nobody likes you when you're 23

i'm gonna take a little break from the 'holy crap this new place is so neat!' crap that my blog has become as of late because 1) let's be honest, it's getting repetitive and dull and 2) i have something else to say.

i feel SO OLD right now. capital letters old.

maddy and i are couchsurfing with this girl martina right now. she's 21 (born may 17, 1989, just a week and a half before you, kate). last night, i could feel the age difference. for the first time ever, really, i felt like an old person. she was talking a lot about how she liked to go out until 5 or 6 in the morning (which i never actually, nor did the idea ever actually appeal to me, but a few years ago the idea was at least a possibility for me). she mostly just hung out with her friends all the time. her walls are covered with pictures of her friends.

this isn't to say that mature people don't have pictures up on the wall (i'm putting college pictures on my walls as soon as i get an apt) or that old people don't go out...it's just...my priorities are different now, i spose. i don't feel like going out because it just means spending a lot of money on drinks, having a bunch of potentially awk conversations, going from place to place trying to find the ''best'' party, paying for a taxi ride home, blah blah blah.

i'd rather stay home on the internet, go to bed early, then wake up early tomorrow to walk around town. this either makes me an old grandma or a major nerd.

so martina said last night that tonight (friday night), she'd be going out with some friends and would we wanna join? oh, sure, why not. she seemed nice enough. we were sort of hesitant today because she likes to go out until the sunrise and we're happy with a 10 pm bed time, we're poor and have a lot more travel ahead of us and lots of drinks are sort of out of budget, and we really like getting sleep. but whatever, ok, we'll go.

but then this prague couple showed up. for some reason, martina decided she could host all four of us--me, maddy, and prague couple--in her tiny room. before prague couple even showed up, we were wary.

then they came. they were all over each other in the way that only young, incredibly horny couples can be. they immediately made themselves comfortable on martina's bed and alternated between making out, talking only to each other, and chatting with us. then mostly touching each other.

czech girl is going to india pretty soon with her family, so we talked about that for a while. we talked about how even though we only went to mumbai, india's an intense place you really have to prepare yourself for. it's hot, people beg you for money all the time, it's hard to figure out, scams are abound, not everyone's trustworthy, etc. nonetheless, she's trying to convince czech boy that they should visit india together next summer.

they've been together for a month and a half. he's 20, she's 19. she's preparing to take what are equivalent to the SATs. you know how they met? free hugs.

''what's free hugs?''
''ohhhh, you haven't heard of it?''

they googled it and showed us a video. it's just that thing where people hold up a sign that says ''free hugs'' and they hug strangers. i thought this was just a college thing cuz people at ucsb used to do this, and i saw youngish people in hanoi doing it, too.

''so you guys just hugged and then you started dating?''
czech boy: ''well, i was horny.''

later czech boy tried to convince us we need to go to places like slovakia to see ''real'' europe. to see little villages, not all this big, rich western stuff. like he didn't even hear us talk about how we've been in thailand for a year.

yeah we're not going out with them tonight. i'd much rather put on my pjs, drink a beer, and go to bed early.

bundling up

we're in vienna, austria now. it's freezing, as predicted. but it's absolutely gorgeous. i'm not sure why, but i didn't realize it'd be autumn here. stupid comment, i know. but i didn't think about how all the leaves would be changing and coloring the sidewalk, or how the bright sun and the crisp air would make that feeling that's just so uniquely fall. i haven't had autumn in a long time. 

yesterday i wore a scarf, huge jacket, and boots. last night i put on socks, pants, and a long-sleeved shirt to go to bed. 

i love the cold.

(p.s. i probably won't be this happy about the sub-zero temps in a couple weeks, so when i start to complain about it then, don't be a douche and remind me about how elated i was.)

going out west

it's our last night in egypt. we're back in cairo, planning to leave in half an hour to catch our 2:55 am flight. by tomorrow morning, we'll be in vienna, austria.

this is the first time i'll be in western society since i left america. it'll be the first time i can blend in with the locals in over a year. i won't be a spectacle. people won't just stare because i'm white.

hallelujah!

but it's gonna be effing FREEZING. you guys, the high is 46 degrees. farenheit. THAT'S SO COLD.