Vacation 2009

Boston, Iceland, Santa Fe!

How to pack for a trip that includes such diverse climates? Well, I had one duffel bag full of shorts and tank tops for Boston that I shipped to Santa Fe, and then a hiking backpack for our two cold weeks in Iceland! It was an awesome trip planned - a few days in Boston (my mom and I had never been there) to ease us into travel mode, then a grueling 10 days on motor scooters around Iceland, followed by a girl's Spa weekend in Santa Fe to relax.

Friday July 10, 2009 & Saturday July 11, 2009
We left on a red-eye to Boston and got there at 8am, Saturday. We went to breakfast, then checked in to our hotel and walked the Freedom Trail. So, we toured all the historical sites (Paul Revere´s house, grave, Bunker Hill, Faneuil Hall, etc.) Apparently the 'Tall Ships' fleet were in town, which is the first time they've been to Boston since the centennial celebration in 1976. We walked to the North End for a great Italian dinner. We love Boston because it is so clean and has parks and great public transportation.

Here is a photo of Boston Common, the beautiful Park in the center of downtown.

Paul Revere's Grave, the honored hero of Boston (Half of the Freedom Trail is about Paul Revere)

Here is the cemetery/resting place of Paul Revere and John Hancock

More old gravestones in another cemetery

One of the "Tall Ships" - The USS Eagle, docked next to the USS Constitution


Sunday July 12, 2009
We went to the JFK Library and loved it. We couldn't understand why so many people who have been to Boston and never been to this museum. It's just outside of Boston, but the subway and a shuttle take you right to it.

We also went to the Contemporary Art Museum, which had an exhibit on Shephard Fairey. Then, we took the subway to the Hancock Tower and Trinity Church, then walked back to our hotel and another Italian dinner in the North End.


Here's our reflection in Hancock Tower.

Monday, July 13, 2009

We shipped our Boston clothes to Santa Fe, and with backpacks, headed to the airport for Reykjavik. We arrived at almost midnight, right as the sun was setting, got to our hotel at 2am and went to sleep.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009
This morning, we walked to Puffin Scooters rental place and then tried to navigate on the Icelandic streets around town. Everything is so much smaller than it seems on the map, so we keep passing the places we want to go.

Here's the Scooter Rental place:

Then up to the 'Pearl Station', which is a big silver dome (water storage facility) atop a hill. There, we saw 360 degree views of the city and the Saga Museum.

We saw a couple of sculpture museums with more sculptures. Here's a photo me at one that had scenic views.

We went to a film about volcanoes, which was pretty boring, then tried to sleep with the light creeping in through the curtains.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Our 2nd day in Reykjavik, we ended up taking the scooters down to Grindavik, where the Blue Lagoon is. We went in the Blue Lagoon, which was amazing, but my hair has been dry and brittle ever since, no matter how many times I put conditioner in it!!! It was our first day dealing with the high winds along the Iceland highways. Little did we know that this wasn't the worst of it.

Here's a couple photos at the Blue Lagoon:

Thursday, July 16, 2009
We checked out of our hotel in Reykjavik, but as we were packing up our scooters, my mom locked her keys in the boot (read: trunk)! We had to wait a couple hours for the scooter person to track down the owner to bring us the key. How embarrassing! But luckily, we were still in Reykjavik, so it wasn't as big of a problem as it could've been if we were halfway across the country. After noon, we headed to Þingvellir, which is the place between the continents. The road there was pretty nice and the lake (Þingvallavatn) is gorgeous.

From there, we traveled up the Ring Road to Borgarnes, along the sea. The water here is so blue, I couldn't stop staring at it!

Friday, July 17, 2009
We had a very long day on the road to Akureyri, in the North. The morning took us through the mountains and it was overcast, so it was bitter cold!! Very painful. But in the afternoon, we rode through the valley and it was sunny and beautiful. We passed so many white farmhouses with red roofs, surrounded by lush green grass, and rocky mountains with waterfalls and bright blue streams. I kept thinking, why isn't this place more popular, but remembered that it's dark and frozen for half the year. I wised up later in my trip and carried my camera on my hand so I could stop for quick pictures on the side of the road, but I really regret not doing so in the North, because it was so beautiful. Suffice to say, it looked similar to the photo above.

We made it to Akureyri and checked into our little guesthouse and walked around town. We thought that we were done with our longest day on the bikes, but everyday we thought that we were on the downhill, we were wrong. Each day was a challenge.

Here's a view from Akureyri:


Saturday, July 18, 2009
The maps showed that some of the road from Akureyri to Egilsstaðir was gravel, but we asked some bikers and the tourist office who confirmed that it was all paved. Phew! It was a still a long journey through desolate lava landscapes, but the mountains in the distance were quite pretty. We thought briefly about heading North for a detour through Husavik, but we found out that road was all gravel, so we decided not to travel there. So, we missed the Icelandic Phallological Museum, but it ended up being for the best because it took all day to get to the East.

Here is Godafoss, the waterfall of the Gods:

We drove around Lake Myvatn, which was not as pretty as I expected and FULL of midges. I guess that's why it's called 'Midges Lake'! There were black clouds of swarms that I had to drive through. My mom´s scooter had a windshield, but mine did not, so they all came straight at my helmet. I shudder thinking about having to spit a few out! As we drove away from the lake, we saw Hverir, which is a geothermic hot spot with mud pots. The ground is scorched and discolored and steam comes up out of the ground. In some places, acidic water bubbles up from the ground in disgusting gray gulps. And the whole place reeked of sulfur.

We continued on across moonscapes and stopped for gas off the Ring Road, along a gravel area to a small rest-stop and cafe in the middle of nowhere.

We made it to Egilsstaðir fairly late, and were very tired from the long day, and again (wrongly) thought that our hardest days were behind us.

Sunday, July 19, 2009
We drove to Hofn along the fjords in the east. I had never seen fjords, and this was some of the prettiest landscape we saw around Iceland. We went around each fjord, hoping for a town in the next, but right when we hoped for gas or food, or any kind of town, suddenly there was nothing. After 4 straight hours of hard driving in very strong winds, I had finally reached my limit and pulled over to give my back a rest and so we could refill our tanks with our emergency gas supply. The hardest part by far was the strong winds that alomost knocked our bikes over several times. At least the views were worth it:

This is hour 3, out of the fjords, so we thought we were home free.

We finally made it to our hotel in Hofn and looked forward to some shorter driving days in the South. By this time, I was getting used to taking hot showers as a relaxation before dinner.

Monday, July 20, 2009
We rode from Hofn to Vik and hoped that there would be less wind. We lucked out and it was indeed a bit less windy, but totally overcast all day, so it was cold and not very pretty.

Here's a glacier from our hotel in Hofn:

We stopped by Jokulsarlon, an iceberg lagoon:

The rest of the drive was pretty boring, past coutless wild horses, sheep, lupin, and waterfalls.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

We left our hotel in Vik and decided to stop at a church on the hill of Vik.

The driveway was uphill and gravel. My mom fell over with her scooter, and it fell on her bad ankle. Vik is known for the basalt sea stacks at the black sand beach, but we didn't go see them close up, because it was down another gravel road.

Luckily there wasn't much driving planned, just 40 km to the next hotel, so we drove to Skogar and relaxed in the small town at the Cultural Museum and Skogafoss. The cultural museum
had examples of Viking huts from the 1800's with grass roofs:

The other end of town had a gorgeous waterfall, Skogafoss. I climbed up the side of the waterfall as my mom soaked her foot in the icy water.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009
We were supposed to drive to the Golden Circle and then our Hotel in Hvergarði, which was a pretty moderate day of driving, but instead we decided just to ride to our hotel take a tour to the Golden Circle, so we wouldn't have to drive on roads that were possibly more bad.
Here's is Gullfoss and the Geyser:

The town we stayed in, Hvergarði, is on a geothermic hot spot and our hotel had some steam vents that had recently arisen after the 6.5 earthquake last year.
Here's some right off our hotel balcony:

Thursday, July 23, 2009

We woke up to rain, but luckily it stopped by the time we had to leave for Reykjavik. The 45 km ride was one of the coldest and windiest. There were again times when I looked in my rear view mirror and thought that my mom or I would fall over from the wind. It was difficult to even stay on the road much less share it with the traffic heading into the city. We finally made it into town and turned in our scooters that we had washed that morning. They didn't make a big deal about my mom's broken mirror, so I guess it was OK. We ate lunch, then took the shuttle back to the airport. On our flight to Boston, the young woman who was sharing our row of seats had a seizure and so we yelled for emergency. The flight attendants knew what to do and put her down on the floor to lay flat. She stopped seizing after a while, but her nose was bleeding and she started turning blue. They sent a passenger to get a doctor from the front of the plane and knew just where he was sitting. When she came to, she was very embarrassed and they took her to the front of the plane. It was quite a scary experience for my mom and me. We arrived in Boston and then made it out to Manchester, so we could be close to the airport for our flight to Albuquerque the next morning.

Friday, July 24, 2009 - Monday July 27, 2009

We flew to Albuquerque and used our friend, Karen's house as a base as we trekked back and forth from the airport with my girl cousins. We had a wonderful dinner at Karen's house and then drove up to Santa Fe. On Saturday, we had our massages and spa treatments, so relaxing, and went into Santa Fe for their Cultural festival both days. Here's a photo of all of us (My cousins Rachel and Chandra, me, my mom, and my aunt Debi). It was relaxing, but definately good to get home on Monday night.

I rear-ended someone the other day. The front of my car is messed up (minor damage) to the point of embarrassing. And I think, how much more can I take? How much can I endure before I simply fall to the ground, defeated? Sometimes I do feel like Job, a test to make sure I can withstand everything. But then I see that I still have my health, my looks, some of my family, and there is growth. I have new friends, and some old. I have a place to stay and eat, so I can't pretend that life is a disaster. It just feels that way sometimes.

I think I understand at least part of the struggle about the anniversary:

I looked at my calendar and was flipping through the months. I realized that October is not that far away. It's been almost a year already. How could it be the better part of a year?!? I feel like I just grasped the concept that it was 6 months ago. How can it be that so much time has passed? We haven't seen her for almost a year? How could we have lived our lives for a full year without her?! It seems impossibly strange. I guess life is what happens in the meantime, like John Lennon's quote

And there it goes.

The 4th and final leg of my table has been kicked out from under me. Pillars of support all crumbled to the ground with mighty blows. First my relationship, then my sister (family), next I was forced to move (housing), and now I am victim to the economical statistics of our time (lost my job). I brace myself for the fall, the massive thud as a granite slab hits the earth. But... I open my eyes and peek out at the world. Could it be? I'm still standing, impossible as it seems. Finish me off, I think. There must not be much left. A weak, beaten arm teetering and struggling to hold me afloat.

Scars

Referencing: http://nvisibility.blogspot.com/2005_08_01_archive.html

Almost 20 years later and the wounds have healed. The bruises have faded, but the scars last. It still hurts to touch. We rebuilt our house so quickly on top of the old foundations. What was the purpose of re-constructing our lives with such urgency? It only covered our wounds with a giant band-aid that everyone sees from the street. At the core of our home, you can still see the tattered, scorched cement disappearing deep into the ground. Everyone has scars. Some are just more visible than others.

I just discovered the beauty of Voice Notes. I've known that you can dictate oral notes to yourself, but never really had a desire to do so until recently when I've been writing things in my head while driving. Not wanting to pull over, I decided instead to download a Voice Notes App for my phone. And Viola! Here is my ramble (I wish you could hear the car noises and turn signal in the background):

There are moments in life that may not be the most poignant, but end up sticking in your memory. For instance, I can remember recording tapes from CD's when I was getting ready for a long road trip. I remember making eclairs from scratch the day before that trip and packing some in the car. Looking back, it seems like those were the moments when my life was just beginning. It wasn't necessary a significant moment, in fact the trip was much more noteworthy. But those memories of preparation in the days leading up to that trip now feels like I was getting ready for my life to begin. That's what it reminds me of - the start of what my life has become.

Sometimes you look at your life and think, "How did I get here? How did all these moments lead to where I am now?" This isn't what I thought it was going to look like. In some ways, it can be more than you expected, but also so much different. And it's not necessarily that you are stuck or trapped. Those are just the cards you're dealt. That's the definition of life! So, how can you complain? Maybe it's just harder for me because I tend to put so much expectation on my vision of the future and how I expect or want things to look. But don't we all have dreams that we thought were going to come true?

No, I guess the definition of life is how you roll with the punches, how you react to the cards in your hand and how you play them out. Maybe some people are better at poker faces, at 'playing the game'. Some know how to fool people a little bit better. That's what life is - reaction. How you react when things didn't turn out the way you thought, how you react to the good and the bad. Those reactions mold you into who you become. Emotion is natural. To be nonreactive is not humanistic. The goal is give the appropriate reaction for each incident.

The Last Time

The last time I saw my sister, we were sitting in the Dallas Luv Field Airport. I had gone with my mom and sister on a spur of the moment trip to Texas to see our Grandparents. I remember driving to Tyler in the rental car, reading aloud from my book about differences in human brains. We talked at length with our mom about our recent broken hearts and the undetermined future of our relationships. My sister was in her usual foul mood, sleeping in the back, forcing us to stop the car while she smoked for unknown lengths of time. It was in Texas that she decided to request a change in her medication and decided to visit the Amen Clinic a 2nd time. She hugged our grandparents goodbye and asked them to pray for her. In the airport, waiting for my flight, she slept across the benches. I wanted to wake her up. The thought ran through my head, “But this is the last time I’m going to see you for a long time!” Instead, I let her sleep, knowing she was tired and feeling sick. We gave a lack-luster hug goodbye and I boarded my plane.

One month later, I had my last phone call with her. She and I had both received confirmation that our relationships were over and she had decided to commemorate with lots of alcohol. I spoke with her early in the night as she took shot after shot. I knew better than to reprimand her for exceeding her limit. The phone was disconnected, so she called back and left a message with the land-line number. She was already stumbling over her words. Over the course of the next hour, she left another message, a slurred cursing of my ex. I called her back and she had quickly gotten to the point of obliteration. She was laying on the floor of her friend’s bathroom, throwing out mindless threats to end her life. I didn’t take them seriously. I thought she would sober up and realize that was not a realistic solution. I heard my mom arrive in the background and scrape her off the floor to drive her home. I spoke briefly with my mom before hanging up the phone, confident that she was in good hands. I saved the voicemail messages, thinking that I would play them back to her one day and we would laugh it off. The next week, my mom asked me to call my sister because she was worried. I refused. I was on my way to swimming, so I didn’t have time for a long, dramatic conversation that went in circles with me trying to convince her that her life was worthwhile. She died 24 hours later.

I’m not sure that I regret the circumstances in which I last saw/spoke with her. It wouldn’t have changed what happened. I guess it just seems weird that meaningless moments suddenly have significance as they are replayed on loop in your mind. Do I remember the 2nd to last time I saw her or 3rd to last? Nope. Like acid, it stings upon impact as it becomes etched into memory.

You think if they died, the world would stop. But it doesn't stop and that's the agony. Your personal world stops while the rest of the world charges forward, dragging you with it. There is no choice, only to pick up your feet and soldier on. Survival takes over. Does it mean because we can go on that the pain isn't there? The pain is always lurking in the shadows, waiting for an inopportune time to remind you that life will never be the same.

My aunt had a good analogy - people, especially family members, are woven into a cloth of your life. Sometimes you don't realize that they are part of the same fabric until part of that material is ripped away. The tear isn't clean. As the fibers rip from one another violently, it creates a painful frayed edge. Each torn strand dangling helplessly, yearning to be sewn together again.

Grief

I know what my mom means when she says, "My grief is immense." It is all encompassing. To be able to put it in words seems trite. How do you explain the loneliness and despair that you are left with? And that's just it, an abandonment from the world, where you are left in a dark room with inner demons. Most people understand grief as losing something or missing someone, but this is only the beginning of the ocean that grief opens up. How can anyone understand the millions of emotions that swing through this word "grief"? It's not just one feeling; it's stress and disappointment, loneliness and anger, hatred, hopelessness, depression and exhaustion. It's a surrender and a fight all at once.

It's also not about one person, one thing, one incident. Perhaps this is why people say 'grieving' more than just 'grief'. Because it is an ongoing emotion, a continuous movement through. Mine is grieving the loss of myself as much as anything. I have no doubt that I am partway through the toughest year/s of my life. I know that my future will be better. But from that optimistic perspective, I can look back and see how much pain it is now. My resiliency is bittersweet - a blessing and a burden. I am sentenced to work hard at living and I grieve for the loss of time that my life will be dedicated to this. I grieve the fact that my circumstances seem colossally greater than most (though, this is an inherent trait of everyone's grief). The inner battle becomes amplified because it is between old aches and new stings of sadness.

A stranger told me today (without knowing anything about me) that the toughest trials are given to those that are strongest. I know this is true. Each of us is brought to the brink of our individual capacity for trauma. We are given only we can handle, which seems like an excessive amount. Grief humbles our strength, and yet through the agony, strength endures.

Inauguration

Sunday January 18, 2009
We were already in New Jersey from the Bat Mitzvah, so we drove to Philadelphia to see my cousins for the night. Since we had an extra ticket to the ball, my cousin decided to come with us. So she quickly dug up a dress from her mom's closet and packed a bag! We were supposed to stay in Baltimore, but ended up lucking out to get a room at the place our friends were staying, just outside of DC.

Monday January 19, 2009
We drove to Washington DC, checked into our hotel, and then headed to the Subway to pick up our tickets. My dad and I went to the Barbara Lee reception (Barbara Lee is the Congressional Representative for the East Bay Area of California, and the only one to vote against the war just after Sept 11). My mom and cousin went to go pick up the tickets and met us afterward. My dad and I waited in line to enter the building, and then waited in another line to get into the reception. Obviously, her party was pretty popular. Inside I saw my old high school P.E. teacher and counselor! I was surprised they remembered me actually.. Anyway, the party was too crowded and we didn't know anyone else there, so we left. We met my mom and cousin, then headed on the subway to meet a friend with more tickets and my parent's friend's son (with ball tickets). Rachel, my cousin, snapped this picture in one of the porto-potties next to the Capitol:

We were able to meet them both at the same subway stop, chatted a little, etc. Too bad neither of these two single guys are my age - I need someone in between! Ah well. We headed back to the hotel for drinks with my parent's friends, then off to bed!

Tuesday January 20, 2009 - Inauguration Day!
I tossed and turned, excited for the day, and finally got up at 5am. The plan was to get up at 5:30 and leave the hotel by 6am, but my mom called me at 5:20 and said that everyone was ready to go. So, I rushed to finish getting ready, and left for the lobby. We ended up getting on the shuttle at the originally planned time of 6am, so it worked out. We got to the metro station and because we were one of the first stops on the line, the train was fairly empty when we boarded. But in the next two stops, it filled to capacity. We had to tell people not to board because the doors wouldn't shut. As we got closer to the city, the train kept stopping midway through the tunnel because there were other trains at the station. The train in front of us had a sick passenger that delayed ours for 20 minutes! They told us that we would have to reverse the train, go all the way back out, and come back on a different line. But instead, we waited another 10 minutes and then were able to move forward. What should've been a 20 minute ride took an hour and a half!! They told us that the main metro station by the gates was closed because of traffic, but when we pulled into the station, they opened the doors and said it had just opened, and for all of us to get out! We raced through the empty station with no line and weren't even charged to get through the ticket turnstiles!

When we got up to the street level, we followed signs to our gate, then realized that we were passing our line. We followed the line down 2 blocks, around the corner and down another block, then snaked all around to the point of indecypherability. We joined the end of the line and waited for the gates to open at 8am. When they did, our single-file line became a mob. With no enforcement of the line, we were unsure what was happening. Then, we saw a bunch of people rush across the building's plaza to cut across the block. We looked at the people around us and paused for a moment - do we stay here and possibly not make it inside the gate before 11:30, or do we go for it with the rest of these people? We ran. 1/2 a block away from the gate, we turned into a mob, crunched with people, more than a block wide. We moved 1 step per minute, crushed against the people next to us. Here is a photo from my camera phone:


We finally got to security and I was pretty surprised how lenient they were. We only had to hold our ticket up (they did not inspect them), and when we got to the metal detectors, we unbuttoned our jackets, took things out of our pockets, and walked through. There were no X-Ray machines, just a guy looking at cameras and wallets, etc. And the metal detector beeped at me (I later learned that hand warmers set off the detectors). I got scared and walked back through, like I would do at an airport, but the guard told me I was fine, so beeping through, again, I walked out. Was it because I was blonde?! How's that for racial profiling. My dad held up the line forgetting about his cellphone and I was embarrassed. We got in just before 10am, I think, and walked to our section. We tried to find a place for short people to see, but it was a little hard with so many tall people standing in front of us! We backed up a bit and got a better view. Here is a photo taken from my cell phone:

And two of me in front of the Capitol. I didn't aim the first shot correctly:

Much better (I was bored at this point):

Anyway, so we learned that you can only take so many of the Capitol, standing in the same spot... By the time the ceremony started, my feet were aching and my back was stiff from the cold. We couldn't see much of the jumbo screens, but I could tell when the motorcade, Obama or his family was on, because the crowd went nuts! They started annoucing the past presidents. Carter got cheers, Clinton got tremendous applause, and (they muted this on TV) G.W. Bush got booed, loudly. I saw people shake their shoes, and even one guy toss his shoe into the crowd! It was pretty awful. The guy next to me started singing, "Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Goooodbyye..." By the 2nd line everyone around us was singing, and by the 2nd verse, the entire crowd was singing. We petered out, but heard echoes of it going all the way down the National Mall! Anyway, we could hear Biden's oath very clearly, but when it came time for Barack, I was so disappointed that I could barely hear anything. We didn't even know when it was over, but we cheered anyway. I watched it later to see his stumble. The 21-Gun salute scared everyone around and it took a few booms before we realized they were not fireworks. His speech was great, and then as soon as it was over, we started heading for the exit. I knew that we needed to get to the front of the subway line. But, they didn't open the gates back up until after the ceremony was totally over. I sang the National Anthem with the other 1.8 million people. When we finally did get out, we headed for the subway further away. We saw Bush's helicopter go overhead. There was a line wrapped around the block for it, unmoving. So, despite our bodies, we trudged on to the next metro station another several blocks. But this would preempt the rail-line and ensure us a spot. It worked and we got right on a train and sat into the seat. We napped until our stop on the other side of town and got back to our hotel just as the Inaugural Luncheon was ending.

We got ready for the balls while watching the parade on TV and wondered when Barack and Michelle were going to have time to change! We took a taxi to the ball, but here are some photos in the hotel lobby. Here is my cousin Rachel and Me:

My mom and dad:

On the way, our taxi stopped at a light (I think this was my favorite part of the trip, because it was the least expected!), and suddenly tons of police motorcycles drive by. "Do you think this is the motorcade?" I joked.. And sure enough, then Obama's strech Cadillac drove by! I cheered and screamed in the taxi and my mom reminded me that no one could hear me, but I didn't care!
The taxi wasn't able to get near the Convention Center, so we had them drop us off and walked in. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of the building, so we had to walk around the block, in freezing cold and my shoes were already hurting!

More blah security to get in, and then inside the Western Ball we saw this:


Here is an idea of how big the whole thing was, and this is only 1/3 of it:
At the other end, was a giant stage with a golden archway:
We walked around, got some drinks, and then headed toward the stage, because space was filling up fast. Obama must be coming by soon, we thought! Here's a photo of me, my dad, my mom, and Rachel.

And here's one of my mom, our friend Karen, and me

We waited, and waited, and waited. Things constantly gave us hope, increase of Secret Service, movement of flags on stage, change of lighting, etc. Finally the band came out and then our main concert - Marc Anthony! After being on me feet for 20 hours already, I was crashing fast. I even sat down because I was so bored with the Latin singer. His wife, J. Lo, came out and sang a duet with him, then the music stopped. And we waited some more... We kept hearing from people around us that Obama had just left such and such a ball, so we kept hoping he was on his way.

Finally, Joe Biden and Jill Biden came out. Joe made a lackluster speech about the crowd earlier in the day, and then they did their dance.

We waited another 20-30 minutes, and FINALLY, around midnight, Obama came out with Michelle. I was so happy to see her in white. It seemed very appropriate since the whole thing felt like America's wedding. I fought on my tip-toes for camera time. Here's a couple shots of their inaugural dance:



Getting home was the hard part. We stuck around and used up our drink tickets, then headed to the coat check, leaving as our ball was ending, at 1am. We went out to the street (at this point I could barely walk), and tried to hail a taxi. Every taxi was full and no one stopped for us. Those that did stop found out we were going out past city limits and refused to take our business. We walked to a Hotel and stood with others in the lobby. Everyone seemed to be having the same problem. We tried to decide what to do, but by this time the wind was picking up and it was bitter cold outside! At 1:30am, we decided to try to walk to the metro (5 blocks away) and catch a subway, and make 2 transfers all before they stopped running at 2am. It seemed impossible and I was getting scared. Just as we started walking in the direction of the metro, a van pulled up and my cousin hailed him, promised him money to take us to our hotel. Other couples piled in, whose stops were on the way. He charged everyone a pretty nice sum and made off pretty big from all of us, but we were all just happy not to be stranded!

Wednesday January 21, 2009
We woke up, ate breakfast and packed up. I emptied my purse from the ball and quickly realized that I had lost my camera's memory stick with all of the ceremony photos. (This is why all of the photos from the ceremony were taken with my camera, and why I have much more from the Ball)! I was pretty angry, but knew it was gone for good. We drove back to Philadelphia, met my aunt for lunch near the airport and caught a long flight back to California. End.

Final Note
I think Jan 20th was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Just to endure the amount of standing and cold, etc. Was it worth it? Hell yes. Would I ever do it again? Probably not in this lifetime. So, I'm glad that I did it for My President, My BO.

Bat Mitzvah!

Friday January 16, 2009
Woke up at 5am, took the shuttle to the airport, and flew to Philadelphia, PA. I arrived at 5pm, rented a car, and drove straight to New Jersey. When I got there, I met up with my aunt and uncle. We quickly discovered that New Providence is one of TWO dry towns in NJ, and the only liquor store was about to close, so I rushed off to buy some wine, then picked my parents up from the Synagogue.

Saturday January 17, 2009
Ate breakfast and got ready to go to the Synagogue. Took family photos before the ceremony. Here are the twins, Allison & Joanna:

Here is my family with the girls (From L to R: My mom aka Teresa, my dad aka Grandpa, Allison, Joanna, and Me):

Here is the WHOLE family... I'll try to explain relationships as best I can (Top Row: Peter 2 (my brother, Twin's dad), Jenny (my sister, Twin's aunt), Jesus (Jenny's boyfriend), Jeanette (Twin's Grandma on their mom's side), Fred (Twin's Grandpa on their mom's side), Ed (Twin's Uncle), Lisa (Twin's mom). Bottom Row: Teresa (my mom, Twin's step-grandma), Peter (my dad, Twin's grandpa on dad's side), Me (Twin's aunt), Allison (Twin), Joanna (Twin), Lois (Twin's grandma on their dad's side, my dad's ex-wife).

The ceremony was beautiful, and I am really proud of the girls. They did a great job! I think my favorite part is when their parents got to say some words to them, in front of everyone about how proud they are of them, and be able to tell them what they see in each of them. It made me cry. Then, the big party was great and they had dancers and a smoothie bar all kinds of stuff. Having been on the kid side before, I really appreciated the space that was left for the adults and the separation, but the DJ did a good job of including everyone. From an events standpoint, I have never seen 1/2 of the party be banquet tables with buffet and 1/2 round tables, served food, but it ended up being perfect!

After the party, we went back to the hotel to change clothes, then went over to the Twin's house and watched them open presents. Lots of jewelry and LOTS of money. I don't think I've ever seen so much cash or checks! I gave them Star of David necklaces from Tiffany's and was very nervous that they would get those from other people, but they ended up being the only Star of Davids so I was relieved, and I think they liked them! Yay

Deer Valley

Friday December 26, 2008
2 hours before we left, I fell on the stairs and twisted my ankle pretty badly. I could walk on it, so I thought it was fine. We left Oakland at 9pm, got to Salt Lake City around midnight and went straight to the hotel. My ankle was pretty swollen from walking on it so much, so I iced it down.

Saturday December 27, 2008
I was limping on my ankle, so no skiing for me today. My dad went out on the slopes, and my mom and I walked around in downtown Park City. Waited for the bus for a LONG time and almost froze, but made it back to the hotel. We ate dinner at an Italian place nearby. It was OK.

Sunday December 28, 2008
My dad and I walked over the Stein Eriksen Lodge to check it out and were pretty unimpressed. Here's the front of the Stein Eriksen:

My ankle was feeling better, so we decided to ski for a bit. Found a run called Little Kate, and tried to have my mom take pictures, but they came out blurry.

After a few runs, my mom and I were both feeling depressed, so we decided to call it a day. We ate at Jean Louis, supposedly French, but we started noticing patterns on all of the local menus (namely: Wedge Salad, Osso Bucco, Fondue, etc).

Monday December 29, 2008
We woke up late and decided not to ski because it looked pretty cold outside. I don't really remember what we did. I think just walked around and then came back for Cheese Fondue. We went to dinner at a local cafe. After, we decided to go barhopping downtown. We met a nice gay guy from San Deigo who shared our distaste for the generic menus. Here's a photo of downtown Park City:

Tuesday December 30, 2008
We decided to wake up early and get in some good skiing. The day was beautiful - and we skied quite a bit. Here are some photos of the view from the top of the Mountain:

I don't know who this woman is, she wouldn't get out of my picture, so I decided to take it anyway:

Here's my mom and dad, halfway down Tycoon with the beautiful view:

I ditched my parents and got a better picture of my run, then met them for lunch and back up for a couple runs. Here's my run:

Under it, it says More Difficult. Haha Ain't that the truth! The run was a little icy and bumpy. I almost fell once, but overall, it was short and sweet. My mom got a manicure/pedicure and I got a mini facial in the spa across the street from our hotel. We had dinner reservations at the River Horse, supposedly the best restaurant, but since the reservations were late, we went downtown for drinks beforehand. We met a nice, big family from Missouri with some cousins my age. Then dinner, which they tried to stuff us into a bar table, but after we complained, they accommodated us to a booth. The food was excellent, then we went back to the bar for live entertainment, which now had a cover charge. We almost got stuck downtown because our hotel's shuttle driver was off duty and we missed the last bus. But, we got a taxi ride instead.

Wednesday December 31, 2008
Woke up moderately early and skied for a while. Again, it was a gorgeous day and the slopes were perfect. I split from my parents again and decided to try a Black Diamond (Stein's Way), but was severely disappointed that, like all of the Intermediates, it was pretty easy. I went in early and my mom and I tried to have lunch at our hotel (it's the most popular place on the hill). The service was so slow that they did not charge us for lunch. My mom did a few last runs on her own, then we went to the hot tub, and relaxed before dinner. We had a very late dinner at the Stein Eriksen, which was more show than quality. The other people around were fairly tacky. One guy, with his daughter and trophy wife, called the black truffle shavings on his steak "roasted coconut"!! At least if you are going to have that much money, you should be sophisticated enough to know what truffles are! It makes me sick. Dessert came and we had to rush out for the count-down. Mr. Stein Eriksen sang a Norwegian ballad, then we counted down the new year. They had fireworks right off the back deck, and this was the closest fireworks show I've ever seen. They were literally RIGHT above our heads, raining down on us. A few exploded on the ground and everyone screamed expecting the trees to ignite. I couldn't tell if they were cheers or screams. There was dancing inside, but most people were coupled up, so it was pretty lame. My mom and I realized this was our one and only opportunity to say that we had kissed Mr. Stein Eriksen, so we dared each other to go up and wish him a happy new year. She made me go first, so I kissed him on the cheek. He was a little shocked. Then my mom chickened out and I'm not going to let her live it down for a while. Here is Olympic Gold Medalist Stein Eriksen in his prime:
He did NOT look like this now! This photo was taken over 50 years ago, so add another 50+ years, and THAT'S what I kissed. Yuck. We walked back to our hotel and fell asleep before California entered 2009!

Thursday January 1, 2009
Our original plan was to leave on the 31st, so we could all spend New Year's Eve with our respective friends. My plan had been to stop in Vegas for Cirque's Love show, but seeing as how our worlds fell apart over the last few months, we decided to stay until after New Year's. We ended up catching an earlier flight, packed up and headed to the airport. We were home by 4pm, so we ate dinner here and caught a movie.

Overall, we loved skiing in Deer Valley - all runs are intermediate level, so there is no fear to get lost and stuck on a run you can't do. The service all over Park City and Deer Valley was superb! And, we loved staying at the Goldener Hirsch. It was walking distance to the base of the lift (we didn't even have to cross a street!!) and the hotel was quaint and beautiful. Here are some pictures of our hotel room:
Here's a picture of the outside of the Goldener Hirsch (at night):

2009. A new year, new beginnings. It doesn't feel so new. I am quickly brought back to memories of last year. The pain is still there, still fresh. I am still heartbroken, still grieving, still more stressed than I have ever been. How long will it take? Will 2009 be a year wasted, stuck in the past? A resolution to get over it is naive and impossible. If one could will it to go away, there wouldn't be so many cliche phrases about time. But time feels like too much to ask for right now.

How many more times do I have to relive the horrors? Are things ever going to stop reminding me of what I'm missing?