm on the go A LOT and it's nice to being here and relaxing. God knows this summer I'll be on the go enough...

June 28, 1998

2008-06-30T15:47:00.000+02:00

10 years ago today...

So on http://www.blackcrowes.com/ they have an online radio. And today they put on the show from exactly 10 years ago today. That was a very strange time for the Black Crowes and their fans. After a hiatus of a year and losing their lead guitarist and bass player, the summer of 1998 was filled with hope and uncertainty. They started their tour with the new guys a week before this show and because of the internet really starting to catch on in summer of 1998 (for me, at least), I was able to find out almost every day what the setlist the night before or 2 nights before had been. This was a wondrous thing for me because in the mid-90s the only way for me to find out what setlists were being played on a tour, it would come from me collecting tapes and seeing what was written on the tape and thinking wow, so this was the setlist for the show in say, San Antonio in early May 1995. Now of course people at the concert send text messages to people at home who post onto the internet what the current freaking song is!

And this is my point a bit. 10 years ago today. I was just starting to use the Internet more often, going into chat rooms and finding tour dates of bands and ebay. It was at the beginning of the nadir of the internet boom of the late 90s. Think of how things have changed in 10 years. 10 years ago I was amazed at the idea of someone putting up the setlist onto some website thingy that i could access from my desk at home in my boxers. Now I'm not amazed at the idea of people sending text messages while they're IN the concert still and before people even get to their cars in the parking lot, me, on the other side of the world now, if I'm still up, can find out what the setlist was. I can wake up tomorrow morning at 7pm and look at the stats of the just finishing Dodger game.

I have flown across the Atlantic about 20 times since then. I've written 4 books, had a fashion show, a music festival and photo exhibitions in 5 countries. Half of this time I have lived in Germany. That in and of itself is insane to think about. There is no way that I could have predicted in the summer of 1998 that I would ever live in Europe. In fact, that summer is memorable also because it was that fall that I moved to West LA where I lived for about 18 months. That year had an enormous impact on my life. Really, it is the last 10 years that have have the greatest impact on my entire life. I have become an adult, albeit immature and barely responsible, in this time. I have travelled the most, experienced the most, learned the most, more than I ever learned in the ages 14-24 in school. I have really learned things, like how to open a bank account in German, how to get a permanent residence permit in another country, another language, a new job that is good work for my lifestyle.

I have lived in 6 places since then (LA, OC, Toronto, PA, 2 places in Freiburg). I have made a lot of new friends but the old friendships are still strong, you know who you are, Clog, Roman, Moondog, Borrevik, and of course others but you know that distance cannot penetrate our friendships completely. I'm glad to know that all of our lives are continuing and growing.

My parents moved 6 years ago and it was probably one of the smartest things they ever did themselves and their marriage. They could barely afford it and it just skyrocketed in value right after purchasing it, and they have put a lot of money into it, buidling a huge terasse and now I hear a freakin' waterfall somewhere next to the horseshoe pit I have yet to see as well. That house has become party central and my parents have built a 5-star resort in their backyard, I couldn't be happier for them. My parents are still healthy, thank god, my mom has a bout of cancer 2.5 years ago but she beat it back and they're doing great. And from this distance, it makes me feel so lucky because I can still afford to be so far away from my folks, they are both lively and fun people, in their prime of their lives.

So a lot has changed in these 10 years and basically most of it for the positive. The rest can be chalked up to growing up. Now the song "Wiser Time" is on, and the lyric that defines a lot of can be summed up: "you ask why another road song, funny but I bet you never left home, on a good day, it's not every day, we can part the sea, on a bad day, it's not every day, glory just beyond our reach".

Indeed...

ps The Black Crowes more or less officially opened their 2008 summer tour with two shows near Boston. In the 2-hour shows, only one song was repeated and it happens to be their single on some radio stations. It's called "Wounded Bird" but the cool this is that it was the first song one one night and the last song on the other...

Quintessential Summer

2008-06-29T14:44:00.000+02:00

I'm sitting in a darkened room with a fan on...

There is an amazingly beautiful day outside, probably a little hot actually and in 6 hours is the Euro Cup finale with Germany and Spain. It's going to be wild to say the least.

Yesterday was an interesting day. I helped a friend move for a couple hours and then cleaned up and went to another friend's little afternoon garden party. There were about 8 of us drinking a few beers, eating some good barbecue food and chatting about everything and nothing. I stayed there until about 7pm and then some of the other guests walked with me into the city and then we enjoyed the weather, sitting and having a beer in 3-4 public places last night. We also got to see 10 minutes of a concert in a church with a violinist, and a cello player and I couldn't see the other guy but it was transcendant music and put me in one of those moments where you know that you are in Europe, something that is so foreign to most people back home, sitting and drinking beer in a small square with a church and then just happening to have small concerts that night for about 5 bucks but they let us in to watch the end of it, then we went to the main outdoor chilling area in the city and were with about 200 other people sitting on steps or cobblestones and just chilling and drinking and talking and more friends joined us and we got talked into going to a club and then were sitting on a couch on a small balcony overlooking the even smaller dancefloor, enjoying the vibration of "wrong song played" to "this is the right song to play", deciding all of this based on how much the people danced to it.

There were also a huge wine festival in one corner of the old town and there thousands of extra people in the city, also at the main church, people eating and drinking and having a great time last night, the night before this huge football game.

We're still up in the air about going to Rome. I've been trying hard to find a host there and we have found one for Friday but not for Saturday or Sunday yet and for some reason this morning it discouraged me. The thing is, that little 4 day trip will easily cost me 200 euros and Chick F a hundy and we're about to go on a HUGE, and somewhat expensive trip for the WHOLE summer so maybe if we didn't spend 300 euros next weekend, and instead just went for the day or even one night across the rhein river to Alsace in France in a small, charming village and spent 100 euros total, ya know? Rome kicks ass (although I can't say I loved it the first time I was there) but it will be there next year too.

We'll see...I haven't seen Chick F for 9 days and she just got into town about 9:30am and has been sleeping the past couple of hours. I'm looking forward to seeing her and we're planning on watching the game together.

Ciao, people!

Weekend baby

2008-06-26T21:45:00.000+02:00

Germany won an amazing game last night, 3-2 against Turkey. It was emotional and wild and I was safely in bed by 1am and up before 9am. I taught 5 classes today and did a pretty damn good job if I say so myself (but not great of course):
*a class about travelling, sitting and drinking a coffee and getting paid
*two presentations, one about hooligans and the other about third world economies
*two newspaper articles, one was "dear abby" and the other "dear dan savage" with risque questions about S&M and infidelity and his irreverent answers
*a presentation about Australia and then the students interviewed each other
*90 minutes of book work with students from mongolia, bulgaria, two from ukraine and china

I am now watching a bit of russia/spain football, about to open my second beer and listening to howard stern, so happy to have the next 4 days off.

I'm doing it

2008-06-24T13:42:00.002+02:00

I'm chilling in my room at 1:44pm on a Tuesday. I took a little nap from 10-11am, mailed mom's birthday package, had a nice little lunch and now I'm listening to Howard Stern live where it's 7:45am in New York City. It helps me keep connected to home somehow. They're laughing about an interview with Pacman Jones and the racism of Don Imus.

I got a call from my newest employer that said they cannot take me to the train station after class. This means that I will potentially have to sit outside the company for approximately 30 minutes waiting for the bus. My Mark Twain biography will keep me going but I hope the weather cooperates.

Now they're interviewing a pornstar named AJ Morgan, she's 21, she's made 6 movies, the first five were called AJ, the OC Slut about ORANGE COUNTY, California! haahhaahah, classic!

There's a bit of sunshine poking through now, I'm doing some research on Costa Rica and looking for a host for Rome.

I guess it's a normal Tuesday...

Dear Barack, who asked me for money...

2008-06-24T12:30:00.001+02:00

yeah, but why don't you oppose telecom immunity??? I'm a registered democrat but have no qualms about helping elect people who are NOT incumbents when those already in power think that giving telecoms a get out of jail card is the right thing to do. If I broke a law like they did, I would be looking at hard time. Sorry I can't contribute millions to your campaign, maybe I could...

Barack, please know that I support your candidacy. You are by far the right choice for this country between the 2-3 of you (you, mccain, and barr, etc) but that doesn't mean that I will blindly follow you. You alone can stop this FISA legislation. I live in germany but am reigstered to vote in California.

good luck and as they say in Germany, "I've got my thumbs pressed for you".

cheers
Jason
p.s. This is what I just wrote back to a fundraising email...

travel update (part 2)

2008-06-23T17:48:00.003+02:00

Rome is up in the air. We've paid 200euros for the tix and it's a friday to monday trip. We're going to Central America in 5 weeks and finances and time are becoming factors. I may try and exchange the tix for a trip to Hamburg in early October and to Barcelona in November if those dates become on sale before the 4th of July. We could still very well go. You might find us in Rome in 11 days, who knows? I'll keep ya updated.

I moved a washing machine from the 4th floor or one building and was planning on bringing it up to the 4th floor of my building but it fell on the neighbor's toe as we lifted it onto the first step! We set it off to the side and will try again tomorrow. Props to Gregg for helping me bring that little beast down.

Gregg and I witnessed a few minutes of intense rain/hail as we got the washing machine into my building, it was impressive.

18/19/20

2008-06-23T11:47:00.003+02:00

I've just recently spent about 350 dollars on concert tickets. I have 1 ticket for the Dec 18th, 4 for the 19th and 2 for the 20th of December at the Fillmore in San Francisco to see the Black Crowes. These will be their last 3 shows of the year and should prove epic. I'm super excited about it, I have not seen 3 Crowes' shows back to back to back since May 2001 when I saw May 12, 14 and 15 in Santa Barbara and LA with Oasis.

Woohoo!

travel update

2008-06-22T13:31:00.001+02:00

12 days until Rome
33 days until LA/San Diego
40 days until Costa Rica
88 days until San Francisco
145 days until Barcelona
173 days until California (again)

a video from Romania

2008-06-22T12:47:00.002+02:00

Why I'm a homebody (at times)

2008-06-22T12:28:00.002+02:00

It's a beautiful Sunday lunchtime, first sunday of summer, there are probably millions of people in all directions of me planning on taking serious advantage of the weather. I'm happy for them, I really am. But it's too hot. I don't mean, it's too hot number-wise. I meant it's too hot not to have some air-conditioning and chilled and darkened rooms at times. People are here don't get that, that I don't need the sun everytime it's there. There's like some irrational belief that Germans don't know if the sun will come out again for sure so they take advantage. After growing up in southern California, it's clear to me that the sun will most definitely be there tomorrow. Like death and taxes, baby, ya know what I'm saying?

But that's not why I'm a homebody. This is why...

In a little less than 5 weeks, I'm going to be leaving Freiburg for 9 weeks. True, I will have about 2 of those weeks at my parents' place in southern California and that is awesome and it's home. But, 6 of those weeks will be spent in Central America, constantly away from home, in motion, with nothing but what I carry on my back and my lady will be with me. We'll be taking buses with chickens, defecating in the occasional uber-disgusting bathroom and being on edge often in a pre-emptive sense of being extra aware of our surroundings because of where we are. I don't expect it to be too dangerous for us but they are 3rd world countries. For that whole time, we'll be lowering our standards, having moments of doubt after having made a decision, in a language that I speak ok and she doesn't really speak but she understands some. This is not going to be a vacation, friends.

I do this for experience, to take photographs, to mix with other cultures and languages, eat strange foods and try to have a good time no matter where I am in the world. There will be very little relaxing as a vacation would be. This is straight up adventure and intensity. I can't stress that enough. I'm not telling you to feel sorry for me, I just don't want you to think that I'm particularly relaxed when I first come back from a 6-week "adventure". It's harder than staying at home. Staying at home and working is way easier than my vacations. Maybe that's why I go away so often, from Freiburg because at times it feels like vacation here.

The point is, I'm not gonna have my bed, my desk and shower and afternoon breeze and views and lifestyle for over 2 months. I'm going to have language school students stay in my room the two months I'm gone. I'm sure I will miss this.

Do you get it? I'm somewhere now that I know I will miss in 5 weeks. It's a nice day. Big deal, I'll have this in the 3 weeks in california. But my apartment, which is too hot and without air conditioning or a dishwasher, a small leak in the roof of the kitchen, a super loud street on one side and it's on the 4th floor with no elevator and it's not completely level somehow, I love this place. It's my home, no matter how cheap it is. It's great. So here I am, at my desk at 12:42pm on a beautiful Sunday, thinking about darkening the room, putting the fan almost directly on me and watching a movie of no consequence. Can ya dig?

Germany won and America is losing

2008-06-20T17:05:00.002+02:00

Germany won an exciting game against Portugal in the quarter finals of the Euro Cup, 3-2. The old town was rocking last night, loud music and drunk people and flags and german colors everywhere...

Today Scott McClellan, Bush's former press secretary, is testifying in front of the House Judiciary Committee but my excitement for it has wained.

Why?

Well, after 30 minutes it was stopped for a House vote. They're debating the FISA, foreign surveillance and they are going to give the telecommunications companies retroactive immunity for warrantless eavesdropping for years after 9/11. It's a sad day in that respect, especially as an American living overseas who is automatically a suspect because I'm calling from outside the US. My family and friends can be listened to because I'm calling from overseas. I feel free.

Senate Armed Services Committee

2008-06-17T19:17:00.002+02:00

Man is my life different than 5 years ago. Here I am on a Tuesday at 7.17pm watching a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on detainee interrogation. I'm now watching Senator Pryor ask questions of Lt. Col. Diane Beaver and her October 2002 legal opinion with regard to certain torture techniques she said were legal and how suddenly her mid-level bureaucratic legal brief is used as official US policy in possibly breaking two federal treaties including the Geneva Conventions, torturing suspects.

How is my life different now? Because I know about that shit now, that I'm interested in it and I'm watching it online as my free time.

twice

2008-06-15T19:20:00.002+02:00

I have been wanting to put The Tyde's second album "Twice" on my mp3 player for ages and finally did it today. There are some great moments in its brit pop-meets-beach boys grooves and melodies...

I finished grading the last of 51 exams. Of course I'll have to do another 45 and another 17 before the semester is over but that batch was one of the biggest obstacles between me and Central America. That was a good feeling.

I'm going to see some of my mom's friends with whom she volunteers. They're going to be in Staufen and we're planning on doing dinner with them and then there is the HUGE Germany/Austria game in the Euro Cup. Man oh man, is that gonna be a barn burner!

I haven't decided how yet but I'm going to be productive this week...

and my nephew is getting baptized today, good for you Jake!

Something good happened yesterday

2008-06-13T16:50:00.002+02:00

Apparently the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, said that Article 7 of the Military Commissions Act was unconstitutional. Detainees held in Guantanamo Bay and in Iraq and Afghanistan cannot be held without the right of habeas corpus. This has been a cornerstone of Western legal practice since John at Runnymeade and the Magna Carta in 1215. The Supreme Court did its job as the 3rd branch of government to say that a law enacted was unconstitutional.

Having the right to stand before a judge and be told your suspected crimes and then be appointed a lawyer (and translator) by the court is something generations of Americans have taken for granted. That basic aspect of civil liberty was restored yesterday in what is being called "a stinging rebuke" for the Bush Administration...

Getting their ass kicked

2008-06-13T16:04:00.002+02:00

Germany looked sorry last night in their EuroCup match against Croatia. They looked jetlagged, totally out of sorts but they're still in it going into their last game against host Austria in game that now means something even more after Austria tied Poland 1-1 last night. If Germany wins, they move onto the second round. If they tie Austria and then Croatia wins or ties Poland, they move on. If they tie and Poland wins, they will both have 4 points in second place. Then it is determined by goals. Right now Germany has 3 goals and Poland has 1. In this last scenario, Germany can still move onto the second round if they tie and Poland beats Croatia by less than 2 goals. If it is exactly two goals, it might then be calculated as goals given up, I'm not sure.

It was raining cats and dogs after the game and we had to stand under the overhang of the beer garden for 20 minutes. Then to Walfisch and met two bands from America who were chillin out, I think they were called the Bones and Sick of it All.

I didn't sleep well last night. I was tired and hungover and out of it but chick F and I went down to Edeka and bought some stuff for breakfast and then we had a nice breakfast with my two roommates and funny discussions in German about diarreaha(sic) and smashing bugs. I didn't know that chicks would talk at length about stuff like that.

Then I graded 6 exams from my business English university down by the Swiss border. The grades in this group are not so good and I'm basically sure which group is which. It's frustrating grading these things because the handwriting is usually hurried and often I'm not totally sure what the person meant. Talk about some grammar problems, man! The school wants me to teach complicated stuff and they are making some pretty big mistakes, even some I told them not to make. Anyway, I got done the basic minimum work and now I'm chillin. Chick F is sitting next to me reading the first part of a 2000-page book called "The Man Without Qualities". Yes, I told her to skip paragraphs but she seems to be enjoying it. Different strokes, right?

One reason McCain ain't the guy

2008-06-10T17:05:00.003+02:00

I'm sure it will become clear that the only ways that Obama could lose the election in November would be:

1)there's a video of him sniffing coke off of a stripper's ass in the back of a limo while his wife is screaming out the window with a megaphone about the dangers of trusting "whitey".
2)there's another terrorist attack and people think that the Republicans are better on national security
3)Clinton undermines Obama somehow.

McCain may make this all redundant if he keeps saying stuff like "Vladimir Putin, the president of Germany" like he said in a speech a couple of days ago. Where do we start with this? Germany is one of our allies. He doesn't know that the leader of Germany is called a Chancellor and that is a woman named Angela Merkel. Putin is no longer even the president of Russia, he is the prime minister.

We do NOT need this kind of careless idiocy running the free world, what little Bush has left free in the past year...

normal life stuff

2008-06-09T19:10:00.003+02:00

I just did the dishes. I organized some papers and cleaned off my desk. I worked for some hours down in Loerrach today. I was tired this morning. I was a bit drunk last night after the Germany-Poland game. I wore my german flag-colored lei to work today and was quite popular on the train.

I'm listening to Howard Stern now. A good friend of mine, Oli, just bought plane tickets to go to California in December for a few weeks. He'll be spending Xmas at my folks' house.

It's almost dinner time but I'm tired and want to lie in bed. Romania and France are playing now in the Euro Soccer Championships.

What else do you wanna know? :)

Are you ready for some foooOOootballlLLlll???

2008-06-08T16:23:00.003+02:00

That's right folks, football is back with a vengeance.

Some of you may be asking me, jason, what the hell are you talking about? Quarterbacks and running backs haven't even reported to camp yet well guess what, I'm not talking 'bout THAT football...

The 2008 European Soccer Championships have begun, with Czech Republic and Portugal beating Switzerland and Turkey 1-0 and 2-0, respectively. Tonight, at 8.45pm, when most of the Federal Republic of Germany is watching a show called Tatort, Germany will be playing against Poland, a team that gave them a hell of a time 2 years ago in the World Cup. The weather appears to be holding up and this game is going to dictate how the next week of work is going to feel: either great, everything sliding by because Germany won or gloom and focus on schoolwork while waiting and dreading Thursday's game 2.

I'm going to be wearing my Deutschland shirt, a Germany sweat band and a german flag-colored lei. It's all part of my very pro-Germany weekennd after getting my work permit a few days ago.

The Daily Show on CNN is starting now, the 30 minutes of week I watch TV. Ciao!

and just like that

2008-06-05T21:42:00.003+02:00

I have a permanent residence permit for Germany.

It lasted about 800 days and now it's over.

I will supply supporting photo soon.

I'm going to count this chicken before it hatches

2008-06-04T14:43:00.002+02:00

It's been an interesting day.

I woke up with my alarm at 7.01am. Normally I wake up before it. I checked emails and was happy and hopeful and interested to see Barack Obama had secured enough delegates to secure the nomination for Democratic candidate for president. I showered, listening to my friend Oli on the radio. There was a "stranger", aka new couchsurfer, in the living room sleeping.

I was waiting for the 7.39am tram. It disappeared off the schedule and the next one, at 7.44am was shown. I had a two-sentence conversation with a stranger next to me about how strange that was. Then the tram came one minute later.

I was going to buy a croissant or something from the bakery but was shocked when the thing I wanted cost 1.40euro. I had expected 1.10. I took a pretezel for 55 cents. I know you think it's cheap of me but the pretzel served its purpose.

I taught a beginner class.

I rushed around the corner and "taught" two lawyers for an hour. We discussed the election and how Barack Obama had won the nomination. I tried to tell them how McCain has been making gaffe after gaffe (they had to learn the word) and that Clinton didn't even congratulate Obama in her speech. In a moment of passion, I used the word 'bullshit' in class. :)

I took a tram in misty rain to the station, saw another English teacher, a Scottish woman in her 50s at the station. She was going to Loerrach, where I was teaching the day before. We parted ways and I took a train 12 minutes, walked 2 minutes to a bus which took me 13 minutes to my stop, a roundabout in the middle of nowhere, green flat fields on the right and two different companies on the left in flat buildings. The roundabout had a name.

I walked in the directin of one of the low buildings and from the second floor I saw an old student waving at me. He was the one that had referred me for the job interview I was walking into. Up some steps, down a long corridor and now in the room of the boss who has a pink shirt and tie on the telephone. The interview starts, I'm sweating and speaking a mix of German and Badisch and they were speaking Badisch. I would say that about 15% of what was said I didn't understand. Hell, I met for 30 minutes with one of the managers of the companies and essentially convinced him to pay me 40euros for ever 60 minutes I'm at his company teaching. That is more than 60 dollars an hour! I signed them up (actually, I'll get the decision officially tomorrow but he seemed to think it would be yes and I think it's his decision) for 6 weeks of classes. Those 360euros are not needed but I'm happy to work for them.

I got a ride to the station, took a train back and then rode my bike in the mist and worked out for about 40 minutes and then rode my bike to the English department where I made some copies and saw two teacher-friends of mine. I guess we'll call them freachers from now on.

I rode my bike home and received two letters. One was from the bank that money was in it. The other was from... wait for it.....

The Auslaenderbehoerde. Now I know some of you have no idea what that is but I assure you it has been the bane of my exisitence for 26 months. They are otherwise known as the Foreign Authorities or some such agency to document the foreigners in the country, or, in this case, in the city. I called to verify what: please bring your passport, a photo and 150 euros meant. I've had some chain-tugging going on from them for quite some time so I wanted verificiation. I called the boss and he seemed to say that yes, you will get a Niederlassungerlaubnis tomorrow. Now I know some of you have no idea what that is but I assure you it has been the Holy Grail for me the past 26 months. It is within my grasp.

I am now listening to Howard Stern, eating lunch and happy as fuck. And tired.

Needles Highway

2008-06-01T21:08:00.003+02:00

I haven't really thought too much of the Needles Highway in nearly 8 years. It's in SW South Dakota, leading towards or away from Rapid City. I drove through there in June 2000 and that fall the road (not the experiences, really) made it into a book I wrote about Quebec Separatism called Using Toonies.

The reason I'm thinking about it is because I have two couchsurfers from South Dakota in my place now. Actually, they're both out enjoying the evening but the point is, they are from Rapid City and it made me want to list some places around there I visited. And I remembered Needles Highway. It's definitely in the middle of nowhere but it winds around some strange shapes on the landscape and there were buffalo and nearby was Mount Rushmore. It was a memorable time.

I'm going to let them read the passage about Needles Highway in the book.

Oh yeah, I was also at an art exhibition meeting at 10am this morning with artists from Germany, Iran, Japan and America. It was a very interesting time, and then I went to the gym by myself and sweat it out an hour while listening to bad pop music on the radio speakers and no one to talk to...

Jack Johnson's new album "Sleep Through the Static" is fantastic, by the way.

South Dakota

2008-05-31T21:02:00.002+02:00

So two couchsurfers from South Dakota should be showing up sometime soon. Chick F is on her way over and I think all of us with new roommate Eva are going down to the punk bar for dinner. I could cook but I think that that it's too late (ironically we will end up eating later because we'll have to order the food but).

I went to an English Department student body party last night with two other teachers from the university. There were also some students with us and we made a nice little party. I then went to an old roommate's birthday party on my way home and finally got home around 1.15am.

Tomorrow at 10am I have an artist meeting with other artists from iran, japan, germany and america for an international exhibition, should be interesting. Will go to the gym with Fox after that and then have the afternoon to chill and grade some homework.

I also put together my Romania photo album, it's not perfect but it's tangible and people can see it now if they like.

I'll fill ya in on more as details come... :)

The first 9 hours of today

2008-05-28T16:46:00.003+02:00

I woke up at 7am, my alarm going off. I normally wake up before it goes off but it was a tough way to start the day. Showered quickly after reading main news sites briefly (lakers win!) and then have some bread with butter and liverwurst, probably the first time in my life that i had that for breakfast (knowingly) and I almost never eat breakfast.

I left at 7.42, giving Chick F a kiss on her cheek as she slept on, took my bike to work. I missed my turn to the "bike highway" by the river and realized my mistake, turned back 10 meters and changed my mind again, taking a different route to work. I saw one of the students smoking a cigarette outside the building, something I've never seen at that job, and went upstairs and taught 4 people ranging in age from 35 to 65 about irregular past tense verbs and a little survey "what makes a good friend" where they have to rank different statements like "someone who listens to my problems" and "someone who has the same interests as you". That job went from 8am to 9.15am and then I went downstairs, rode my bike 30 meters to the corner and parked my bike. I'm wearing a golf t-shirt, army shorts and flipflops and walk into the most expensive law office in town.

I had a "full house" today from 9.30-10.30am, 5 lawyers, 2 of them partners and 3 associates and we read an article about an Italian guy who was detained upon arrival in America for 10 days for no known reason and would not be released even after pleas from one of Virginia's senators. Then we started going through different "values" like "power corrupts" and "everyone should receive free medical care when ill" and they have to agree or disagree with those statements. It was fascinating to see how they were able to parse these short statements. I had 5 lawyers breaking down 2-word sentences into 5 minutes of discussions of the implications of how the sentence was worded. We then spoke about the previous night's Germany-Belarus friendly soccer match, then about South Africa's chances of pulling it together enough for the World Cup in 2010.

I left at 10.30am and rode my bike in the "wrong" direction for 2-3 minutes to put some air in my tyres (haha, just kidding, tires. been teaching too much British English of late) but the combo bike/book store was gone. Some other foreigner working on taking the shit out of their said in bad German, "everything gone". No air for the tires.

I went to the English department to make copies. It took me about 20 minutes to get 260 copies made because the the machine was acting up. I saw a co-worker who was sporting a small shiner. Apparently he took a dive on his bike in front of the cops in the center of town at midnight on a Friday night and had to endure the ambulance coming and another cop car coming to make him do the breathalizer.

I then decided to spend more on coffee because I wanted to sit in one of the beach chairs a cafe had. There is 1euro coffee at one place in the old town but this other place it ended up costing 2euros. But the chair was great, I I read the paper for a bit, some of my new Mark Twain autobiography. I saw an old student riding by and he stopped for a coffee, we talked of ex-girlfriends and new girlfriends. He went to class.

Another class of mine came to meet for lunch. We couldn't eat where we wanted and had to go to the next restaurant where the service was horrific, the timing of the dishes could not have been worse with one guy finishing his lunch before anyone else got theirs, and then bade them farewell and rode my bike 10 minutes to the gym where I met a fellow english teacher. He hit it hard for an hour, talking about how drunk we were at my birthday party, vacation plans (he's doing Tuscany and back home for Thanksgiving) and sports.

I rode my bike home, went down to the cellar to try and throw some stuff away but couldn't bring myself to do it and ended up bringing a couple of things up.

That was more or less the first 9 hours of my day. I spent 37.50euros (including that month's gym membership) and earned 116 euros, fyi.

I'm leaving you with one of my favorite squares in Freiburg...

Liberal

2008-05-28T16:28:00.002+02:00

It's finally hit home to me. The former press sectary to Bush, Scott McClellan, has come out with a book chiding the media for being "too deferential" to the Bush Administration. How can it be called a liberal media when the Republican President's own ex-press secretary accuses the press of not being hard enough on the president? He went so far as to say that Bush propagandized the war and that Karl Rove and Scooter Libby at best "misled" him as to their involvement in former CIA agent Valerie Plame's outing in 2003.

And here's the point. I would guess that my parents and many people back home in Orange County would think that in some ways, the president hasn't been doing a good job or they "don't approve of the job he's doing." That doesn't make them liberal for feeling that way but that's how the debate has been framed. Many people are going to vote for John McCain who are absolutely disgusted by Bush's presidency. That doesn't make them liberals. Hell, you wouldn't know by watching the "liberal media", but McCain is attempting to become even more conservative (or at least in the lowest forms just pandering to various factions until after the election) than Bush ever was. But somehow speaking out against the president makes you a "liberal" and the way the word is said by some "conservatives" makes you think their mouthes had to take the trash out.

There are very many conservatives things about me. I think we should conserve our national parks. I think we should conserve our natural resources. I think we should conserve by avoiding a never-ending (or -winning) war that is bleeding the treasury dry through various shell companies but many of it ending up in wealthy suburbs of DC and LA and Riyadh and London and Tel Aviv. I think we should conserve government's influence on our day-to-day lives, weather it be regulating language on television/radio, decriminalizing marijuana, thereby allowing many DEA agents to work on more important people, like people flying planes of cocaine into America.

I think we should conserve ourselves. I am more or less a "free spender", a pretty good customer of spending money but I do not lose any of my money monthly to "interest" owed to various credit card companies, etc. I conserve my money in other ways.

Anyway, just because you disagree with what the president is doing, if you think he should be impeached, if you think he should be put on trial for possible war crimes, these things do not necessarily make you a liberal. I have become a "librul" not because I live in Europe. It's not because of the War (at least it wasn't). It was because I lived in Europe, and because of the War and most importantly, I started seeking out more information. This started big after I got back from South America 20 months ago, I started to want to know more what was happening in the world. The search for knowledge became a never-ending wormhole where at any minute you expect to see a small guy in the center of the earth pulling a bunch of levers. It's funny because while we'll "never know" "everything", that little guy pulling the levers probably won't be as far from the truth as we think...

Israel

2008-05-27T18:31:00.003+02:00

I would love to go to Israel. Maybe next year, who knows? I have relatives in Israel. I believe Israel has the right to exist. That said...

I just read a disturbing blog post about a guy named Finkelstein having been denied from entering Israel (for what would have been the 16th time) because of his anti-Israeli rhetoric. He wanted to visit some friends in the Occupied Territories.

People in America are detained from entering on the flimsiest of reasons. Professors who are invited from Switzerland to teach a semester at Notre Dame are denied from entry. A professor from Yale was denied tenure because of his occasional anti-Israeli rhetoric. We call it anti-Israeli rhetoric even when you advocate the forming of a Palestinian State. People in America are often more conservative in their views of Israel than the very people who live in Israel. The majority of people who live in Israel are for talking to Hamas. Even if they are a "terrorist organization", they are an elected governing body in "fair elections", the very thing that America demands of countries around the world even though the world has become demonstrably worse with our last major election (2000) when the Supreme Court and not the people who voted decided who would win. Imagine if Pakistan or Indonesia or Venezuela or Turkey had elections that were determined by those countries' Supreme Courts. We would have denounced them as unfair and undemocratic.

What's my point? Arguably the largest reason for terrorist activity in the world is because of the disputed Territories around Israel. I don't think Israel should negotiate with anyone from Palestine who doesn't first and foremost say that Israel have a right to exist. Of course they shouldn't. But at what point is Israel being unreasonable. It is surrounded by countries that hate them. That's okay, they still have the right to exist and flourish as they have for the past 60 years (congratulations by the way) but don't they want peace? Aren't they willing to give up some of their settlements for peace? I know, they have to negotiate with people who hate them, who despise them, even just as a matter of historical perspective, but when isn't negotiating or even "talks" not the wisest decision?

It's a frustrating venture and it is something most people in the world have an opinion about. By lopping off the most extreme opinions from both sides of the equation, I think you would find enough in the rich, green middle to encourage discussion. Israel has more to lose so they have to be careful. Palestine has nothing to lose and so they can afford to be reckless. What about the rest of us?

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/27/finkelstein/index.html

is the link to the article I read that made me think about this...

Antigua, baby!

2008-05-26T18:35:00.002+02:00

Yesterday I booked a timeshare for Chick F and I in Guatemala. It will be the last 5 days of our trip in Central America. I'm hoping it will be convenient to the old town of Antigua where the timeshare is located. We also plan to spend the first couple of nights in a nice hotel in Costa Rica. Assiyeah and I did the same in Lima, Peru two years ago and ending in a nice hotel was definitely the way for us to go. After some rough travelling and adventurous couchsurfing, having a resort to finish off the long journey sounds fantastic.

Today is my first 5 day work week in a long time. I'm sure you feel bad for me... Granted, I only have a 90-minute private lesson on Friday but still, after having barely worked for 2+ weeks, a full week is gonna kill me! hahhahaha

But it's all worth it because two months from today I will have my first full day of a two-month holiday and I can't wait. A week in SoCal and then 6 weeks in Central America and then another 2 weeks in California including a Black Crowes concert and San Francisco. It's going to be an epic summer.

My new roommate should move in tonight. I've already had one new roommate the past couple of months and she and I get along well and so I'm hoping this third one will add even more synergy to the group. I knew she would be the new roommate when she told me that she was originally from Bratislava, not a week after Chick F and I had returned from there. She even has family in the same neighborhood (Dubravka) of Bratislava where we stayed a couple of nights! I guess it was meant to be.

Lakers are up 2-1 in the series. A political pundit on Fox News jokingly referred to the assasination of Barack Obama. More than 8 billion dollars in contracts in Iraq cannot be accounted for. Sounds like same ol same ol to me...

34

2008-05-25T00:17:00.001+02:00

how did i spend my 34th birthday? Well, I was up and at the punk bar until 3am and woke up around 11.30am with a nice little hangover. Chick F and I spent most of the day in bed watching Friends and Two and a Half Men, ordered in Chinese, had some chocolate chip ice cream. I did more or less nothing and it was great.

Going to see the new Indiana Jones Sunday at 3pm.

I bought 4 tix to see the Black Crowes on September 17th in LA, got Row D which I'm stoked about.

I have three weeks in a row with a lot of work. It's going to kick my ass but it'll be good for me somehow...

29,748,971

2008-05-22T12:49:00.000+02:00

This website is the 29,748,971 most popular website on earth! According to http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/jasonconga.blogspot.com. Cool, right?

A day off but I worked

2008-05-22T12:43:00.002+02:00

I just had a private lesson from 11am to 12.30pm. He drove an hour to be here. He gave me 50euros. That money is going to buy 2-3 cases of beer, 2 bottles of liquor for the party tomorrow. I got a birthday party here tomorrow and you're invited.

Last night was the Champions League Finale. Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalty kicks. It was a pretty good game, actually and I watched it with Owen, Rebecca, Elisa (from from CA) and later Alex. I had pork filet in a dijon-mustard sauce with friends and salad and 5 beers and my bill was 15.50euros or about 24 bucks with tip. It doesn't seem so cheap in dollars but in Euros it's a good price.

Elisa and I had a beer at 11am yesterday. It was great.

Lakers won game 1 of their Western Conference Finals series against the Spurs.

Weekend!!!

Tuesday afternoon

2008-05-20T13:49:00.002+02:00

I was at a friend's birthday celebration last night. It was a mellow affair but a nice time. I left at the right time, about 5 beers in. I'm still recovering from Romania! hahah

A friend, Elisa is going to Freiburg today. It's unfortunate I have to work at 8am tomorrow but we're going to walk around and explore some of the city and then do dinner with Chick F. Tomorrow night should be more fun.

I know, not much of an update but it's better than nothing...

Romania in a nutshell

2008-05-18T20:45:00.001+02:00

Taking the bus to the airport, I got off and found myself across the street from the airport, which was a quarter of the size of a Home Depot. It took me and 4 other people about a minute for enough traffic to die down for us to run across the street. There's no crosswalk...

The beginning of my Romanian photo exhibition

2008-05-18T12:56:00.002+02:00

about 8.30pm in Sighisoara, Romania

Some kids who wanted to be in a photo

2008-05-18T12:51:00.002+02:00

A Pillow Fight in Freiburg

2008-05-18T12:26:00.002+02:00

my first ever video posting!

Some photos from Romania

2008-05-18T12:10:00.007+02:00

my first horse-drawn cart. Notice the castle in the background. I had been crawling around it's perimeter a half hour earlier...

Peles in Sinaia, the summer home of the first royal family.

Some kids in Apold, a small village of less than 1,000

one of a few "typical" Sighisoara streets in the Citadel

Where I slept for 2 nights in Sighisoara Citadel

Nesting

2008-05-18T11:30:00.003+02:00

It's 11.30am Sunday morning, breakfasted and sitting in quiet half darkness while a pretty nice day rages outside. I went to sleep around 3.30am and was up just before 10, wanted more sleep but that's how it was. I went down to the supermarket which to an American is more like a 7-11 on steroids. I had eggs and sausage and a bread roll and some canned fish in a mustard-dill sauce.

It's hard to describe how good it feels to be home. The trip was intense, mostly because there was so little downtime (though there was some but mostly it was spent in internet cafes), and by couchsurfing every night, it meant having to be "on" constantly. I can do it, but when you combine that with not getting enough sleep and not being as clean as you'd like, and eating foods that are mostly fried because some of the other stuff you aren't too sure about, having to keep your wits about you walking down a dirt road in a small village, feeling vaguely threatened but mostly be the foreignness of it all.

Brasov was a nice town, with beautiful surroundings and enough energy to give it some "umph". Sighisoara was small and antiquated and charming beyond belief and yet almost tearingly in need of repair but ironically, it's that lack of repair that gives a charm that should really just be a memory in this day and age. Sibiu was pretty with a huge main square with well-renovated buildings. It looked like Romania for tourists like my parents, at least in the center. Outside the main center it looked like regular Romania. And finally Cluj was fun. Cluj had lots of international young people running around there and plenty of cafe life and the such. It was definitely the largest of the 4 places. I met some great people on the trip, and some of the couchsurfers I met were Boti, Hans, Leonie, Julie, Monica, Isa, Christian, George, Brice, Solene, Szende, Elisa, Marius, Corina, David, Bogi. Crazy, right? These are people from Romania, Germany, America, China, and France. These are all people I MET while in Romania for 8 days. I'm sorry but in any other form of travelling (with the exception of a church retreat or gathering) will you get to know so many different kinds of people.

I'm going to watch a movie soon in my darkened room, hopefully nap a bit and take a memorable shower, call the folks, make some dinner, and then Chick F will be coming over. We haven't seen each other in 8 days and we've got a few things to say to each other. :) Don't have to work again until Wednesday at 8am. I could have stayed in Romania 3 more nights but I was done. I was tired and everything I had was dirty but it wasn't worth it to do laundry and I just needed to feel my nest to get recharge, ya know?