PHILLY

Had WAAAY too much fun with the Philly crowd.  Stayed up til 3am THREE NIGHTS IN A ROW. I seem to have forgotten that I am not 18 anymore.  Got to meet some important new peeps… had some good conversations… saw a big house and a basement where you could have a church service… and was encouraged by so many people who are really trying to live deliberate lives.

Also got to meet up with a family (foreigners) who were in Uzbekistan the same time that I was…. that was great!

Played a fun game where I gave 10 Russian or Uzbek words and people had to guess what they were in English.  How well would you do? (no cheating!)

1. Privyet (greeting)
2. Vokzal (place)
3. Ha-yer (greeting)
4. Babushka (person)
5. Xleb (food)
6. Kartoshka (vegetable)
7. Kloobnika (fruit)
8. Mashina (object)
9.Doomat (verb)
10.Yakshimisiz? (question)

Watched Nacho Libre, finally.  I like Jack Black, though some find him annoying.  “En-car-na-ci – o – o – o – o- o – n”… man, I laughed hard but at the end, I was kind of like “Huh?” I need to watch the movie again, like Napoleon Dynamite, to fully appreciate the Hess humor again.

NYC

Got here around 1:30pm or so… and in the 10 hours I’ve been here, I’ve heard French, German, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Haitian French, and Japanese being spoken   Hung out with my sister.  Had dessert with an old small group friend… so encouraging… NYC never changes, but it’s always moving…  what a great city!

Ann Arbor

I know this is a BIT early, but weekend of Sept 1st, 2007 (Labor day weekend) - All U of M 1997 grads + friends (i.e. 1996 grads) – Reunion time!

I love public transporation.  It’s efficient (most of the time),quick, relaxing (most of the time), amd I love seeing the cross section of people that use it.  As I was travelling to Arlington, VA to stay a few days with my friend Mel, I was STUFFED into the metro.  I was sandwiched in between a tall bald guy listening to really bad music and reading some random book; and an older gentleman.  Across from me were various types – one woman who probably wished she hadn’t worn such a low cut top (you could see everything!); some young cute guys; and others. At each stop, a shuffle of people… and more people getting on.  A pregnant woman got on, and I felt bad that she wasn’t able to make her way to a seat (it was completely clogged and there was no way anyone could move).  As I looked around, I was happy to be back in the US and A… Uzland is actually amazingly very diverse as well (tons of bi-ethnic people… and the ethnicities of people include Uzbek, Kazak, Tajik, Armenian, Tatar, Russian, Korean, Karakalpak)… but it’s different.

Going grocery shopping was a bit overwhelming as well.  I would see “4 for $5″ and think “but I don’t want to buy 4″ and melviszone pointed out “uhm, not you don’t have buy 4… you can buy one and still get the discounted price”… ohhh… right….  And oh, the different brands and prices! I find it amazing, too, that many products are the same price or less than they are in Uzland. That’s crazy, considering that the average salary over there is little over $30 A MONTH!  (though many of my local friends who work for NGOs make an average of $150-$300 a month but even THEY don’t shop in the grocery stores there…)

My third day of 2007 (are you getting tired of this yet?):

• Starbucks.


• McDonald’s (filet-o-fish combo meal).  If you find a good McDonald’s, the meal is quite satisfying.
  And this one was – hot, crispy fries; well-prepared filet-o-fish; and a Dr. Pepper)


• Super K-Mart.  Found some cute baby things.


• Auditor.


• Dulles airport to return car.


• Rode bus + metro back to MD.


• Read almost halfway through B. Obama’s “Dreams from my father”.  Liking it! 


• Ate a DEELICIOUS meal with aunt, uncle, and grandma at Clyde’s Town Oaks Lodge. It was PERFECT:
  Grapefruit frisee salad; crab & artichoke dip; scallops with polenta and mushrooms. 
  Aunt ate one POUND of shrimp over linguine (fra diablo) – it was delish, too!


• Uncle is leaving for Mexico this afternoon .. he’s doing dev/m work  in the Yucatan…

8:45am – woke up in MY room at Hotel Tong.
10:30am – drank delicious Hawaiian coffee.
12:00 noon- started playing Settlers with yoomktong, gnusharas, and genejkim.
2:00 pm – WON the game! Woo-hoooo!
3:15pm – Left Philly for the DC area. Drove with sun directly in eyes.
6:15pm – Met koreanhalfling for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (again!). Ordered Jambalaya Pasta. Thought waiter’s name was “nemo”,
but koreanhalfing pointed out that it was “nima” – he was an odd cat, nonetheless.. but a very good waiter.
Chatted about global economics, Elections 2008, media bias, and other such important world topics. Didn’t discuss relationships or boys, at all!

Though it was great to be with other MICH friends, it was so much more tragic to watch our team LOSE LIVE.

Shameful.  They so did not want to win.

On another note, HD TV is amazing!  It’s like you’re there!

I just hope OSU beats Florida badly so that we don’t look so D-U-M.  Ha ha – U-M.

Watched a movie in a movie theater for the first time in 2 years – The Holiday.  Cheesey chick flick, but the acting was good.  Kate Winslet was wonderful.  Cameron Diaz overacted a bit, but she was so adorable. I’m a big fan of Jude Law (he was great in Cold Mountain – better than the annoying Renee Z)… and Jack Black was his usual self.  I got myself a bag of popcorn and coke and enjoyed myself with yoomktong and gnusharas.

Bought my tickets back to Uzland… will be back there on Jan 24th… (flying through Turkey with a long layover- yippee!)