Baptism by Fire

Good Lord! What a day. This is definitely a lot to take in for having had NO sleep in 2 days. I didn't sleep on the flight over and the valuable sleep time the night before I left was occupied by dreams of missing my flight, not being packed and people trying to make me pack things that I couldn't fit in my bag!

I have been walking around like a zombie today. The train situation turned out to be nightmarish because my card wouldn't swipe at the quick ticket kiosks. And it is soooo hectic and fast-paced. I was really regretting ordering that cafe americana after the first train. Trying to lug all of my bags around with a cup of coffee in the middle of that chaos was almost too much to handle. Thank God for Vipassana!! "This moment has arisen only to pass" :-)

I have been leaning on my experience for those 10 days in order to keep my sanity. On my last train transition I actually had to run up a large flight of stairs with my 45 pound bag (that doesn't include my carry-ons), jump a couple tracks, then run down the stairs just in time to get on while the doors were closing on me! Whew! That was close.

What I really want to do is go up to my room and go to sleep, but it's only 5:30pm here and I'm trying to stay awake until bed time. I walked around town and stopped at a cafe for food and a glass of wine, but those events are already a blur. I just got back from the cafe about 20 minutes ago :-p

I don't know if it's the sleep deprivation, but the people are not very friendly here. It's weird to be nice to someone only to have them look at you like you're nuts! Granted, I am a little nuts. And I'm rambling like no other right now. I must go. I don't think I can fight the sleep anymore. My thoughts are scattered, my eyes are burning and even the symbols on the keyboard are in different places here! Too hard!!

With all of the bitching of my tiredness, I just got an invite to London tonight, so we'll see if I can make the trip.

Til next time...

Departure is Near!

This is officially my first blog. I am not "Tiffany abroad" just yet, although I am and always will be Tiffany, a broad (shout out to Larry!) I am actually sitting in a small coffee shop in Austin, having a glass of Shiraz and winding down from dinner and great conversation with one of my favorite people, Mr. Tony Kelly, whom I will miss dearly.

I leave on Friday and felt this was a good time to get my blog up and running. My nervousness is overshadowed by shear excitement and my urge to get the hell out of here! No offense to anyone, of course. I'm just ready to get the ball rolling and start this adventure I've been anticipating for months. I just made my 5th (and hopefully last) run to Goodwill today to donate more of my stuff. I feel so light and free. Woo hoo!

I want to thank everyone for all of their help and support which has made it possible to get me to where I'm going. I have received wonderful gifts, encouraging words of wisdom, car loans, rides from here to there, shoulders to cry on, couches to sleep on and a comfortable place to rest my head at night. I have amazing friends and I am so grateful to have all of you in my life. I will miss everyone sooooo much!

I know there is nothing interesting about my boozing it up in an Austin coffee shop, but I gotta start somewhere! Stay tuned for the good stuff...