I can feel a change rising in me. I so often don't try things because of the fear of what might come from trying...failure. I get the concept of it. That it is a learning experience, that you have to fail in order to succeed, that failure can be a good thing. I never judge others for failing, in fact admire their attempts at trying. But for some reason, the thought of failing, of rejection, of loss, of judgement in myself scares me to the core. Fear has been such a life-sucker of me. I have begun to realize this in the past few months. Good thing I see this now while I still have time to change. I must push myself to be better, to try harder and to just give in to what is. Life is so beautiful. Every moment is so beautiful if you just let it. I get this. I get glimpses of a better me at times but something makes me retreat, to hide, to doubt myself. This has also held me back from doing things that I once loved such as acting. It has also made me question what it is that I want to do in this life because I have doubts that I can, that I'll be any good, that anyone else will find worth in it. I've thrown myself into previous partners so content to be the support, to hang out in their shadows, to be ecstatic when they were in the spotlight. I can't do that ever again. I would despise myself if I lost myself in someone else. If I want to be with someone I find truly amazing, then I need to try to be truly amazing myself. It is daunting to attempt this to me. How do I become like the people I see and find inspiring? Where do I start? From here I suppose...from this day...

 I have to give myself some credit though. I mean, I am here in Costa Rica. I have attempted to surf and have caught a few waves but the fear of sucking or getting pummeled by waves hijacks the spirit of getting back out there. I will go again today. I force myself into it, sometimes just to please Michelle as she has a drive that flickers in and out of me. I must be patient with myself and my failings. I must allow myself to fail, to fall and not reduce myself to just a floating body. There is so much to experience, so much to learn and I can not waste another day mindlessly or afraid to live.

 "I've no choice now but to fall in love as soon as possible--not with a man but with my immediate life and eventually myself."- Joan Anderson (A Year by the Sea, thoughts of an unfinished women)

Pura Vida Mae!

Writing from a phone isn't ideal so I haven't done it much since I got here...obviously. I am now in Esterillos Oeste...3 plus weeks later since my last update. I love it here. We got our second surf lesson today and Pat got some good pics. I won't be able to upload any pics I have taken till I get home. Uvita was interesting. We stayed at Cascada Verde Eco Lodge where we were to volunteer. I'll try to sum up the experience as best I can. In the beginning there was a guest from New York. He was somewhat of an a-hole, little self-righteous, ignorant. One of the boys (either Sanfort, Emilio, Pipper or Victor) not-so-fondly named him cabra which means goat. Another guest who we loved and sadly didn't get to see very much of was Alejandro. He is a performer from Cirque Du Soleil. Alejandro was so sweet, witty and had what I called "a must see chest, 5 stars". Among the people who actually worked there we met 1)a man who is our own "big fish" he made us laugh a lot. We are coming home with some great quotes from this guy. Although he may have been blowing smoke up our arses quite a bit he still helped with our travels and experience thus far. 2)A beautiful tico boy, Emilio, who liked me with my make-up off and all. He also questioned my motives "you are just looking for some latin candy?". I appreciated this because sometimes being called out is a good thing. He would like me to return again to spend time with just him and even offered to buy my ticket. What is comical about this is that he and I can speak the least to each other. I know about as much spanish as he knows english. We used our translators and hand gestures a lot. SO we will see how this pans out. Ha. Emilio also has done a lot in is 27 years from working on his parents farm, motocross, going to school for Gastronomy (which he still has to finish), studying abroad, being one of the greatest baristas which included making crazy cool pictures in the foam and much more. 3) An old rasta dude named Victor who was originally from some island off the coast of Spain. He has worked at Cascada forever it seems, first for Patrick, the german dude, who apparently went a little nutty after one too many motorcycle wrecks. Victor rarely spoke english which was fine, he showed us a lot of different plants and had us eat many of them. He is what sparked my now curiosity in horticulture. He also loved to watch old looney toons in spanish at night. I think his favorite was Claudio the big rooster. 4) a guy from the Basque country. His accent was a little different in both English and Spanish. Well...he was a little different but I think he always meant well. 5) Patrick, who didn't work there but owned the place. This is the german dude who was a little eccentric to say the least. He was cool though, interesting and we got some good insight, inspirational messages from him. Michelle and I were both a bit disappointed with the actual volunteer program, seeing how it was hmmmm "under construction" or something of that nature. We did get to garden a bit and made some friends so it was still a good experience. Michelle got an up close look at a naked german man (my view was more distant) not that she really wanted to, but you know, it's fine. Ha ha. We also had some good food, great coffee, homemade chocolate and a better tolerance to bugs especially spiders. I mean after the huge ones we have seen, I doubt the ones back home will make us squirm like before. One of the days in Uvita we hiked up to the waterfall and swam. That was rad. There were these plants called dormilonas and when you touched them they would close up. I honestly have felt like we fell down the rabbit hole into Wonderland on many occasions since we got to Costa Rica. I had my birthday in Uvita as well...but it didn't really feel much like a birthday because I was sick. Oh well such is life. Towards the end of our stay a girl from Spain came, Nulia (I think). She seemed kind of cold to us at first but warmed up before we had left. She had volunteered there before and had a good relationship to the place and the people. There is much more to Uvita but that is all I feel like writing about today. Next to come is Dominical, Quepos and Esterillos Oeste which is where we are now. I will write more about the trip later but let me just say this: Today we had our 2nd surf lesson. This one seemed way more legit...it is so AWESOME!!! This is something I've always wanted to know how to do. We go out again tomorrow. Also Pat (my aunt's friend who we are staying with while in EO is freaking amazing...LOVE HER). More to come MAE!

Uvita, Costa Rica

I have arrived. Let me start by saying I am grateful for the wonderful people we have met thus far and the people who have helped get us here to Uvita. It has definitely been a journey. It was all made worth it by waking up this morning drinking fantastic cafe con leche while watching monkeys hop amongst the trees. I am writing this as I'm laying in a hammock listening and watching the downpour of rain in the forest all around me. The story starts here: On Tuesday Steve drops myself and Michelle off at the airport blaring a Latin American Pandora station to get us in the mood. We fly to Denver and then into Houston. We are set to fly into San Jose that evening. But we take the offered flight, meal & hotel vouchers to fly out the next day. Cocktail in the airport and hotel then bed is how the night ended. Next morning we have a layover in Panama and I can't stop singing "panama... Panamaha. " We get into San Jose arriving later than we had hoped. A lady at the airport gives us a map and directions to where we can catch a bus to Uvita. (Uvita is where we are now, the town in which we signed up to volunteer for a few weeks) We take the public transit, the only foreigners who do so (now I understand why) and then hoof it the next however many calles y avenidios. Navigating through the crowded streets, with our gigantic backpacks we are no doubtedly smacking everything. We end up having to ask in broken Spanglish some policeman what calles or avenidios we are on because it seems only some of the streets are marked and the ones that are you have to find what building and side has the marking on it. I made the observation that having at least one good looking policeman in every group must be mandatory. As we make our way to this station we notice the surrounding areas start to look more and more shitty. The sky is also getting darker. We started to walk down a street a man in a truck stops shakes his head veheminately "no!" and points to go down further up the block. Who knows what awaited us down that street? Nothing good that is for sure. We finally find this bus stop, which seems to be in some sort of park area. Some dude yells a slang word "tortilleras" which I remembered meant lesbians. We sit down and try to figure out what bus we are looking for and what time it's supposed to come. All the while feeling a bit uneasy with the amount of creepers in the area. We get a hold of one of our contacts from Cascada Verde (where we are volunteering) and he lets us know we are in the wrong area and that there most likely isn't a bus for tonight. At this point a lady comes up to us and asks if we speak Spanish. I'm just barely learning the language and Michelle is not fluent, so the lady speaks to us in the English that she knows and tells us that we need to get out of this area that it is not safe, that there are bad people. We thank her perfusely and decide we are going to need to stay in a hostel in San Jose overnight. We end up hailing a taxi and going to Costa Rica Backpackers hostel. The area looked shitty surrounding it but our travelbook recommended it and we were in need of finding a place to settle in for the evening. This place was pretty chill and we had a dorm room for 8 all to ourselves. There was a bar/restaurant attached to the place so we didn't have to leave to get what we were craving...beer. Food was good that night and in the morning and so was the coffee. The only downside was I got a phrase book [that had been really helpful] stolen. So we are up to Thursday Morning. We take a taxi to where the real terminal is only to find we missed the direct bus to Uvita and that we would have to wait 6 hours for the next. There was no way we were going to stay in San Jose any longer than we had to so we decided to take a bus to Quepos. Our travel book said there was a bus from there to Uvita. No one there spoke English so all the ticket buying and getting on the bus was done in what little Spanish we knew and hand gestures. Thank you Michelle. That bus ride I was so stoked. Woohoo! Get me the eff out of San Jose!!! The surroundings changed from dirty city to beautiful lush green! Oh and at that bus station we met some pretty hott Swedish guys that let us get on the bus in front of them. "After you Idaho". One of them was wearing a "stop wars" in the same letter style as StarWars. Once we get to Quepos we find out there isn't a bus to Uvita. Or so they say. So we eat at this funny little place and drink horchata. I figure out we need to go to Domincal and from there we can get to Uvita. So we find out we have to pay on the bus. Problem is we aren't quite sure which bus we need to get on. While waiting we meet some dude from Montana who used to used to live in Boise. As the time approaches for when the bus to Dominical was supposed to leave we stand up and try to figure out which bus it'll be, a kid from America who is grouped with other kids(young adults) from all over the world approaches us and through him we figure out we are supposed to get in the same bus as them. *ill finish the story to here later. I'm tired. ;) I also wrote this through my phone and so it´s a little messed up...don´t judge me too harshly.

The itch of the traveling kind

Once you travel, there is an itch to do it again and soon. It has been 2 years since I left for China. I have had the itch to set foot in foreign lands but due to school and the like have lacked the opportunity or means. My opportunity has come now. I leave for Costa Rica in a little over 2 months. I will be there for a month and a half. I have no idea what awaits. But I hope to learn new things and grow as a person as well as come back with a sweet tan. Ha ha. Hopefully I will be able to document this short journey better than I did when I went to China. I also think that I am in a much better spot mentally/emotionally then I was before and during my China trip. I'm working on mindfulness and the act of being in the here and now, on accepting what is and letting go of what isn't. The here and the now finds me tired....so more later.

My giant goes with me wherever I go.

I'm supposedly a good writer. I guess once I put my mind to it, I can be or if I have inspiration. I find that since I normally write poetry and its what I do most often when I write, I'm better at abstract writing and not normal story line type. I find its hard to express myself. Is this due to the fact that perhaps the English language lacks words for what I feel? Possibly.
Or due to a laziness? That could be partially it. I just get bored or impatient sometimes and trying to make everything cohesive. My mind isn't cohesive, my thoughts are abstract, it is a task to try and organize it. Why would I want to do such a thing? ha ha.

My Father came up for a day and as per usual we talk about religion and things in this life that actually matter. One thing we discussed was how people who believe differently treat each other. I just have to say I am frustrated with things that close doors for opportunity or people. If you believe differently than me doesn't mean I am going to turn my back on you or try and crush your faith. I don't think any one religion has it right through and through. Over the ages people have believed in different things (some pretty similar) and time after time have discovered what they knew to be true was many ways wrong or become disillusioned by it.
I know that I can't hang my life on someone else's truth. My truth may be different to some degree than yours. To contradict myself in a way by bringing up someone else's thought, to be exact Emersonian thought; he talked about how the truth is within us that our soul knows more than we give it credit.
They cannot see in secret; they love to be blind in public. They think society wiser than their soul, and know not that one soul, and their soul, is wiser than the whole world

I am still a work in progress, I am still finding my truth. My Dad has some good points about living by being Charitable and being grateful.

I believe there is a higher intelligence. I believe in living by love. That is why it is tattooed on my wrist. I believe that gaining knowledge is important. I love this quote: "I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than closed by belief" -Gerry Spencer
I want to gain knowledge and to travel and experience how others believe and really be open to it. I can't have my eyes closed by a belief. The Greeks really believed in their Gods. The Japanese did too and then it all came crashing down.

This post may or may not have been cohesive...but meh whatever

Back in...some random color of your choosing

So I'm actually updating my blog a bit. Got a flikr account and am updating with pictures and such. Perhaps I should finish my story of epic proportions. Not now...but soon.

10/3/09 Yading The Real Adventure Begins

So we ended up staying at this villagers house. They had Mao riding horses posters all over. The rooms were decorated quite lovely and they were spacious. We had dinner with them and all the other travelers. Here is where we were set to decide our fate for the next few days.


*Thats all I wrote. I will update the blog with the....rest of the story. later.

Oct 1 2009 MULI

So we left on a bus from Xichang and headed to Yanyuan. I may have mentioned before how I didn't really think much of this town and how long it took for us to get a ride. Although I did get to see Thibaut feed a tiny, wild kitten some crackers.
We finally set out on this journey headed to Muli. (Eric had said that from there we could get a bus to Yading and we'd be set). Ha Ha Ha...oh Eric.
In our travels to Muli a few guys rode with us. I have no idea their age they looked like 17 but you know how you can never really tell with Asians. So we get to Muli and find they aren't selling tickets to anywhere else for that day. So we explored the town and looked for a place to stay/someone to take us to the next place we wanted to go. This seemed nearly impossible. We did however run into the two guys we rode with and they took us to a good place to eat (and showed me where the toilet was in this town).
After eating I felt funny, I felt kind of high (like stoned high). Maybe it was the MSG? who knows. So we find a hotel and go down to the town square where they are having a big celebration (as it is China's 60th anniversary of being the People's Republic). It was pretty cool. Lots of people, especially women were dressed in traditional garb and they were dancing and singing. There was a big lighted structure that sort of reminded me of a sparkler. We walked around and some kids came up and wanted to take pictures with us. One was very aggressive and acted like he wanted to fight Eric. He couldn't have been older than 10. It was funny and weird at the same time.
We decided to head back up to the hotel and maybe grab a beer or two on the way. Walking up the street we looked in the little shops and talked to locals. Thibaut bought a jacket that "e-people" seemed to always be wearing. A drunk guy in a full army fatigues took pictures with us. You could smell the booze on him from a mile away that and he pulled the bottle out to offer us a swig. No thank you! ha ha.

We found out from different people that Yading was 11 hours away or 7 hours away or 6 hours away. We decided when we found out for sure how far away it was, would be when we decided to continue on our trek or return home. We got back to the hotel grounds and in a near by apartment building of sorts there was a guy (I'm assuming he was drunk) who was yelling and looked to be being dragged out by police men. I'm not really sure. That night I got to shower!!! It felt amazing. We watched part of the Beijing Celebration on TV which included Jackie Chan singing and he had a beard. It cracked us all up.
I got woken up during our sleep because some people were trying to get into our hotel room. Whether it was intentional or not I do not know. *Eric talks in his sleep, apparently. When the people were trying to get in, Eric giggled in his sleep and said "Jin Lai Jin Lai (which means come in in Chinese.*
The next morning we got up really early not knowing what time the bus station opened or when the they would be leaving. So we walked to the station and hung out for quite a while and ate at a little shop around there. We talked to some other people who were also headed to the next area we were trying to get to (Shuiluo which was supposed to be on the outskirts of Yading) they told us it was only about 7 hours away so we decided collectively that we would go there hang out for a day and 1/2 and then return home. When the bus station finally opened we found out they were not selling tickets to that place. So once again we had to try and find a different ride there. Of course people are wanting to charge us something ridiculous and so Eric is trying to bargain and then we gang up with an elderly man so that the price could be split 4 ways. It was going to be something around 300 kuai per person. So we headed out.
About an hour into it there is a road stop with cops. We all had to get out show them our passports and answer questions as to what was going on. As it is illegal for someone with out a business license to drive people (and get paid for it) we were no longer able to go with the man who was giving us a ride. I'm not sure what ever happened to the driver.
I wonder but don't know how China is these days with law breakers. The cops loved us however. We were there for hours. They made us lunch, tea, gave us fruit and Thibaut even smoked with them. Finally the cops found us a different ride to where we were wanting to go (even though technically foreigners weren't supposed to be in these Tibetan Autonomous Regions during the holiday). This ride was to only cost us 100 kuai a piece. Way to go COPS!!!

The rides were always bumpy but fun. Ha ha. We stopped in some small little town where I had to go find a toilet. A spider ran in-between my legs as I squat to pee....i screamed and ran a bit with my pants down before I was able to talk myself into going again. (I had to pee really really bad).
We finally are rolling up to this place that has 2 buildings and its dark and I say "this can't be it right...right?"
Eric says "naw no way"
well YES WAY!!! We were getting kicked out in the middle of NOWHERE!!! Where were we going to stay? How were we to get to the next location let alone home? Apparently there is a bus that leaves the next morning at nine am back to Muli the next day. And to top it off the guy is making us pay an additional 20 kuai then what the cop told us but there wasn't anything we could do. Although thats not much more money its the principal of the matter.
Okay so what are we supposed to do now? No tent, No sleeping bags (although I asked Eric if we should bring them and he said no) and we've come all this way only to have to turn back?
Right then, no joke, a random small tour bus comes rolling through the town. Eric stops it, there is ONE foreigner on it and a whole bunch of Han Chinese people. The tour bus agrees to let us on as they are going to the next little village outside of Yading National Park. So all four of us (Eric, Thibaut, myself and the old man) pile into this already overcrowded bus. We were sitting on top of stuff on the floor and on people. It was ridiculous. They also made us pay 80 kuai for an hour and 1/2 ride. But we were lucky (or god was smiling on us) enough to get this ride so no complaints really.

Sept 30th Trek to Mordor

In Xichang on the way to Yading.*background China was celebrating their 60th Anniversary on being the People's Republic. So a lot of people got time off from work and school, including US foreigners (though ours was significantly cut down). Some students stayed home, my normal group of friends were going to the Mosu Village and Eric was flying by the seat of his pants. Here is my entry:
This was the start of our journey. Perhaps I should have known something like this was coming. The night before I had gone to dinner with some of the dorm mates and then a few of us went to the foreign bar "pan am" where we drank absinthe. So on my way home I was feeling pretty good. Eric called to confirm I wanted in on traveling to yading. This trip was supposed to be fairly cheap minus the 600 kuai plane ticket to xichang...ha.
I sort of wanted to stay in Chengdu for the holiday so I could just be lazy and study and practice guitar...but I was committed to this trip and so I went. We got there and found a hotel. (We= Eric, Thibaut and myself) We started out to find a place for dinner and then suddenly I got that funny feeling in my belly (you know the kind that's like...hey better find a toilet and fast). So the boys walked me back to the hotel and I told them to go out without me. I did my business, drank some sprite, took pepto (thanks Dad for making me bring that to China) and was in and out of sleep. The boys stopped in with some food (which I did not, could not eat *(SAM I AM)...I think I had a bite and wanted to vomit) and a few of our friends who were in Xichang as well (because they were on their way to the Mosou village to see the women who are known for "walking marriage"). I don't remember much as I felt like poo.
Eric got up early the next day and bought us tickets for yanyuan. He had wanted to buy tickets to muli but they were sold out. So around 6 or 7 we got up and headed to the bus station. I was feeling mostly better. Yanyuan I wasn't impressed by but we weren't there for all that long. We were just trying to find a way to get to Muli. There were no buses going there so we had to try and find a private ride and of course the people that are offering are trying to rip you off. Finally some guy says he can get us one for cheap. So we're hanging out in this bus lot for quite sometime. There were tiny tiny kittens hanging about, Thibaut fed one some crackers. We finally got a ride for a decent price and headed out.

August 31st 2009 Chengdu, China

The day after we got to Chengdu we started school. At first I wanted to punch myself in the face because the language class was super hard. It pretty much skipped a whole year ahead of what I had been taught. Luckily I wasn't the only one who felt like they were drowning. So we went down a book but are going through it like speed demons. I've traveled around the city to different places and ate lots of different kinds of food. (korean bbq, chinese style bbq, noodles, jiaozi, rice, american dishes, mexican food, meat on a stick, hotpot...and so on)
The area around campus is always full of life. On the west side of campus is the tibetan street. (where there are lots of tibetan food/shops etc) Out the east gate, which is right next to the dorms is a fruit vendor and noodle place among the other numerous things. We love love love love the noodle place. We (being me, Erica, Vivian, Mark) are regulars. Not only is the food consistently good but they hold one of the only chinese guys that any of us find attractive. The way in chinese to call a guy handsome is shuai (shhhhwhy) when using it to describe someone you would say shuai ge (ge sounds like the ge in gerber). So we call this place shaui ge noodes. (yes the L is left out on purpose)
Since being here, on top of school we've gone to several museaums and just ventured out on our own. It was way too too hot when we first got here to. I don't think I've ever sweat so much in my life. ew.
One of the first weekends we were here, our friends that live in a huge apartment threw a party. It was pretty fun...they made me make drinks (it was quickly spread that I bartended back home). At one point we had a cake fight.

August 25th 2009 Beijing China

The last night in America was also my first night ever experiencing Las Vegas (since I had been 21). It was definitely interesting and a good time. I got to hang out with my brother and some of my friends from Boise. I gambled a bit and drank a beer with my Dad. I didn't get into bed at our hotel till some time after 4 am. This plus the fact that my Dad didn't think we needed to be at the airport 2 hours before my flight made me miss my 7:01 am flight to San Francisco. Not to worry though right? I was booked for the next flight at 8:30 which would land in San Fran at 10:30 giving me a half hour to catch my international one. WRONG. This flight was delayed by an hour and a half which put me into San Fran at 11:30.
Needless to say I was a bit frazzled. I had to go back out through security and figure out how and when I was going to get to China and meet my group. The airline had automatically set me up on a flight the next day, which would have meant me staying in San Francisco airport for a night. I was not stoked on this one bit. The united guy however, decided to be amazing and found a round about way of getting me to my destination. I would fly out of San Fran in about an hour and a half and into Shanghai and then connect to Beijing. I was happy but still a little concerned as I wouldn't be getting to Beijing until midnight and have to find my own way to the hotel.
The flight was long and I watched God knows how many movies that I would never have watched in real life. Ha. I couldn't ever really sleep. So when I arrived in Shanghai I had no idea what to do for a while. I finally found an attendant pointed at the gate on my ticket and uttered "zai nar" (where at?). I had to go out through the whole customs thing and to another terminal which felt like an hour away walking distance. By the time I was at my gate I hadn't slept in I don't have any idea how many hours and was really starting to wonder why the hell I decided this trip was a good idea in the first place.
Excerpt from a email I sent to my friend Trista "So now I'm in the shanghai airport...super tired and in lots of pain(as I'm sure you understand) and actually feeling a bit...like...WTF am I doing here? I'm sure it'll be okay...I'm just...this isn't how this trip was supposed to start. I feel...very alone...maybe I don't know. I think I'm just really tired..."

Well I made it into Beijing and found my way out of the airport and into a taxi. I pointed to the address of the hotel and said "Wo yao chu" (I want to go to). Ahh home stretch or so I thought. The taxi driver got lost so it took longer to get to my hotel. On the way there I noted that even though there were lanes it didn't seem that anyone really abided by them. When I got to the hotel the front desk people didn't get that I was with a group and looked for my name alone. It was taking forever and I was at the point of just getting a room by myself when one of them finally found a list with my name on it. Yah!!! I got into my room which was inhabited by a roommate. I felt bad about waking her up but she knew I was coming. I pretty much passed out the moment I hit the bed.
August 26th. The group heads to Tian'anmen Sq and the Forbidden City. It was surreal to finally be in China. I was really tired too so I don't think I could really take it all in. In the forbidden city is where I met my now good friend Vivian. She got separated from Erica (another of my now good friends) and so we "pal"ed around for the rest of that day. This day we also went to the Temple of Heaven and to the Pearl Market where everyone wanted you to buy there items and you had to bargain with them. (not my favorite thing). By the end of this day the girls I now hang out with here in Chengdu and I were pretty much a group.
August 27th. We went to the Great Wall. Rad. We saw an old lady peeing in one of the towers. We also went to the Ming Tomb and that night an Acrobatic show (which is probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen).
August 28th We went to the Summer Palace where the Marble Boat is also located. This was my favorite place we visited in Beijing. It was absolutely beautiful. We went to the silk market that evening. (another bartering place). We also got to go see where the olympics were held.
The time in Beijing blends in together quite a bit so I'm not certain exactly on what days I did somethings. I know one night a group of us took the subway system and ate at a pretty good dinner place downtown. Twice Erica, Amritha, Vivian and I ate at this cute little restaurant down from our hotel. The waitresses loved us and we exchanged how to say different words in our languages. We also had the best broccoli garlic dish ever! One night a huge group of us went to a Night Club down town. We also had a free day but I can't remember exactly what we did with that. I do remember we went back to the Pearl market to get some items we wanted/needed. On Sunday August 30th we flew out of Beijing. Some of us went to Shanghai and the rest to Chengdu.

I'm in the vegas airport. I missed my flight this morning. The flight I'm on standby for is a hour and 1/2 delayed which means I'll be missing my flight to China by a 1/2 hour. I'm somewhat stressed about this. I've already been in contact with my program so they know I'm going to be late...but...this is not the way I wanted to start this trip. Well...at least it's an adventure. Hopefully I can get some sleep at least in San Fran.

I got my Chinese Visa today. Wow...it is official. 6 weeks and 5 days and I will no longer be on US soil.