July

Last night I had dinner- spinich salad, bread, and a red wine from Nova Scotia (where Kristin is from)- with Kristin and Bob (her housemate). Then Kristin and I went to a local bar in Watertown (very "local", in a bad way)- it was okay, but we only stayed for one drink.

Didn't sleep much- woke up at 7:00 and dozed on and off till 8:00- finally I just got up.

Now I'm going to take a shower and then try to get back to Harvard Square- read some more guide books (I did that for an hour yesterday at the COOP)- and if the stores are open, maybe look for some clothes... Maybe...

Then I'll come back here and see if I can help their new housemate, Jeff, move in.

Now I'm at the COOP. Last time I was here, they gave those tiny cream cheese packets and charged extra for more- this time they gave a huge container. Glad they switched- although it's really crumbly and difficult to spread.

It's a beautiful day, aside from some humidity. I really love Harvard Square- such interesting people walking around all the time! And such interesting little places- bookstores, music stores, pubs, cafes, General Store... What a great place to visit once in a while. Right now though, I'm kind of glad I didn't move here- it's almost impossible to find a nice place to live and I'm really happy with my current apartment and location and New York in general- just wish I was home more often.

Hunter has some sort of break at the end of September. I think I'll use that for my Fall in New England trip (and hope it's reasonably Fall-like already) and then see if I can stay home until Christmas (or even until after New Years if I can find somewhere to go for those holidays- ugh, I'm SO NOT READY to think about that yet). Oh, but I'm probably going to have to head down to the Baltimore/DC area for Neil's and Paula's birthdays. And what about Thanksgiving? I think the birthdays are enough. I wonder if they have some sort of Thanksgiving dinner for single people in New York? I would think there would be. That could be fun. I have time to worry about that though.

The concert last night was awesome! Poe was the opening act, and I liked her- think I'll pick up her CD one day soon! I wonder where they're from- they seem like an LA band to me. I liked how she ran through the audience and even out onto the lawn. It's nice for the people on the lawn (not many there for the opening act though- even less since it was pouring much of the evening) to see her up close! I've never seen a singer do that at a large venue before. Depeche Mode was great live! Cool lighting and video, high energy... They played a good mix of old and new. That's another DC I'll have to get soon- their new one, Exciter.

Kristin and I got a ride with some of her friends from her Bible study group. I liked them- down to earth, fun, real people! Maybe we can all hang out again the next time I'm up there. Or maybe if I'm there on a Tuesday, I'll go to their meeting.

Now I'm going to walk around a little (not too long though, dragging my suitcase everywhere will get annoying), and then head over to the airport. I can't believe I'm getting back to the city at 4:30- the traffic will be horrendous. At least I don't have to go crosstown. I love my location to La Guardia.

I managed to buy a few casual shirts for my trip- now I just need pants (the hard part)! I'd also like some non-casual summer tops for around here.

Now I'm at the airport early- better early than late. It's so quiet in the US Air Shuttle area. I'm sure it'll fill up when it gets closer to boarding time.

I'm looking forward to being home!

Tomorrow I'm going to the World Trade Center for shopping and probably to get a ticket to a show for tomorrow night. I just found out that they have a J Crew and an Ann Taylor Loft- seems like a good place to start clothes shopping. I really need to work on my wardrobe- I feel like I've been mentioning that a lot in the past few months. That's because I haven't gotten very far.

I heard from Andy- it looks like he's definitely coming up here on the 8th. He's driving- crazy nut. Although, it IS difficult to get cheap flights out of Roanoke. He could drive to Charlotte and take US Air to La Guardia, but he probably looked into that and they don't have a good deal for a flight less than 14 days in advance. So, he's driving to somewhere in Jersey, leaving the car with some friends, and then taking the train or bus in or something like that. So he'll be staying here for two nights...

I decided that I won't feel like going to the World Trade Center tomorrow- don't feel like running around right after running around Boston. So, I think I'll wait till Friday- Wednesday I'll be busy, Thursday, I'm going to see "tick, Tick... Boom" so I won't feel like going to the World Trade Center, coming home, and then heading all the way to West Side Highway, so that leaves Friday. I can go in the morning, get a ticket for a show, shop, come home, and then head to the theatre. That's a nice Friday activity (even though I LOVE staying home on Fridays- but I don't have time to have it all right now).

Now I'll finish up some online stuff and then read for a bit before bed.

Not much else on my mind this morning.

Just got an email from Andy that Tonya wants to come up to this weekend. Fine with me. That will definitely put a different spin on the weekend. I wonder what they will do with their kids.

Getting there was rather annoying. The subway decided to run express since there were too many people on it. So at 72nd, I thought, well I need to go to 89th, so I'll get off at 96th. Well, I needed to be at 79th, not 89th. I usually don't mind walking, but summers in New York are too crowded! Walking from my apartment to the subway was ridiculous and walking down Broadway from 96th to 79th wasn't no picnic! And the subway was PACKED! Every intelligent person (with some money) gets out of the city in the summer- so the streets aren't just crowded, they're crowded with annoying tourists and such. Now I'm looking forward to being away for 2 weeks!

Don't know what to do tonight- nothing sounds good. Can't pick a movie or a book and don't want to go out.

I meant to mention the other day- Sunday morning I woke up singing "The Silver Swan" (yuck- stupid, tuneless song). Right now I have Dave Matthew's "Ants Marching" in my head. Where DO these songs come from? Am I getting out of my musicals phase? No, I had "Green Green Dress" from "tick, tick... BOOM" in my head earlier today.

I kind of want to go with Andy to his audition just to see what an open call for "Rent" is like. Tonya will be going too, so I could hang out with her if Andy winds up doing audition stuff for a while. I doubt he'll be gone long though- I can't imagine the casting people liking his looks (too old). So, if I feel like getting up early and if he doesn't mind (I don't see why he would), maybe I'll go check it out.

Tonight I'm going to watch "1776"- a nice patriotic thing to do (plus I've never seen the movie version). It was actually Paula's idea. She's going to watch it tonight too! Then we can both talk about how bad a movie it was tomorrow (maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised, but for some reason I'm not anticipating enjoying the movie- now if I could see a video of the production with Michael Cumpsty...).

If this rain keeps up, there won't be any fireworks. Fine with me- I won't feel as bad about not making an effort to go watch them. This is the second year in a row without fireworks. In '99, I was in Frederick, sort of watching them from Neil and Maxine's house. I don't really remember it, but I don't think we could actually see very much. The year before that, I didn't see any. I had just moved to Phoenix and was exhausted, didn't know where to watch them and didn't feel like making an effort to find out, and it just didn't seem worth it. I don't remember the year before that. I know that in '96, I watched them in Blacksburg! That was fun! Maybe next year I'll see fireworks...

I really don't have much to say these days...

Chatted with Josh for a little bit on IM this morning- told him about my trip, etc. Can't wait to see him next month- that'll be fun- Yes show on the 24th, Tull show on the 31st, train travel to New York to get back for classes in between...

In a little bit, I'll go rent some movies. I was thinking about stopping by the food store to pick up some fresh mint (and a few other things)- been in the mood for Mint Julips. Yeah, I'll go to Gristede's and hope they have mint- they should have it.

And I got some mint at Gristede's. I tried to make a tasty beverage, but given the materials I have, it was very hard. I tried 2 drinks and didn't like either. I'm just going to have to except the fact that I don't have a great bar at home and go out when I want a good drink (seems easier than purchasing a bunch of bar materials). Now to find a more upscale neighbourhood bar that makes good drinks... I guess I could try Tao sometime. Think I'll wait till I have someone to go with...

So tonight, I will either drink non-alcoholic beverages or simple alcoholic beverages, watch my movies, and enjoy a peaceful night at home. Tomorrow and Friday I will be at the theatre and Sunday, Andy and Tonya will be in town- so I will take my quiet nights where I can get them...

OH!! I got an email from Leah Scheier (formerly Elashvili) this afternoon. She found my journal by searching for her name (I had written about a dream I had that she was in back in October). How exciting it was to hear from her again! Maybe she'll have time to get together when I'm down in Baltimore for Balpex (not that I have that much time...). She has TWO daughters now- 5 and 3!! I think the last time I saw her, she had an infant. So I guess it's been about 5 years. That sounds about right- I think I went to visit her one afternoon during one of my many trips to Baltimore when I was living in Christiansburg, which was in '96.

I just updated my movies I've seen this year list. Didn't take too long- haven't watched too many movies this year- been too busy seeing theatre and traveling.

Last night I didn't watch "Nuremberg" (didn't feel like watching the three hour movie) but did watch "Woman on Top". It was pretty hokie, but Harold Perrineau redeemed it slightly with his great timing and fun characterisation (and he had some great lines).

Then I talked to Harvey for a bit and he recommended HBO's Six Feet Under. I loved it! Guess I have a new show I'll have to keep up with. I hate getting caught up in continuation shows since I have such an unpredictable life and am hardly ever home at the same time every week. Paula said they would tape it for me (of course, they're not always home either). Harvey said he was going to have problems when the West Wing season starts since it's on at the same time as Six Feet Under. See, this TV thing is nuts. I don't know when they got so into TV anyway. Especially Paula- she always looked down upon TV shows. She's changed a lot though in the past 5 or so years. I'm assuming it's her busy schedule that changed other parts of her life. She doesn't go out at night much so what else is there to do in hotel rooms in the evening besides watch TV? Anyway, after Six Feet Under, I watched Sex in the City. That's a show I'll watch since it comes on after Six Feet Under but I don't think I would need to tape it. I like some aspects of it, but it's not that great a show. My Wednesday night show is South Park- I've started watching it again (and it's all new shows right now which is nice). So I had to stay up till 12:30 to watch it since I watched Sex in the City at 10:00. Yes, this TV thing is getting complicated. Fortunately, a movie was on from 10:45-12:30 that I kind of wanted to watch- "All About My Mother". It wasn't one I was dying to see, but I figured with my upcoming trip to Spain, it was a good choice. I got so caught up in the story, that I forgot to pay attention to the surroundings, so nothing will look familiar when I'm there.

Tonight is "tick, tick... BOOM", with the after-show party. Looking forward to it. I can hear "Green Green Dress" again so I can learn more of it than just the one line I know. That was actually my least favourite song, but it's the only one I can remember slightly. The show has great songs but I'd have to hear them a few times before learning them. Fortunately, they are in the process of doing a cast recording!! Can't wait till it's finished!!!

I just suddenly looked forward to school starting. No idea why, although maybe it's because when I was getting my books together in my dream, school seemed like a good idea. Actually I'm a little irritated with Hunter's schedule. School starts August 27th. So I have class on the 27th and 29th. Then there's Labour Day, so no school then. Then I'll have classes on the 5th, 10th, and 12th. Then no classes September 17-19, so that's another full week of no classes. Then no classes on the 26th or 27th (for me, that's just Wednesday of no classes). There isn't an explanation of why there are no classes these days. Why can't they just start September 24th and not have any breaks? The way they have it now is so choppy. How do you get into a pattern? How do you remember what is going on in the classes? Oh well, that's the way it is so I'll have to get used to it. I'm seriously thinking of taking a trip up to Vermont (if I can stay at Stephen's house) the 25th-29th. Why not? It'll be a perfect time for a road trip!

Hey cool- just noticed that my site is the 45th most popular of the Yahoo journal sites out of 509!

Oh weird- just read my entry from last July 5th and I wrote that I was looking forward to classes starting! Of course, I was talking about summer classes which started on the 10th...

I'm a little upset with the lack of consulting work available recently. I usually get a few interested companies a week. Since I've come back from being overseas, I've only had 3 offers (and two weren't that good)- I was hoping for a few more before I left for my vacation. I guess the slowing economy finally effected me. I'm anticipating things to pick up more in the fall.

Now I'll orgainse the apartment for a little bit (I want to get rid of some books to make room for new ones) before heading down to the theatre. But first I'll watch Who's Line is it Anyway and Ben Stein's Money.

Jon called tonight when I was out. It sounded kind of urgent, but he can sound that way sometimes when it's really nothing important. I paged him when I got home even though I knew he would be asleep- he told me to page him as soon as I got the message, so I did. I guess I'll be hearing from him tomorrow. I wonder what he wants. My theory- he's going to be in New York or wants to come up to New York and needs a place to stay. Well, he's out of luck if it's before August. Andy and Tonya will be here the 8th through the 10th and Paula and Harvey will probably be here the 10th throught the 12th and I'm leaving on the 13th. Hey, I just realised the 13th is a Friday. That's usually a good day for me so I've never been supersticious. But I've never flown on Friday the 13th (at least not that I can remember). Now I'm getting a little nervous. That's ridiculous, there's no reason to feel that way.

I can't end on that note. What else can I write about? Okay, I just took The Spark Gay Test and it told me that I was 75% gay.

Today I stood in line at the World Trade Center TKTS for an hour and a half. I guess that's what Fridays in the summer are like. Too many people are figuring out that they can buy tickets there. Oh well. So I got a ticket for "Stones in His Pockets". I'm in the front row- I hope I can still see (never been to the John Golden Theatre, so I don't know how everything looks).

Then I tried shopping. If I didn't need light pants so desparately, I would have left! Too crowded with annoying people (mostly tourists). Most things I tried on didn't fit, but I did find a pair at the Gap (yuck) that worked (light khakis)- so I bought two pairs. Now I have 3 pants that basically look the same. Everyone will think I'm wearing the same pants every day. I'd still like to find one more pair (a different colour would be nice) so I might go to the J Crew on 5th Ave on Sunday or something since they have petites (the one at the World Trade Center didn't).

I heard from Andy today letting me know what time to expect him- and only him, Tonya won't be joining him, something about not being able to work out some details (maybe they couldn't find anyone to take the kids?). So I finally got used to the idea of both of them and now it'll only be Andy. Okay, I can get used to that again too.

So tomorrow I will organise all the junk around the apartment and rest. Sunday I will hopefully go to J Crew and maybe Bloomies and then wait for Andy to show up. Monday is the "Rent" audition and then hanging out with Andy. Tuesday Paula and Harvey are coming in. Wednesday I want to go to the Nick Hornby reading at the Union Square Barnes and Noble. Thursday I'll pack and Friday I leave. Ah, I'm just not ready yet.

Oh yeah, the reason Jon called was to tell me that he and Michelle will have a baby in December. Whoa! I actually wasn't surprised. As soon as he said that he had news, I knew what it was. He's right on schedule. The master plan is still in action. Of course he wants a boy and Michelle wants a girl. Why are all people like this? Am I the only woman who would prefer a boy? I think boys are easier to deal with emotionally, especially during adolescence. Anyway, I'm sure Jon will make a good father (as long as he isn't too passive a parent, which could be extremely difficult with Michelle being the mommy).

I feel like I didn't sleep at all last night. I felt like I just was lying in bed thinking all night or something. Maybe because I woke up singing the same song I fell asleep singing. And I was awake for a while this morning just lying there thinking. I don't know. All I know is that I feel like I've been up all night (sort of).

Today is organise the apartment day!!!!

Good thing I'm not trying to sleep. They're jack-hammering outside on 57th St.

"Stones in His Pockets" was fabulous! It took me a few minutes to get into it, but then... WOW!! Sean Campion and Conleth Hill worked perfectly together. They each had their own style and it was amazing how quickly they got into each character. With Sean Campion, sometimes I forgot he was the same actor when he got into different characters- he even managed to look old with the older characters and young with the younger characters. With Conleth Hill, he has many of the same expressions and mannerisms, which irritated me after a while. The only thing I really didn't like was the way the script worked. It was almost 100% comedy, but towards the end, it got more dramatic and emotional. I liked that aspect of it, but it should have included more of it in the first act so it's not sprung on you. My seat in the front row was fine; I've never been so close to a stage though! I didn't have to stretch my neck too much to see which was nice. Seeing the sweat pouring off of Mr. Campion wasn't too pretty. There was a woman behind me who felt the need to make comments out loud from time to time. They were comments I'm sure we all had in our heads but WE kept them to ourselves.

For some reason, I always dread the ride home. I don't mind pushing my way through the tourists getting to the subway station- in fact, it's A LOT of fun. And I don't mind the actual train ride- it's quick. I mind waiting for the train and walking home from the station. It's all such a quick process (provided a train comes quickly which it usually does), I don't know why I dread it so much.

I got to the theatre WAY early last night, so I went to the Irish Pub next door (thought that was appropriate). Had one drink, watched Sports Center on ESPN and then went to the theatre slightly early to read the Playbill cover to cover. Fortunately, it had different articles than the one I read the night before at "tick, tick... BOOM!".

Okay, time to attack the apartment!!!

Last night I watched "Pay it Forward" and liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Then I IM-ed with Josh for a while. I wasn't tired but forced myself to go to bed around 3:00 since I had to get up early and run some errands, finish cleaning, etc.

This morning was the first morning in what feels like forever that I did not wake up with a song in my head. However, now I have "See Her Smile" from "tick, tick... BOOM!" in my head.

Rebecca called me from the Nashville airport since she had an hour and a half to kill before her flight left (she was coming home from San Francisco/LA). We had a nice long talk- something we haven't had in a while. It sounded like she had a nice time with her friends. She really has some great friends!

I'm hoping Andy isn't too exhausted tonight as I wouldn't mind going out for a nitecap or two... or maybe we can just watch a movie here...

Okay, gotta get ready and head over to Port Authority. I haven't been there in YEARS- hope I can figure out where to meet his bus...

Feeling oddly melancholy- it's the feeling I get when I haven't had too much sleep or a restless sleep and have visitors leave. Eytan always told me he gets this way when he has visitors leave, now I know what he means. This is the second time it happened recently- the other time being after the January auction. Eytan and George left and I wanted to leave with them. Fortunately Harvey came over and talked to me for a while and then he, Paula and I had dinner that night and I forgot about my melancholy mood. When I got to Port Authority today, I wanted to get on the first bus headed anywhere. Instead I went home and later had lunch with Marcell. That put me slightly out of my mood (since she asks a gazillion questions which requires thinking), but now I'm semi-back in the funk. Tomorrow morning I should be fine.

I'm having tons of songs going through my head. Marcell mentioned "Aida", and I immediately got "Not Me" in my head. I was reading something that mentioned the Barenaked Ladies, and I immediately got "Pinch Me" in my head. Now I just was scrolling through this july journal file to get to the end to start typing this entry and my eye caught the words "Come to Your Senses" from "tick, tick... BOOM!", and now I have that in my head.

So Andy's visit... it was fun. I got to Port Authority and, as I expected, had a little trouble finding him. It could have been a lot worse. There aren't specific gates for the buses to come into, I was just told to wait on the second floor and they couldn't tell me if a certain bus had arrived or not. Gee, thanks. So I had him paged and waited about 5 minutes. If he heard the page, he could have gotten there in 5 minutes (I thought), so I decided his bus must not have arrived and I went back to wait upstairs. Finally, he found me. After a brief stop at my apartment, we went down the street to RayBari's (yuck) and he ate dinner. Then we had a few drinks at my Pig n' Whistle. Then we came back here and stayed up for several hours! I think I slept about 3 hours. He called home when we got back from the bar, and he handed me the phone to talk to Brenna. Last time I talked to her (she was not even 3), she could not talk in complete sentences. This time (she just turned 7) she was telling me about her summer in great detail. I forgot how much I enjoyed spending time with her. She really is an amazing little girl. Thinking about Brenna really makes me want to have a child (IN THE FUTURE- certainly not right now).

Yesterday morning we got up early and headed down to the "Rent" audition. As we were walking to the end of the line (which was quite long!), we ran into his friend, Marshall. So we got in line with them (Marshall, his boyfriend Sean, and their friend Vicki). Marshall reminded me of Jonathan from "Hair"! Very sweet guy! So we hung out with them for 4+ hours. Most people were complaining that it was too hot, but it didn't bother me at all. So, they all went to sing and I waited outside. I was thinking about singing for a few minutes- I mean, I went all the way down there and waited in line all morning- but I decided against it. Marshall got to sing twice! I'm sure he's very talented.

After, we walked down to Little Italy, but neither of us were hungry, so we just came back to my apartment to rest for a bit. Then we went to Port Authority so Andy could get a bus ticket and then we walked around Times Square and he had dinner at Ray's Pizza (again, I wasn't hungry). We caught the N train down to Soho and walked around there and Tribeca for a bit and then stopped by Grace's for a few drinks (I really do love their minty Pimm's Cup drinks!). We were exhausted, so we just came back here, watched Ally McBeal, and went to bed early. I had a restless night of sleep, mostly because I was in a little pain (mostly from doing a lot of walking and standing around all day). My legs hurt even more now, which means they'll feel fine by tomorrow.

This morning Andy had to catch an 8:30 bus back to Sparta (the only bus going there until one this evening). He didn't think he could make it to Port Authority on his own, so I got up early as well and went with him. When I got home, the melancholy mood set in. It intensified when I started finding things around the apartment that he left (an empty water bottle, a wet towel from this morning's shower...). It reminded me that I had a visitor and now I am alone. It's strange- as I'm typing this entry, I'm starting to feel back to normal. I like my alone time and haven't had much of that recently. So, I'm glad he came but I'm glad to have the place to myself again. Before I started feeling that way a minute ago, I was thinking about listening to some melancholy music to feed my mood. Now I'm thinking that's not such a good idea. So I'll keep it quiet in here for now (if only I could get the damn songs out of my head).

Anyway, it was a good time. I still enjoy spending time with him (it felt really comfortable strolling around New York with him) even though that original, intense connection is no longer there (glad it's not, actually). Now I have to start getting organised for my trip.

Today is organise work day. Tomorrow is last chance to look for pants day as well as hear Nick Hornby at Barnes and Noble day. Thursday is dye my hair and pack day. And Friday is going to the airport and flying to Madrid day.

Well, I'm not sure what else to write on this topic. I don't have any ideas of how to fix this problem. It would be great if there were a solution that would work in 2 days or less, but I doubt there is so I'll just have to hope that I get out of this way of being on my own. Maybe being in another country will help. But I was just in a few other countries and I basically was being this way the entire time. Certain things I really enjoyed (seeing "Noises Off" in London, being at Lab bar in London, smoking pot in Amsterdam, walking through the Historical Museum in Amsterdam), but other things that I should have been thrilled with (being with James, seeing the sites, arriving at each new destination), I just wasn't thrilled with. Why am I so disenchanted?

And now I have Tull's "Baker St. Muse" in my head. I guess it came from thinking about Coke and Bacardi (that's what Andy had to drink at Grace's).

Didn't do much last night. Talked to Harvey, Neil and Rebecca for a few minutes. I called Eytan and he wasn't home. When he called me back, he was in his car heading for Jeff's. I didn't want to talk to him for the few minutes he was in the car, so I just hung up. He's going to try to call Thursday as is Harvey and Rebecca. Thursday will be a busy phone night. Josh wants to talk to me as well, but we usually only "talk" with IM. So that will probably be tonight after I get back from the Nick Hornby reading (I'm going to bring my copy of "Fever Pitch" just in case he's signing- I always hate asking for autographs, always thought it was a stupid thing, but if there are other people doing it, I don't mind as much).

And out of all the New Yorkers walking on the street, why don't any of them walk my speed? I'm constantly having to weave in and out of them since I can't stand to be stuck behind slow people. And I almost got hit by 2 vans this afternoon while trying to cross 3rd Ave. on the pedestrian path with the WALK sign lit. Now I'm tired and don't feel like going down to Union Square tonight... but I will anyway.

Today I got my clothes organised for my trip and bought a few things, like suntan lotion. I still wish I had better things to wear, especially in Morocco, but we can't have it all. Maybe I'll find something on the trip (although there is absoltely NO ROOM in my suitcase).

Heard from Andy today. He mentioned that he's going to be auditioning for some shows at Mill Mountain in Roanoke. I wish him lots of luck. It would be so great for him to perform in bigger and better (?) places.

Now I just have to finish packing and dye my hair and I'll do those things tomorrow morning- I don't have to leave till 3:30.

I was thinking about going down to Blacksburg at the end of September instead of heading up to Vermont. The main reason was to go to a Tech game. But they're playing Central Florida that weekend and while a game is a game, it doesn't seem worth the effort to go down there for that. As much as I like spending time down in the NRV, I think I'll do the Vermont thing. Or maybe even check out New Hampshire. Although, the reason for Vermont was that I'd have a place to stay. I don't have anyone to stay with in New Hampshire. But I don't have to think about this now. I'll do that when I get back.

I'm mostly looking forward to my trip now. I'm looking forward to traveling, just not being with the tour and moving around every day. I still wish there was a way to stay in hotels for the same price it is with a tour. But there isn't and I just have to stop thinking about that. I am lucky to be doing this at all. And I am definitely looking forward to learning about the history of these countries, seeing the sites, seeing the way they live (hopefully we will get to see some of that even though we will mostly be in tourist areas), and perhaps meeting people on the tour who are interesting, intelligent people I'd like to keep in contact with in the future (doubtful, but anything's possible).

Tonight I will relax and talk to (probably) Eytan, Harvey, and Rebecca on the phone.

I'm waking up really early tomorrow morning so I can dye my hair, finish packing a few things, buy some film, and clean up the mess I made of the apartment today while I was packing (it looks like a tornado hit it- piles of paper that I need to keep, piles of paper that I need to throw away, pile of change from the bottom of my purse, clothes all over the place...).

I'm not tired but I'd like to get a few hours of sleep tonight. I don't know how I'm going to fall asleep any time soon though. This is the time I should clean up the apartment, but I don't feel like it. I always do this. Then in the morning I don't want to get up, but I do, and because I know I have limited time, I do everything I need to do in record time and have some free time at the end. Although, I'm always nervous about getting everything done in time. I especially think that the night before (like right now). That's why I'm sitting here thinking I should do at least one thing that I need to do tomorrow morning. But I know I won't so I should just stop thinking about it. But I don't know what to do now. I don't want to read, don't want to watch TV, don't have anything else to write, don't feel like doing anything on the computer, but can't fall asleep yet. What does that leave? I'll probably surf the Net for lack of anything better. Once I find an activity (looking up movies, reading Epinions, finding out about people/places/things in New York...), it can usually keep me occupied for a little bit.

Previews for "Thou Shalt Not" start September 20th. Tickets have not gone on sale yet. I want to get a ticket for September 20th. Tickets will probably go onsale while I'm away. I asked Paula if she could call Tele-Charge every few days to see if they have gone on sale yet, and if they have, if she could get me a ticket. I hope that works out. If not, I'll try when I get home.

Dream last night- I was at some house with Andy and Tonya, Brenna might have been there- it was a cool dream, but I don't remember any of it now :(

I meant to mention this a long time ago but didn't remember until now. I was talking to Harvey the day I got back from Hong Kong and we were discussing Hong Kong cuisine. He mentioned jellyfish and by that point I was so sick of Chinese food, I told him I just wanted a sandwich. He said, "A peanutbutter and jellyfish sandwich?" I thought it was extremely funny at the time, now- not so much. Still, it was quick. Once in a while, in the middle of all the long-winded puns that only he finds funny, Harvey comes up with a good one.

Okay, I'm in the middle of dying my hair and need to go rinse.

Okay, so I dyed my hair (it's a pretty shade of dark red, but I have the feeling it wont last too long- it's Clairol Herbal Essences hair colour which I've never tried but I don't like their shampoo so I just have a bad feeling about the colour), cleaned up the apartment, and I'm all packed! And it's only noon- i have over 3 hours before I need to leave! I love having extra time! I knew this would happen, but I still had to worry a little last night. I think it makes the extra time seem even better that way!

So I'm off to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. I plan on writing every day (maybe I can learn to not get bus sick and write on the coach while riding endless hours to each destination- doubtful but there's always hope- if not, I'll write before bed and during the day if there's any down time). Hopefully, I will not write such annoying details as I did on my last trip- like who-walks-into-a-bar or what-song-is-playing-now type of thing. That got really irritating, typing all of that nonsense.

In the van on the way to the airport, "Flashdance" was playing on the radio! Twice in one day I've heard that song.

Got to the airport and there was a HUGE line waiting to check in. After a few minutes, I realised that Business Class could go to another (shorter) line! I'm so glad I did Business Class! Found out my flight was delayed 4 hours. The guy at the check-in desk gave me a food voucher for $50.00! I certainly can't eat $50 of food by myself- I should have found an interesting person traveling alone who had some time to see if they wanted to join me. Easier said than done- this place is a zoo of families. So I came to TGI Fridays alone and ordered one of the more expensive dinners. I asked if the voucher included alcohol and the waitress said no. Then she looked at it and said that I had the one voucher that did include alcohol- so I got an Ultimate Daquari (didn't know what else to get). And that Fatboy Slim song (from the "Cruel Intentions" soundtrack) is playing, putting me in an even better mood. Happy Friday the 13th! And as long as my flight gets in by 11:30 AM (it will if it leaves when it's supposed to), I should be able to catch the 12:30 shuttle to the hotel...

Got to the airport, breezed through everything and met another Trafalgar tour director who took me to my bus. Now I'm waiting for the rest of the group. The radio is on a news station and the background music is a Ray Lynch song- how cool!

Oh- last night, the boarding area was a mob scene! They started boarding children and wheelchairs and I asked a woman if they board business class and first class separately. She said usually at the end but she would make an exception. She made the announcement for business and first and this guy pushed in front of everyone, telling one couple who seemed irritated, "This is for platinum members, YOU wait there!" Geez, chill out guy. Then a woman almost made me check my bag and I made a fuss. Then she did the same to another woman who told her that she was in business class. She let them go and I told her I was in business class too. She said, "Why didn't you tell me?" I said, "You didn't ask". After that, it was smooth sailing.

I guess I'm experiencing jet lag for the first time. Although, I thought jet lag would have me sleeping a little more than 3 or 4 hours. And I'm not acting like I'm on East Coast time. Is this jet lag or am I just on a weird pattern? I don't know what I will do until 7:00 (when we meet for breakfast and then head out). I hope I don't fall asleep and miss my 6:15 wake-up call. Hopefully Michael Frayn's "Headlong" and CNN (the only TV channel in English) can keep me entertained for 4 or 5 hours. Right now, I'll just enjoy my ham and cheese sandwich and Sprite.

Okay, I did not just get a ham and cheese- I got tomato, egg, mayo and something odd (long white stringy thing). Let's try again. If I wasn't hungry, I could just leave, but I really would like something to eat.

Everyone sitting here when I arrived is now gone. There is only one other couple here besides me... There we go- ham and cheese! It's greasy but I don't care- except for the little tapas, I haven't had anything to eat since the early dinner at JFK.

Things are cheap here in Madrid. This sandwich is 1.50 USD. The museum yesterday was a little over 2.00 USD but free after 1:30 which was when we got there. A glass of wine was 1.50 USD and of course, the tapas were free.

Oh, I don't know why I thought we were going to Barcelona. It didn't make sense geographically, but for some reason I thought I saw it on the itinerary. I looked again this evening and it's not there. How sad, I would rather see the North or Spain than the South.

One more thing before I go, English is not spoken here except by a few people at the hotel. I really wish I know more Spanish phrases. Right now, I think all I know is "bathroom", "wine", "please", and "thank you" and my numbers and some colours. I wish I knew "how much" and "check please". Oh good, he understood check. I guess what else would I want when I finished my sandwich and they're closing up?

Back at the hotel now. I think I fell asleep so easily before because it was hot and stuffy in here. Just figured out how to turn the air on! These hotel rooms don't block sound. I can hear couples arguing in several languages as I walk by their rooms. I'm glad there's at least 3 other single women on this trip. All I see walking around are couples, and I feel very out of place.

Great day so far! We journeyed to Toledo and got a nice mini-tour of the old city- gorgeous! It's divided into 3 parts- Muslem, Christian, and Jewish. Of course, according to our local guide, you look at the city from the top of the hill and say, "Holy Toledo!" I was able to buy a really nice sword for an amazingly inexpensive price! Even with the shipping cost, it was still cheaper than what I would find at home. Toledo is known for their beautiful swords and now I see why!

For lunch, we stopped in a tiny town where Don Quixote was written. I had an omlette (they do their omlettes with potato and egg).

Met more people on the tour- several Canadians, a neat guy from Orange County California named Neal (his mother was born in Macau- I'd love to talk to her later, she is on the tour with her 19 year old son Neal and her 13 year old daughter Kristin). Neal's been studying in Madrid all summer so he's great to talk to- he knows a lot. There is a REALLY irritating guy from Toronto, Terry. I was sitting with him earlier on the bus but managed to get another seat next to Lisa (28 years old living in Miami), another girl traveling alone. We have to stay seated with the same person and rotate rows every day, so I'm glad I switched now! Terry is not too bright, babbles about anything whether he knows what he's talking about or not, and was hitting on me- asking me out for drinks, etc. And he's been following me everywhere! Ugh- I don't need this!

Now we're taking a breat- we just entered Andalucia. This area is mountainous with plenty of vegetation- quite different from Castilla with flat terrain and almost no vegetation. It was fun to watch the drastic change.

I love our tour director, Phillip. He keeps making a big distinction between tourists and travellers and assures us we're all travellers. He's also great about giving us the history and interesting tidbits about every area. He's from Wales but currently resides in Barcelona.

Completely wonderful rest of the day! We got to Granada around 5:30, checked into the hotel, and then I took a walk around the city with two ladies from New Zealand (Jan and Helen). Jan teaches at an International school in Beijing and it was interesting to hear her comments on the recent Olympic news (all positive). It's so wonderful to hear so many world views!

Then we had dinner at the hotel- wonderful buffet with a lot of variety (soup, salad, pasta, fish, chicken, veggies, dessert...) and a welcome drink (Sangria- yum!). I sat with Mae Ann, Jan and Helen. Then Helen, Jan, Judy, Lucy, Pat (from Sydney) and I went for a drink at a cafe. Everyone went to bed when we got back to the hotel except for Lucy and I- we had a drink at the hotel bar. Mostly everyone on the tour talks about traveling, but I've had some conversations about politics, weather, customs, and sports as well.

These people are REALLY much better than I expected! Jan is a seasoned traveler- mostly done tours or traveled in groups of friends, but has been to every continent except South America and Antarctica. She travels every summer (must be nice being a teacher- I think 50% of this tour are teachers) and this summer she came to Spain by way of the Trans-Siberian Railroad to London and then flew from London to Madrid. Most people are in their 50's and 60's but there are 2 others in their 20's and 3 familes with kids. Some people come across a little single-minded and somewhat boring (I hate using that word but don't know another good word that fits), but so far, conversations have been interesting. Jan is the head of the IT department at her school. I'd love to talk to her more about that, but she seems a little cold and aloof.

Now I'm still wired but want to try for sleep. A little upset there isn't a clock in this room (and majorly upset I didn't bring an alarm clock like I meant to), but at least I'll get a wake-up call.

Tomorrow we go to Costa del Sol.

One more comment before sleep- Mae Ann seems to want to take me under her wing- making sure I get my questions answered, making sure I get out of the way of oncoming traffic... I don't mind it as much as I normally do. Perhaps that's because she's a woman (I mind it more when a man does it). She was an elementary school teacher so it's in her nature, I'm out of my element, so it just doesn't bother me. Oh, and she reminds me of Joan Gottlieb- my friend, Peri's, (from 3rd grade) mother.

Long journey today! Left by 7:30, 2 hour drive to the ferry terminal, 2 1/2 hour ferry to Tangier, 3 hour drive to Souk Al Arba (where we stopped for a 30 minute break), 2 hour drive to Fes.

The 5 star hotel is very nice! I changed some money, checked in, shaved and showered, and am now laying out by the pool for about an hour before dinner in the hotel.

Too much traveling today- I was exhausted from the lack of sleep and dozed on and off on the bus which makes me more tired than staying awake. I'm definitely planning on taking it easy tonight, and we get to sleep in till 7:30 tomorrow morning.

First thoughts about Morocco:
- 99% of people are in modern dress
- their mint tea is VERY sweet but delicious
- beautiful landscape
- most speak 4-5 languages fluently and with the accent of each country

Tomorrow we take a walk around the Medina (the old part of the city) and do a little shopping (I want to try to find something for Abby- maybe a shirt- but I'll probably do that in Portugal or something).

I'm not looking forward to tomorrow's journey from Fes to Marrakesh which is 500 km. Lisa, who sits next to me, sleeps the while time since she has motion sickness and it gets boring looking out the window for that long. I'm going to sit on the aisle tomorrow and try to talk to the person across the aisle.

I read for a bit after that and then finally got some sleep (I think around 6 or 7 hours)!

I've been singing "Side Show" songs for most of this trip so far- "Tunnel of Love", "Feeling You've Got to Hide"...

Now I'm going to get ready, have an energising breakfast, and then get ready for our walking tour of the Medina.

Today was remarkable! We went around 163 of the 12,000 streets of the tiny medina (I'd love to see an arial view to see how they fit that many streets into such a small area). The streets are so narrow and crowded, when I get back to New York, it will feel like the city is empty! There are vendors selling food, clothes, knives, heads of goats- there are kids on the streets selling little trinkets (they are VERY pushy)- there are people with carts and donkeys trying to push past the mobs of people. It is really an amazing sight. We went to a rug market, the king's palace (non-Moslems can't go inside), and a metal shoppe. We were there for nearly 5 hours which was a long time in the hot sun on the crowded streets, but I didn't mind.

Then we went back to the hotel for lunch and some free time by the pool before this evening's dinner.

As we were leaving the Medina this afternoon, a good looking young man from the city of Fes was flirting with me- offering me kif (grass, marijuana, wacky tobaccy), wanted me to come to his house this afternoon since he knew we had free time, wanted my email address... he was extremely nice and a seemingly perfect gentleman. He excepted my rejection and didn't ask again- just kissed me on the hand and said goodbye.

It is really hot out here- don't know how long I'll last. Don't know what else to do though.

Had a few margaritas, took a shower, read a little, and I still have an hour before we need to leave. So I turned on CNN- just learned that the Arizona senator, Jim Colby, wants to eliminate the penny- fine with me! Now I'm hearing Alan greenspan and his wanting of interest rate cuts. I don't think the economy will be any stronger in the 3rd quarter- I think it will take until at least the beginning of 2002.

Last night's dinner was very touristy- the belly dancing was pathetic, the acrobat unimpressive, and the music too loud. Stll, the dinner was good and lots of people enjoyed participating in the belly dancing and little marriage ceremony- they didn't make me do any of it. I did have a nice time though at my table with Lucy, Mae Ann, Judy and Lisa- we laughed a lot.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel and I had a few drinks with Lisa.

I'm learning the truth about these tours- the guides must get kick backs from the shoppes, etc. that they take us to. And there was a man with us the entire day and night taking pictures of us. At first it made me nervous (what were those pictures for?) and then realised that Phillip wouldn't let him take pictures if it was dangerous. Well, the pictures were developed and waiting for us in the morning at our hotel. I acutlaly bought a few- I liked the ones of the medina since I was too busy concentrating on where I was walking and not losing track of the group to take pictures.

Today was a LONG drive through the Middle Atlas mountains. We took several breaks along the way, including one in Ifrane- a town at the highest peak- it looked rather like a Swiss ski town.

I get so bored on these long rides- most people are sleeping and I can only look at the landscape for so long without getting tired of it. Today I talked a little with Bernadette (she and Pat are newlyweds from Canada) which passed about an hour of the 9 hours.

We arrived in Marrakesh and I was exhausted. After checking in, we took an all too quick tour of the lively square- the souk, cafes, street performers (snake charmers, acrobats and monkey tamers- my favourite). I got my picture taken with a monkey, but I was so worried I'd lose track of the group, I got it done as quickly as possible. If there's time, I want to try that again tomorrow! It was certainly exciting to have my picture taken with a monkey!

After an hour, we went back to the hotel for dinner. Then I talked with Percy (raised in India, school in the States, currently living in Singapore working for Motorola, traveling with his wife and 3 kids- 21, 17, and 9). I like him a lot- a rational, well travelled, intelligent man. I then had a few drinks with Lucy at the hotel bar. Oh- I also bought Abby a little kaftan. I'm sure it's WAY too big, it could almost fit me, I think, but she'll grow into it.

Tomorrow we take a tour of Marrakesh, go to the Ourika Valley to see a traditional Berber village, have lunch, have a little free time, and then go for dinner and entertainment (I'm hoping this one will be a little more authentic, but I doubt it). I'm glad I'm on a tour in Morocco since I don't think I'd do well traveling alone (it's hard for single women to get served at cafes and get help at the shoppes), but I think from now on I'll travel on my own. We're really just seeing places for tourists- nothing authentic, all the people there are used to tourists and put on an act and I'd like to see more of the way people live, work, and play- you can't see that on a tour.

Last night I was reading "Headlong" and Michael Frayn mentioned Spalding Gray- how cool is that?

Yesterday on the bus, I got "The Nutcraker Suite" in my head- I'm surprised it all came back to me (although it took a while to remember "Dolls" and "Snow"- my 2 favourites). Then I spent an hour trying to remember Beethoven's 7th. Then I had some ABBA songs in my head. I wish I could sing out loud without anyone hearing me. This morning I woke up singing "Feeling You've Got to Hide" from "Side Show".

I had a nightmare about snakes that woke me up. I went back to sleep though, so I don't really remember it now. Something about the snake staring me down and asking for my email address. I think it then turned into Andy or was talking to me about Andy- please, anyone reading this, don't read into the symbolism on this one, I think it's just a random dream coming from the snakes we saw in the sqaure last night.

Oh, and about the square- I can definitely see why hippies in the 70's would like it here- there is so much energy and fun even now in 2001- I can imagine it being even more intense in the 70's. And it's fun remembering Kate Winslet being here in "Hideous Kinky". And it was interesting to know I'm not the only one who became intrigued with Morocco from a movie. Percy watched "The Man Who Would Be King" a long time ago and decided he would have to visit this part of Africa at some point.

Okay, enough writing- I'm not going to have much time for breakfast before we leave for the tour this morning. I'm getting used to eating breakfast. Actually, I'm getting used to eating 3 meals a day. I'm sure I'll get back to my old habits when I get home though.

One minor complaint- Barbar, from Canada, is a bit pushy- I will be standing somewhere in a line and she will come up from behind and push me out of the way. This has happened 3 times and now I just let her in front of me- why bother making it an issue? At home I would! Oh, and one of her traveling companions, Helen also from Canada, doesn't seem to have patience for anyone younger than herself (in her late 60's). That's getting frustrating as well. I try to stay away from them.

I didn't enjoy today too much. First of all, I was tired- still am. We walked around the old city and new city and saw a palace. Then we went to Ourika- a Berber village. They live primatively but have some modern ways- electicity, tourist shoppes... We had tea at Omar's house (a man who lives in the village) and then left.

Back at the hotel, I took a shower and am now waiting to use the computer. I want to check my email and I don't want to check my email. If I don't, I'll be thinking about it until I do, so I might as well do it now.

Tonight we have dinner and entertainment- I'm looking forward to seeing how fake the flying carpets are. and I hope I'm tired when we get back tonight- I need some sleep! I'd take a nap now but then I wouldn't wake up in time for dinner.

The Internet connection was working for a few minutes- I saw email subject lines but coulnd't do anything about them since by the time I figured out the keyboard (VERY different from anywhere else in the world), the connection was lost- oh well.

The dinner last night was good (yummy cous cous) and the entertainment was okay (stunt horse riders, dancing, fireworks, a cheesy flying carpet). The place was HUGE and employed many people! They do this every night of the year and many performers looked completely bored, which I understand, but this is their job.

This morning we had a late start- wake up call 8:00! What a luxury! We drove to Casablanca which was a nice short drive. We drove around Anfa Hill (named after the ancient name for Casablanca- also this was where Roosevelt and Churchill had their secret meeting in 1943) Then we had lunch near the Atlantic Ocean (yummy grilled sea bass, even though it was the entire fish- eye and all) and drove over to see the 2nd largest Mosque in Africa- it cost 500 million USD- and across the street is extreme poverty- interesting contrast.

After a brief walk around the medina (much more modern than in Fes and Marakesh), we checked into our gorgeous hotel (Royal Mansour Meridien). Now I am having a drink at the bar before dinner (Sprite and creme de menthe- interesting combination).

Casablanca is the most modern city in Morocco- tall buildings, lots of business, very Westernised (speaking of Westernised, what the hell is going on in Italy with all those anti-globalisation protests? It's hard being so out of touch with the world on this trip).

I've been having TONS of flashbacks on these long rides- playing in the stream with Gilly and Susan behind the old house when I was 7, hanging out at Kris and Robb's apartment in Towson when I was around 17, and everything in between. It's fun and they're vivid.

This guy, Terry, on our trip is definitely not completely with it. He doesn't know how to fill out forms, won't rotate seats on the bus, and thought we were in Madagascar when we were in Marrakesh- but he's harmless.

Tonight is dinner in the hotel. Tomorrow we head to Tangier for our last day in Morocco. The day after, I believe, we go to Seville.

After dinner last night, a bunch of us went to the Hyatt to Rick's Bar- the famous bar in the movie "Casablanca". The atmosphere was wonderful- great lighting, posters from the movie on the walls (I love black and white pictures from the 40's), the movie playing on mute, a man playing old standards on the piano... he took requests and I requested "Luck Be a Lady" from "Guys and Dolls" and a Cole Porter song, he did "Night and Day". My idea of a perfect evening- good music, Singapore Sling (although it was made with lemon juice which was VERY sour- but I drank it slowly that way so it lasted throughout the night), and good conversation! What a splendid time!

Then Lucy and I had a drink at our hotel before retiring for the night.

Now I'll go have some breakfast before the long journey to Tangier.

Now we're in Tangier. Just got slightly melancholy or bittersweet might be a better word for my emotion. I just walked into the botel bar and Buffalo Springfield's "For What it's Worth" is playing- a little taste of home, memories of road trips (since this song is always playing on radio stations in the States).

Anyway, today we travelled a good distance, stopping in Rabat to look at a few sites. We had lunch in the small town of Larache- I had some fish. On the way from Rabat to Larache, we watched "Casablanca". Since I was sitting in the very back of the bus, it was hard to see plus there was glare- but I got the idea- I've only seen parts of it before, never the whole thing- I'll have to rent it some time. After lunch, we drove to Tangier and had a little drive to the beach where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean Sea.

Now I'm at the hotel sitting by the pool drinking some sort of punch with rum. It's starting to drizzle a little and it's slightly chilly- I think it's nice to have some contrast in the weather.

When we were checking in, Phillip didn't have my key. A man working at the hotel smiled at me and said, "Give her the best room!" He took me to get my key and told me it was a great room. It's okay but this is an old hotel so it's not as nice as the modern 5 stars we've been staying in. People have been flirting with me constantly. I guess because I stroll on my own a lot and I'm young and single. Last night, a man in an expensive suit driving a Mercedes asked me to join him for a drink. He was handsome but not a good idea to go off with him. This is good for my ego though.

Tonight we have dinner at the hotel and tomorrow we go back to Spain. Bye-bye Morocco, it's been fun!

I've been having lots of homosexual thoughts on this trip. Not only that, but one girl I'm attracted to is only 17 (Tina, Percy's daughter). She's absolutely gorgeous but has a bit of an attitude (reminded me a little of my old roommate, Niraja- could it be that they both have parents from India?).

I wish we could have seen more of Tangier- we drove through a little, saw the beach from up on a hill (would have liked to put my toes in the ocean- especially since what we saw was the point where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean Sea), and I took a little walk around the hotel looking at some shoppes. Now we leave early this morning.

We have a 2 day stay in Seville. I'm hoping the hotel there has a business centre and that it's open when I'm there. I'd really like to answer a few of those emails that looked semi-important.

I've had lots of thoughts in my head that I don't remember when I go to write in my journal. That's fine- don't want to write too much. I think I've written well- enough information but not too much that I'll get tired typing it all.

Gaston, a French-Canadian, just said, "I hope you're writing about me,". He's quite a character- confident, jovial, a tad arrogant- very French. He's fun!

Okay, time to go.

On the boat now. I wish I brought "The Binding Chair", the book Pat lent me- be nice to pass the time reading. So far it's an interesting story- a Chinese woman who had her feet bound as a child- it switches from her present life to flashbacks of her childhood. It also tells of her independent young niece in present day and flashbacks. Hopefully I won't be too tired to read some more tonight and hopefully I can finish it before the end of the trip.

Nice ferry ride to Algerciras! We stopped for lunch somewhere near Jerez de Frontera (where they make sherry) and then travelled onto Seville. From the little I've seen, the architecture in Seville is excuisite! The buildings from the 1929 Expo are amazing- each country is more spectacular than the next- tomorrow we will see it better in detail. Pat and I decided that the depression occured when all the money during that time went to the construction of these buildings.

Tonight we have a late dinner and then we go see Flamenco! I hope I don't get too emotional watching all these trained dancers.

After the show, Lucy, Jan, Jo Ann (from Canada) and I walked around the fiesta near the hotel. We went back to the hotel at 1:30 and it was still going strong (even the children were still out and about).

Yesterday was busy! In the morning, we went to the Plaza d'America and had a group photo. I bought some castinettes. Then we walked around the old Jewish quarter and wound up at the gothic cathedral. The cathedral was SO impressive! I didn't think I would have the big reaction most people have, but I did. Interesting fact: the weather vane atop the cathedral weighs 3 tons! How did they get it up there?

After lunch (I just had some ice cream), a few of us went on the optional excursion. We saw the bullring, went on a riverboat cruise and saw the Plaza d'Espagne- a gigantic building from the 1929 Expo.

We got back in the afternoon and I checked my email at some place near the hotel. I feel much better now! Then I took a long walk before dinner. Almost everything was closed. I don't know how shoppes in Spain make a profit when they are closed for most of the day.

After dinner, several of us took horse and buggy rides around the city. What a beautiful night for it. After that, Judy wanted me to help her check her email, but the place was closed so we just went back to the hotel. I read for a bit and went to bed.

We arrived in Portugal and the architecture was a nice change- all the red tiled roofs. Lisbon is a compact city that is spreading out- good train system to the outskirts just put in for the 1998 Fair. Lots of construction going on all over the place.

Before the Fado dinner, I relaxed at the hotel while most people explored downtown. The Fado music was beautiful! I enjoyed sitting close to the guitarist so I could see what chords were used- mostly minor bar chords (difficult for me to play). The dinner was HUGE! Soup, fish, chicken, and dessert- by the time the chicken came, I could barely eat any (even though it was delicious, cooked in a port wine sauce). After that, we had a panoramic tour of the city on the bus, ejoying the views at night.

I finished "The Binding Chair" before bed. Jan said she would lend me her book next. I really enjoy spending time with Jan and wish I could sit down and have a real conversation with her. She's a widow with two children both in New Zealand. She travels during the entire summer every year and has seen so much. While I don't know her whole story or her personality, it seems to me that she teaches in Beijing and travels as much as she can to forget about her life in New Zealand. If I had a whole summer to travel, I'd love to meet up with her at some point and spend a little time traveling with her again. She's a lot of fun to travel with.

Today is a city tour in the morning and then the optional excursion to 3 small towns (Estoril, Cascais, and Sintra) including a fishing village. This evening I'm either going to explore downtown and have a nice dinner, or if I'm exhausted, I'll read Jan's book here at the hotel and do dinner here as well. I don't want to try to find any entertainment and downtown there are shoppes and I'm getting sick of browsing shoppes. A nice, quiet, relaxing evening sounds great, especially since we'll see most of the city this morning.

The city tour was nice- saw the biggest sites like Geranimo's Monastery. I really feel like I'm in San Francisco- colourful buildings, on the water, huge hills, trolly cars, and a bridge that looks exactly like the Golden Gate Bridge (it was done by the same people). The downtown area has narrow staircases between the buildings that lead up to houses, the houses are really bright and colourful just like I pictured Portugal to be- turquoise, bright orange, pink, blue... And Lisbon has a lot of urban sprawl.

In the afternoon was the optional excursion to the little towns (VERY touristy- like Provincetown, MA). I bought 4 little bottles of port that I can't wait to share with Harvey.

The driver stopped at the mall on the way back in case anyone wanted to go there. Almost everyone got off and I thought, "Why not?"- maybe a mall overseas will be different. The bus pulled away and I started to panic. I told people I felt more comfortable in the Medina in Fes than in a mall. But I did okay! More than okay, actually. Leta wanted to go in a shoestore and I came in with her. I tried on one pair and they were too narrow like I figured they would be. Leta grabbed another pair that I didn't even see and made me try them on- dark navy blue strappy sandals with a tiny heel- THEY FIT, are comfortable, look good, and were only $45! I was in shock for the next hour or so. The mall was huge- I think we saw not even 1/4 of it- it's the biggest mall in Europe.

Last night I had a drink with Lucy, Jan, Helen, Lisa, Terry, and Pat at the hotel bar- I'm gonna miss these people! Then I went upstairs, repacked my suitcase, and read a little before bed. "Fortune's Rocks" is the book Jan lent me. It's about a 15 year old independent girl at the turn of the century who has an affair with a 40 year old married man. Reading this right after "The Binding Chair" has confusing the two a little- both take place around the same time, both have independent young women... Anyway, this one I can really relate to- the way Anita Shreve desribes the thoughts and feelings of young Olympia Biddleford is so detailed, I can feel what she is going through exactly! It's hard to put this book down.

Now I'll have some breakfast and then get ready for the journey to Fatima.

Neil, skip this next paragraph
Yesterday I woke up at 5:00 from a dream. I was getting dinner at a buffet and this woman said, "The man with the baby is having a heart attack,". It was Neil she was refering to. He said goodbye and I cried, "No Neil!" Then the cameras went down and everyone applauded. It was like a scene from a soap opera. But I still thought it was real. Then I saw him running around collecting things, getting ready for the hospital and I thought maybe he was fine.

When I went back to sleep, I dreamed I met a man in a cafe. We started talking and somehow I wound up in his improv group. We did random performances all over the streets. He was quite handsome and I told myself I would not get involved with the founder of the group- that would not be wise. Then I woke up.

Last night I dreamed I was in Paula and Harvey's house cleaning up since Andy was coming to stay. Then I didn't want him to come up, so I tried to call him. I couldn't figure out if he left that day or if it was Saturday, the next day. I called what I thought was his work number and got put on hold listening to the news. I decided it was the right number since he worked for a news radio station. Then I was driving in Blacksburg and came upon some traffic. I tried to pass and discovered it was a row boat was stuck in the road causing the traffic. I should have been hit from behind when I was trying to pass and got stopped but things were moving slowly and I pulled over in the turn lane to avoid an accident. Then I woke up. I've been having interesting dreams for most of the trip, but these past 2 nights was the first time I remembered them.

Went to Fatima- VERY touristy- religion and capitalism don't mix- felt uncomfortable taking pictures while a lot of people were there because of their faith, having mass...

Now I'm in Salamanca. Walked around for a bit with Lucy- went in the cathedral and a few shoppes and a bar- now I'm having a glass of wine at another bar before dinner.

My room was crappy- no A/C, no mini-bar (not that I cared), phone didn't work (no wake up call, fortunately I just didn't sleep much and was already awake), no closet (there was space for a closet but it was just a space with pipes sticking out and plaster peeling all over), shower didn't work, safe didn't work- glad we were only there for 1 night.

So I got back a little after midnight, got ready for bed, read for a few hours since I wasn't tired and didn't want to put down the book, finally got a little tired and layed in bed thinking and dozing. Well, it felt late so I called the front desk to see what time it was (next trip I'm remembering to bring an alarm clock since 99% of hotels overseas don't believe in clocks) and it was only 2:15- how could that be? Oh well, I eventually fell asleep and did receive the wake-up call at 5:00.

Shared a taxi to the airport with Terry- he's SO IRRITATING but a shared ride is a shared ride. Got to the check in counter and the woman told me I had to go to a different terminal (maybe domestic flights left from a different terminal?)- did that and finally went to my gate. Sat for a while, finishing "Fortune's Rocks", and looked at the monitor again- my flight wasn't listed but 4 other flights to Barcelona leaving at the same time as mine said to board at A5, I was at B26 like they told me. I asked someone and he said, yes, the gate changed. Great, they were making an announcement for last call to Barcelona- of course A5 was at the other end of the airport. I finally made it, got on the bus to the plane, and still had a few minutes to spare. Dozed on and off on the plane and the next thing I knew, we were landing in Barcelona- there was an announcement in Spanish about the New York flight connection and I undersood it! So I had some time to spare in Barcelona and I had a bite to eat (since everything was closed when I got to Madrid). Now I'm waiting on the plane in my comfy Business Class seat.

They really like checking passports here- once checking bags in Madrid, then again going to security, again going to the gate, again going on the plane, then they check getting off the plane and into the airport, and again to get to the gate, then at the gate, and once more getting onto the plane- geez!

I can't wait to get home!

What I did manage to do last night was answer ALL my email! I felt so good about that. Today I got the mail but didn't do anything about it yet. I also didn't make it to the food store- I'll do that tomorrow. I did get my pictures developed. Most are pretty terrible (people's heads, blurry stuff, trees, a tiny corner of the object that I took through the window on the bus... but there are a few good ones. I think I just don't have a very nice camera- it never takes really good pictures. I miss my 110 camera. I wish it still worked and it was possible to still find 110 film and get it developed. One day when I feel like splurging, I'm going to get a nice camera that's light enough to carry around daily but still has a big zoom lens and takes sharp pictures.

So my trip in numbers:
- 2 continents - 12 cities and maybe about the same number of small towns
- 49 little notebook pages
- 41 people on the tour
- 10 rolls of flim

So now I know people in Canada, Australia, China, and Singapore. I wish I could go visit all of them. But by the time I take my next big trip, those people probably won't remember me or won't want me to visit. What a shame.

I do have this idea that instead of going to New England in the fall, I'd go somewhere in Canada. The benefit about New England though is that I could drive which would be cheaper. But I'd love to fly to Vancouver, spend a few days there, drive to Calgary, and then fly home from there. Yeah, I'm sure that would work with no problem. Airlines love one way travel and so do Car Rentals... It did work for Savannah to Little Rock though... But I also wanted to see more of Canada- like spend a month driving across from Montreal... I'll think about it soon and figure things out then.

Right now, I'm just glad to be home.

It's so nice to be listening to show tunes and singing with no one to hear me. And I love "Side Show"!!! Seeing this show really effected me!!!

This morning I will go food shopping and later today I will go through my mail (shouldn't be too bad, most of it looks like catalogues).

There are so many movies I want to see both in the theatres and on video. I think I will try to see many movies in August!

Not really much to say this morning other than I'm really impressed with how quickly I'm catching up with my life. It was much more difficult after getting back from Hong Kong and then having the auction. I guess it's a combination of that being more time away from my life and things being slower now that it's summer.

I think it's fascinating how most countries function with most people taking their holiday in the summer. How can businesses still work when dealing with the US? Do the US based companies just have to accept these other countries not doing much in the summer months or do enough people in these other countries work for the companies that they have enough employees to never slow the business down? I tried to find out from a few people on the trip and I learned a little but I still have a zillion questions in my usual fashion and there was never enough time to get them all answered. I enjoyed the conversations I had with the people on the tour, but I wish some of them could have been longer.

I really, REALLY love "Side Show"!!!!! I have fond memories of driving back from seeing it in Virginia with Eytan and going to Paula and Harvey's house for Harvey's birthday dinner. It was a beautiful ride (until it started pouring). And all those emotions...

I got a form for jury duty. I didn't get called yet, I just had to fill in a form verifying that I am able to serve. I'd like to be called soon and hope I can go. I've always wanted to do jury duty. I almost did in Phoenix, but I had to change the date since I couldn't do the original and then I forgot to go to the second date (I guess they didn't care).

Today was productive and fun. I went food shopping and went through the mail. I watched "Superstar" and went through A LOT of my photos!!! I decided to do a web site of my tour- a simple site with some pictures. So, since I got rid of my scanner, and don't feel like paying to use one somewhere, I decided to go down to Baltimore next week. It's perfect timing since Paula and Harvey are having Neil and Maxine over for dinner (Maxine's birthday dinner, but supposedly she doesn't want to call it that). So I'll take the train down Sunday afternoon to New Carolltown, have Neil pick me up and take me to Paula and Harvey's, then they'll drop me off at Eytan's and I can go to work with him in the morning to use the scanner. Now supposedly it would be useful if I could stay for a bit and type lots but I don't know if I can do that yet since I don't know if Eytan minds me staying that long. I seem to always be a burden to him. So we'll see... But with the pictures, I decided to go through most of my pictures to see what else I wanted to scan. I plan on updating my pictures on this site soon (I've been wanting to do that for years now). A year ago, I went through my pictures and pulled out a batch that I wanted to scan. I never did. I knew those pictures were in one of the boxes stored on the tippy-top shelf of my closet that Harvey had to put up there since I couldn't reach. Well, I was determined. I got a chair and pulled the lighter of the two down- it landed on the floor with barely a thud! Well, I was in luck! It was the right box. I went through 30 packets of photos, and as I was nearing the bottom of the box, I found them! So I was very organised and while I was putting them in order, I labeled them- who, where, when- since I'm trying to do that with all my photos. I'm so anal, but I think it will be great to look back years from now and know what I'm looking at (or if I have children- they will know what they're looking at). So now I have a thick stack of pictures to scan- I probably won't get them all done, but that's okay, I can always do it later... And the box of photos on the floor of my closet- that can be dealt with later as well...

The "tick, Tick... Boom" cast recording comes out September 11!!!! Can't wait!!!! I wonder if they'll include that one song they cut- doubt it. I really liked that one though. Oh well. There are so many great songs that have gone unheard- at least I heard it once.

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