Three Thoughts

I

Moving 650 mph, hurtling through the air, I remembered the quote by Maya Lin, "to fly we have to have resistance." We need adversity to move beyond it I guess.

II

A woman on the plane told me that we must have been meant to meet, I've been thinking about that. 

III

I was walking down a street lined with roller coasters and carnival rides. There was so much music in the air mixing with the German phrases that the carnival workers were shouting. I felt in a way beautifully lost, I had no idea what was going on around me but I really didn't care.

This Thing About Leaving

Right now with the knowledge that in 24 hours I'm going to be in Germany, I feel neither excited nor nervous. I don't feel anything actually. My friend Emma said this is a good thing. I have no real expectations for my expierences while in Europe, although I am sad that visiting Morocco may not happen with the declining political conditions and safety in North Africa. I know I'm going to miss friends and family, but now it seems to be the calm before the airport in Newark. 

Simmering I

I speak of new cities and new people,
I tell you the past is a bucket of ashes.
I tell you yesterday is a wind gone down,
     a sun dropped in the west.
I tell you there is nothing in the world
    only an ocean of to-morrows,
    a sky of to-morrows.
I am a brother of the cornhuskers who say
    at sundown:
            To-morrow is a day.

Carl Sandburg, Prairie

This is a record of my travels abroad and perhaps beyond the next four months. It is a record of the people and places that I encounter; of the food and experiences unknown to me. I am, for truly the first time, leaving Pennsylvania and venturing far from the places that I considered home and from the people that I care for most. By any means it is not for such a great length of time, but I hope from this experience I meet some great people, learn a few things, and eat some great food (and not getting fat).

For the time being, I am in a way simmering at home, gathering (online shopping) all of the things I need and attempting to choose what I need to pack and what I can leave behind. I own so much crap.