Backpackers and World Changers

Last blog of Europe.

We took a train back to Antwerp where we met up with Stijn. We spent the weekend with him, riding bikes around the city and relaxing at his place. We have a favorite Indian restaurant in that town and I think we ate there 5 times. It is really delicious and really cheap. One night we were riding to the beach and stopped at this little pub that had a type of organ that plays by itself but it also included a drum set, a saxophone, bells, a tambourine, wooden blocks, and an accordion. It was a really tiny pub and the thing was so loud but it was great to sit in there for a few tunes.

After Antwerp we headed to Brugge, the city of lace and bridges. We spent a couple days there with two different people. The first night, Justin and I took a moonlit walk through the city, over canal bridges and through an enclosed garden. It was beautiful and romantic. The second day we took a bicycle ride with Bernard to the medieval village of Damme. As we got there we realized there was a festival going on and the townspeople were dressed up in medieval clothing and were following a band around the market. The mayor was there too. It was a celebration of the village. There were about 30 tables set up with all different kinds of products from the village and the surrounding areas. They had beer and wine. They had sweets and baked goods and honey. But oh, did they have cheese. We tasted so many pieces of cheese. They had some with sun-dried tomatoes and basil. They had some with paprika. My favorite was clover and honey. It was so delicious. We toured around the village and headed back. The ride was along canals and through the country side. At one point, we rode down this tiniest trail through fields. It was a really nice ride.

The next stop was Gent. We spent the day walking around, seeing a castle, and checking out exotic shops. Our last shop before meeting our host was a bakery. Justin wanted a piece of apple tart. I saw a loaf of chocolate chip bread. It was homemade and cost 1.70. She sliced it for me right there and we went to wait for our hosts. We stayed with Jasper and his girlfriend that night. Jasper taught us a couple of new strategy games that we fell in love with. We had an amazing time with them.

On to Leuven with Stijn and Marijke. They cooked us an incredible dinner of stuffed peppers. Wow. It was so delicious. We didn't do much in that town because it rained a whole lot but at this point it was mostly about hanging out with people and relaxing. That we did.

Lastly, we headed back to Brussels before the big, fast trip back. We arrived in Brussels and met Asia. When we got back to her and Tadeusz's place she was already cooking us food. We ate some great pasta and salad. After we ate she offered us tea and coffee, chocolate covered biscuits, malted milk balls, fresh fruit, and bombay mix. We snacked the night away. After Tadeusz came home from work he showed us all kinds of good music. He almost had more music on his computer than Travis Harvey. But not quite. He had loads of world music so Justin and I picked out some stuff we were interested in and he burnt us a cd. We've listened to it since and it's really good. The next morning, Asia made us crepes with fruit and spreads for breakfast. Justin and I went out thrift shopping and headed back to the house. When we got there we smelled some amazing food. Asia was cooking us MORE food. We ate more and more and more and had to leave to catch a train. They fed us really well.

We took a train to the airport. Our flight was delayed half an hour. We had scheduled the last train of the night across Ireland and we were on a very tight schedule to get there. The flight delay was definitely going to hurt our plans. We left Brussels at 7:35. We arrived in Dublin at 8:05. We ran out to try to catch a bus to the city center but they all said they wouldn't make it in time. Our only option was to take a taxi. We asked the driver if he could get us to the city center by 9pm. He said he'd try but also said, "If you get there, you get there. If you don't, you don't." Yikes. Once we got in the car he said he could take us through the tunnel, which would cut a lot of time off the drive, but would cost an extra six euros. We only had 45 and we wanted to save 10 for the bus the next day. When we pulled up to the train station, it was 8:57 and our total was 33 euro. I gave him 35 and apologized for the lack of tip and we got out, grabbed our bags and ran for the ticket station. It said there weren't any tickets reserved by my credit card so Justin reached for the wallet with my debit card in it. He didn't have the wallet. I didn't have the wallet. Quite possibly, the cab driver now has our wallet. He had left. We had to get on the train. We ran to the ticket office and they arranged our tickets. We got on the train and it pulled off. I was upset because we lost our wallet but really, it wasn't anything we couldn't fix. Plus, we still had two credit cards and our passports. Not so bad. We got to Limerick, Ireland around 11:30 and walked to our hosts' house. We arrived just after midnight, emailed the bank to let them know we lost our debit card and laid down for the night. We woke up at 5:30am, got ready and walked back to the bus station. Off we went at 6:30 for Shannon, Ireland. We got to the airport, checked in, and went to grab some breakfast. We got a couple croissants (one chocolate), tea, and some juice. Justin had a good plan to swipe other peoples' leftovers as he was putting our plates up on the cart. Doing this, he acquired a couple more pastries and we enjoyed them. We finished going through security and found out our flight was delayed an hour and a half. Luckily, this time it didn't matter. We flew over the great Atlantic and landed in New York City at 11am. We had 12 hours to kill until our wonderful greyhound took us to Indiana. We walked around for a while, ate at Punjabi, shopped some expensive thrift stores, and headed to the station.

Seventeen and a half hours later we arrived in Indiana. We slept a lot and read some. The ride had a couple of interesting points but nothing worth telling. Now we're at my mom's house, living comfortably. Soon we'll visit other family members and then on to friends. We'll be staying with Castle and Lisa soon, then hopefully Drew's. We'll be around. We want to see you.

We have many more adventures ahead. Love.

by Justin and Lindsay

We stayed with Sven for three nights in Brussels. In Brussels, there are lots of gypsies with babies asking for money. Some of them are really aggressive and you have to get quite aggressive back. We rested for most of it. We spent a lot of time online and made our final travel plan for the rest of the journey. We changed our plane tickets and got new ones to get back to Ireland. Justin got sick on the second morning (Lindsay got sick 3 days later) and went to bed early that night to rest. We also walked around in Brussels a bunch and saw some nice things. We got to see a really cool pub that was in this old monastery basement. When you went in, it was like you were going underground. The whole thing was brick and the ceiling was rounded like tunnels. It was really medieval. We got to try more good beers and then went to bed.

On September 12th, we were headed towards the Netherlands. At first, we were going to hitchhike to Tilburg to see a monastery but after we stood around for half the day, we realized it wasn't going to work. We got back to the train station and bought a 10 ride pass for Belgium which would take care of the rest of our train rides in that country. We got a train to Antwerp. We tried to walk through the city and hitchhike out of there, but we got lost. In a moment of desperation, we found an internet cafe and made new plans. We would skip Tilburg and stay in Antwerp that night. We made it happen last minute. We headed out towards our new host and on the way we found a really great Indian dive. It was cheap and charming. We look forward to going back to that place!

We stayed with Luca that night. He was actually an Italian guy living in Belgium. He was a little quirky. He had a scarf on with his pajamas and he kept adjusting it throughout the evening. It was funny. We stayed in his room that night, which was actually a living room. In the morning, he wanted us to have breakfast with him. His family, in Italy, usually has milk in a bowl, which they consume using a spoon. In an effort to be healthier, we had tea in bowls. He also gave us small cakes, cookies, and toast with jam and chocolate. The Italian breakfast is evidently a lot like dessert. It was a pleasant emergency plan.

The next morning we went to Rotterdam. We stayed with a VERY nice couple, Anne-Marie and Pieter. They were in their 40's, both self employed and living in a really beautiful house. They made us some really good dinners and our breakfasts always flowed lazily into lunch. Anne-Marie showed us around town in her car until it broke down. We had a little adventure getting the car home and then to the car rental place to get a temporary replacement. We had a great time with them. They were very friendly and inspiring. It was like a hazy dream where we kept eating and having good conversation.

After Rotterdam, we went to Den Haag. We stayed with this guy, Alex. From the first moment we arrived, it was slightly awkward. He was definitely a computer guy and kind of socially awkward. We didn't hang around the house much. We saw a carnival. We walked through and it was really nice. Everyone was really happy and kids were eating huge cotton candy's (which they call candy spiders)everywhere. There was a ride where you sat in a metal cage attached to bungee cords and they shot it off the ground. The contraption was approximately 30 stories tall. It was really unbelievable. After the carnival we went to a vegetarian restaurant. We got a "menu" which was a three course meal consisting of a lentil soup, a salad, a folded savory pancake filled with cheese and veggies, and finally a piece of almond carrot with lemon icing. It was nice.

The next day we went to Amsterdam. When we arrived, we walked to our hosts house, which was on the other side of town from the station. We made it there ok. Our host, Essa, was confused about the date, so we ended up eating dinner with her Amnesty International meeting. We went out to a pub later with her partner Jasper. Essa and Jasper's house was really unique. It was originally two separate apartments and an attic. The old owner put a tiny spiral staircase up to the attic and made it a loft. Then he started dating the woman downstairs so they combined their apartments and put another tiny spiral staircase downstairs. Then he built a roof terrace on top of the building which you can access from the loft. It is the only one of it's kind, but there seems to be a lot of housing like that in Amsterdam. The next day we got to go to a dinner party for Essa's student art club. You only had to pay 3 euros and you got a main course and dessert made by one of the members of the club. The food was really good and the dessert was chocolate fondue. We all sat together at a really long table and we were able to chat with several people there. It was a really fun, unique experience. We spent three days total in Amsterdam and came out unscathed. No drugs or prostitutes, only a lot of good memories of food and friends.

After Amsterdam was our last stop in Holland: Leiden. We arrived in the afternoon and walked for an hour or so until we reached our hosts apartment. We said we would arrive around 2, which we did, but no one was home. We rang the buzzer for a while, then walked around and came back. We rang the buzzer some more and then sat around for a few hours waiting and playing games with each other. Around 5:00, we borrowed a cell phone and called Alex, our host. He was worried that Maia wasn't there to meet us since he had been trying to call her all day with no answer. So he rushed home from work. When he arrived, he was a little frantic. We all rushed up to the apartment to see if there was a clue to her whereabouts. We looked all over and everything seemed suspicious. Then Alex went on the back patio and Maia's head popped out of a cabinet and greeted us. It turns out she got locked out on the balcony that morning with nothing but a robe on and no phone or food. It was a chilly day, so she got in this huge cabinet and fell asleep. She missed her class, missed us, and missed the indoors! It was pretty hilarious. In the end everything was okay and we had pizza and salad for dinner. We listened to old records and talked by candlelight most of the evening. It was really relaxing.

Next we're back to Belgium. We're flying into New York City September 28th and then we'll be making our way back to Indiana. See you soon!

Justin has temporarily taken over the blog.

Belgium has really lifted our spirits. We were in France for three days. It was quite a shock to not be able to speak to anyone and not be able to read any menus. From the first moment in Paris, I was uncomfortable. Too many people in too small of an area. Everyone crowding the small sidewalks and too many tourists. Even the apartments are small and cramped. We took it well though and learned some French and ate some good food and even managed to go to an Indian restraunt and order a whole meal and pay without really talking to the waiter. When we arrived in Roeselare, it was like all our anxiety was lifted from our stomaches. We could approach people on the streets and ask them questions and we could decipher the Dutch signs. It was clean and no one was around and it just had a nicer air to it.

We arrived at the couchsurfing meeting a few hours late after getting lost and then finding some other lost people looking for the meeting. When we got there it was dark and we didn't know anyone, but after a few minutes we were welcomed by many people and we met the hosts and had some food and some really really tasty Belgian beer. There was a campfire and about 32 people gathered around it. We heard a lot of stories and told some too. We were the only Americans so people were eager to hear about us and out trip. There were only 4 people there that were not living in Belgium. The next morning, we had a nice breakfast of homebaked bread, chocolate spread, jam and tea and coffee. Then everyone got on bikes and we did an 18km bike tour of the city where we got to see a castle and get further acquainted with one or two party goers that were riding next to us. We stopped periodically to take some group photos. When we got back, everyone was hungry, so they made fries. We ate fries to our hearts and stomaches content. There were a lot of sauces because in Belgium sometimes they like mayonaise or curry ketchup or maybe both mixed. Everyone got stuffed on fries and the party got very quiet. Everyone was sitting at a long table under an awning and reclining in lawn chairs. We waited a while in a tired french fry haze until they announced it was time for the Belgian beer tasting. I think everyone would have prefered a nap, but we accepted the beer. They handed out some papers that told about the beers we could choose from. One was local to the town, some were brewed by monks, others just good. We first had the local beer which was lighter than the other, slightly sour and slightly sweet with a fruity taste. It was pretty good but I wouldn't want more than one. Then I chose something a little heavier. A Trappist ale; dark and strong at 9 percent alcohol. It was really good and made me glad to be in Belgium where they don't make a bad beer and everyone takes pride in that. After the tasting, dinner was getting ready. It was a barbeque, so they got all kind of ribs and salads and they made veggie kebabs specially for the few vegetarians. It was a great feast and everyone got even more full and drank some more beer and everyone was having a really good time. We talked long into the night and ended with a fire and then everyone made their way to their tents to recharge and regain their appetites for Sunday's brunch. We woke up around 9 and brunch was in the works already. We had crossiants and other french pastries, some with chocolate, some with raisins. There was a sweet fruit salad and different kinds of cheese. Then there was cheesy scrambled eggs and tea and coffee. We ate for a long time and then cleaned up. People left as the day went on. It dwindled down to about 9 people. We all went to a local beer brewery and got to go on a free tour. We toured the whole thing for about an hour. It was a pretty cool thing too see, some parts very modern, some parts hundreds of years old. At the end they gave you a free beer and we enjoyed it and went back for the final cleanup and goodbye. We got a ride to Brussels with one of the party goers and then went to the town square and met up with Maya, a girl we met from Israel. We were also with Erik from Sweden. The first thing we did was head to a waffle shop and order some fresh made Belgian waffles. Mine was plain but Lindsay had Belgian cookie ice cream and Belgian chocolate on top of hers. Then, we saw some sites together for a few hours, then met up with Sven, our host. We all had dinner at a local restaurant and went our seperate ways. Now, we have a lot of connections for the next two weeks of Belgium. We are going to explore every nook and cranny of this small country and stay with lots of people we already met and some new ones, too. We love Belgium. The apartments are roomy, the streets are clean, the food and drink are great.

We took a huge ferry to France. France is nice and dirty. The people are really nice but you can't talk to them very well unless you know french, which we don't. We stayed in Le Havre for two days, went to Etreate? to see the cliffs and the beach and it was absolutely amazing. We then went to Paris for one day and night and it was fast and too busy. We may or may not go back. Now we're in Belgium and it is so amazing. We're at a couchsurfing meeting with over 30 people. We are all camping together, eating nice food, taking bicycling trips, having belgium beers, etc. It is really fun. We might shorten our trip because we are really homesick but this weekend is also really great so we might not. We'll see. I have a hard time wanting to spend time typing on the computer when there are so many nice things to do and see. Sorry my blogs might be short and lame from now on.

LOVE. Seriously.

There's a lot to write for this one and I'm pressed for time. So I might have to finish it up later. But I'm going to make a list of happenings for the last week.

Derby:

: stayed with Ellyn and John. They were amazing. I hope to see them in Bloomington
: hung out several times in Normanton, a predominently Indian neighborhood. I bought a couple of Indian suits there. They're beautiful. I can't wait to wear them.
: went to several English pubs. They were all really really old and historical. They're all padded up with nice seats and old beautiful tables and such.
: we played a show at a club in the center of Derby. It was really good. We also played a show at Ellyn's house. We sold some cds.
: we went to a south asian festival, complete with lots of food, dancing, music, and shops.
: we went to an amazing cathedral in Derby. It was really beautiful, the first one we'd been inside of.

We went to Nottingham for a day also. We went to a castle there that was a museum about Robin Hood. We also went to a pub there for lunch that was built into caves that went far underground. You had to go four flights down to get to the women's toilet. They had a vast city centre.

Bristol:

: we visited the Bristol Cathedral 3 times. First we toured it, then we went back for a choral service. The next day we went back for a piano and flute recital. It was really really amazing. I can't imagine seeing a church more beautiful then this one. It was, from the ceiling to the floor, the more ornate and breathtaking building I could ever imagine.
: we went to the Jazz Festival to try to find someone to stay the night with. We met John, whom I had messaged already on myspace and he convinced his roommates to let us stay 2 nights with them. They were all really accomodating and really nice guys.
: at the festival, Justin and I were sitting along one street, just relaxing. Several guys went into the alley across from us to relieve themselves. It seemed to be the normal thing to do. We were quite shocked though when a woman in her 40s went into the alley, pulled down her pants and started pooping right in the alley. She had a really tough time with it, it took her about 15 minutes. People kept going into the alley and when they saw her they either ran out, or started talking to her. Her face was red and she was really drunk. It was probably the most hilarious thing I've ever seen in my life. Justin and I were laughing so hard, and she was looking right at me, and she was laughing also.
: we climbed up this might hill and went into a tower that was over 300 feet high. It had a tiny winding staircase. It was built to commemorate John Cabot discovering North America. When you got to the top, you had a 360 degree view of the entire city, all the way out to the city limits where it all turned into rolling hills and countryside. It was really beautiful. England is so beautiful from the sky.
: last night, while we were sleeping, Justin got up to go to the bathroom and I woke up a little. Laying there, I felt something wet on my back so I reached back to see what it was. I felt something huge crawling on me so I grabbed it and threw it and screamed a little. Justin ran down stairs and flipped on the light to find a 4 inch long fat slug just in front of me. UGH. It was the most disgusting thing that has ever happened to me personally. There were 2 other slugs in the room and Justin put them all outside. I slept on the sofa the rest of the night, and Justin continued to sleep on the floor. HOW DID A SLUG GET ON ME!?
: we're walking to Bath today along a Railway. It's a 16.6 mile trail that goes through some beautiful countryside. It was an actually railroad that is now paved over for cyclists and walkers. It should be amazing.

We're going to get going. We're in England until Tuesday. Then we're off to France. I'll keep you updated. We're really loving it here. But we also can't wait to get home. We have lots of plans.

love love love

Justin and I stood out by N7, Dublin Road, for several hours trying to hitch a ride to Dublin from Limerick. Many people smiled and waved or motioned that they weren't heading in the same direction, but no one stopped. We were feeling a bit discouraged, having heard that hitching was quite easy in Ireland. It started raining a couple of times and one of those times we headed into a small shopping center to check the time and try to stay dry. While inside, a table of two gents asked if we were the ones trying to thumb. They advised us that we should stand further down the road into the country. Through the conversation, they tried to give us lots of advice about how to get to England and such. Upon hearing that we had slept outside in Limerick, they were appalled. They told us about Glenstal Abbey, a monastery 15km outside of town, and said they would probably let us stay the night there and then we could catch a bus to England the next day. They offered to give us a ride.

There were three guys. Collin, Paul, and a third who's name I can't remember. Paul was drunk and drinking energy drinks. He was so high strung but utterly hilarious. They were all so loud and kept interrupting one another to tell us stories and give their opinion about things. They took us out to a university to tell us that we could probably stay there if the monastery didn't work out. While there, they couldn't find the exit and the driver ended up driving all over the sidewalks trying to find an exit. People were walking along and he was driving under building archway and such. It was so funny.

When we pulled into the drive of the monastery, we saw vast grounds with cattle, beautiful trees, flowers and plants. We drove up on a large castle built in 1139AD. It was stunning. The vespers had begun so we went on in to observe. There were probably 20-30 monks on the stage facing one another chanting. It was really beautiful. There were just a few people seated. Afterward, we spoke to one of the fathers and after explaining our situation we were told we could stay there. We said goodbye to our guides and headed to our room. It was really nice. We were told dinner was at 7:10 and vespers was again at 8:30. We went down to dinner, which was a silent meal. One of the monks read a chapter from the book, "The Seven Cups of Life," while everyone else was eating. There were several others staying there that were attending a retreat that cost 500 pounds per person. We felt very lucky to be there. Everyone was amazingly kind (as should be expected). We slept so well we missed our morning bus, but we were able to have tea and breakfast. We started walking after that and we stuck our thumbs out when a car came, but there weren't many. We were really in the country side. After about 6km a gent stopped and picked us up. We were thrilled. We didn't speak during the drive.

We headed to the bus station, but the bus was full so we ended up getting a train package. We took a train to Dublin, took a ferry to Holyhead, and took a train to Manchester Piccadilly. The ferry was quite extravagant. It had restaurants, shops, bars and casinos. Everyone sat at cush chairs with tables. We sat next to a table which housed a pregnant women drinking wine. On the train to Manchester we met a jazz guitarist, Louie Stewart. He's played all over the US, Europe and Japan. He was really incredible and we shared a lot of the same views on the American government. He was on his way to a jazz festival he was invited to play at. He kept us quite entertained. Unfortunately once we got to Manchester, it was midnight and nothing else was going out that night. We spent the night in the train station. Halfway through the night, a guy woke us up to ask us if we smoked weed. I displayed disinterest and he asked me if I liked "charlie" then. I replied that I had no idea what he was talking about. He meant cocaine. I made it clear that we were just trying to get some sleep and he buggered off. The rest of the night was uneventful but when I awoke, I found that someone had evidently sat next to Justin and some point while he was sleeping and left half a coffee beside him. Strange.

We caught the first train in the morning to Derby and met Ellyn at her place. It's really charming and she and John are quite the hosts.

The food in Ireland was no good. The food in England so far seems much better. The bread here is amazing. I'm falling in love with baguettes and shortbread biscuits. Produce is so cheap. We're making amazing sandwiches.

Irish people have so many kids. Everything is amazing. The countryside is so beautiful. I think we're going to see a castle this week and Justin and I are playing a show in Derby this week. We're doing an all vocal set. Should be really great.

love. love. keep me up to date on yourselves! I miss everyone I love.

Oh Ireland.

Justin and I arrived in Shannon, Ireland at 8:43am on Wednesday morning. We walked for miles to find anything of interest and even then, it was pretty uninteresting. It was the town's consensus that there was nothing to see there. After getting caught for quite some time in the rain (which soon became the norm) we caught a bus to Limerick.

Limerick is very historical and nice. We went to see King John's Castle and St. Mary's Cathedral. St. Mary's is the oldest building still used for it's intended purpose. We walked along a riverwalk near the ghetto for quite some time. There were lots of horses roaming around the edge of the city and some came galloping down the riverwalk while we were on it. We were out there looking for a place to sleep for the night, under a tree preferably since it was raining nearly constantly, but we didn't have any luck. There was a lot of strange garbage out there and tons of horse poo. So we headed back into town. Not far on our way, a car pulled up to ask what we were doing in that area. They said we were either lost or looking for and we had better get out of there as soon as possible. There were two young (9 or 10 year old) boys kicking a soccer ball around and when we got close, one of them kicked me in the legs with it and I nearly fell down. Another boy on a bicycle asked us if we were homeless and offered to sell us a tent.

We ended up sleeping behind St Mary's between the church wall and the outer gate wall in this little area with no door. We had to jump down off a ledge to get down there. It was a decent sleep although it rained in the middle of the night and in the morning. There was nothing above our heads so we got a little wet but we hope to find a roof before this night is up. We're about to grab some lunch and try to hitch to Dublin.

I'll update again in a few days. Send some love.

I entered Bringham and Women's Hospital on July 1st. I came out a changed person on August 8th.

I have debated long and hard about whether to write an actual account of what happened or to talk more about my feelings and experiences. I still haven't decided. So I'm going to write briefly about it and hope that I feel like discussing it at length later.

Positive:
I read some good books. I wrote some songs. I met some new friends. I discovered what love is and what it means to really care for someone. I learned how strong I really am....which is really really strong.
I got $9103.

Negative:
I was stuck with 19 IVs. The average subject gets 6.
I was allergic to the rectal thermometer. Rash. Itching. Burning. Yeah.
The facial electrodes left my face broken out and sore in several places.
There was someone in my room monitering me every second I was awake. I was also viewed on camera and had microphones and speakers in my room.
The food was worse then cafeteria food. Way worse.
I had a great project leader and a bunk project leader. The great project leader was on vacation for most of my study.
I had to give urine samples, saliva samples, blood samples and perform computer tests about every 15 minutes.
I had no control over when I got to eat or what I got to eat or how much.
I had no control over anything: when I could sleep, shower, stretch, etc.
I had several nightmares and woke up to an absolutely pitch black room.
I reached a point in the study where I was borderline suicidal. I was definitely more depressed then I could have ever imagined being.
I was away from Justin (my soulmate and lifemate) for 39 days.

Conclusion:
I'll never do another sleep study. I'm done now and I have the money so it seems worth it. When I was in the study, every second lasts a lifetime. You are sleep deprived to a point of non function. It's very frustrating. Just when your mind has reached a point of discovering or thinking of something amazing, you're interrupted in an unpleasant way. It's good money. But it's not good for you.

I'll stick to pleasantries.

On another note:
Just and I will be flying out to Ireland TOMORROW. We are obviously very excited. We will be back in the states November 14th. We'll then make our way to Indiana for Thanksgiving. We plan on attending as many holiday functions as possible.

LOVE

If you want to send me mail or emails while I'm locked in the room, here's the info!

Emails with the subject: For Lindsay Prim
send them to: kberkenbush@rics.bwh.harvard.edu

You can also send mail to:
Lindsay Prim
c/o Kate Berkenbush
Division of Sleep Medicine
221 Longwood Ave., Rm 446
Boston, MA 02115

Please send anything NO LATER then August 1st.

If you are so kind as to send me something, please make no reference to time or date. Please tell me what you've been doing and add stories or funny jokes. You can also send photos if you want to, or small articles from magazines or newspapers that might interest me, as long as they don't mention time or date.

I really hope to get something so I still feel connected to the world :)

love love love

Lindsay

We're in Boston. We've been here for a week tomorrow. We've been staying with a girl named Melody that we met on couchsurfing.com. It's a website where you can find people to stay with for free all over the country. We've spent a lot of time walking around the city and eating good food.

We had to visit and psychiatrist for the sleep study and it came out that Justin had taken a medication as a child that excludes him from the study. That changed a lot of our plans but we decided that I would go ahead and do it if I can and he's going to take a bus back and stay with him mom for a month. No big deal.

While staying with Melody, she had several other people come and stay with her as well. We were able to meet two guys from Australia, Dave and Alex. Justin and I got along really great with them and they'd like us to go visit them and stay on their couches. We also met a kid named Derrick from Virginia and Francesco from Italy. They've all left now and there is a lady from France named Cecil who is doing research all over the east coast for her PhD. It's been amazing getting to talk to so many different people.

Last night we went to a restaurant where we had a Cambodian soup and a Fruit and Vegetable Dish. The maincourse was tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, apples, mangoes and pineapple in a sweat and sour sauce over fried tofu with brown rice. It was amazing. We've also been enjoying lots of finnish and gourmet desserts.

We're in great health and great spirits. Life is amazing.

Love

The Prims

After Buffalo, New York, Justin and I headed to Connecticut. We got a ride from a guy in Buffalo to Syracuse and then took a bus to Hartford. We've been here a couple weeks, played a show, played D&D, eaten lots of food, and hung out with friends. Justin used to live here so we're staying with his old roommates. We went to a show in Cambridge and visited the water for a short time. We've been frequenting parks and Justin and I are housesitting for a couple with a couple of dogs over the weekend. We're waiting for our passports here and until they arrive we've been trying to figure out ways to make some money to make up for all the money we've spent so far. I started finding research studies online that you can sign up for. I went to one last week where I had to talk about what package designs I liked for Thomas' bagels and english muffins. I got $85 and it was really easy. I'm doing one next week which requires me to go in, take some questionnaires, get interviewed and get an MRI. I get paid $160.

The big one, though, is a Boston Sleep Study. Justin and I are both currently in the screening process for a 39 day sleep study. We went to Boston yesterday for our initial visit. We had to fill out psych forms, personality tests, food preferences, etc. We had to get physicals, blood drawn, urine tests and an EKG. We also received Actiwatches. These watches are little black boxes that you wear on your wrist. They keep track of how much you're moving your arm and how much light is around you. For the next 3 weeks we have to wear these and log our sleep schedule. We're required to be laying down trying to sleep from 12am to 10am every night. We have to go back in to meet with a psychiatrist, go in to meet the doctor for the study, and go in to be tested for sleep disorders. If we pass all the screening tests, we will then enter the study. We will go to the hospital in Boston, and be locked in a room for 39 days. We will have no windows, no clocks, no visitors. We aren't allowed to know what time or day it is. We will be told when to sleep and wake and shower and eat. We will be hooked up to an IV, EEG, and rectal thermometer. We will be frequently interrupted to take computer tests measuring our reflex and response. We will be kept awake for 40-70 hours several times.

Why in the world would we do this, you might ask? Because upon completion, we each receive $9,000.

So it begins.

Our trip will be slightly postponed until August, assuming we get accepted. But it should be well worth it. We're having a great time. The weather is beautiful. I'd like to hear from anyone that reads this journal!

Love, Lindsay

We hitched a ride with a girl named Whitney (from rideshare) from Chicago to Buffalo last night. It was between an 8 and 9 hour drive. She's a 19-year-old girl who graduated from high school at 16 and moved to Chicago to attend DuPaul University for costume design. Specifically, she makes accessories. She's traveled Europe so we had lots to talk about. We were able to find a guy in Buffalo who let us stay with him (from couchsurfer) for the weekend. We arrived around 10pm and he and his roomate rolled up on some bikes. We felt right at home. They live in a 3 story house which is 3 different apartments. I think between 5 and 7 guys live in the building and are all registered on couchsurfer, so they're all really open to houseguests. They've been extremely hospitable. Mike, who lives here, has a huge dog named Dutch. He's part American Bulldog and part something else. They have hand drums and internet and orange juice.

This morning we left the house in search of food and Niagra Falls. We walked to Elmwood, which has lots of shops and eateries. We quickly found an organic food co-op and checked it out. We ended up eating 6 different dishes off the hot bar. You paid by the pound. We also picked up some locally made banana nut bread. We continued to browse around, checking out several chocolate shops and bakeries. Somehow we managed not to buy anything. Later we went to a market/grocery and picked up some hummus and bread to take with us.

We caught a bus on Niagra Street to head out the Falls. There was a young german couple on the bus who had tons of luggage. Soon after we got on, an elderly lady hoped on and the german guy gave up his seat to her. The very next stop, another elderly lady, both about 80 got on and the guy across the aisle gave up his seat to her. The busdriver gave both women trouble about their seniors discounts. The second lady that got on started ranting about the driver and about 4 people joined in. They were all talking about how he was an awful man. Someone started cursing and the second lady started yelling that she wasn't going to listen to that language. Then the guy in front of her turned around and told her to shut up. The german girl and I exchanged hidden laughs. There were 5-6 people over 70 yelling at each other. Later on in the ride, a woman in her early 50s got on with a cart. A guy in his 50s gave up his seat to her. She sat down and said to the lady next to her, "That never happens to me. I must be looking really old today. I need to save up to buy some new face cream."

Eventually, we reached the falls and it was ridiculously amazing. We snuck into the observation tower because we didn't want to pay for it. We got to go down right beside the falls. We went to Goat Island also and got to see the horseshoe falls. All in all, completely beautiful. At one point we sat down to have some bread and hummus and afterward decided to have a bite of the banana bread. I opened it up and took a big bite. As I looked down, I realized there were not only ants all over the bread, but ants in my mouth. I spit it out and started brushing ants off the bread to salvage it. We were both laughing by this time. I got the ants off and we ate the bread.

We tried to figure out a way to sneak down onto the wooden deck where you're basically getting soaked by the water, but they were handing out special shoes and we couldn't get any. We did manage to get some ponchos out of the trash, though.

Later we missed our bus stop but got falafel and greek potatoes.

Wonderful day....as all days seem to be for us.

love
lndsy

Yesterday Jstn and I packed all our things into backpacks and caught a ride up to the Chicago region. We have left Bloomington for good. As soon as we started driving out of Btown I got really car sick and had to stop to throw up. I blew my nose after I threw up and half a strawberry came out. It was amazing. I felt pretty okay for the rest of the ride, probably because I slept most of the way. We're hanging out at his mom's house for a couple of days and then heading into the city to see his dad, Jim, Katie, and Tavion. We have some serious intentions to play Risk. We're going to see Sole on Saturday which should of course be amazing. We're hanging around the area until the 11th when we catch a ride with someone headed to Buffalo, New York. Then we're going to go check out Niagra Falls.

I have been yearning for this moment for months. The moment when you set out with no intentions of looking back. It's here. I'm living in it. Being a part of a completely mutually beneficial relationship has been the greatest. No one should ever be in a relationship where they have to compromise their dreams.

Every minute is full of love and joy.

It's Sunday afternoon.  Our friend Lisa came down for the weekend to visit.  We all went to the Renaissance Fair and spent the day watching belly dancers, fire juggling, wizards, knights and sires.  Jstn and I are leaving on Wednesday.  We're getting a ride with a friend of ours who lives near the region.  We have a ride lined up that will take us from Chicago to Buffalo New York next week.  Should all work out beautifully.  In the mean time, we've been dumpstering as much as possible, getting our weekly allotment at Mother Hubbard's Cupboard and hitting up the Community Kitchen for free meals.  Bloomington is really awesome about feeding the needy. 

I can't wait to get going.  Everyday just gets more and more exciting. 

So.

Jstn and I were getting ready for work the other day and it's been really cold out.  Jstn said to me, "Hey, how about if we just sell our bikes and walk in Europe."  I agreed.  At the end of the day we were serious about it and decided to sell all the stuff we had spent months acquiring and change our plan.  Our last day of work is April 24th.   After that, we're biking up to Muncie, Indiana to play a show there and see some friends.  Our friends Shawn and Lisa are bringing us back to Bloomington so we can start packing.  We plan to leave between May 4th and May 7th.  When we leave, we'll be catching a ride with whoever we can to several cities ending in New York.  We plan to play some musical shows in the cities we stop in.  Once we get to New York, we're going to hang around the docks and try to hitch a trans-atlantic ride to Europe.  If that doesn't seem to be working, we'll catch a last minute flight to Europe.  We will then spend the next several months trekking around, seeing the sights, experiencing the peoples and cultures, and having an amazing time no matter what.  Jstn and I are both committed to enjoying whatever comes our way.  We're pretty flexible about the trip so wherever the wind takes us is where we'll end up.  It should prove to be adventurous.

After we return, we plan to move to Tucson, Arizona with some friends until April of 2008 at which time we'd like to get internships at an organic farm in the Colorado area.  We're going to write a new album about elfs and nature and record it during that time.  Once we get out of the farm, we'd like to get a diesel van, convert it to veggie oil and tour as long as possible, picking up lots of people along the way and taking friends with us everywhere we go. 

Any of this could change slightly or completely depending on our hearts whims. 

We're going to try to keep this updated every couple of days so return often to see what we're up to and to tell us what you're up to.  Feel free to leave comments even if you're not a member of live journal, just make sure you leave your name so we know who you are! 

Love
Prm Family