October 11, 2010

11:10am on US Airways via Los Angeles, CA to Philadelphia, PA at 7:22pm

October 13, 2010

4:20pm on Delta via New York City, NY (JFK) to Amsterdam, Netherlands 6:00am

October 14, 2010

10:25am on KLM via Amsterdam, Netherlands to Nairobi, Kenya 7:25pm

Can anyone provide me with a handful of sleeping pills that don’t stack on themselves within a 24 hour period? A lot of traveling is in order, and I don’t recall having traveled this much since flying to Australia when I was fourteen! The portable crystal ball I bought specifically for traveling tells me that I will finish at least two books during all this traveling. Intuition tells me that only one book will be checked off because of the introduction of Peace Corps Volunteers, potentially new friends, into the mix.

Lately, there’s been an excessive amount of emotions flying around the valleys of my mind. Excessive meaning that it’s unusual for me as those who know me well will confirm. Sunday evening, a bizarre itch arose and I found myself driving towards Sherman Way & Sepulveda almost automatically, much like birds on their migrations from one home to the other. Down memory lane I drove, passing the old Pic ‘n Sav and Lucky’s, now Biglots! and Jons, and the storage units that used to be a barren patch. At the old patch, I remember being filled to the brim with excitement as I ran through the rows of pumpkins in October and evergreens nearing Christmas. I parked on a small street wedged in between white 3-story apartment buildings, one of which I spent 18 years of my life in. 7440 Sepulveda Blvd #107. I peered into my old room, searching for anything familiar. Nothing. The carpet no longer exists, there is a ceiling fan in each room, and new moulding has been installed. Passing the old burial ground for my lovebirds, I felt as if I could hear the vibrant chirps once more. The Queen palms that line the street towered over me, reaching the third floor of the apartment structure. In their first days rooting in, they had been no taller than my 11 year old self. Various memories waft by as I stand on the street corner – gunshots, car repairs, hide-and-seek, running with my pet bird following me, and dozens of others. The single memory that survives into the present day is a warped carving  on the palm: ‘Josh’. How quickly time eludes us. 18 years of my life, I called this place ‘home’. In a split second, ‘home’ became the CSUN dorms followed by 3 other apartments.

27 days remain until I depart. I imagine much more emotions will come unbidden. Hell, I’m dealing with emotions and memories about places. Soon, places will become people and intenser emotions will burst in, unbidden. On the bright side, I’m meeting some of the people that I’ll be training with via Facebook. What an age we live in!