Ghost Hunting Part II

Let me answer the burning question first: no, we didn't find any ghosts.

We went to a supposedly haunted civil war cemetery in Seattle. Things started out very promising, we saw dozens of crows perched on tombstones, all very Hitchcock (to coin a phrase from the terrible, terrible new show 'vampire diaries' on the CW), and we also found a grave with 6 dead babies. But it really wasn't that creepy. And there was no evidence of goulies or ghosties, which was a disappointment. Though honestly, I knew there wouldn't be, and I don't even believe in ghosts. It would have been nice to find a Scooby-Doo type villain though, some guy in a sheet or something.

But I had sushi and coffee, so I suppose it wasn't a wasted night. And there's still the haunted pub crawl too look forward to in October. My ghost hunting days aren't over yet.

Ghost Hunting

You've all seen those ghost hunting shows with the crazy paranormal obsessed nerds, or the plumbers? That's gonna be me on the 31st/1st. Yes, I am going ghost hunting. Though I'm not sure how it's going to work, exactly.

My friend Nicole and I are planning to take EMF meters in hand and explore some Seattle cemeteries and maybe an abandoned hospital. The part I'm not sure about it the legal-ness part. How late are cemeteries open? Am I allowed to wander into abandoned buildings?

I hope I don't get arrested. I'm thinking I'll see if Nicole wants to do some cemetery sight-seeing and then go to Kell's, the haunted Irish pub for food. And ghost hunting. Because I imagine that ghost hunting goes well with beer. How convenient that there is a haunted pub in Seattle.

Koznek Family Fun Day!

We were supposed to go camping this week but for reasons I am still not clear on but suspect involve my Dad's work we instead opted to stay home and have Koznek Family Fun Week. Though actually it was just 3 days. This is what we did:

Tuesday: Went to the Woodland Park Zoo and saw lions and tigers and bears. And penguins. The zoo has a whole new penguin exhibit/habitat, which is very nice. It would be even better if we'd seen it without the hordes of wailing children. Mom had to rest half way through and missed the bears, on account of her broken foot. Then we ate sushi.

Wednesday: Went crabbing and an ill-tempered crab pinched my index finger and broke right through the nail. I had no idea they could pinch so hard. It still hurts. Came home and boiled the little suckers to death. Satisfying, though I hate eating crab.

Thursday: Went canoeing at the UW and then had dinner at Redhook. The waitress brought my 20 year old sister a beer on accident. We did not correct her mistake and had a very fun dinner.

And that was the end of family fun week.

Travel Adventure Cinema Show! Part 1

Its been (about) a month and a half since I got back to the States and I've been thinking about my trip. It was the coolest thing I've ever done and I still can't really believe I had the balls to travel around Spain for 2 weeks on my own. Not to mention going to Italy in the first place, not knowing anyone else in the program or, say, the language of my host country.

So to balance the coolness of my adventure I have decided to make a lame picture slide show. This part is Rome, where my journey began.

So imagine that you're in a high school auditorium in the mid-west somewhere and I have just dimmed the lights and am beginning my monotone lecture:

Rome

The 2 months I was in Rome were the coldest summer weather Rome has had in a decade but I ate cold gelato almost everyday anyway. I do not regret it in any way, even though I gained what feels like 20 pounds.


My favorite monument was probably Castel St. Angelo. You may remember it from Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, which I read in Italy actually. I thought it was entirely ridiculous, especially the bit with the helicopter.


I did not like the Spanish Steps. A man was very rude to me on the Spanish steps when I declined his invitation to a pub crawl. And anyway there was never anything to do there except sit on the steps and watch people. Which is fine until people try to force you to go on pub crawls.


I loved all the old stuff in Rome. Like this place, Just random ruins of a healing temple on the side of the road.

Ok, that was Rome. Full of old stuff and gelato. I would definitely go back and eat more gelato. Time to turn the lights back on and get to class.

Home

I'm baaaaack. Been back for a month, actually. Getting home took forever though. I almost cried on the second leg of my trip back because the plane was so cramped and I couldn't sleep and I had a headache. I was very disagreeable.

But I'm home now and over my jetlag and I'm even back at work. I work at a Senior Activity Center, mostly answering the phone and chatting with people over 50. Today was kind of slow, so I decided to make a list of things that are Better in Europe than in the US. And after it was done I started feeling patriotic and had to make a list of things that are better in the US than in Europe.

Things That are Better in Europe:

1. Peanut butter. Because in Europe, instead of peanut butter they have Nutella, which is peanut butter with a secret ingredient. The secret ingredient is awesomeness.

2. McDonald's. They are cleaner and friendlier in Europe. I ate at McDonald's more in Europe in 3 months than I have in the US in the last decade and I only felt a fraction of the guilt I do in the US.

3. The Metro. I loved the subways in Europe. They were easy to use and went everywhere. If I was homeless I would live in the subway and ride it everyday because it gives me joy. Slightly smelly joy.

4. Statues. I know we have the Statue of Liberty, but even that came from France. They have so many statues in Europe I suspect that the actual ratio of statues to people is 2:1.


Things That are Better in the USA:

1. Music. In Europe they seem to mostly recycle old US songs. There was much Katy Perry and Beyonce, which I don't mind, only I had been hearing these songs for months beforehand in the US. They get old.

2. Animal control. I lost count of the number of stray dogs and cats I saw in Europe. There were lots. Sometimes the dogs traveled in wild packs that I saw running down the streets at night. There was a cat sanctuary in Rome with about 20 stray cats who lived in some ruins in the middle of the city. I know packs of wild dogs and mysterious cat sanctuaries sound cool, but I always felt bad for the strays. And lots of homeless people used them as props. I remember one blind old man I saw on my way to school everyday who always sat on the corner with a cute blind dog.

3. Ketchup. The ketchup in Europe is brown and yucky. yuck.

4. Buses. They don't go many places in the US, but at least no one gropes you. Not so in Europe. Damn those Roman Buses.

5. Lines. I don't know why, but it seemed like no one in Spain or Italy knew how to stand in a line. Germany was a little better about it. Everyone just crowded to the front in a big group and it didn't matter how long you had been standing there, people kept trying to push in front of you. Literally pushing, like, actually touching you with the intent to propel you forward. Not cool.


But its not a contest. Both places are cool. And now it looks like I have some actual work to do, so, /end blog.

Things I Lost on my Trip

I got lost a lot while I was traveling, even though I made sure to always have a map. I lost other things too. Here is a list of things I lost on my trip:

1. My retainer--Lost in Florence. Probably under my bed in the hostel we stayed at. It was a nice hostel so at least my retainer has a good home now. I got a replacement the first week I was back home, which cost $155. And it turns out my two front teeth had moved, so the new retainer hurt for a month while it moved my giant teeth back.

2. Two right-eye contact lenses--I always lose the right one. Never the left.

3. The heel of my left shoe--I walked until these shoes rotted from my feet. They died a good death though, and are buried in Italy, also known as shoe Heaven.

4. Weight--Yeah right. I wish.

Airport Hell

So I guess its been awhile since I updated this blog. My apologies, but I've been trapped in Airport Hell.

Airport Hell cannot be found in any one airport. It is, rather, a dimension beyond all airports, which can be entered from any airport in the world. I have been unlucky enough to fall through portals to Airport Hell twice during my trip.

My first journey into Airport Hell took place in Madrid, when I was informed that my flight to London Gatwick was delayed 5 hours. I had already been at the airport for 10 hours when I got the news, since I had decided not to spend money on a hostel seeing as I had such an early flight out. Turned out not to be so early. Anyway, once I finally arrived in London I discovered, to my dismay, that I had missed my flight to Munich and that Easyjet, the airline I was traveling with, didn't have anymore flights to Munich until 6pm the following day. In that moment I knew I had fallen into Airport Hell.

It is very difficult to escape Airport Hell once you enter it. Some people remain trapped there for years. You can often see them, sleeping on airport benches, using their luggage as a pillow and newspaper as a blanket. They live off Toblerone and McDonald's and get about 4 hours of sleep a night, all of it usually occurring between 10 and 2 in the afternoon. Sometimes they snore. There are many circles of Airport Hell. The first circle is canceled flights, the second is delayed, the third is late, the fourth is missed connections, the fifth is lost luggage, the sixth is security check, the seventh is the check-in desk, the eighth is the food court and the ninth is the cellphone parking lot.

It is a terrible place. Luckily, I was able to find my way out by purchasing a 100 dollar ticket with a different airline. I was fortunate, I could have been trapped there for years.

My next foray into the abyss was in Athens. My Mom, who I met in Munich, and I were on our way to Santorini from Munich. We approached the ticket counter, only to be told our flight was--delayed. We took solace in the fact that since we were in the Munich airport, there was a beer garden. It was not the worst 6 hours I've ever spent. When we finally got to Athens we were informed that we had--have you guessed it? Missed our flight. And so we entered Airport Hell.

We spent the night there, in Airport Hell, not the Airport. We wandered through a labyrinth created by Airport Hell to separate us from our luggage. After successfully navigating that obstacle, we encountered a dead end when trying to get our boarding passes. We had to turn around after that, and that was when we encountered the Sphinx who asked us an ancient riddle. We proved ourselves worthy by answering rightly, and as a reward they put us up in a hotel for the night. But since Airport Hell does not need to be in an airport to exist, we had not yet escaped it's foul clutches. After 3 hours of sleep in the airport hotel we finally found our way out and escaped to sunny Santorini, where we enjoyed a much needed rest.

And that is why I haven't updated in a while.