A few days in and it's going Fine

Sitting in a folding chair in the sunshine, a gentle breeze is blowing, but not to coldly and for the first time since I arrived I am perfectly comfortable in only three layers! (Normally it's five.) Thus far everything has gone alright. I wouldn't go so far as to use the famously Irish word: grand, or even brilliant, but maybe later.

     I reached Dublin without a problem after sleeping like a baby the entire flight over. A very nice Australian man kindly woke me when we were about to land. I stumbled off the plan and found my way through immigration, without a problem thank goodness, and to baggage claim. Easily collected my suitcase that's practically bigger then me, and wrestled it outside into my first breath of Irish air, which I may tell you, was cold. Logically it's no colder then back home, but there was a chill in the air that made it seem so. In any case I spent a few confusing minutes and tried to get directions for the bus, which I got... but couldn't understand. Finally I was pointed in the right direction, and told to hurry, for the bus was leaving soon. I started along and quickly realized that "just across that way" was quite far indeed, or at least seemed so dragging along my 50 pound suitcase. 

     Well I reached the proper place it started to rain, a light drizzle, which didn't affect me, but seemed to add to the gloom on the situation, which was now that I didn't know which bus to take. After a few embarrassing conversations I had both figured out the proper bus and learned I didn't know how to properly pronounce anything Irish. So that's me folks, fantastic when it comes to Sanskrit, and a fool when it comes to pronouncing words of my own ancestry.  In any case I got on the bus alright, the driver was a kind and lovely man and helped me with my bag, and thus began the final leg of the journey. I was told by the woman sitting across from me that "there isn't much to see on the motor way" and so I'll take her word for it. We passed through a number of tiny adorable towns, with their little stone shops and houses. All well equipped with chimneys. And right between the towns were many fields with corn (or maize as its called here) or potatoes, or  wheat or hay. And some more fields with horses and cattle. Haven't seen any of those Irish sheep yet. Ah well, I'm sure I will soon. At last I reached my stop and it started to drizzle once again. And after borrowing a phone because, of course, mine wasn't working I was picked up and taken to my new home.  More later! 

Travel Log Part 2

12:21 am/5:21am: the second one is Irish time which I am already calculating. Guess what? I haven slept yet. I'm exhausted, but my seat partner was playing music and kept falling into my seat, and I just could sleep. Right now the flight attendant is serving breakfast, which for me is a bagel, margarine, and orange juice. Now for some fun facts: 

Altitude: 36000 feet

Ground Speed: 657 mph

Outside airTemp: -61.6 F 

Distance traveled: 3112 miles

Distance to London: 475 miles 

12:50am/5:50: passing over the white cliffs of Dover, and only 20 miles away from Dublin. Will be in London in half an hour! 

7:08 am: now officially and only on UK time. Arrived at the airport, got off the plane, found my way downstairs and onto a bus to terminal one, where I will go through customs and get my final flight to Dublin. There are two Irish guys standing next to me on the bus talking about what they ate for breakfast. I can't believe I get to listen to beautiful accents like theirs for three months!! Ha. 

7:36am: oh gods, help me now. I've been stopped at immigration because they aren't sure if WWOOF is a legit organization or not. My travel documents have been taken into a room with the boarder patrol man and while he confirms/denies them I wait on a bench. Lonely and scared. 

7:50am: they let me through immigration!! The guy clearly didn't want to, but they didn't have a legal way to detain me. I guess, getting through Dublin will be another hurtle, buy hopefully a little easier. At least I've gotten this far. Now going through "biometric security" not really sure what that is, but it involves a photograph. In the line for security... It's like three miles long, ok not literally. But it's really, really, REALLY long. Thankfully my flight doesn't leave for a couple hours. Also, I'm hungry... 

9:07am: the morning from hell. First immigration, then the security line, then they tried to confiscate my knitting because the needles are "dangerous" even though the last two airports didn't even blink an eye. The guy kept asking "what do you use them for?" And I said "knitting" and he's like "what, like jumpers and stuff?" "Yes..." Oh no, actually I use them to murder people on planes. Of course I use them for knitting!! Then another ridiculously long line to get my aer lingus boarding pass, then a mad search to find a hair clip, or anything because my long loose hair is driving me insane, did I mention I lost my only hair tie. So now I'm in yet another "que" to present my boarding pass so I can go to the Irish/UK boarding area. That's besides getting on the plane. 

9:58am: honestly, if one more thing goes wrong I'm just going to lay down and die. I bought a delicious cup of hot soup and a slice of bread, but I wasn't allowed to take the soup on the plane and I didn't have any time to eat it before. I tried to gulp it down, and burned my tongue. And everyone in the terminal was so rude. My muscles in my back and shoulders are simply groaning in pain from carrying around the monster pack all day. I got on the plane and the pilot asked me if I was ok, or a little tired and then showed me to my seat which is the first good one all trip. So I'm hungry, exhausted, sore, and lonely, and sorta wondering what I'm doing with my life.  

Travel Log part 1

7:30 am: just leaving for the airport now, only 15 minutes late. Completely my own fault. I had to say goodbye to my geese, and then insisted at stopping at the temple. For some reason I thought I would just go, say hi and bye to the gods like I always do, but I ended up crying profusely, and completely loosing it. I went to each god, and bowed down, and asked them to bless me in their specific ways, and even though I really haven't gone to temple I felt such a connection, I just know I'll be perfectly safe all the time. 

9:32: in the security line. My back is already aching from my 24.2 pound backpack (and that's exact, I weighed it) my bag is checked I got two of my boarding passes and I have yet to get the third one from Dublin to Toronto. 

9:38: got through security fine, and they didn't confiscate my wonderfully sharp metal knitting needles! Now starting the long journey to my gate. I still don't leave for over an hour. 

10:04: OMG! Didn't realize how late is was. I almost missed my flight and heard the last boarding call and ran. The plane is miniscule. Actually, it's smaller then that. It's about the same size as a school bus. About to take off!! Adieou 

10:46am: still got some time left on the plane. My ears are done for. Flying over a Great Lake right now, no idea which one. Flights been pretty decent thus far, I'm siting between (squished, let me add) a business man that loves cirque, he's going to Toronto for work, and a man from Hong Kong, China who is visiting friends in the US for a couple weeks. We've had a very lovely conversation, I showed them my cirque book and so that was fun. 

11:30 am: we're going to be landing within 15 minutes. Getting lower and lower, but still don't see the airport. This baby plane is rocking like a boat on stormy seas and my stomach is not appreciating it. It probably doesn't help that I'm in the very last seat of the plane either. I got bored of talking after a while and wrestled out a book from my backpack, Game Of Thrones, which I hate to admit, but is fabulous. Shout out to Shantini and Nikita for the reccomedation.  Oh wow... That was unexpected... We just touched down. Yippee! Toronto! Already in a foreign country. Alright, toodles for now... The next few hours are going to get interested, I'll explain later. 

5:08 pm: and interesting they were. I met up with a friend who lives here in Toronto. When I was in India we called each other mama duck and baby duck, or duckling. I being the younger. For a while it seemed she was like my mom, although being only nine years my senior. Anyway she picked me up and showed me around Toronto, and we went out to lunch and it was great fun. 

6:13pm: in line to board the plane. After frantically trying to find the terminal, I had plenty of time and even got to charge my iPod a bit, and connect socially with the world. 

6:47 pm: I found my seat on the plane, I'm sitting next to a lovely older couple who are seasoned travelers. The husband is from Vienna and the wife from England, although she speaks with an American accent. We've talked lots about travel, and are now settling down to the flight. I have a cute little TV and am planning to watch Rise of the Guardians while knitting a scarf. More later

9:01 pm: watched the movie, got my dinner. A half decent vegan meal, except for the vast amount of fennel. Really, who eats that much fennel? So I spent half an hour picking out all the pieces and enjoyed the rest. There was also a vegan cookie which was a delightful treat. Since the movie is over it is now nap time, I have tucked my legs up under me, and wrapped myself in blankets. My headphones are in, and I'm ready for a bit of well earned rest. 

11:39 pm: well sleep never happened. I tried, and just couldn't, which is odd for me, because usually I sleep like a baby on planes. So I worked on editing a video for a while which was both frustrating and comforting at the same time. Saying that... I should really get some sleep tomorrow's going to be crazy.  

Standing Still

It seems time itself is standing still, and yet at the same time ticking more rapidly then I can imagine. To quote the well known show Doctor Who:

"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but *actually* from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff."

Honestly thats what it feels like. My time with Cirque ends in just two days, I can forget my crazy list, the cues, the wet costumes, the constant smells of sweat and vodka (and the amazing people, awesome music, and constant energy.) In just four days I leave for Ireland, to what I don't exactly know. A farm, horses, dogs and dirt and poop to be sure of. New adventures to be had and new friends to make. My suitcase is nearly packed, nearly everything is in place, most goodbyes have been made. Theres definitely a part of me thats excited, another part thats scared, but currently I feel neutral about the whole affair. It's odd,  I feel like I should barely be able to contain my excitement, I've wanted to go half my life, and now it's happening, and i'm just.... OK. Perhaps it's sadness about the end of cirque that is evening out the excitement. I don't know I feel like my mood is due for a swing pretty soon. In the meantime check back in, remember to comment, and keep your eyes out... I may have a surprise quite soon! 

Four Years

     It's been four years, I forgot to write on this dear little blog's anniversary this year. What a shame, for those of you who don't remember, I Started this blog September the first, 2010. A few weeks after beginning my freshman year of high school. It's been a crazy four years, I've never doubted "interesting" things would happen in my life, but what has happened this last few years is... beyond comprehension.
     I don't want to reminisce whats happened, I've written about it, so go back and read if you wish. I suppose this last week while I'm on the verge of what I hope to be the great adventure of my lifetime (thus far, hopefully many to come) I want to reflect on how amazing it has been. I suppose the last few years are just an example of how one can do anything that they put their mind to. Going from nervous about doing high school theater to Cirque Du Soleil, struggling in math to graduating a year early, dreams of being a movie director to meeting Dakota Fanning. The best part is, I could go on listing more accomplishments, but thats getting to close to bragging. I suppose I'll just keep this short and simple, mostly because it's nearly two am, I'm exhausted, and there are two shows tomorrow, in addition to packing for Ireland in the morning,  or whatever else I'm going to do. So good night my dear readers. Let's start another fabulous year! 

Wardrobe Dept.

"What's QC mean?" Asks Caoling leaning over to look at my schedule
"Quick Change, obviously" replies Margarita laughing at him
"Ohhhh" Caoling says smiling sheepishly.

This is one short conversation of many that I listen to in my new job... what? Yes, I loved ushering, but I love this even more. On Tuesday I was called into the office and asked if I wanted to switch to the wardrobe department, which was of course, YES! (which I said so loud that everyone in the office started laughing) So on Friday I began.  The job can easily be described in two words, amazing, and insane. I have multiple quick changes, getting artists out of one spandex unitard and into another, and also pre setting things, brushing wig hair, and most of all lots and lots of laundry. While that can't be considered exactly fun it is made up for by the fact I know work backstage... well in the artistic tent, and as I am doing my work I get to chat with the artists. Some are more friendly than others, some are just focused on they're work while others come over to chat.

I was surprised by how curious many of the artists are, I suppose it makes sense if they only get to talk to one another, someone else is nice, but then at the same time they are all these fabulously talented, post-olympic athletes and artists performing for thousands of people every night. Why should they care? But they do, they'll ask how I am, what I like to do in my free time, joke with me or tease gently. A couple have been trying to get me to speak in russian or french, something a fail miserably at. The majority of the artists are Russian, then these a little touch of Japanese, Chinese, French, Canadian, German, and a few Americans. But russian seems to be the major language backstage.

I have two more weeks with cirque, I've been doing costumes for three days and it already feels as if a century has passed,  so I can't even imagine what will happen when the time is up. In my spare time though I am preparing for my trip to Ireland which is in exactly 16 days! More to come, keep reading, and always please try and comment (I think I fixed the settings)