Puppy Love

I have to find a home for my dog.

This makes me sadder than you probably realize, considering I haven't seen him in well over two months.

Here's the story:

When I broke up with my ex, he laid claim to the dog. At the time I was feeling a little rebellious and considered saying no, since I was the one who paid for doggy daycare, training, etc (not to mention taking the dog to these things). On the other hand, my ex was the one who was more interested in activities like cross-country skiing and the like. Also, once I had a little while to think I realized that I would probably end up moving to Houston, traveling out of the country and generally live in upheaval. Well, I guess that I've got a pretty good sense of my path, since I have done all of those things. There were also the ex's kids to consider, thus, the dog stayed.

How can you say no to that face?

And now, the dog must go. As far as I know that is probably for the best. My former fiance isn't in a position to take care of the dog the way he deserves, and Jack is too sweet, social and active to be stuck in a kennel. He and I got along fine together cooped up in the house over the winter, but that was with a lot of love and a big yard. Now he isn't getting that, so my ex has decided that Jack needs a new home.

My heart is broken. On the one hand I've started trolling real estate websites for listings of small houses and apartments to rent in Houston where I can have a dog. On the other, I know that I wouldn't be doing Jack a service by bringing him down here. While I fantasize about taking him to Memorial Park, finding doggy play groups, going out to the farm and all that good stuff, I also know that I want to leave the country again for an extended period of time before the end of the year. Not to mention that round-the-world ticket I've got kicking around in the back of my mind.....

So, now Jack needs a home. My ex wants to send him to Mountain Mutts in Gunnison until they can find a suitable situation for him through them, but I hate that idea. I would really rather know where he was and who was taking care of him. Jack is one of the most affectionate and kind creatures I have ever known, I would hate to think that some perfect stranger had him. I thought that the situation with my ex was perfect because I knew Jack had a good life. But apparently that isn't possible any more.

All right. I should quit whining. But I feel really torn right now. I see other friends with dogs and I REALLY want to have Jack in my life. But I also know that it's not a good decision right now given my circumstances. Before I had a house, a fiance, a definite future in a place where the dog could thrive... now all I have is a bunch of clothing, a house that's going on the market soon, a room at my Dad's (thank you Daddy!!!), and a Rav4 I'll be collecting when I return to Gunni.

Ok. I'm done whining about that. More news:

I miss walking everywhere and have started walking places in Houston. Very liberating and enjoyable - though a short-lived endeavor given the rising temperatures.

I joined a gym today. Month-to-month, but I think it bespeaks a permanence in Houston. Woohoo!

I cooked again for the first time since I was engaged last night. It was liberating, though I still have yet to cook for myself when I'm alone. It usually takes someone else to cook for before I'll do so.

Well, that's about it. Here's this.

Cheers!

Jet Lag? Or Hell?

My jet lag is horrific at this point. Night before last I went to bed at one and woke at five thirty. Last night I went to bed at two and woke up at seven. What is wrong with me? I was full of bluster the first day I got back - 'Oh, all you need is a little sleep deprivation! Look at me, I feel great!' Well, now I feel like I'm moving through syrup... which sounds cooler than the sensation is. Not to mention I have about a ka-jillion things to do now that I'm back in the States... which makes my desire to curl up on the couch watching Downton Abbey (or going and buying Diablo III to fritter away my whole summer) unlikely to happen any time soon. Ugh... can I still be on vacation for awhile longer? It seems strange that I don't have a job, and yet I still have all these things I need to do. Wow, could I whine any more?

Overall though, Houston is treating me pretty well. It's nice to be back with my Dad and friends I made before I left. I'm definitely looking forward to spending my summer here, even though it's already starting to get pretty warm. August is gonna be a B.I.T.C.H. (Bit of Intense Temperature Causing Heatstroke - damn, I'm clever). C'est la vie, there's always pools available. Now I just need to work on that swimsuit body... Jordan definitely took a toll on my healthy eating habits.

Well, rather than having anything that's really profound to post today, I thought I would go ahead and just entertain you with some bits and pieces I found on the internetz this morning while I couldn't sleep. Since I watched LotR on the flight from Frankfurt (under the influence of Xanax - the melodrama was fabulous), I dug up these two gems from the youtube vaults for some giggles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE-1RPDqJAY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihMMw0rnKz4

Also, I found this on verydemotivational.com.

THIS is so true.

Alrighty. That's about it for now. Hopefully I'll be less cracked out on sleep deprivation tomorrow and actually give you a decent post. I've decided that since I don't have any incredible trips planned in the foreseeable future, I should catch you up on other aspects of my life as well as my previous experiences/trips... but I'm too lazy right now.

Cheers!

Back in the USA

I'm back in America. Joy. Ecstasy. Excitement.

Can you feel the sarcasm?

The best things about being back in the States:

1) Seeing my dad (and the rest of my family).
2) Understanding conversations around me (not knowing what people are saying is like being on the outside of a really elaborate inside joke).
3) Long hot showers (Jordan is water-poor and I was in the green capital of Spain... thank God for Houston's abundance of H2O).
4) My own bathroom (for those long hot showers, as well as a prolonged eyebrow plucking session this morning).
5) Netflix (it doesn't work in Jordan, as I found out to my dismay a month ago).
6) Parking lots (Only applies to Jordan - Amman is short on 'traditional' parking lots).

...yeah. That's about it. There are other small things I'll discover as I go along I'm sure, but those are the ones that have really hit me since I've been back.

Well, last time I posted I was still in Spain. Guess I should catch you up a bit.

My last day in Spain I toured around Vitoria some more. I ended up checking out an armory museum that had weapons and armor from the Stone Age all the way until WWII - a very extensive collection. Sadly, the displays were only in Basque and Spanish, so I didn't understand all of it, but my nerdy medieval fantasy lit knowledge came in handy as I was able to fill in the blanks (thank you, Tamora Pierce). Other than the suits of armor and weaponry, they also had models of the battle in Vitoria between Napoleon and the British, which were pretty awesome. After that we went briefly to the playing card museum - apparently Vitoria produces the playing cards most often used in casinos (a 40 card deck, not a normal 52 card deck... though I have NO IDEA what games you play with a 40 card deck). There were all sorts of cards in the museum, some of my favorites included "La Cabaña del Tío Tom" playing cards - complete with racist depictions of African Americans. That evening Pablo had a wedding to attend, so I toured the Old Cathedral that is currently under re-construction. The cathedral was incredible, made even more so by the fact that it has no floor, has had the foundation half dug out, forcing us to walk around on scaffolding wearing safety helmets. The tour (conducted entirely in Spanish) was incomprehensible, but I'm really glad I did it, since I got an opportunity to walk around in the 'backstage' where the nuns and monks would usually walk - twisting spiral staircases and high balconies that looked over the entire space. What a treat!

The next day I took a bus back to Madrid and caught my flight to Amman, stopping briefly in the EXTREMELY overpriced airport in Cairo ($5 for a cup of regular coffee? You've gotta be kidding me!) and arriving back in Jordan at 2a.m. I had a day in Jordan, long enough to see my cousin's office, say goodbye to various family members and have a family lunch - then I was back on a plane by 2a.m. again to return to the States.

I have to say this at least once - I HATE the Frankfurt airport. It's not the airport so much (thus far I've had two of the greatest naps of my life on their relatively comfortable benches), it's the security. Is it just me, or are they awful to everyone else too? I got positively violated by a barrel-like fraulein who was a little too pleased with her metal detector. While I think that people in the States are a little too uptight about their 'rights being infringed on' with the new imaging tech (really, who cares if they can see your panties), I had this woman basically molest me in public trying to find out what was making the metal detector go off (in the region of my crotch). I was wearing SWEATPANTS for Pete's sake, and she kept waving the thing around like she was going to expelliarmus my lady bits. Then she dragged me into a tiny area with a flimsy curtain that she didn't shut completely before asking me to take off my pants. I was shocked (What, you're not even going to buy me a drink first?), but she insisted, so I slid my pants down, trying not to make eye contact with anyone (including the people that I'm sure could see me as they got their passports checked). She kept flailing the metal detector around and it KEPT FRIGGING BEEPING right around my privates. Now, believe me, I would be the first to admit if there was something to keep the detector going off (Whoops! Wore my metal panties to the airport again! Just call me Maid Marian.), but there was NOTHING there. I really don't think she knew how to use the thing... or if it was working properly. Finally she looked up at me and asked "Prezig?"

I looked at her like she was crazy. "What? Sorry I don't understand." ...all the while blushing so hard I thought I was going to pass out. I mean, I'm confident in my body, etc, but at 6:30 in the morning after my second long international flight in 24 hours without more than a couple hours of sleep - I was ready to keep my goddamn clothes ON, thank you very much.

"Peerzig!?" she said again, looking at me earnestly, her face about six inches away from mine. Then she made a jabbing gesture toward my nether regions (waaaaaay too close for comfort. I mean, this lady got further with me than my high school boyfriend).

Then, it clicked. "Oooooooh. Piercing?" She nodded sharply. "Uh, nope. No piercing." She took a long, hard look down there. Fearing that she would give me some sort of security pap-smear followed up by a cavity search, my stomach plummeted. The last thing in the world that I want is to be taken advantage of in the Frankfurt airport... well, by a tubby security woman, that is.

One of the other security people (the woman watching the proceedings and 'guarding' the curtain) pulled the fraulein off before she could rip my undies down. All of a sudden, I was free to go. I don't think I've ever snatched up my luggage and belongings so quickly. Within 15 seconds I was outta there.

So, suffice it to say, I was really excited that I had brought Xanax with me. Also that I was going back to the States where if they infringe on your rights, at least they do so out of the view of witnesses.

After a five hour wait in the airport, followed by an eleven hour flight, landing in Houston was positively delightful. My dad was waiting for me in the airport, and when I got home he had plenty of wine (and a delicious dinner) on hand. I could barely speak from exhaustion (and the wine/Xanax combination - remind me to avoid that one in the future), but it definitely made for an incredible night's sleep; I barely feel any jet lag today. There's something to be said about staying up on the entire flight when traveling internationally - that way at least you'll sleep like a mofo no matter what time it is when you arrive... though that may not be a good thing if you get there during the day. In that case, my advice is to have wine on hand. Wine heals many ills.

Well. Now I'm in Houston. I just had a lovely lunch at Mission Burritos (mmm, tortilla soup), and I'm currently doing laundry and attempting to find my ticket back to Colorado on the 25th... this merger between Continental and United is a pain in the arse. Though if I don't find it perhaps I'll extend my stay in Houston a little longer.....

Here's this. It fits.

Cheers!

Basque Country Day Two

'ello, readers! When I left you last night I was headed out for a promenade through Vitoria - and what a promenade it was! My friend Pablo had said, 'Eh, maybe thirty minute walk?' - which I knew was probably understating how late we would be out, but I went along with it. I'm here to experience new cultures, not new couches in random parts of the world! I assumed we'd walk around for a bit, maybe meet up with his friend that still lives in town, get a beer, be back by midnight.

Well, there was no beer. We didn't meet up with his friend. Instead, we walked all around the old part of the city... and we didn't get back until about 2a.m. It. Was. Fabulous.

One of the nice things about taking a walking tour at night was the fact that there were no cars driving. Like... at all. There were some parked on the street, but I think I saw three cars in motion the entire time we were in the old part of town. Vitoria is the green capital of Europe for 2012 for a reason - a lot of people walk, there are great bike paths, they have made a huge effort to protect the areas around the city from urban sprawl, etc. And, like Madrid, there are statues EVERYWHERE. It's so lovely, the old part town is like a museum of classical art, modern, history and architecture.

Vitoria has four main 'towers' from old cathedrals. There are also some 'newer' cathedrals and churches (Pablo kept telling me about the modern architecture... of like 1850), but the important ones are from anywhere between the 11th and 15th centuries. Historians said Vitoria was settled in around 1180A.D. or so, but recent discoveries of skeletons in one of the cathedrals proved to be from about 700A.D. Thus, historians are reluctant to make claims about the age of the city now. 

The culture of the area is almost overwhelming. Everywhere you look there is graffiti calling for Basque independence or for the return of the prisoners held in France and other parts of Spain. Basque separatism is a huge political issue, though I was told that they are still the minority. The culture of the Basque region is different than the rest of Spain; their language is the oldest in Europe, they have a different style of living, and they consider themselves to be autonomous from the rest of the country. While this has always been the case, under the regime of Franco, people in the region were forced to speak Spanish, and certain Basque speakers were jailed for continuing to speak in their native tongue. This sparked a lot of discontent among the people in the region, which is still a problem today. I had heard a little about the violence of the separatists (apparently they've been likened to the IRA, though the politics separatist movements are very different for the two factions) before my trip, but apparently there were plenty of terrible acts committed for the 'sake of independence.' Thankfully, the most radical Basque group (the one that is currently being held outside of the Basque region for the violent acts they've committed) has signed a permanent cease-fire. If you want to know more, I'm sure you can look it up, but it's just interesting to be in an area where the opinions are so strong. There is little violence now (maybe just some teenagers screwing around, nothing serious), but in the past it was a major concern. 

These were the subjects of my walk last night; art, history, politics, jazz... there's a big jazz festival every year in Vitoria - they even have a statue of Wynton Marsalis leaning against a park bench where they have the names of all the major jazz groups that have performed here over the years; Muddy Waters, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, etc. 

We ended up walking through the Vitoria train station, checking out the tracks. Pablo is a nut for trains; he's actually heading on a trip to take the Trans-Siberian Railway this summer with his brother. It's funny, he's so delighted by trains that I've been completely inspired to take more trains in the future. 

By the time I got to bed (next to the model train that Pablo's family has put together over the years) I was delirious with exhaustion... definitely forgot to say thank you and goodnight again. I'll have to work harder on that!

Today we toured around the countryside. Pablo's brother Miguel took us to a bunch of old towns and to see some reservoirs in the countryside. The region reminds me a lot of Colorado - it's ridiculously green, there are tons of pine trees (and other deciduous trees as well, though I'm not sure the names of them), and cows EVERYWHERE. Also, I saw a lot of very shaggy (and very fat) horses and ponies. So cute.

I'm in love. Everywhere you look there's another old church, or someone is road biking, or you pass by a quasi-modern statue. Did I mention it's beautiful? And the people are incredibly outdoors-y and active? And that all the signs are in Basque and Spanish?

Okay, I'm done gushing.

So, that's about all I have to report for the day. We're heading back out for some shopping, etc. this afternoon, then I believe it's beers and pintxos again tonight... we'll see. I'm just sort of going along with a huge grin on my face and no idea what's happening next. It's been pretty awesome.

All right. I'm off to find some coffee... and maybe some chocolate. We'll see what Vitoria has to offer in the way of mid-afternoon pick-me-ups!

Cheers!

Greetings From the Basque Country!

Remember when I said that I wanted to travel and decided to start saying yes to things rather than no?

Well, I'm in Spain.

I can blame this trip on that desire. Completely. But it's definitely a good thing...

I booked at ticket on the fifth, left on the eighth, and am now sitting in Vitoria, Spain with my head spinning.

Yesterday I flew into Madrid after a CRAZY early flight from Amman to Cairo. My friend met me at the airport (having flew in two hours before me) and we took the train into Madrid. Before I packed to come he warned me that I probably wanted a backpack, so I asked around my family members in Amman until I found one. It has a couple holes, but I did my best to patch it up before I came. I'm so happy I did - we ended up walking around Madrid for at least five hours, taking in all the sites. We hit the major places, the Plaza Mayor, Sol, the large park (I have no idea what it's called) - the entire time feeling like I was in some sort of movie. At one point we walked by a complete Egyptian temple that was given to Spain by Egypt after some sort of political assistance was given between the two. The irony of having been in Cairo for three hours that morning and walking by an Egyptian temple in Spain was mildly overwhelming. A last minute ticket combined with two hours of sleep and a complete change of scenery left me floored and prone to such comparisons.

Pablo (my friend) did an excellent job acting as a tour guide. He is from the Basque region of Spain, so he's very familiar with Madrid, though only as the capital. He has a bunch of friends living there, however, so after walking most of the city (it felt like), we went to his friend's apartment just long enough to put down our backpacks before we headed back out for pintxos (pronounced pinchos, similar to tapas) and beer. After a few bites I was tuckered out, so we headed back. I don't even think I said goodnight before I crawled into bed - next time I'll remember to be more polite before falling into a coma-like sleep.

Today we headed out of Madrid to Vitora, taking a bus. Pablo really likes trains and would have liked that better, but the new high-speed train from Madrid to Vitora is €50. The bus, however, was only about €25 - much more reasonable. Along the way he gave me a brief history of the Basque region (I'm too tired to explain it all here, just google Basque if you're interested). Something to note though is the fact that Vitoria was named Europe's greenest city for the year. Very cool.

His mom met us at the bus station, as I'll be staying with them for the next three days (four? I can't remember). She doesn't speak a lot of English, and my Spanish is rusty to say the least, but we were able to bond over the fact that we think Pablo should cut his dreadlocks (called rastas in Spain - so cool!). We walked through Vitora (once again, thank God for that backpack) and ended up in a lovely square where Pablo's parents (Ignacio y Yolanda) live. I totally feel like I'm intruding, but Pablo has assured me that they're used to hosting various friends. Honestly, I'm so lucky that I met someone who's willing to act a tour guide to Spain and find places for me to stay... There's a reason why I knew I should take advantage of the opportunity while I could!

Well, we just had dinner and I think I'm going to go on a 'promenade' (I love the English that they speak). I'm completely exhausted out of my mind (sorry if this blog post makes little or no sense... and for all the parentheses), but I don't want to miss out on anything!

Cheers!

The Spice Must Flow

Hello, all! Sorry there was no post yesterday, it was the Jordanian equivalent of a Saturday and the family was hanging out for most of the day. It was pretty nice.

Did you know that traditionally the Jordanian weekend was Thursday/Friday? It has been changed to Friday/Saturday due to the fact that they essentially were out of sync with the Western world for four days out of the week, making international business pretty hard to conduct. Thus, Thursday night is the big night out for most Jordanians, and Friday lunch is a big family affair. Also, lunch is the major meal of the day, not dinner. Typically it's a light breakfast, large lunch, and small dinner. I love the meal schedule... not to mention the INCREDIBLE food. The food here is absolutely amazing. Lots of cooked veggies, rice, delicious hummus and mutabel (baba ganoush), and there's always fruit for dessert. I could dedicate an entire blog post to just the fruit - it's unlike anything we get in grocery stores in the States. I'm wondering whether or not it would be worth a shot trying to bring some of the melon back with me...

Last post I talked about my desire to travel more... honestly, I'm looking at the months I'll be in the States as an extended period in which to run errands and make some money, then heading back out. It's strange. Even though I really want to travel around, I can also start to sense complacency creeping back in. I really want to get back to Houston to see my friends that I've made there, as well as my dad and his partner. I can't wait to get back to Poison Girl and to check out what crazy midnight showings are at the River Oaks theatre for the week and a half I'm there... but I have to fight the urge to just ease back into a life without really examining why I'm there. I got caught up in my life in Colorado that way, without realizing what I might be giving up without exploring before settling. Now I'm terrified of doing the same thing in a place that's cooler, but still may end up being a lovely trap where I realize in four years that I'm completely unhappy. So, with this in mind, I've devised of an escape plan.

I will force myself to leave in October for another extended stay in Jordan.

I'm planning on taking an internship with an organization here in October, then (fingers crossed), I'll be invited to be the social media maven for Jack Hanna's 'Into the Wild.' After that, back to the States. Then in January I hope to be off again! Regardless of how amazing life is in Houston (and I'm worried that it might end up being pretty awesome), I'm going to go... that is, if everything works out according to plan. Which it will........... I hope.

So, I'm on to Children of Dune now in the series. I have never gotten this far without being completely disappointed in Frank Herbert; I guess it's a sign of maturity? When I would read Dune before it was a nerd-gasm of delight and happiness. I LOVED the messiah story of Paul Atredies, not to mention the rise to power of the Fremen people. Then I would read Dune Messiah and freak out. Dune Messiah is such a buzz kill after Dune. ****Spoiler Alert**** The government is corrupt? Chani dies?!? Paul goes blind?!?!? HE WANDERS INTO THE DESERT TO DIE?!?!?!?!?!? What the heck. I've made it through the book before, but I always really resisted and hated it. After Dune Messiah I've read Children of Dune once. It's pretty sad. I've read Dune 15+ times, Dune Messiah three times, Children of Dune once. But this time, I've made it all the way through to Children of Dune without throwing any of the books in disgust - a first (and it's a good thing too, since I'm reading the books on my Kindle).

I have a confession to make about the books: Brian Herbert's introduction helped me get through them. It's not just maturity, it's also the intros that he wrote to each of the books, particularly the intro to Dune Messiah that helped me understand the method to Frank Herbert's madness. I know, I know! I'm fully aware that Brian Herbert is riding on his father's coattails and stealing his ideas to write more Dune books which completely ruins the canon and needlessly commercializes the success of Dune as his father is probably spinning in his grave! But, regardless, it was nice to hear that Frank Herbert had a different vision for the Dune saga than just a meteoric rise, even if it's hard to see your heroes as flawed creatures (particularly Paul Atredies and Stilgar).

Ok. I'm done being a nerd. Love Children of Dune, though. I love the whole series (finally!). Now that I have enough time to sit down and actually read something, it's been a lovely story to read as I'm in the land where the culture inspired the novel.

Here's my clip for the day: not the usual, but amusing.

Alright. Well, that's enough of my rambling.

Cheers!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Continuing with my desire to travel more - I'm now currently in the process of trying to book a ticket to Spain. I made a friend along the crazy JTBNA trip who is going to be in Spain for part of the summer who invited me to come join his adventures. Though I don't know him very well, he seems like he would be a good traveling companion... and he's from the Basque region of Spain. I've said it time and time again - it's always better to travel somewhere with someone who knows their way around. In that spirit, I've gotten the blessing of my mother, father and various family members, so I'm doing it...

...if I can figure out how to get there.

I have a ticket to Frankfurt that then connects on to Houston. My plan was to find a connecting flight from Frankfurt to Spain, which I assumed wouldn't be more than $200-300. Then I was told that the budget airlines fly in the area and it's easy to get a ticket somewhere between €20-80, but now I'm having a heckuva time trying to book the flight. All of the big companies have tickets that range from $575-800 (in which case it would be better to just fly from Amman), which is CRAZY. I've been able to find some of the smaller budget airlines with more competitive ticket pricing, but they have weird schedules that don't work with mine. I'm also looking at trains - it would be pretty cool to go through France on a train - but the tickets are expensive as well.

We'll see. I might have a lead on a ticket, but there are all the fees to consider too... airlines really don't like you screwing around with your ticket too much. I'm also battling with internet connection that keeps dropping out, so I can't call the airlines from my aunt's Magic Jack, and I certainly don't have the minutes on my Jordanian cell to duke it out with United for the appropriate length of time (not to mention, I don't know if they even have a local number to call....). Honestly, I don't even know if I'll be able to put up this blog post today, let alone book my international flights. How did people figure out how/when/where to go before the internet? Well, travel agencies I guess, but still.

Ugh. Craziness.

In other news I went and got my hair trimmed today (a very satisfactory job), as well as doing some shopping. I didn't buy much (as I'm anticipating spending some $$$ on this ticket), but it's always fun to look. In about an hour I'm off to get a mani/pedi with a new friend which should be fun.

So, that's about it for now. Here's a cute video to give you an idea of where I want to go.

Cheers!