followkatie: October 2004

So it is Sunday, it's Hallowe'en, I am in New Orleans. The clocks went back last night, so I accidentally got up a little earlier than usual. I'm staying with Rich and Molly (more people I know through living in France, shame not friends with any French people any more though) and yesterday was carrying boxes into their house as they only moved into it yesterday. Making myself useful, considering I have not done anything resembling actual work since the end of September. This morning spent some quality time reading on the sofa with their dog lying on me. Thursday night....went to the House of Blues to see a band, drank some whiskey, hence previous post, which I used to quite like when I was about 15 but obviously overdid it back then as it does not seem to agree with me at all. Was given a cd by the Peruvian taxi driver on the way back to the hostel. He calls his cab firm Nazca Lines Inc, so I tried some very basic Spanish out on him and told him that I had been to Nazca, hoping for a discount. Nope. I got a cd and his phone number instead. Went out for dinner Friday night. Suspect hostel in New Orleans does not change the sheets on its beds. This is worse than the plastic covered mattresses, noisy creaky bunks and being locked out in Savannah hostel. Tomorrow is reserved for seeing alligators in the swamps, and then on Tuesday I shall be spending the whole day, and night, sitting on a train. Hopefully I can make a friend to make the time go quicker (I have read all my books) and also hopefully, they will not give me unwanted reading material that I feel I have to be polite about, like the last person to sit next to me on a train.

have discovered that whiskey is bad for me.

excuse spelling is ergonomic keyboard

So, discovered that I messed up with the trains, there are only 3 a week from Florida to Nawlins, so I am here a few days earlier than intended. Got on the train yesterday afternoon at 3.30, got off it this morning at 9.30, sat through Garfield the movie and The Terminal. Wouldn't bother with garfield and I saw the Terminalnot too long ago in Wellington. Played cards the rest of the night ewith a girl called Sarah from Montreal, slept, woke up practically in New Orleans and found a hostel for the next few days, got breakfast and at 1pm found myself in Larry Flynt's Hustlers club with Sarah being asked if we had an appointment. For a job!!!! Er, no. Have spent the afternoon with Molly and have walked all over downtown New Orleans, and think it may be time for bed. I'm saving it up for tomorrow night.

What was the last thing I wrote? Can't remember. I left Savannah this morning and am now in St Augustine, Florida. Taken a look around town, discovered I am trapped because I have been really bad at organising myself and will be getting up at 4am to check if the full train on Thursday has had any cancellations. Did ghost tour thing last night in Savannah, got told lots of cool stories, went for a beer and walked around town at night with an originally Austrian American lady, who was by turns, hilarious and highly embarrassing. Got rained on yesterday afternoon, always good when you are locked out of the hostel in the daytime.

Found in toyshop in Savannah. "Action" figures of Sigmund Freud, Moses, Cleopatra and a male nurse. Also Dashboard Jesus. And Nerd Glasses with special nerd quiz on the back. Q13. Do you keep a blog? Q14. Do you expect strangers to read your blog? These were not the only questions I answered yes to, but as the majority of questions referred to American high school nerdy activities I can quite safely conclude that I am in fact cool, and not a nerd. Went in the peanut shop and conducted a thorough sampling of produce, butter toffee peanuts being the outright winner, and left without purchasing. The things you find yourself doing when the hostel practices locking you all out for the whole day. Going back now to check in and find someone to have Saturday night drinks with. x
ps have painful mozzie bite on neck.

Jealous

So I just found someone's blog with 66 !!!! Yes 66 comments on one post. And the boy has only written 4 instalments. Come on.
(It's www.tedgoestofrance.blogspot .com, and yes actually, I think he is funnier than me, in an American "aren't "Europeans" weird" amazed kind of way).

In hindsight, weird guy was probably taking a lot of drugs as he didn't even object to being kicked out. I have had a day of delightfulness, doing nothing much. After much searching, I managed to track down the post office and sent some writings out across the world. However, if I do not know your address, you know that I haven't sent them to you. (Caroline, this is an only slightly veiled reference to you ignoring my request for your residential address. Yes, I know you're leaving it soon, but still. Maybe I'll just have to email you instead). Waved off Tae, Shae and Lucy this afternoon, I'll see two of them in Savannah tomorrow morning.....there I go. Being overly optimistic about the train schedule. Duh. Went to sleep on the sofa on the balcony upstairs, read a bit of book, and am now considering making some dinner. Hard life.

OK, still in Charleston, been to Fort Sumter today, Tae, my Japanese friend has been making me laugh with stories of the 'big people' who live in Mississippi and we have drifted all over the city today, through the French Quarter, avoiding the 'fixed income dwellings' as my taxi driver of yesterday instructed me to do. Whilst bemoaning the advent of political correctness....he will always call them the projects. Er, right. Weird guy got kicked out the hostel this morning, mainly for being rude I think, but maybe also for being blatantly foreign but clainming to come from Wisconsin, eating his dinner from the frying pan, asking people to move from their seat because he wants to sit there even though there is planty of other seating! Really. And I am being teased for being too neat.....Dad, I know you think this cannot be true, David I think this is the result of staying at yours for the last week or so. Think I am on the train to Savannah early Saturday morning, but as this will be the same train I came in on, I have come up with the cunning plan of getting out of bed, phoning Amtrak and seeing if the train is on time, although I'm fairly positive it won't be, and then maybe getting back in bed, depending on how late the train is running. That's my plan.

So I got on my train last night, 40 minutes later than scheduled which I guess is fair enough, it came a long way to only be half an hour late. Then I got seated next to Crazy Lady, who woke me up at 2.15am to proclaim loudly that the train was barely moving, several times, forcing me to notice that she was crazy and to insert the emergency earplugs. Yes, at one point we were down to about 5mph meaning I got into Charleston at 10.30 rather than the expected time of 7.30am. Fine by me, mornings are better the later they start! There is no way that huffing, puffing and fidgeting make the train go faster. Travelling all on my own again, so I have made a friend, a Japanese girl studying English in Mississippi, and we went for lunch, walks around Charleston, along the waterfront, to the aquarium, and then bought food from the supermarket for dinner. OK, bedtime. And I can't make gmail work. x

awol

OK, I am still alive, I do still like my blog and intend to write some stuff on it. I have been having the lost week in terms of blog posts but I'm about to try and rectify the silence. So, flew into DC last time I wrote a post, had a few hours sleep and then waited for David to get out of classes to start the driving down to Nashville. 13 driving hours later, with the purchase of cowboy boots a serious consideration, arrived in Nashville and went out for some drinks, kareoke (witnessing of, not actually doing), and general country music overload which was cool. Saturday morning, headed about 2 1/2 hrs south to Lawrenceburg to be a very random guest at the wedding of my friend Rich, my downstairs neighbour in France and attempted not to surprise him at an inopportune moment during the wedding. Succeeded, just. The giggles were only in evidence for a few seconds before proceedings started. Did get to talk to Rich & Molly for a little while late on in the reception and then found myself in what was possibly Lawrenceburg's only bar......did you know it's virtually impossible to buy your own drinks in that part of the world? ....and had a really good night. So nice when there's bands on instead of the usual. Makes
me feel like I actually am in a different part of the world. Went to the wedding brunch on the Sunday morning, some of the most beautiful houses around there, and then got back in the car and drove back up to nr Kingsport in Tennessee and spent the evening sitting outside round a fire on the side of a mountain.Been in DC since we got back last Monday night. Have taken a couple of wanders down the National Mall, to the new American Indian Museum, Art Gallery etc. and to the Kennedy Center for the free concerts. Yesterday took a five hour mammoth walk around Georgetown, have also been asked for directions practically everywhere I go, offered a very blank look as a response to all these questions, been out for a great Chinese (in Chinatown), people-watched in a cigar bar called Shellys Backroom, watched a couple of films, read a couple of books and am getting on a train to Charleston tonight so better sign off and look for somewhere to stay tomorrow night! Have a trip to bits of Georgia, Florida and New Orleans planned for the next couple of weeks. Am watching new reality show ab out losing weight. No surgery involved.....radio station in NZ was giving away cosmetic surgery in competitions, liposculpture, tooth veneers etc. None of that in this programme. I just heard someone say "Gawd I'm about to show America my man-boobs". Oooh and Sally, don't know how my big fat obnoxious fiance turned out as its already finished over here, but they're about to start "my big fat obnoxious boss"!!!!!

Fiji was fantastic, although a little hot for my fragile skin. I have what could be generously described as a tan. Or just lots of freckles if I am having a more cynical day. Landed in Nadi on the Wednesdaynight, spent one night at a very nice hostel there, got munched on by the local mozzie population and then headed out to the islands the next morning. Spent 2 nights in one place, went swimming in a cave (!) tried unsuccessfully to hide from the sun, then moved on for another 2 nights one the next island and one night on my last island. The Awesome adventures thing is funky because you see various combinations of the same people all the way round. Was befriended by the loveliestcouple from Bournemouth and some boys from down South somewhere. Got lots of snorkelling in, burnt the backs of my legs in the process but well worth it, lots of cool fish, but slightly disappointed with the state of the reef. Wish people would look after these things!! Woke up one morning with a giant millipede in my bed. Just spent a day and a half in Los Angeles, in a pretty skanky hostel at Venice Beach. I really haven't seen anything of LA, I walked for about 6 hours along Venice, Santa Monica and then got stuck into a bitof shopping and had a bright orange manicure. New favourite colour! Made some friends on my wanderings, complete random people in the street and on the bus (one of whom was very impressed with the qualityof my rucksack, um, ehh?), educated them on the location of the Isle of Man and generally had a fun day all by myself. I am now in Washington DC, on the wrong side of very little sleep, had three hours stolen from me by the time zone thing and then sat in Charlotte airport for a couple of hours. Taking myself to bed round about now. p.s Girls, I wrote the email first....then couldn't face thinking again, so I have borrowed some of it for the blog. Lazy I know but today I have an excuse. xx

Happy Birthday to Esther for last week, sorry I was completely incommunicado

Fiji was great but will have to save writing about it for another time. Am in LA, about to head back to the airport after a whole 39 hours in LA. I have had great day wandering all by myself, up Venice Beach, along Santa Monica beach, the pier, the boulevard, and have made many new friends on my travels. Been told I look like a hippie twice. This is not the look I was going for, so I have just been to get a manicure, (my first ever one) but I had to go for bright orange so continuing the hippie trend.

followkatie

Sunday, October 31, 2004

Saturday, October 30, 2004

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Saturday, October 23, 2004

Jealous

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

awol

Friday, October 08, 2004

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Happy Birthday to Esther for last week, sorry I was completely incommunicado

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