Things I Learned in the US

We just got back from a week in Palm Springs opening up my grandparents’ trailer (which came with its own set of issues) and these are some things I learned in the Unites States.

• Montana doesn’t have sales tax. Woohoo to guilt-free shopping at Target! Check out the Missoni for Target items I picked up on CLEARANCE!! The Target in Great Falls doesn’t carry Dwell Studio though so my mission wasn’t a complete success.

• The ketchup tastes different. Can’t pinpoint it - more sugar or vinegar? - but it was a definite difference.
• Traveling with a two-year-old is not my cup of tea. This past week has been an exercise in patience for everyone (and patience is not something toddler’s excel at). It was nice to get away but man, I am exhausted! M. is a generally charming child and I had people tell me she did quite well (travel is hard on adults too!) but that aside she missed naps, was off her schedule, didn’t have her toys and was cranky. I think future trips - until she stops taking afternoon naps and learns better listening skills - will be road trips. There are lots of places within driving distance that we love to visit (Vancouver! Winnipeg!) so we are good with that. Also, we need a vacation sans kid. It would be nice to not have someone demanding my iPod every 5 minutes and wanting to watch Dora the Explorer. It would be nice to be able to go out in the evening to a show or a nice restaurant where we don’t have to worry about our child throwing a temper tantrum. It would be nice to sit peacefully on an airplane without being hit or scratched by a whiny toddler and embarrassed because we have one of *those* kids. Don’t get me wrong, I love my daughter to pieces and want to show her the world but I think those explorations can wait until she’s a little older.
• When you ask an American how far something is you’ll get an answer in miles not minutes.
• Looking for guaranteed free wifi? Find your nearest Starbucks. The same can be said for Canada but Starbucks was a life-saver this week when I was waiting for an email and the RV park didn’t have internet. One of us would drive in to Desert Hot Springs every morning to pick up coffee (for A. ) and tea (for me) and update our emails.
• It gets dark in the desert FAST! Daylight savings really messed with us this trip because it was dark (pitch black) by 5pm. The desert is also very quite and peaceful. We took a couple walks outside the gates of the RV park and A. is now convinced that he would like to retire in Palm Springs. He was also fascinated by the wind farms.

• Date shakes are delicious! We went out to Shields Date Garden and I was able to cross an item off of my life list.

• Being able to buy wine in a grocery store rocks. I always knew grocery stores sold liquor but when you like some wine with dinner it’s really nice not to have to go to a separate store.
• I would definitely stay at the Ayres Hotel Manhattan Beach again. It’s right off the freeway but not at all noisy, is in a good location to access the sites, the rooms are big and nicely decorated (traditional European? French?), and the service was impeccable.

• The Cheesecake Factory is way fancier than The Cheesecake Cafe here in Calgary, had valet parking, and hosted a wedding reception! These things may only apply to the Redondo Beach location but that's the only one I've been to. 

All in all, it was nice to get away but this is definitely a case of needing a vacation from our vacation. :)

Have you had a vacation end up being not quite what you expected?

Calendar : 1canoe2

M. and I went away for the weekend and I forgot to schedule posts so there goes NaBloPoMo. Oh well, we had a great time in Winnipeg visiting with Emma and her family and meeting blog friend Kyla for the first time (who, by the way, is totally lovely).

I have some great stuff planned for this week - photos from the antique market at The Forks and a spotlight on Calgary interior designer LeAnne Bunnell - so check back throughout the week.

Today's calendar is in honour of my visit to Winnipeg, friends old and new, and my own Prairie history. Happy Monday!

 

Available for purchase from 1canoe2.

Road trippin'

Our road-trip out to Vancouver Island was fantastic! M. was the perfect little traveler and while we did way too much driving, we managed to catch up with good friends and do pretty much everything we wanted. Here are some pictures.

Walking around in Lake Louise.

I've always loved this little house and I finally managed to take a picture of it.

This is the view from The Living Forest Campground - where we stayed in Nanaimo.

Stopped for dinner in Qualicum Beach.

Went to Organic Fair in Cobble Hill where we bought some amazing chocolate bars and ate homemade organic ice cream outside in the sun.

When we left the Island we spent a few days in Vancouver with the Golbeck family and then headed to the Okanagan. We stayed at Banbury Greens campground on the shores of Skaha Lake and this was the view from the door of our tent.

We were very impressed by Nk'Mip Cellars. Our favourite wine that we tasted!

The evenings were glorious!

Mission Hill was stunning!

We had lunch at Mission Hill (their restaurant has been rated one of the top 6 winery restaurants in the world!) and were suitably blown away by the food. YUM!

We had a great first family vacation!

And we bought a lot of wine(and cider)!

Oops

Well, it's been quite a while since I last posted and a lot has gone on, most of which I can't remember details of.

I've been reading slowly but I was able to add a book to the tally. A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon is Haddon's sophomore effort and was just as enjoyable as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. I don't remember my initial impressions of the book but it was hard to put it down.

*****

We bought two new Ikea bookshelves and some throw pillows for the couch - I'll add pictures once I get them onto the new computer we bought yesterday. We also got a sweet 22" LCD monitor.

Edit: Here are some pictures of our Ikea bookshelves and pillows from Pier 1.




*****

Several weekends ago we decided to get out of the city so we drove down to Leavenworth, WA, a gorgeous Bavarian village in central Washington. It's surrounded by mountains and rivers, has fantastic German food, and Andrew said it took him right back to Germany. It's a 4 hour drive on a twisty two-lane highway, but it was definitely worth it.



*****

We also finally went up to Whistler last weekend with my Mom and Gary. The village was nice and we went up the gondola and chair lift which was amazing, but I have to admit, I think I like Banff better.

Life in point form

• Home safe and sound.
  
• Had an excellent visit with A.'s parents (also went to Peterborough & Ottawa.)
  
• Saw a lot in DC - the pictures are up at Flickr.
  
• One of our favourite stops was the International Spy Museum. Very, very cool.
  
• Stayed at the Adams Inn, a fantastic B&B in the Adams-Morgan neighborhood.
  
• I'm addicted to Facebook.
  

That is all.

The mysteries of Philadelphia

Unfortunately the blogging spirit isn't strong in this one at the moment but I do have a book to add to the list.

Before I get to book number six there are a few points about The Lovely Bones that I wanted to mention that were discussed at our book club meeting this past Sunday. Overall, I loved the book and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to people however, there were some flaws. The thing I had the biggest problem with was the "fall from heaven" sex scene. If you haven't read the book I won't say much more than it caught me off guard and kind of interrupted the flow of the book for me. Several people mentioned that the characters were basically just two dimensional outlines and, while I agree in some respects, I also think if Sebold had tried to flesh them out any further the book would have been a lot longer than it was. This was an incredibly emotional read and I think this is why I enjoyed it so much - I let myself be immersed by the story rather than thinking about the details too much.

Once I finished reading The Lovely Bones I moved on to Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon which I received as a Christmas gift. I really enjoyed the movie version (even with Tobey Maguire) and have wanted to read the book. While most of the story was similar to the movie there were large chunks, as with any adaptation, that were left out. I especially enjoyed the Passover scene with his in-laws and the "rescue" of James Leer from his family. This is one of the rare times where I don't have a definite opinion on whether I liked the movie or the book better - both were highly entertaining and I will return to both again in the future.

*****

A. and I leave for our holiday on Monday and we couldn't be looking forward to it more. We will spend time with his parents and then we are heading into the States for a 5 day road trip. If anyone has been to Philadelphia or Washington, DC and has any suggestions of things to do or see or restaurants with fantastic food, please leave a comment.

*****

We have spent an obscene amount of time watching the first three seasons of 24 and A. is now hooked. I think I've created a monster.

*****

I took a bunch of pictures of the condo and posted them on Flickr. If you have a good eye for furniture arrangement or have any organizational ideas, please comment on the photos or let me know.

Quick update

It's been a while I know but I do have books to add to the list and a photo from a day trip A. and I took.

*****

Let's start with the day trip.

About three weeks ago is was gorgeous on the weekend so we decided to rent a car and go for a day trip. We talked about going shopping in the States but figured we didn't need to spend a ton of money so we decided to just drive. We usually head south to Steveston so this time we decided to go East and see where we ended up. We had to stop for gas somewhere in Port Coquitlam and after realizing we had no idea where we were we bought a map. We looked at the map and headed north to the village of Belcarra hoping to find a cute little restaurant where we could grab a bite to eat. We didn't end up finding a restaurant but we did find a lovely park so we stopped and walked down to the water. I forgot my camera at home so had to make due with the camera on my cellphone. Here is the view from the park.



*****

On to the books.

I've held off on discussing book #3 for a while because it was the first selection of the book club I started and I wanted to wait until we had our first meeting which was this past Saturday.

The Accidental by Ali Smith was my suggestion and I picked it mainly because I had received it as a gift for Christmas. The Accidental is about a dysfunctional family (Eve, Michael, Magnus & Astrid) whose lives are turned upside down when a stranger named Amber arrives at the house they are renting for the summer. At our meeting many people mentioned that they had a difficult time getting past the first chapter but that once they got into the book they really enjoyed it. Personally, it was the beginning of the book that sucked me in and I really enjoyed reading from Astrid's perspective. I didn't like the character of Michael but his part of the story did round everything out. While I was doing some research for I meeting I discovered that the Daily Mail had chosen The Accidental as their book club choice last April and they had developed some discussion questions so we used those to get our own discussion going. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others.

Book #4 was Monster: the Autobiography of an LA Gang Member by Sanyika Shakur aka Monster Kody Scott. The cover of this book caught my eye one day while browsing Chapters so I decided to pick it up. I don't usually read biographies but something about this one really peaked my interest. Sanyika wrote this book while in prison and he gives the reader an all-access pass to his life as a member of the Crips' Eight Tray set. He started out his "banger" career at the age of 11 and his main goal was to work his way up to the upper ranks of power. The book is gritty and real and uses a lot of gang talk and while sometimes those things are hard to read it is also those qualities that make this book impossible to put down.

I'm not going to say a lot about book #5 which was The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold because this is the next selection for our book club. Needless to say, I sped through this book in three days and it will be one that I continuously recommend to people.

*****

Last but not least, A. and I have finally decided to take a vacation and I am really looking forward to getting away for two weeks. We are heading out East to visit his parents for a few days and then we are going to rent a car and head South. We don't have a plan except to see how far we can get before we have to turn around. I'd love to see some of the Carolina's and maybe even Georgia but just going somewhere is enough for me.

The art of getting things done

I've been incredibly bad about posting anything lately so instead of boring you with long "we did this and then we did that" paragraphs, I give you my favourite time saver - the bulleted list.

• During the long weekend, A. and I rented a car so that we could GTD (get things done). We ended up with a shiny Mazda 6 that we both fell in love with.
  
• Went to IKEA, spent way too much money but ended up with a great half-round gateleg table, two wooden chairs, two folding chairs, and a shoe rack that I have wanted since it came out.
  
• That same night we went to Steveston and had a delicious dinner at Sockeye City Grill.
  
• Woke up early Sunday morning so we could head down to Washington. Spend 1.5hrs in the line at the border.
  
• Stopped at Anacortes because we wanted to head over to the San Juan Islands but the next ferry wasn't for another two hours and it would have taken up the rest of our day so we decided to nix that idea and head down to Seattle. (Pictures here.)
  
• Drove around downtown Seattle looking for a hotel and ended up at the Hotel Monaco.
  
• Did some shopping and then went up the Space Needle.
  
• Had another amazing dinner, this time at The Brooklyn.
  
• Monday morning, went to Pike Place Market for wandering and breakfast. Also saw the first Starbucks.
  
• On the way home we stopped at Alderwood Mall and Seattle Prime Outlets and spent waaaay too much money. Got dinged at the border.
  
• Emma and Laurel hosted a kick-ass "Hobo Reunion" on the 12th at which everyone had a hobo name. Mine was Gnarles Boxcar and A. was Spits McGrifter. People also brough hobosnacks, ours being worms and dirt.
  
• This Saturday A. and I went to Sears and checked out new washer and dryer teams (I love that they call them teams.) We are probably going to wait for Scratch and Save next weekend and go back for the Kenmore front-loaders. Is it sad that I can't wait to do the first load of laundry in the new washer and dryer?
  
• We also lusted over a pair of Movado watches. I love the Rondiro watch.
  

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Books I've read recently

Despite the warnings that other book bloggers have written about, I have waited way too long to write about what I've read recently. I don't really remember characters or what my initial reactions were so here again, is another list.

15. Saturday by Ian McEwan. I'd never read any of his other books but had heard excellent things about this one so I picked it up at Chapters one day. I really enjoyed the story and love the way McEwan can bring a scene so vividly to mind.

16. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. I've had The Poisonwood Bible on my shelf of to-be-reads for years but hadn't heard anything about any of her other books. I read this one on the recommendation of A. who said he had really enjoyed it when he was in school. This was a heartwarming tale about the power of family and friendship and I sped through it. An excellent story.

17. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith is another book I have heard a lot of people talking about over the past few years. I discovered that they had it at work so I started reading it on my lunch breaks. The story and the main character of Precious Ramotswe captured my imagination and, like the Outlander books made me want to go to Scotland, this book made me want to visit Botswana. Maybe one day...

18. Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith is the third book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series but I read this one second because they also had it at work. Again, an excellent read with intriguing characters and subplots. I'm looking forward to reading the rest in this series.

Vacation from the vacation

I returned on Saturday from my week long vacation in the prairies and now I’m feeling like I need another vacation to get over this one. I had a great time but it sure was busy.

Friday afternoon I landed in Calgary and Brooke and I drove up to Lloydminster (with a few stops along the way) to stay at our cousin’s for the night. Saturday we drove into Saskatoon to pick up A. at the airport, go to my aunt’s for coffee and drive out to the park for the potluck dinner at 5pm. (There are few things better than a Saskatchewan potluck – more food than you can even imagine!) We spent Sunday and Monday morning in Sonningdale and then A. and I drove the 6 hours to Drayton Valley to visit his family. Then Wednesday afternoon had us driving back to Calgary to spend a few days with my family. So basically, between Friday and Wednesday I drove in one giant loop - I think I’m done with driving for a while.

I managed to see a few people while in Calgary but it was mostly time spent with my family which meant there were a whole lot of people I didn’t get to see. That’s the problem with these whirlwind trips, you always need more time.

****
I finished reading book 14 a while ago but haven’t got around to writing about it yet. Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner centers around four new mothers who are all trying to deal with the challenges of motherhood and life. It touches on love, loss and friendship and covers each with compassion and just the right amount of humour. It’s also a novel that allows someone who has never had children before (like me) to have a glimpse of what that kind of life is like. It was a touching read that made me laugh several times and, like all of Weiner’s other books, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.

Blurgh

I've been lazy I know but I don't have a heck of a lot to say. A. and I just got back from a week in Kingston which was fun. I've posted pictures from our day spent in Ottawa on Flickr. We got back late Friday afternoon and then spent the evening at Celeste's for her birthday party.

In lieu of actual content I give you my sweet ass new toaster. I heart it.

T.O.

Home from spending the weekend in T.O. with A. and wishing I could still be there. The flight out on Friday was fairly uneventful except we flew in one of the new Westjet planes that didn't have satellite TV installed yet. Boooo. We checked into our hotel and went to the Elephant and Castle for dinner. (Does every Delta hotel have an Elephant and Castle attached to it? I noticed the Vancouver Airport Delta has one as well.) Then we went for a walk past Eaton Centre and over to Nathan Phillip Square. There were people skating and music playing and it looked really nice. Unfortunately it was cold and windy and my ears were aching from the wind so we went back to the hotel.

Saturday was spent shopping at Eaton Centre and meeting A.'s sister for lunch. We went to H&M and I was a little disappointed - all I bought was a sweater. In fact, I wasn't in much of a shopping mood (and haven't been for a while.) The weather on Saturday was gorgeous and I was very happy to spend time outside. We walked a lot and just generally enjoyed the sunshine. By the time we had to head over to Danforth for dinner it was raining but thankfully it wasn't too cold. We had a lovely meal at Lolita's Lust and then went back to the hotel so we could go up to the pool.

Sunday we woke up to a grey and miserable day. It was cold and it was pouring. Unfortunately we had planned to go to the markets as well as some other outdoor activities but there was no way we were going to spend all day out in the cold. Instead we went to a Thai restaurant for lunch and went back to the mall for a bit. We were both pretty sick of shopping (and I was cranky) so we got in the truck and went for a drive around downtown. Along with the rain it was really foggy so we couldn't even see the CN Tower. But, even with the disappointment of the day, it was really nice just to be able to spend some time together. A. had to drive home Sunday night so I spent the evening in the hotel room watching TV and getting ready to leave on Monday. We hardly saw anything we wanted to but there is plenty of time in the future for that.

Now here I am, back at work, willing February to pass as quickly as possible.

Only 2.5 weeks

In another fit of spontaneity I have purchased a (very cheap) plane ticket to Toronto for the end of this month. This way A. and I can spend the weekend wandering around the city and the end of February won't seem so far away. I am very excited and can't wait until Jan. 27th.

So, everyone who has been to T.O. what should I do while I'm there?

Movin' on up

I can't believe that Christmas is on Sunday! How did the month pass so quickly and why aren't I finished shopping yet? I think this is unprecedented - I usually have all gifts bought and ready to go by the end of November but then again, my year has been slightly different than years past. One thing I am really looking forward to is getting home to Calgary and seeing all of my friends and family. A. is also coming out for a week to visit so that will be fun as well.

I just got back after spending a lovely four days in Kingston with A. I was afraid I was going to get stuck in Toronto on Thursday night because a huge snow storm moved in and they were cancelling most regional flights. Thankfully, after an hour delay we were off the runway and landed in Kingston with no problems. We didn't do a whole lot on the weekend but I had a great time. We even played Trivial Pursuit with his parents where I kicked some ass. I feel a rematch coming on in Calgary...

My month unemployed in Vancouver has been pretty uneventful. Mostly I've stuck close to home and done a lot of relaxing (aka. being lazy.) I did however, go to an interview for a higher position in my department at the library and was offered it the next day so when I go back in January I will now be a supervisor. That's a little scary but I'm sure after an adjustment period I'll be okay. I also like that now my title is actually Library Technician and not just Library Assistant. Woohoo, moving up in the world.

I do have a question for the few people that read this blog - what kind of gift can you get for a younger sister who will shortly be moving into her own apartment? I need something cool but small enough to lug onto the plane (and doesn't necessarily have to be home related.) Usually I don't have any problems buying Brooke a gift but this year I am completely stuck.

Motivation?! What's that?

After six months I have finally returned home - though if it's permanent I'm not so sure. The trip home was actually pretty good and I got to spend two fantastic days in Dubai and Amsterdam. I would have liked more time to do some shopping but unfortunately, with delayed flights and long taxi rides, the days were cut short.

It's taken me a while to write this post because I've found that since returning home I have very little to say and even less motivation to actually sit down and write it. Even though I was very eager to return home, and I am glad to be back in Vancouver, sometimes I find myself getting very antsy and wishing I was overseas again.

****

The situation in Afghanistan seems to be degenerating and another Canadian soldier was injured in a suicide attack.

Finally...

I know, I've been woefully negligent but I finally have the time (and motivation) to update this thing.

I've been back on camp for about three weeks and things are slowly progressing towards camp closing. My department is down to two of us which will make things pretty insane when we have to start clearing out masses of people but I'm sure we'll manage. Life here is pretty much the same as always although the temperature at night has dropped significantly. I can still wear shorts and t-shirts during the day (for the most part) but night requires jeans and a sweater. It definitely makes sleeping nice though.

My trip home was nice and I enjoyed the few days I spent in Dubai. During my two days there on the way home I went to the giant City Centre mall and did some shopping as well as met a fellow CANCAPer for dinner and a tour around the gold souk. There I bought a necklace in white gold that is my name in Arabic. And it was only $100 US! The flight home was pretty uneventful and my two weeks in Vancouver were pretty low-key. The highlights were my mom visiting, Matt & Susan's wedding (before which I badly injuring my foot by taking a little tumble down some stairs), a get-together at Emma and Laurel's, and a day trip to Seattle with E., L., and Brooke. Then I hopped back on a plane for the long flight to Amsterdam. Once back in Amsterdam I went into the city and took the tram to the Rijksmuseum to see some amazing Dutch art. Saw three Vermeers and a whole lot of Rembrandt as well as plenty of other Dutch masters. Going back to Afghanistan I had another day in Dubai which I spent at the Ibn Batutta mall (INCREDIBLE!) with Sarah and Sergei (friends from camp) and after we went for dinner at a Lebanese restaurant in the Dubai Marina hotel. Then it was time to leave for the airport and when we got there we discovered that our flight had been delayed for 5 hours. So we spent from 4am to 11am lounging in Terminal 2 in Dubai. Unfortunately, it's a small terminal and the only thing exciting was duty free. It was a long day to say the least.

So, I'm back "home" and getting ready to leave. My departure date is sometime mid-November so right now I am trying to plan my trip to Southeast Asia. I'm thinking of taking three weeks and seeing parts of Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Some people here just got back from Cambodia and Vietnam and it sounds amazing so I'm quite looking forward to it.

That's about all the news I have so I'll sign off here. Hope all is well back in Canada and remember to keep in touch!

<3 C.

I'm here

It is officially day two at Camp Julien and so far I am doing pretty well. After Amsterdam I flew to Dubai where even at midnight when I arrived it was 32 degrees with 90% humidity! Never in my life have I experienced something like that. I found a cheap hotel so I could shower and when I stepped out of the air conditioned airport I had trouble breathing and my glasses even fogged up! The hotel was really nice (and on $66/night) and although I was tempted by the bed all I was there to do was shower - it really helped to wake me up to. At the Dubai airport I met a few people who were going to Afghanistan to do their own work. Three from Canada going to teach English in the North, one from the States going to be an intern for Save the Children, and a guy from London who was going to help with the elections in September. It was really nice to have people to talk to and go through the craziness with so I wasn't totally alone. The Ariana flight into Kabul wasn't even that bad and at passport control there were even lines. The camp security guy was there when I got out with my luggage and then me along with a guy who was coming back from Egypt piled into the armoured Bison and headed to camp. So far the camp is exactly what I was expecting. I got most of my paperwork done yesterday and today I have my in-theatre training. Tomorrow will be my first day of work. It's also been really nice having my PDT group already here because then I at least know some people. The only bad thing so far is that I have a heat rash on my legs. It's not too bad but I should probably get something to put on it.

Well, that was my first day. It will probably be more of the same from now on so I might not have anything really exciting to report on but I will definitely keep you updated.

Thanks for all the encouragement!

Amsterdam

After a long nine hour flight I am here in Amsterdam. The flight itself actually wasn't that bad and KLM has lived up to its reputation for being a great airline. They kept us fed and hydrated (non-stop beverage service), the wine was free, there was lots of leg room, they brought around hot towels periodically and the food was actually pretty good. I even managed to get a few hours of sleep which will help immensely. At the moment I don't feel overly tired (although I'm really hot!) but I do have a leg-ache so I know my body is protesting a bit.

Once I arrived in Amsterdam I went searching through the shops at Schipol to find a small purse because I didn't want to lug my insanely heavy carry-on around the city. Then I bought a roundtrip train ticket and came into the city. I got into Amsterdam proper at around 9am and the first thing I did was take a canal cruise. Definitely worth the 8 euros! I saw a lot of amazing architecture and actually managed to relax in the breeze coming off the water. Surprisingly the harbour and canals in Amsterdam are fresh water because of the locks that block off the sea. Now I'm trying to decide what to do for the next hour. I wanted to go to the Rijksmuseum but it's pretty far away so I nixed that plan. I was also thinking about going to the Anne Frank House but we passed it on the cruise and there was a huge line-up. I think I'll just find a nice cafe and sit outside in this amazing city.

My flight leaves for Dubai at 2:35pm so I should be at the airport around 12:30 or 1:00. Hopefully that flight goes as well as the one over here. I'm kind of nervous about traveling all the way on my own (the guy I was supposed to meet up with was delayed) but I'm sure it will be okay. As long as I can find a place in Dubai to shower and change clothes I'll be happy.

My love to you all.

Adios

The time has come to unplug all electronics and get ready for the nine hour flight to Amsterdam. I hope everyone has a fabulous summer!

The next time you'll hear from me, I'll be in Afghanistan!

Travel

I haven't even arrived in Aghanistan and already I am thinking about what I want to do for my holiday. I think I've decided to not come home (I was going to fly home for Matt's wedding at the beginning of September but since the elections in Afghanistan are Sept. 9th they don't let you travel for a week or two on either side) and instead use my alloted airfare and time to do a tour of Europe. Besides, when else will I get this opportunity? I'd probably start out in Malaga, Spain at the beginning of October so I can go to the Belle & Sebastian show on the 9th (as long as it's not sold out, if so, all of my plans will change.) Then I will purchase a Eurail Selectpass for travel in 5 countries and go through France, Italy, Austria and end up in Hungary where I will hopefully meet up with Marianne and the Raj. I'm already getting excited! (All of this is, of course, dependent on how much money I have saved - if I'm poor I'll probably just come home where life is considerably cheaper.)