The Day Before Departure

So in less than 24 hours I will be departing to my European adventure. Some people roll their eyes when they hear how excited I am. "Oh here goes Barbie going to Europe again..." But ya know, if all your family pretty much lived there, you would go a lot too. And now that my dad lives over seas (sad face), I will have the opportunity to go even more.

However, every time I go there is a brand thing to experience. I make new memories and all that mumbo jumbo. Plus, I miss my dad dearly and the best part of this whole vacation is going to be seeing him.

But oh my word packing really does suck. Especially since I am going for an extended period. I need daily things! Yes, I can buy stuff, but I don't have a bunch of money to spend on nonsense. I have been running around all day like a mad woman running errands, doing laundry, packing, and sneaking around birthday plans for Nick. Because while I may be going on an epic trip tomorrow, it is ALSO Nick's birthday. And since Nick is so dearly important to me, I am trying to make tonight a somewhat fun surprise, cause after all he is taking me to the airport on a day he should be getting pampered!

I am so very excited for tomorrow. I get to see my dad. Not only that I get to meet Steffi's entire family, which should be interesting. Good thing I am going with gifts! And I get to see my Uncle and cousins. A side of the family I NEVER see. And to top icing on all of it, Sarah will be strolling in on the 5th. Life couldn't get more beautiful.

I am not going to lie I am looking forward to a break from the bay. A break to relax, have fun, collect myself, think things over. And above all, I will get a chance to see who and what is really important to me. Like a famous song you may know by a little group named Chicago: "Everybody needs a little time away, I heard her say, from each other...."

The worst thing: 19 days away from my Bubs. Tragic.

Pluto and Proserpine

In Greek mythology there are many stories of how the world came to be. Little meticulous parts put together, most of it having to do with emotions. These human emotions entangled with godly deities are what set mythological gods aside from other gods from different religions.

The story of the four seasons is one that brings obsession and lust. In short, Pluto, the god of the underworld, abducts Proserpine, a daughter of a god that rules that natural world. Pluto is so entranced with her beauty that he takes her for himself. When Proserpine was taken her mother was so distraught that the grain harvest was affected from her sadness. Seeing that the natural world was being manipulated be the mother's sadness, big brother Zeus came to a conclusion: Proserpine would come home for 6 months of the year and then return for the other 6 months to the underworld.

When Proserpine comes home, her mother is so full of joy, that spring turns and then eventually summer. But when she leaves, the sadness quickly fills her and fall begins and then the cold and desolate winter.

Bernini sculpted the highest point of action of this story. The peak of the drama. It is the moment Pluto abducts Proserpine.

T-10 Days

On July 1 I will be venturing over to my people for 3 weeks. I can't actually tell you how ridiculously excited I am. I haven't been on a vacation this long and relaxing for a very long time. And with everything that has been going on in my life physically and emotionally, it will be nice to get away for three weeks.

I will start my adventure in San Francisco. From there I will take a non-stop flight to Frankfurt, Germany. Man that is going to be a very long flight! I am definitely going to need to take some entertainment with me. Once I arrive I will spend one night in Worms, Germany with my dad and his girlfriend's family. Then we will all pile in a car and drive down through Germany (we will also stay one night in a small-little-somewhat-touristy-town for a night), Austria, and into my people's land Hungary! And there we will go to my Uncle Tibby's summer house in the Hungarian countryside. Conveniently it is right by a river where I will work on my tan. And yes I do tan!

My dad was so very kind enough to let Sarah tag along with me, so I will have a friend with me! She is already in Europe, so she will meet up with us around July 6. It should be interesting though because my dad and I are the only two people who can somewhat speak all three languages: English, Hungarian, and German. Between his German girlfriend's non-english speaking family and my Hungarian non-english speaking family, there will be a lot of translating going on! Wish me good luck! Of course with a few beers or shots of homemade schnapps, I'll be speaking perfect German and Hungarian, and then of course probably really shitty English.... Thanks ESL!

What I really wanted to say was, I will be documenting most of my trip on my blog. Three weeks is a long time not to tell some of you what is going on with me! I don't even know what I am going to do without Nick or Billie! First week will be ok, second week difficult, and then by third week separation anxiety for sure!

But oh my lanta... look out Europe here I come!