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Archive for June, 2004

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Car Care

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2004

Have someone DRIVE Your car for you periodically if you leave for a long trip.

I have to have almost $400 of work on my car because the front brakes are entirely rusted and worn out as well as the rotors, probably from ice and rust while it sat there for 4 months.

This is the worst day ever.

Being Back

Monday, June 21st, 2004

Being back doesn’t feel that weird. I was able to fall right back into the routines and the left that I left. I’m even temping at a place I temped right before I left.

One thing that was weird was money. I had some change in my hand and the quarters felt SO small! It was weird! Quarters always seemed big before, but after being in these other countries, I guess their huge pieces of change made the US change feel small. That was odd. It felt so tiny!

Another thing. Of course when you get back, you love to talk about your trip to people, but you don’t want to bring it up and just start blabbering. And when someone is nice enough to ask you about your trip, they just say, “How was your trip?” or, “Tell me about Thailand.” And then it is hard because those questions are so broad that you don’t even know what to say. That’s one good thing about having traveled with Jim, because we’ll always have each other.

And that’s another thing. My mom kept saying she couldn’t believe Jim and I didn’t kill each other after being together basically 24 hours a day for 4 months. I think it is great too that we did awesome. Of course there were times we argued but that is totally normal. If anything, the trip proves we work good together!

This trip didn’t change my life or anything like that. It didn’t “open my eyes to new cultures” like you might think. I’ve traveled before so that happened to me years ago. I think it’s a one-time thing. All it is is a great memory, good stories, and knowledge about things, people, food, and places that I didn’t have before. Life is about growing your body of knowledge isn’t it? And I don’t mean like book-knowledge, but any kind. For example, now I know that clams will dig themselves back into the sand if you pull them out. And, most importantly, never use Chinese ginger for Thai cooking. You use Thai ginger.

Grandparents

Thursday, June 17th, 2004
My mom took me to see my grandma when I was home in Michigan. She is about 86 but her mind is still sharp and she is funny! She had some small weight velcroed around her ankle and my mom ... [Continue reading this entry]

Back in the U.S.A.

Thursday, June 17th, 2004
I got to Detroit and met my excited mom who was waiting for me. We drove the 2 hours to home, and it didn't feel that weird to be there. It was nice and relaxing, though. My parents loved ... [Continue reading this entry]

Clearest water ever!

Wednesday, June 16th, 2004
On the 1 hour slow ferry over, I slept the whole time. When we arrived, it was beautiful, like Rarotonga with the lush mountains. Again we wandered around looking for an info desk, and still, NOTHING. There were places ... [Continue reading this entry]

Ou est les information: Tahiti without a Plan

Monday, June 14th, 2004
(Yeah, I know I didn't spell that right or with the correct accents or whatever....) Like I said, we got to Tahiti at around 2:30 AM. It is weird to me that one dot in the Pacific Ocean sounds like Kiwis (New ... [Continue reading this entry]

Back to Raro

Wednesday, June 9th, 2004
The next day was our flight back to Rarotonga. We saw Theresa there again and her brother-in-law from Aitutaki was there too, a nice guy. Then a weird thing happened. A flight landed there and all the tourists got off. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Aitutaki Day 3

Tuesday, June 8th, 2004
Today we got picked up from our hotel to go on the Kia Orana cruise. The captain was named "Captain Fantastic" and he was great. Our boat was small and only had 7 people. Most of the ... [Continue reading this entry]

Aitutaki Day 2

Tuesday, June 8th, 2004
The next day we went to this bar/restaurant on the beach called Samade. It was a very cool place with perfect island decor and everything is all on the beach in the sand. It was on the stunning ... [Continue reading this entry]

Cook Islands-Final Tally

Tuesday, June 8th, 2004
BEST thing: The lagoon in Aitutaki and the lagoon cruise we took. The water was crystal clear and warm. WORST thing: Piles of trash burning all the time. You can see the columns of smoke. Waste removal ... [Continue reading this entry]