Just More Pre-Departure Information

So, since I've been getting a lot of the same questions, I decided to take this opportunity to answer some of them. For those of you who read this often, you probably know the answers to all of these and will, therefore, find this entire post redundant. For those of you who don't read this often, you probably don't care, and will find this post pointless.

Here, my friends, is a list of (complete with answers) my FAQ's:

1. Are you nervous?

answer: Duh! Of course I'm nervous; I'm going to Africa! That being said, my excitement SERIOUSLY outweighs my nerves.

2. Can you get packages?

answer: Yes. Here is the deal on mailing me stuff, at least from what I can gather (more information will be posted when I get it). It is expensive, there is no way around it. For letters, the required postage is $0.98 and it will take 2-3 weeks to arrive to me. Make sure to write on the letter or package "Air Mail" or "Por Avion" or it will take up to 6 months to reach me. Packages: Flat rate boxes are cheapest, but it is still going to be pricey (isn't my love in return worth it?). Packages will take 5-9 weeks to reach me via airmail and 6 months for ground mail. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I get 6 months of duty-free shipping. After that, anything that is sent to me that is valued at over $20, I will have to pay duty taxes on. (Hint: ship used goods *wink*) What are good things to ship? From what I read, it sounds like juice mixes (crystal light type things), candy, pictures of you, spice packets, ect are great. Anything that I wouldn't be able to get there that would make me happy, and ship well really. I'll put up my shipping address soon where the "about me" blurb is right now.

3. Will you have internet?

answer: Not for the first 8-10 weeks. After that, definitely every once in a while (monthly), possibly more. I will find out later in Spring.

4. Do you have a packing list?/ What are you bringing?

answer: Here is a copy of my packing list.....its overwhelming.

General Clothing

• Lightweight, all-weather jacket
• Hooded sweatshirt or fleece

• Sleeveless dresses and shirts (note that Volunteer teachers cannot wear these in the classroom)
• Swimsuit (one piece)
• Bandannas or handkerchiefs
• Sun hat (baseball cap)
• Good-quality raincoat
• Small umbrella (On principle, I refuse)
• Durable, easy-to-wash pants
• Shorts and other clothes like drawstring pajama pants for lounging around (doctor’s scrubs are ideal)
• Women can and do wear trousers for traveling and in the cities
• Teachers need lightweight dresses/skirts that go below the knee (no slits above the knee, and not tight-fitting)
• Cotton slips (waist to knee and waist to ankle)
• Very durable, practical clothes (not nice, dressy clothes)
• Some nicer clothes for in town (dancing, restaurants)
• Lots of underwear, bras, socks
• Heavy-duty sports bra
• Belt
• Money belt
• shorts (longer, knee-length shorts for women) for biking
• Sturdy work gloves (if you garden)

Overall advice: do not bring a lot. Just three to four outfits for staging and beginning of training.You can find just about everything in the markets. Malawians dress very conservatively, and will espect the same from you!

Shoes

Durable shoes are an essential investment

• Teva or Chaco sandals
• Sneakers and/or hiking boots (Boots are handy for rainy season)
• Shoes (close-toed and good to stand in all day; for anyone who teaches)
• You can get flip-flops in Malawi (but according to current volunteers they're all crappy and wear out so you have to buy a new pair every month so bring a pair from home)
• Dress shoes

Personal Hygiene and Toiletry Items

• Favorite brand of tampon
• Face/hand/body lotion
• Deodorant
• Shampoo (just a 2-in-1 to get through training)
• A few toothbrushes
• Toothpaste (just one for training)
• Hand sanitizer
• Multivitamins
• Short supply of razors and blades
• Two pair eyeglasses if needed
• Hair-cutting scissors
• Tweezers
• Lip balm
• Prescription drugs (three-month supply)

Kitchen

• A sharp kitchen knife
• Rubber spatula
• French press (if you appreciate good coffee)
• Kitchen towels
• Send foodstuff to yourself before leaving: specialty/herbal teas; Kraft Mac & Cheese powder; Cliff,Luna or other energy bars.

Miscellaneous But Important Items For Serious Consideration!

• Sturdy water bottle (e.g., Nalgene)
• Lightweight, travel, waterproof tent w/ground cloth
• Leatherman/Swiss Army knife
• Compact sleeping bag for cold weather
• Laptop
• Bungee cords or backpack straps
• Fitted and flat twin sheets, or double if you need
• Flashlight or headlamp with extra bulbs
• Shortwave radio
• Solar-powered rechargeable batteries with recharger
• Duct tape
• Scissors
• Headlamp (very popular among PCVS!) and/or wind-up flash light
• Converter and adaptors (220V here. Small multi converters/adapters work well.)
• Good dictionary
• U.S. stamps (so you can send letters home with travelers)
• Flash drive!! We provide a 2 gig version, but you may want more of your own.
• Camera
• Field guide for flora and fauna of sub-Saharan Africa
• Seeds for herbs and vegetables
• Battery-powered alarm clock (I have a wind-up clock)
• A couple of thirsty towels (this one entertained me)
• English dictionary, Thesaurus
• Sunglasses
• Some zip-lock baggies
• Watch - think cheap
• Jewelry - like the watch
• Personal money (you can keep it in the safe at the Peace Corps office)
• Games (Scrabble, cards, chess, Frisbee, etc.)
• iPod/mp3 player (Please note that erratic energy, heat, humidity, sand and dust will do a number on all electronic devices)
• Musical instrument (harmonica, guitar, etc.)
• A few novels (to swap after reading) I'm brining The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galexy, The Three Musketeers, Pride and Prejudice, and Peter Pan
• Hobby materials like sketching pads and pencils
• Day pack
• Luggage (should be tough, lightweight, lockable, and easy to carry)
• Hiking backpack
• Sharpies
• Crayons, markers, colored paper, colored pencils and cheap paint sets
• Children’s books
• GRE prep materials
• Unbreakable French Press
• Misc pictures from home and calendar showing scenes of the US
• 
  

I'm not bringing everything on here, obviously. Also, I am bringing things not on here. This is just a general idea from PeaceCorps and previous/current volunteers to get an feel for what is needed. At least, because of the backpacking I've done, I already have a bunch of the basic things that would normally cost an arm and a leg (eg. Boots, backpack, sleeping bag, ect).

I guess that pretty much covers the questions I've been getting. I can't believe I have less than a month left. If you know me, and know where I live, or know me well enough to contact me and see where I live, I am having a going away party on February 6th. Stop by, eat food, hang out. I am going to try to cook some traditional Malawian dishes like nsima ....that might end badly but there will at least be an attempt.

Travel Information

I just made reservations with SATO travel to fly to Philadelphia on February the 25th. I'm going to be at my pre-training staging event one day early since it takes a 6 hour flight to get to Philadelphia from Seattle and I have to be there by 1:00pm on the 26th. That means one day less to say goodbye to family and friends but one day closer to my great African adventure! I think I'm starting the stage of my excitement where sleeping is going to be rare. If you all thought I talked about Africa a lot before, I'm at a whole new level now.

I guess this means that I am going to have a ton more little updates like this until I get in gear enough to be too busy with preparations.

There is no one in the house with me right now to listen so, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!

Getting ready

As you can see (maybe), I've done some tweaking with my layout. New picture, also, check out this disclaimer required if I am going to publicize my blog once I'm in Malawi ------------------>

So, as of now, I'm doing little things to get ready to leave. I'm picking up this or that at the store, staring at my suitcases trying to decide if I would rather bring more stuff or a guitar, getting student loan stuff together, avoiding packing. It sort of hit me last night that this is coming up very quickly.

Yesterday I received an e-mail from Peace Corps with my international flight and staging event information. Here is what I know:

Staging will be in Philidelphia, PA (not D.C.) and it will last for about 20 hours.

Here is my schedule:

1:00pm- check in/registration
2:00-4:25pm-Who we are and what's expected of you
break
4:45-7:00pm-What you expect, What's next, and closing

1:30am- check out of hotel
2:00am- bus arrives for loading and departure for JFK airport, NYC
10:30am- Flight departs for Malawi

As for flight information:
On United Airlines, we fly from JFK to Johannesburg, South Africa. 15 hour and 10 minute flight. We arrive in South Africa at 8:40am (Johannesburg is in the same time zone as Malawi so there is a 10 hour time difference). At 10:00am I flight from Johannesburg to Lilongwe for 2 hours and 25 minutes. I arrive in Malawi at 12:25 pm.

In short:
10:30 depart JFK, New York
8:40am arrive Johannesburg, South Africa
10:00am depart Johannesburg
12:25pm arrive in Malawi

I am finally starting to get nervous but that is only because this has been 9 months since I graduated, but really a year waiting. This time last year I has already interviewed and was waiting to hear. Exciting times.

In other news, I am going to play around with different templates and feedback would be appreciated (that doesn't seem to ever be a problem). So, let me know what you like and don't like, you're the ones who are actually looking at it.

In Motion

Let me begin with a review of 2009, which proved to be a very exciting year (yes I know this is a couple weeks late). In 2009: I worked a lot of jobs (5) as usual, graduated for Pacific Lutheran University with my BA in Econ with a concentration in International Economic Analysis and a minor in Business, four days after graduation I left for Holden Village for four months, had the best summer of my life, came home, attempted a road trip, failed said roadtrip, spent time with my family, pierced my nose, and have been reconnecting with a lot of people from Holden and PLU...even a few from high school. As good as 2009 was, 2010 will be better.Late last year, Meredith, an old roommate somehow managed to scrape together a car to visit me!! It was great seeing her!

Since January 1st, I have been on 5 airplanes, 4 trains, 9 buses, and 8 different cars (none of which were my own). I have spent time in the Seatac, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Denver, and Salt Lake City airports. I am excited that my methods of transport from here on out are only going to get more interesting. That being said, my next 40 days at home are going to include a lot of home time because I have a lot to get ready here before I can leave for Malawi. Ok, that's enough, on to what I've been up to the last couple weeks, and pictures!

Just before the new year, a good friend from Holden came to stay with me for 6 days. We went sailing, hung out in Seattle, went to Ikea, soo exciting. I had a good time showing her the magic of the Pacific Northwest, and she had a grand time (being from Wisconsin) experiencing, what I would later in the week learn is, warm weather. Being that it is SO "warm" here, and actually not raining for a bit, Hannah, my Dad and I took the opportunity to go sailing! It was cold, but beautiful. Good job, January.

My father is a dignified man, as visible by the sun behind his head. It was a good day, overall. After sailing, we went down to Seattle, I'll spare you all of the pictures I foreced her to take being a tourist (with the space needle, with Pike's place, with Yoda, with Tom Hanks's picture, ect.)

The evening I took Hannah to the airport to go back home, our dryer broke so Jeff and Diana and I went to the laundromat so I could do some laundry because I was leaving for Minneapolis, MN the next morning. Somehow this happened.

Those details are a little fuzzy still. Either way, eventually, I finished my laundry, packed up and went to sleep for a few hours before I had to get up the next morning so my WONDERFUL sister could drive me to the airport at 3:00am.

The plainride went smoothly, I flew to Denver, then to Minneapolis. I got there, my friend Maren (I stayed with her) from Holden picked me up from the airport and thus my Mid-west adventure began. Everyone should note that it was 45 F when I left Seattle and I was already sleeping in long underwear. When I landed in Minneapolis it was 14 F and was emediatly informed that I was lucky it was so warm there for a change. It should also be noted that 14 was the coldest I had ever felt.

Maren: What do you want to do while you're here?
Amy: Stand on a frozen lake, drink Caribou coffee, and see the Mall of America.


Maren: No problem

Here are some things I learned right out of the gate: "You have to respect the ice."-Maren Evidently, "respecting the ice" means you have to waddle when you walk...and waddle I did. I also learned that when you first walk outside, rather than taking a deep breath to enjoy the fresh air like I am used to doing in wonderful, wonderful Washington, you have to hold your breath and then proceed to breath in slowly. Not following these simple directions will, absolutely, result in coughing and then having the locals make fun of you. This is a reflex not easily learned. I learned that if you are standing on a frozen lake and you wrap your scarf around your face for extra protection from the cold, that makes condensation on your glasses from breathing. Then, if you stand outside like that for more than a split second, your glasses freeze. Yes, I said freeze. They look like they were just foggy; take my word for it.

I also learned that Minnesotans have to put fake mountains on the walls of their Caribou Coffee's so they can pretend they have mountains. Oh Minnesota, you silly, silly folks.


Inside the Mall of America, there is a lego museam..I can't even make a lego helicopter.

There is a sculpture park, and in the middle is this 1,200 lb cherry on a spoon (famous?). I stood bye it because the pond surrounding it is frozen (frozen bodies of water stood on so far: 2). That was interesting. We didn't very thoroughly investigate the rest of the sculptures because it was soo cold that day. Even with 2 pairs of pants on, a t-shirt, long sleeve t-shirt, flannel, fleece, sweatshirt, jacket, hat, gloved, scarf, it was too cold to be out for more than 20 minutes.

I did learn that it is a bad idea, however, to try to climb the giant spoon because, that is not respecting the ice, and the ice gets angry and makes you fall on your face. I learned my lesson. Thanks for being on top of the camera, Maren.

Maren took me to a place where I got to throw peanut shells on the ground. This, really, has nothing to do with Minnesota, but I've always wanted to, so it's exciting in my book.

What's next in the random collection of things I did in Minnesota? A kite festival on a frozen lake (frozen body of water number 3). Fun fact, if you are at a kite festival, flying a kite on a frozen lake, at sun set, after the sun sets, what you once thought was unbarably cold, becomes, lets get to the car as fast as we can because I think I'm on Pluto-cold.

After the kite festival, Katy took us to a local coffee shop where she has a bunch of her FANTASTIC photos hanging from all of the places she's been. We had ice cream there because since it was -12F, there was a 25% discount to give incentive to eat it. That's right.

Another fun fact: the Mighty Ducks trilogy was filmed for the most part in Minneapolis, MN. We watched the movies, then drove past Mickey's diner (a few scenes from the movie) on our way home from the Minnesota Science Museum where we saw an exhibit on the Titanic (very interesting, go if it comes to a city near you).
That pretty much concludes my Minnesota adventure. Monday morning, Maren dropped me off at the airport on her way to work and I was on my way. I flew from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Denver, to Salt Lake City, and finally to Seatac. There I took the lightrale (train number 1) to Seattle and caught the bus to Everett where I was picked up and taken home.

The next morning I woke up early again, got a ride to the everett station, hopped on a bus to Seattle and got on a train (#2) to Vancouver to visit an old roommate, Kristen and her boyfriend Andrew (also a friend from PLU).
Seeing as I was only in the magical land of Camas for 23 hours, it was a sort of whirlwind of tours of the town, and catching up with each other. It was so good to see her, and everyone I've seen, especially keeping in mind that I won't see them for at least 2.5 years.

The next morning, Kristen and Andrew dropped me off at the train station (#3) where I took the train to Seattle. Once in Seattle I hopped on the sounder (train #4) instead of a bus because the Sounder honors Amtrak tickets (interesting). Jeff picked me up from good ol' Everett station and took me to church where I had some things to do, then someone from church took me home. I pretty much went straight to sleep, woke up this morning, and here I am. It's been an exciting couple of weeks.

Now, I am faced with all of the thousands of little things I have to do before I take off. I need to get rid of all of the things I won't want come June 2012, fill out paperwork, ect ect.

I hope this update will satisfy for a bit because I don't forsee anything exciting coming up for a bit.

40 days until I leave!

Merry (almost) Christmas

So far, my luck in finding a job has been bad. I have decided that I will not find gameful employment in the two months before I leave. At best, I can still make a profit running around and picking up the loose change that falls out of my older brother's pockets and on the floor of my sisters car. I'm slowly building my fortune. When I'm not hunting for change around the Cross house, I am....well, I'm never really sure how I fill my days but I always end up doing something. The only exception to that is the past week when I have taken over the brown couch as my little illness island. Bronchitis.

After a visit to the un-sympathetic, drug-pushing doctor, I decided to tough it out and just try to cough all of the gunk out of my lungs to avoid pneumonia, normal for me (too much information? Sorry, you should be prepared for that). I feel better today than I have all week so I win in the game of Amy v. sickness. Does anyone else play that game when they're sick? I always win in the end, weird. I spent most of my couch-bound time knitting and staring off into space, reading, and watching made-for-tv movies. Grand. I'm glad that part of my life is over and feel better in thinking that the next time I'm sick, it will most likely be by some exotic tropical disease in Africa (erase that from your memory, Mom).

I got a point in the previously mentioned Amy v. sickness game, by the way, for finding the ule log channel on demand. If I was never sick, then I never would watched all of the How I Met Your Mother episodes and I never would have explored further. Again, too much unnecessary information (its a habit, I blame my sister).

So, as I am sure by now you have concluded, this post is pointless and is most definitely a waste of your life to read. Why are you still reading? Well, its interesting to read what is happening in another persons mind or in their life. As this is a completely unfiltered forum for the ramblings of my easily distracted little mind, it is vaguely interesting. Example a, you are reading this right now. If it is a waste or your life to read this then isn't it a waste of my life to write it, you ask? No. My dear, dear friend Meredith and my sister both have spent a lot of time bugging me about writing another update, even though there is (obviously) nothing exciting enough to update about. This is to satisfy them. I'm a people-pleaser.

My plans for the future (between now and leaving for Africa): Making my own flash paper out of toilet paper, a flare, boiling water, as spoon, and a match. PROJECT! I'm going to be my own supplier for flammable magic trick paraphernalia.

I apologize if this is all a bit pointless and scattered; I've been on cold medication all week.

So its Christmas time again! Lets all join hands together, sing a carol or two (though with this nasty cough, you won't want to listen to me sing) and then watch another cartoontastic twist of Dickens's most famous work. I'll bring the figgy pudding (is that really just pudding with figs in it?)!!!

Don't spend hours at the mall tomorrow, on Christmas eve, spend it with the people you love. After all, if you don't have a gift for them yet, obviously they're not important enough to get one from you. Maybe you should spend that time building your relationship instead of yelling at the slow person in the parking lot who just won't give up their awesome, should-be-a-persons with disabilities spot because its sooo close to the door-spot. If you do go somewhere tomorrow, park in back, enjoy being outside, you probably don't spend enough time outside.

That's enough, I warned you about the cold medication.

Merry Christmas!

I've been home for 2 weeks and 2 days.

So, 2 weeks is too long to go without posting anything? Noted.

So far I've been spending my time job hunting for a job that will only last for a few months and is within barrowing-a-car-from-family distance. Its not happening. We'll see. Maybe I'll sell my blood? No.

A couple of days ago Diana and I took the bus to the REI in Seattle so that I could give Diana a lesson in riding the bus. Evidently, I'm a bad teacher; she's still confused.

Yesterday I went to Olympia to visit both Grandma's an Aunt and an Uncle.

Right now I'm sitting next to Jeff, my brother (Woohoo for first blog shoutout to the Jeffinator!), watching muppet parodies of genius songs (eg, Bohemian Rhapsody).

That's really all that I'm up to. I'll post some pictures when I'm on a computer that can read my 8 G memory card because my camera cord was a victem in Floyd's death.

Satisfied Meredith?

Roadtrip fail. Que Sera Sera

These photos are in reverse order. Back at home, this is Lake Stevens.

Gloomy airport gate. I would much rather be on the road. Oh well.

Somewhere inbetween Santa Ana and San Fransisco.


My airplane.

The last picture I took of Floyd before the sketchy Russian man took him away.
Self-explanatory.




Diana and I in front of the castle.




Tea cups :).





Splash Mountain.

Haunted mansion.


Waiting to get into the park.

We were first in line :).


Since my exhaust system fell off of my car (you're read that later) I had to miss the walk of fame in Hollywood, so this makes up for that.




On Highway 101, you curve around a lot through the landscape. I would be driving through hills and rural areas, then the road would just open up to show the Pacific Ocean as far as you can see. Wonderful. This is the Californian Coast.

Before it opened up to the ocean.

The Redwood Forest. Those trees are pretty large and in charge.

Babe, the blue Oxe.

Paul Bunion himself

Me, Paul, and Blue.

Floyd, Paul, and Blue.
Flody and the californian Coast (its through that opening but it started to rain so you can't really see it).

Me and the Redwood forest.

Floyd and the Redwoods.

Me and a giant fyberglass T-Rex.

Floyd and the T-Rex.
I didn't post anything for the duration of my road trip because my computer started smoking and never turned on again.

Its just like Floyd to go down with flair. Aside from the general over heating, occasional smoking, and, every once in a while, refusing to move up hills (or at all)...and oh yeah, running really rich, I have no idea what was wrong with him. I will never know now. I sold him to a junk yard so I wouldn't have to be stranded in L.A. anymore. I'm pretty sure I got ripped off by the scuzziest junk yard man in the history of the world. Oh well, I'm home now.

I'm a little annoyed that my exciting road trip failed (mostly) and I'm back home, with an extra month and nothing to do (for now, 103 days until I leave for Africa, according to my Mom's count down. Is she excited? or sad? haha). on the other hand, I always sort of have trips and things planned for myself and they rarely work out. I'm just happy that this one sort worked out-I left. I was trying to figure out what I'm going to do with myself for the next 103 days. I thought about going back to Holden, but I'm trying really hard to resist the need that everyone feels to default back there when things don't necessarily move forward. Besides, I feel like I'm sort of saving my return for after Peace Corps.

Ok, so here is the story from when I posted last until Monday night:

Friday, November 6th, 2009 (Newport, Oregon, day 4):

That morning I packed up and left because I had just learned that I had to make it from Newport, OR to Santa Cruz, CA (which I knew), 14 hours of driving, about 642 miles (didn't know). I made it after being over-tired, extremely frustrated, slightly lost, and in aww over the Golden Gate Bridge (did anyone know that is a toll bridge??) That night I was staying with Carol from Holden. Carol lives up in the mountains above Santa Cruz, where there is no cell phone reception. So, I was in the woods, after dark, winding through the mountains at night, up steep roads. At this point Floyd was already having trouble rounning (because of the 642 mile drive that day). There came a spout where all of the forks in the road got so steep that I couldn't get the car to move forward any more up the hills. I had to get it off the road, so I pulled it inbetween two forks, as much off the road as I could (not very much). I picked up my pack, and started walking toward Carol's place. Eventually (after being barked at by a bunch of dogs and questioned by a bunch of owners and neihbors) a car pulled over to ask me if I was hitch hiking (I was looking pretty sketchy by this point). When I told the elderly couple in the car that I wasn't hitch hiking but that I was staying with Carol, and yes, she knew I was coming, they said, "well, oh. You're one of her Holden friends then! Get in the car, I'm her neihbor, Marsha, I can give you a lift to her driveway". After thanking her and telling her that yes, that was my car back there and I know its not that far off the road but it wouldn't move forward anymore and I was lucky it was out of the road at all, we made it to carols place (pretty far up the hill). I thanked them, a lot, and headed to Carols house, where she was waiting for me with open arms, asking me if I found it alright. Ugg. I went inside and we talked for a while about Holden and people we know, the trip I had getting there, ect. Eventually I expressed my need to go to sleep before passing out. I got to sleep in a bed for the first time in a while, that was exciting (sorry, I didn't get a picture of it).

Saturday, November 7th, 2009:
The next morning I was so anxious about my car that I couldn't sleep, so I was up before dwawn. We ate breakfast and as soon as it was light outside, I looked at the car a bit (determining that it was a faulty mass airflow sensor that I put in the car a couple weeks prior) and headed down the hill after saying goodbye to Carol and giving her the hat I knitted for her. I went to 2 different auto-parts stores and bought a new mass airflow sensor, and the cheapest socket set they had ($3) and put in the knew MAS in the parking lot with the help of a random man who saw my having trouble fitting all of the parts together (engines are pretty congested places, I've discovered). I put the knew part in and it didn't do anything. Annoyed that I just spent a bunch of money on nothing, I decided to hit the road anyway because I needed to pick up Diana from the Santa Ana airport by 9:30 at the lastest and it was already noon. 410 miles that day. The further I drove, the worse the car got. At times, I had to pull the car back to 2nd gear just so I wasn't loosing speed at a slight incline. By the time I made it to L.A. , I was sure I wouldn't make it much forther than Anaheim, I was just trying to push forward as much as I could so Diana wouldn't be stranded at the airport. L.A. traffic sucks. Stop and go traffic is especially aggrevating when every time you stop (especially on a hill) you're not confident that the car will actually move forward when you start again. So, on the freeway, I wound through Los Angeles until South L.A. when I had to pull off of the side of the road into a laundry matte parking lot because I heard a loud noise and then the sound of steel being dragged under my car. When I got under the car to look at it my exhaust pipe fell off of my car and was dragging because it was still attached to the muffler and hooked up over the rear axel. After spending a while on the phone with my Dad he told me that I had to free the exaust pipe so I could drive the car still. I grabbed the knife that I cut yarn with and my headlamp and layed down on the ground (in the world grosses parking lot) and hacked at the rubber holders that were keeping the muffler attached to the car because I had to get the (disconnected) muffler off so that I could get the exhaust pipe off the axel. After a while of messing with it it finally came off and after a further while of messing with the exhaust pipe and jacking up the car and putting it down ,ect, I finally got that out too. The exhaust pipe went in the dumpster (or close to it) and the muffler went in my trunk with my broken lap top. I hit the road again. By the time I got back onto the freeway, traffic had gotten better and I found the humor in the situation and started laughing a bit at it (probably in a crazy way). After I got lost a few times again (I have no sense in direction) I made it to the airport and found a parking lot. I was there 45 minutes before Diana's plane landed, those 45 mintues, I fully intended to sleep but bafter a few seconds of the car being off the airport/parking lot shuttle was behind me honking to see if I wanted to shuttle to the airport. I decided that 45 minutes of sleep wouldn't do much and got onto the shuttle. I got off and walked around in the airport appreciating my ability to walk around after so long in the car. I picked up Diana (who was astonished by the sounds Floyd was making without a muffler) and we headed back to the hotel we had reserved after, of course, getting lost a bit trying to find it. (Stupid McCarther Street in Santa Ana, we hate you!!!) We decided, back at the hotel, to trying to ignore the car and sleep...like that happened.

Sunday, November 8th, 2009:
Anaheim, California
DISNEYLAND!!!!

We got up early (what's a little less sleep?) and were t the park, first in line by 7:20am (opens at 8:00). We had checked out from the library at home "The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland" (highly recommended). We did Disneyland (open to close) in 16 hours, one day. We saw most of what there is to see and it wasw beautiful...Even though, most of the time I was falling in and out of being really sucked into the experience and being tripped out by the truman show affect of it all. Weird. It was a great day. The ngiht ended with a lazor light show projected onto a screen of shooting up water. The last song was "When You Wish Upon a Star", perfect Disney. We couldn't have asked for a better ending. We went back to the hotel extremely tired. While we were at the park, the family was looking for a flight home (cheap for me ASAP) because I decided to junk the car and fly home. check.

My favorite ride was Peter Pan. Disneyland was everything I hoped it could be.

Monday, November 9th, 2009:
Anaheim, and Santa Ana, California

Another early morning. Diana and I got up erally early (again) and called every junk yard in the phone book to see how to get rid of Floyd (sniffle). The problem was that I recently changed the title to be in my name (in case I had to get rid of it) but it was still in the mail. Since it was an out of state title that I dont' have yet, no one would take the car, let alone buy it from me. Finally, I found the sketchiest man alive and he took Floyd away. I dropped Diana off at the airport. The junk yard man offered free towing from wherever I was so I drove Floyd to a hotel parking lot across the street from the airport (Diana's idea) and meet him there. We filled out paperwork, I took pictures of Floyd, then he took him away and I picked up all of my stuff and walked across the street to the airport. When I got the the airport, the lady at the desk was having so much trouble checking me in (it took almost an hour) that her manager gave me priority seating to make up for the wait, so I got to board with the first class folks.

I waited in the airport for 5 hours until my flight left ( Diana's was early morning but mine was evening because it was a last minute ticket). Finally I got to board. Since I was a single person flying with a last minute, one-way ticket and a lot of random luggage (and looking pretty beat down by the world) I got pulled out of line twice and frisked. That's normal for me flying though. I had a 3 hour lay-over in San Fransisco. My second flight had my next to a woman holding her obnoxious toddler who had banana all over him and kept kicking me. She was also drinking. That was a pretty long flight (even though it was only 2 hours). I got to Seattle that night, where Diana had been waiting, and my Mom picked us up. We drove home and I went to bed and didn't wake up for a long time.

At least I have a story to tell now?

Good job if you read all of this.