Bling, Bling

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” ~ Andre Gide

How appropriate that Andre Gide is a French writer and I will be spending the next two months in a French-speaking country. Well, Andre...right about now I'm only dipping my toe in the water and it's giving me the shakes. I've been talking big game about this trip and I've been excited for a while but now on the eve of my departure I am getting freaked out about being gone for so long.

I almost feel like two days in NYC started to get me back into my groove here. I guess I never fully lost it. I stayed with Shirley's family one night and I'll see them again in Ghana at the tail end of my Mali trip. I had dinner with Michelle and watched my old vball team play tonight and returned to my hostel to find the entire room asleep. So I tripped about in the dark (who leaves suitcases in the walkway?) until I found my headlamp for Costa Rica. Am I a boyscout or what?

Unfortunately we are required to stay in the hostel tonight before orientation. One with bunk beds and random folks and bathrooms down the hall. Either I'm spoiled or I'm too old for this kind of stuff but I was simply not impressed. Especially since I have no less than 10 comfortable, clean, places I could have spent the night. Alas...I was being a team player and the other member of my team coming from North America is staying here tonight...not that we saw each other...but that's another story.

So I was at dinner with Michelle, at a table across from Matt Dillon's entourage, when I started explaining to her that I had not brought any metal jewelry with me so as not to attract attention. Everything was costume jewelry I said, wood or plastic and totally dispensable. She looked down at my watch and said what about this? I looked and it seemed to be especially sparkly and bright in that moment, bling-like even. I had totally forgotten about my watch. But it's my watch I said. Hand it over, said she. Well I need to tell time I said. You have your cell phone for that, said she. (I just bought a phone unlocked for int'l use today. Thanks Frank!) I gave her every excuse but she ended up taking my watch and buying me a cheap black plastic one at Duane Reade (a drugstore for you west coasters). I feel like I'm five years old again. :(