The Beginning

          A long day. A hundred and five degrees. A trio of angry people, not knowing what to expect, nevertheless not ignoring the fact they were in the middle of a strange land surrounded by motels and restaurants. Uncomfortably sitting in the car, the group viciously discussed the two options of where to stay for their stay.
          "How about the one across the street? It's close to food and its less expensive," papa asked.
Silence. "I think we should stay here because there's a jacuzzi and I'd like to go in it," mama finally said.
          "It's only 35 dollars more. Who cares at this point? I don't," he scoffed back. Why does this happen every time we go on vacation...
          Stumbling out of the suffocating car to look at our new headquarters, we entered the room. Equipped with two king beds, the luxury of air conditioning, and a big tv, the room was somewhat worth 135 a night. Along the wall of the beds was a mural of the desert painted with beautiful red, purple, and yellow brush strokes. I suddenly felt at ease, almost completely forgetting the past seven hour car ride from hell.
          "You know, I didn't drive all the way out here to watch a tv in a motel!" Papa yelled. My serenity was soon interrupted by rude remarks about the closing ceremony of The 2012 London Olympics.
          "What else is there to do Buzz? There's nothing out here! We're in the middle of nowhere!" my mother retorted. The last straw. Exhaustion was at its peak and I could not deal. Grabbing a room key and my headphones, I stormed out of the room, slammed the door and was greeted by a smothering hug of warm air from Mother Nature.
          Leaning on the door for support, I let my body acclimate to the dramatic change in temperature. Pulling my long cut bangs back and starting for the main strip of town, two young men darted right by me, heading straight for the pool. The older looked back as if something caught his attention, but I could not see what. They were wearing strange bathing suit bottoms, but my attention quickly shifted to wanting to get the hell out of dodge.
          Walking hastily down to the edge of the hotel's border along the main street, I turned left, walked to the nearest bench and sat down. The staggering heat made it impossible to go any further, and increased the anger inside of me. Blasting my iPod, The Shins rang in my ears, enticing me forget what occurred earlier that day.
          As street lights came on and it cooled off, I decided to walk back to the dreaded hotel room. The boys were not in the pool. Dang. Once I pushed the heavy door open, I saw the same scene I had left before; mom sitting infront of the television, and dad angrily sitting at the desk.
          "Can we eat now? It's almost eight," I pleaded.
Of course, I did not receive a response from either of them. They got up gathered their belongings and sauntered towards the door. We headed down to Wendy's, away from the main restaurants, and nothing came good out of that excursion either. Mom and I only agreed on one thing; go into the jacuzzi once back at the hotel room.
          While walking by the pool that had a blue tube slide and cheesy palm trees, I was praying no one would be swimming with my mom and I that night. And there was not.
Excitedly, I ran back into the room, threw on my black halter top and flower bottoms, put my hair into a loose bun, and encouraged mom to do the same. As soon as she was ready, we walked the short twenty feet to the small body of water, while papa sulked in the room.
          We had the whole pool and jacuzzi to ourselves. I was ecstatic. Naturally, I skipped right on over to the jacuzzi, and jumped in. Mom just slowly eased her way in. I decided to give her some advice.
          "Mom, we spent the whole summer in Europe doing whatever we wanted. Now, its papa's turn to have his vacation. I know you do not want to be here, but you're just going to have to suck it up for three days, okay?"
          "Okay, but he doesn't listen to anything I say...," she whined.
          "Whatever mom, just suck it up," I pushed. I'm good with tough love.
          All of a sudden, the sound of the gate slamming shut pierced the calm air. I turned to see who it was. The two boys. Crap, there goes my luck. They hopped right into the pool and swam for a few minutes. The next thing I knew, they were both climbing the stairs into the jacuzzi. Mom took advantage of the situation.
          "Is the pool water cold?" she questioned. In return, she was given two smiles. They immediately started talking in a foreign language that I could not detect right away.
          "Are you from France?" she asked again.
          "Yes, yes," the older replied.

Untitled

Chicago greeted us with big, open, warm arms. Catching up on sleep was the main focus of the three days before Lollapalooza. Day one consisted of humidity so high that it felt like water was in your lungs, along with 95+ degree weather. The Windy City was true to its name on day two though, bringing 100,000 fans extreme thunderstorms right through the park, causing the whole lot of us to evacuate. So, there we were, all trapped in underground parking garages, suffering in the smoldering heat from exhaust of cars while the sky turned green above us. Picture the Chicago skyline. Imagine the sky tuning from black to purple to a strange green color, then mass hysteria as the rain pours, lighting flashes, and wind howls. Hundreds of people ran in every direction escaping what looked like a tornado, almost taking each other out. Loads of fun. Day three was the best, hangin out with someone my age helped, although no dolphin riding took place because someone decided to pop it. Atleast I got to hangout with Borris the blue dolphin for a little bit...
But after the tiresome days, we slept and got ready to drive sixteen hours to Fort Collins, Colorado.
That was the best drive. Mom sat in the back the whole way, and didn't really say anything. It was so cool! Once we arrived at the Albers home, I came face to face with someone Ive known since I was born and been completely and utterly shocked at who I saw standing infront of me. Joesph Albers, the redneck who wishes he was. That's all I'm going to say about that.
The rest of our time in Colorado was well spent, taking day trips to the Rockies and attending more concerts held in the city's old town and man, it was very crowded. Too many people, some of which I ended up becoming friends with on my last night. A whole bunch of Jewish friends. They were all do nice, and they all really like to drink. Kinda scary.
I wrote to you from the desert in Moab, Utah. Tomorrow we head to Vegas. Lets just say I'm excited...you'll find out why...eventually.

Laters

Last days

People say a lot of different things. They speak a lot of different languages. They act in a lot of different ways. But somehow, we all can relate to one another. There is some unknown force that breaks down all the differences and barriers that make us unique to become similar and relatable to those we don't know.
Heading to the Tate Museum in London pushed me into this realization. While watching a live art performance, a young Frenchman approached me and started telling me about his father. His story was quite relatable; my dad also has a heart that never quits, who has the willpower of a hundred oxen. Another woman came to me soon after and told me about her cycling years and her 18 year old daughter. Each story had something I could relate to. I encountered something like this before, but I didn't know what to call it. Thank you Tate Mesuem for making me a deeper thinker🙌
The rest of that day was a mash of heat, Shakespeare, and lots n lots of people. The stagnant weather basically drove mom and I crazy, both of us were ready to kill each other. Carrying a bunch of luggage didn't help either. But the following day we caught a ride to Cambridge and went punting. Man oh man, it was hotter than Hades. With the occasional cow mooing in the picnic area between what seemed like thousands of Asians who didn't know how to punt, it was a good day.
The real shocker was what happened on Friday night. Waiting hours and hours for the Olympics to start was the highlight of the day! No. Midgin coming back to England two days after we left Norway?! Yes!! I thought I was literally never going to see her again. We all went bowling the next day (with LOTS of difficulty) and had Indian curry for Michelle's birthday. Big mistake. Too much spicy, not enough ginger.
Today's the last day, I'm sad, but happy; bittersweet. I'm going to miss this place, but hey! I still have to head to Chicago for another fun filled two weeks:)

Norway in a nutshell

Currently alive, looking forward to snuggling with my pillow, and somewhat happy I'm not traveling too much in the next 3 days. Flying over Norway was gorgeous. All I could see from my grimey window were the forests. Eveywhere. But once off the plane and onto the bus heading to Oslo, I realized my precious iPhone had a "No Service" icon. Mistake number 1. Mom freaked out; her's was deciding not to work either. So, twitching on the bus, I finally mustered up the courage to ask someone to use their phone (thank God they spoke English) so we could call Midgin. Once I recieved my orders, I calmed down a steaming Myriam who still could not believe we actually left the airport without calling Midgin and had to use someone else's phone to call her! Mistake number 2. Finally we made it to Oppegård, a small village twenty minutes outside of Oslo. We found out that we had to carry three bottles of wine, a backpack full of junk, and a suitcase packed to the rim UP to Midgin's place. Mistake number 3. The long uphill walk was well worth it though, because she has a spectacular view of the forest and open area in her backyard with wine and dinner waiting.You can see how happy we were be there ;)
I met up with my amazingly sweet friend Malin who I met last year when she did a foregin exchange program at SCHS. We went to dinner to meet our new friend Camila's family who has two sons. I was not sure what to expect, since the woman is a biological engineer and her husband is also an engineer. As soon as I walked around the porch and looked through the window, I saw an attractive, tall, twenty year old with blond hair and bright blue eyes. We had loads in common. Same music, same movies, same intrests, same humor. On top of it all he was brillant! And I just couldn't help keeping a stupid-love-struck grin on my face the entire night and well throughout the next day. But of course, the fool I am did nothing about it, said nothing about it, and never saw him again. And I'm sad about that.
Days were packed in Norway, using every possible moment to do something. All day. The sun doesn't go down until 12 then rises again at 3:30 am. They were long days consiting of;
A naked man
Pouring rain/soaking wet clothes
Vikings
More rain
Hedgehogs
An ice bar (they dress you up in special clothes)
Super sunny days
Lyst
Amazing food
Bruce Sprigsteen
Slugs. Huge slugs.
Seasides
Breaking Mom's toe
Aquatics
Midgin falling and nearly breaking her arm
Christmas stores
Running to catch busses and trains
Walking up hills
Supposed Swedish parties
Muttering "takk" after asking for directions
Pretending I'm 15
and wine

I love Norway. I'm going back there one day. The country is very expensive, but then again, it provides for its people. The people are good looking. Even the bad looking people are good looking.

Work, work, and more work

Yesterday and today have been two of the most "patience is a viture" kind of days. But also, they have been "good things come to those who wait" days.
After long trips to Marks and Spencer for food, without looking at any clothing (which I am in desprately need of), to plowing out every single teeny tiny weed in every teeny tiny crack in the front AND backyard AND side yard, to vaccuming the entire house, only to find its floors dirty ten minutes after finishing, I finally got something I wanted. Finishing The Alchemist was the high point of yesterday. The story about finding and reaching your destiny was eye opening and gave me the confidence to talk to one of the cutest guys I've seen thus far. He's french. I had butterflies. I'm running back to tourist information as soon as I land back in the UK next Wednesday. He'll teach me how to say OUI OUI! And, Mom gave in to buying me Fifty Shades Darker. Hehe, what did she expect me to do on the plane without anything good to read? Man oh man, I cannot wait to see what other good things I recieve in the next few days for my good manners!
Tomorrow we head off to Norway to visit cousin Miriam. Thank the lord almighty! I do not have a clue as to what I would do for the rest of the week. We haven't even packed our carry on (the only luggage we are bringing) so time to start at 9:45 pm just as the sun sets. Hopefully Mom finally learns on this excursion that you can't bring three outfits to last seven days. Til neste gang!

Countrysides, Quaysides, and Footpaths

We headed back to London to wrap up our last tour and to meet my second cousin Miriam. Instead of bringing a change of clothes (to my dismay), Mom and I brought one outfit to last us two days in the city. While George was visiting. I did not let him stop me from enjoying my time in the city.
We rode the tubes to the footpaths in Hyde Park and saw the vast expanse of green along with some of Yoko Ono's art gallery. After putting my wish on Ono's tree, Mom gushed that we MUST go to Harrod's and start shopping. What I didn't realize was that Harrod's was full of Gucci. Prada. Luis Vutton. On six different floors, along with other ridiculous overpriced foregin names. Once we finished our cheapest shopping spree ever (we bought zilch!) we headed over to one of the nicest places called Covet Garden to meet Miriam and have an italiano dinnero. The next day, Mom and I jumped on a bus to take a tour of historic and modern London. The tour guide was better from the first in a few ways; this one kept me awake, looked like an older version of Adam Redding Kaufman, and had a Mary Poppins umbrella!

Every girl dreams of being a Princess. The closest I got to being the most important girl in the world was at Yoko Ono's chess board...but then again, I never had that dream until I saw the Crown Jewls. H O L Y Q U E E N! One hundred fifty (atleast) carat diamonds, emeralds, rubys, you name it, the crown's have it. Tucked away behind steel doors, they reside in the London Tower that also has a splitting (literally) torture chamber. Oh yeah, don't forget the bearskinned army guards standing infront of all the doors. It was a good day until England's rail system failed us. Twice. Once, we were, as my Mom described it, "packed like sardines" in the tubes, and the next delayed a full hour at a random train station outside waiting for another to pick us up to head back to Ipswich in the freezing cold. I was wearing a skirt.

Anywho, we spent the rest of the week in the countryside. We met up with Miriam's friend only to introduce ourseleves as Aunt Miriam, Miriam, Myriam, and Isabel. Similar? Nah. The countryside is absolutely gorgeous, and I want to live there. Cottages are everywhere you look, in all different shapes and sizes. The three Ms and I walked along a huge estate that consisted of a giant brick tower, enormous trees, and hundreds of deer. Yep, deer. Antlers. Bambi. Staggs. Mom, of course, was frightened one was going to ram us, until she realized that they run away from humans, not to them.

That was one of the many trips we did during the week to the countryside, along with trips from the seaside to the quayside. Do you know how to pronounce quay? KEY. Do you know how to pronounce queue? CUE. Theres two fun facts for the day!

Hot or cold?

Since leaving Sam's, I've been to the Lady's Castle in Leeds, seen the white cliffs of Calasis of France from Dover, explored downtown Canterbury, and experienced the wonderfully wicked Wicked play/msuical.
I never thought that I would enjoy musicals or plays but seeing the skilled (and hot) actors and actresses opened my eyes to the exciting world of fairtales that are created before my eyes. I also never thought that I would be more scared in my life walking five blocks back to our scary hotel in London past 10 pm AFTER seeing the wicked show. Mom, gripping to my arm, nervously looking left and right for any sign of strange people, scolding me on and on about keeping the dirty peanut butter knife to protect myself in situations like these. I was determined to be the one who kept her cool so we could actually make it back okay WITHOUT getting lost. And we did. With no creepiness, thank God.
The next day, we woke up too early to a rainy morning after a day of walking miles and miles around London only to continue walking more throughout the day. Having an old man full of history was cool, but not cool enough to keep me from passing out on the bus every time we got back on it. Bob bob bob was what my head did until I realized I could use my backpack as a pillow (hallelujah!). The white cliffs of Dover and Canterbury were the best part of the day, aside from getting on the train to head back to Aunt Miriam's.

Now that we're safe at home, we've eaten enough food to last two days. In one. Aunt Miriam keeps us nice and full. I love it here, her quaint little house, with cats. Cats. Big cats. Small cats. Lots of cats. Cats that go out in hot weather, like yesterday, and cats that go outside in pouring rain, like today. Hot and cold? I choose hot. Thats when all the hot guys come outside here, as I saw yesterday at the exchanging of the torch in downtown Ipswich. Who knew!