a start....

Here's a start at least. Part of a day in Ghana. Apologies if it sounds like amateur porn.
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The wind was sharp and cool, and I was glad of the scarf that tied my hair back as we rushed along the gravel path. I tipped my head back to marvel at the brightness of the stars, drunk on the wind and my own fatigue from the past 24 hours, something that seems cliche only now as I write this, at the time it was breathtaking. I was seated behind 15 year old Ramon on his rickety but astonishingly fast moped and we were speeding through the woods at 70 kilometers an hour, the headlight from the bike the only light visible aside from the stars.

Ramon's left hand left the grip on the handlebar and snaked back to settle on my thigh. "I have a boyfriend." I announced. Silence. No movement. "We're getting married." Ramon wordlessly returned his hand to the handlebar.

I thought of the events of the previous day and the endlessly rotating cast of characters. 24 hours earlier I was on a bus heading from Bobo Diolasso in Burkina Faso to Hamale, just over the Ghanaian border. I had spent the previous 2 weeks almost entirely alone, in a fog of my own thoughts surrounded by swirling unfamiliar people and languages, so I was thrilled to see the two obviously American tourists boarding the bus in front of me. Somebody was trying to load a rusty stove onto the coach roof (yes, really) and it fell on the foot of one of the Americans. I made my move. "Get your Tetanus shot?" "Ha ha. You're American?!" They appeared as relieved as I to have company so we squeezed into a 3 seat row and set about speaking as much English as possible. They were fraternity brothers at Northwestern, on a 4 month graduation-gift trip around the world. They were smart, attractive, and friendly in an incredibly disconcerting way that seems to come too naturally to those born of wealth and status.

At the border we shuffled on and off the bus at various checkpoints on both sides, until the last stop, immigration. It turns out that one of the frat boys didn't have a visa for Ghana, and since, in Africa, All White People Are Relatives or at least traveling together, the immigration officials took all three of our passports and sat us down together. They told us the boss was home sleeping, so we would have to wait until he arrived. The boys tried unsuccessfully again to explain that I wasn't traveling with them. After 30 or 40 uncomfortable minutes, the boss came in, looking wild-eyed like someone had woken him to tell him about the discovery of a new species of humans. "Americans!!" he yelled to us. "I want to go to America!" After round after absurd round of pleasantries, he finally told us that we could get our passports back the next morning, but we'd all have to take the 5am bus to Wa, 4 hours away, so Mike, the visa-less fraternity brother could get a visa at the immigration office there. We would be accompanied by an armed border patrol officer to make sure we didn't try to escape. And we'd have to buy the officer's bus ticket and lunch. Deal.


(okay just posting this because it's taking too goddamn long! more soon...)

solo road trip 08

I'm such a bad blogger, which is odd considering my generally self-absorbed nature. Lots of excellent things going on, but today I am preparing for SOLO ROAD TRIP 2008. I'm pretty thrilled about 21 hours in the car with just little old me (though is it bad that I kind of wish Eloise was coming?).

It's going to be very excellent. I've loaded up the ipod, dug out my AAA card, and found the title to my car on the 30% chance it will break down on the way to Minnesota. I also bought postcard stamps so if anybody wants a postcard from whatever freakish or adorable town I land in to buy gas, let me know! I've been practicing my postcard haikus!

During the course of the 21 hours, in between swooning over Ira Glass and Ben Gibbard (shut up), I plan to do the following:

1. Calm the fuck down. About Ghana. About what happens when I get back. About how I wont feel like a real adult until I can learn to keep my f-ing room clean.

2. Get really excited again. About Ghana. About my trip to Minnesota. About what happens when I get back. I'm thrilled and stoked and kind of scared about things but it's all pretty exciting.

3. Not think about land reform in Kazakhstan.

4. Sing really loud and off-key to some god-awful Tom Petty song.

5. Hold conversations in my head with you.

Not as scary as a revolving door but...

There are a few things that I’m pretty afraid of. Marriage, revolving doors, and death by an intruder are up there at the top of the list, but a close runner up is the fear that I’ll become an insomniac.

I love sleeping of all kind (going to bed early, sleeping in, cat naps, power naps, napping at lunch time, napping at night before going out late, etc.) and I’m miserable when I don’t do enough of it. The idea that I might have the opportunity and desire to sleep but simply not be able to is for some reason horrifying. (watching the insomnia scenes in Fight Club is painful)

So the fact that for the past month or so I’ve had only 1-2 nights of good uninterrupted sleep is a little worrisome.

Here’s a list of absolutely true things that have kept me awake or woken me in the middle of the night, from the past 30 days. Let me know what you think. I've only got 22, probably because I left out the best ones ;)

1. Contacts were in plastic cups next to the bed and I was afraid I’d knock them over and be blinded and useless
2. Cell phone was dead and there were no other clocks, so I was afraid of oversleeping
3. Suddenly terrified of becoming a “bad person”
4. Good book
5. School
6. Work
7. Working while in school
8. Simply too drunk to sleep well
9. Number 8 again, a few times
10. Moving to NY
11. Leaving Denver (slight permutation on 10)
12. Sharing bed with snorer
13. Sharing bed with blanket hog
14. Sharing bed with unintentional spooner (Lindsay, I’m calling you out on this one)
15. No bed at all
16. Afraid of falling in love
17. Afraid of not falling in love
18. Too hot
19. Too cold
20. Thunderstorm
21. Cats using bed to stage ultimate feline fighting championship