R.I.P. Passport

Currently Listening To: Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors' Christmas Album

Quote Love: "If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years, how man would marvel and stare." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

In the past few weeks, I had a pretty major crisis: I lost my passport. But not to worry, everyone, after a lot of stressing, several roadblocks (who knew you needed your birth certificate to replace a lost passport? And who bring their birth certificate with them to their grandparents' house for Thanksgiving? Not me, that's for sure.), kind of a lot of money, and even more prayer (because even expedited, it still takes 2-3 weeks. And we were within the 3 week mark when the forms finally got sent in), I have my new passport. YAY! I can go to Kenya tomorrow!

However, I'm feeling a little bit nostalgic for my old passport. It was a travel log of sorts, a documentation of journeys, full of good stamps that were all tied up with good memories: my senior trip, the time I got to back to Ethiopia for just 36 hours, the Christmas break I spent freezing in Beijing. It was memento from all the hours spent on a plane, from the standing forever in a visa line in those final moments of a trip when you are just ready to be there, from that official stamp that welcomes you home or to a new adventure. Its pages were marked in Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, and scrawled across with signatures of various travel authorities, stamped with the dates of several significant days. I had carried it with me through so many journeys, hated the picture in it for so long, filled out that number on so many entry forms... 

And now, I just have a blank slate. And the people who check it along the way tomorrow won't know that my life is characterized by travel or that this is my fifth Kenyan visa. 

But it doesn't expire until December of 2021. So maybe I'll be able to fill it with some good memories by then.

[Image via We Heart It]

Things I Heart: Maps.

Quote Love: “They came to sit and dangle their feet off the edge of the world and after awhile they forgot everything but the good and true things they would do someday. " - Brian Andreas

There is just something about maps that is so appealing. Maybe it's the thrill of exploration captured on a piece of paper, or the familiar shapes of places that are actually completely foreign, or literally having the worlds at your fingertips. Either way, I just like them. A lot. Currently, my $6 Wal-Mart world map is dominating the wall space above my bed. But someday, when I have infinite wall space (and an infinite budget), these are some of the things I would be more than happy to have hanging up around me:

 

 [source]

 

Amazing. [source]

 

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 love the arrangement! [source]

 

...and love love love the colors of these frames [source]

 

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Chalkboard! Don't get me started on how much I love 'em. [source]

That heart is in the right place. [source]

 

[source]

 

 Paris! [source]

Remembering Egypt

Currently Listening To: All Things Bright and Beautiful, Owl City (especially loving: Alligator Sky and Galaxies)

Currently In: Reading, PA.

Exactly three years ago right now, I was in Egypt for a week with my best friends in the world. My class (well, 9/11 of us, plus three teachers) went for our senior trip. We spent a few days in Cairo, then went to the beach, then back to Cairo. We ate at a Pizza Hut with a view of the pyramids and Sphynx. We sailed on the Nile. We looked at a bajillion mummies. I got sick and lost my voice. We held lions and found starfish. We took naps on the beach and waded into the Red Sea -- so clear that even at shoulder-deep you could still see your shadow on the bottom. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe and made up songs about the Khan-Khalili markets. We had fun interactions with forward Egyptian men ("Excuse me! You dropped something!...Oh, it is just my heart." ...what?). We surveyed Cairo's roofs and multitude of satellite dishes from the top of the Sultan Hussan mosque. And it was magical. 

I was just looking through the pics and getting a little nostalgic...

I miss those kids, and those adventures.

Wanderlust

wan·der·lust/ˈwändərˌləst/: Noun: a strong, innate desire to rove or travel about.

Last summer I had this idea to get a big world map to hang on my wall. I thought it was particularly perfect, seeing as my roommate and I are both of international origins (I'm an MK from Ethiopia, she's an MK from China), and we could even do something incredibly precious like putting a picture of our families with a string attached to their respective countries...you know? What I really wanted was to find an old, vintagey second-hand map buried somewhere in the depth of a crowded bookstore (that happened to be a great price) -- somewhat crinkled and yellowed with age; the blues of the oceans and pinks and yellows of the countries starting to fade.

But none of this ever happened.

Then last night, Madeline and I were walking home from dinner, trying to figure out what to do with ourselves that evening. We needed to run some errands, so I threw out the possibility of Wal-Mart, to which Madeline (who happens to be going to Palestine in two weeks) responded "Well, I have been wanting a world map for my wall..."

I stopped, right in the middle of the Corner. "Madeline!" I exclaimed. "I want a world map for my wall!"

"Let's go to Wal-Mart!" said Madeline.

And a taxi-driver sitting nonchalantly in his vehicle about five feet away started laughing at us.

Anyway, we went to Wal-Mart, and each purchased a $6 50x32" world map, which we promptly brought home, laid out on the floor and admired while drinking blue kool-aid jammers and enjoying Busta Rhymes' skillz in "Look at Me Now."

No, it's not the vintage wonder I had imagined. But I am still excited to put it on my wall and remember that, although I'm here now (and I love it, and I'm supposed to be here), my home and my heart are still there. I've learned to love small-town America, but I also love the coffee-smells and rickety taxis of Ethiopia and the bike paths of England. I love the crowds and clutter of the street life of a foreign country and getting to be in a place that you've heard so much about or that is so far away.

Some of you might know that it's my goal to go to as many countries as I am old. I'm at eighteen -- down by two right now, and although I really am excited to be here in Charlottesville for the summer, at the same time I'm itching to just go somewhere. Hearing other people's crazy summer plans coupled with a long trail of travel blog perusals a few days ago had me looking up flight prices to various locations around the globe on bing.com, thinking to myself...maybe I could go somewhere for a week at the end of the summer? Is it possible? Where would I go? Who would I go with? How much would it cost?

The thing is, this is probably is not going to happen. And maybe it is for the better. It's true that I love exploring, roaming around different corners of the globe -- but can I also be content with where I am right now? Traveling and being a foreigner comes easily to me, because it was how I was raised -- but what lessons and growth is there for me here in Charlottesville this summer? In an ordinary work day? These are the things that I'll be exploring this summer.

P.S. Ironically, the amazing Kaye Stansbury just let me know that she's started a blog about her summer project in San Diego -- and the blog's title? Wanderlust. Um, hello, girl after my own heart. (And everybody please stalk the heck out of her because she is just that wonderful and is going to have all sorts of adventures in the next few weeks!)


[image source, via Pinterest. Quote by Seneca]

History

Sometimes I forget that I used to live this.

These pictures from a trip I went on to Harar and Jigjiga, in way eastern Ethiopia, in the fall of '07 (another trip in which I tagged along with the Lunsford family, just like London!). It was a 2 day drive, and I remember we spent a significant amount of time in the car learning lines from The Importance of Being Earnest for school. Probably not the backdrop Oscar Wilde intended...

I Heart London

Remember when Paris stole our hearts? (And then Beijing and Barcelona?)

Well here's London:

EF - Live The Language - London from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.

I love this reverse look of seeing it in our own language. And really, I just love London. We lived in Cambridge from 1996-1999, so we got to know England pretty well (and yes, I returned to the States with a British accent. Which I promptly lost upon going into 4th grade at an American elementary school -- insecure 9-year-old that I was, I thought the other kids would tease me. Such a poor decision for my current life, though, because I'm pretty sure I'd be about 27 times cooler if I had a British accent now...)

Anyway. Last time I was in jolly ol' England was for a speedy jaunt through London-town with my sister during a particularly heinous layover on our way to Kenya for Christmas during my first year at college (in 2008). We were only out and about for maybe six hours, but we managed to hit our fave places. Namely, Camden Town (in matching black Northfaces, at that):

The time before that was when I tagged along with my best friends family as we stopped through on our way to the States the summer after graduation. Let me tell you, about the only thing that can make the prospect of leaving your home for a foreign/technically home continent and the unknowns of college a little better is London with your bff and second family. Here we are on London Bridge:

Oh, London. You really are the best.

This Will Be Me

Friends, I have a new obsession: this couple and their crazy, wonderful, globe-trotting adventures. And their blog about it.

Yuriy and Julia got married in September, and three days later set off for a six-month trip around the world – stopping in France, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Turkey, Hungary, Thailand, Singapore, Australia...et cetera. And like I said, I’m obsessed with this entire concept. It’s wonderful especially because they obviously planned this out and have many practical tips (how to pack a suitcase, their overall plan, etc.) but at the same time, it blows my mind that they actually took the risk and did it, even knowing they’d return home broke. (But some experiences are worth more than money, right?) I’m a little bit upset about only discovering their blog as they are flying back to the States at the end of their adventure…but luckily, they are still catching up on Lviv, Ukraine, so we still have a slew of posts coming our way about all their Southeast Asian adventures since then!

And speaking of Lviv, this couple gets bonus points because after these pictures (can we talk about how these two happen to both be wedding photographers?), this city is now on my list of places I want to go:

(Seeing as Budapest and Prague were already on my list, though, it shouldn’t be too hard to catch a train over, right?)

Also, as both Yuriy and Julia were born in Ukraine but raised in the States, I’m loving reading about their reactions to going back to their home country:

Back home, I felt like I knew Slavics very, very well (I use the word Slavic because it encompasses Ukrainians and Russians). I knew what kind of cars they drove, the food they ate, and where they shopped. I knew they were cheap and had big families. I knew they shopped at garage sales and loved volleyball at the park and only lived in the suburbs--the bigger the house the better. I could spot a Ukrainian at the grocery store or in the car next to me at a stoplight. Yet in this country called Ukraine, I suddenly felt like I didn’t really know them all that well. I couldn’t pick one from the crowd. Suddenly I was the minority and trying to fit in. How strange to think that I’m a Ukrainian trying to be Ukrainian, when I had spent all my life trying to be an American.

Given my own born-in-America-raised-in-Ethiopia story, I appreciate having these sorts of experiences articulated by someone else.

Sorry to rave so much about these two (except, not really)…but I am just in love with this entire concept. And I want all of y’all to be aware that this is happening some time in my life. 


Note to self: be sure to marry someone who will agree to this insanity.

Chaaaleston

Y’all, I have been the laziest today. After Hope and Allie left at lunchtime, I collapsed into full-on spring-break-at-the-grandparents mode. (aka watching tv and reading, that is all. Although we did ride bikes and walk on the beach and spy a gator earlier today, so I really did already do stuff, I promise.) Because of this, my brain is not cooperating with me, but I promised to tell you about Charleston so I am going to try and do just that.

Here’s the thing about Charleston: it is old Southern charm and hospitality through and through. It’s not just one postcard-perfect street that gives way to a typical grimy downtown, nor just a modern town masquerading as antebellum. No, it is street after palmetto-lined street of genteel two-story, balconied Charleston houses and wrought iron and ivy. It’s parks and porch swings on the waterfront, and spires and cemeteries lining King Street. It’s shopping on King Street and sweet grass baskets for sale at the market. And really, it’s enough to just be there, soaking it in, meandering through the grid of streets and pointing out which houses we wished were ours.

We drove just over two hours to get there (and may or may not have made a last minute U-turn midway to stop at this place:

                                                                               ...I mean, wouldn’t you?)

And here’s what we did once we were there:

- Wandered through the old market, trying to resist buying pashminas

- Had fancy sandwiches at a place called Caviar & Bananas, right next to C of C (which, by the way, would probably be the school I would transfer to if I was ever going to transfer. Just because then I could live here.) Anyway, my sandwich was barbecue duck (seriously), cheddar cheese, jalepeños, roasted shallots, some sort of sauce, and all sorts of goodness:

- Shopped on King Street (they just put in a Forever 21, we had to go. And Allie got these nifty zebra shoes.) and revived with some Starbs

- Explored the St. Philips graveyard. It’s split into two parts on either side of the street – only people born in Charleston were allowed to be buried on the side the church is on. There’s a legend of one man being exhumed from his grave and moved across the street because he wasn’t born in Charleston. (PJ told us this story at dinner the night before.)

- Walked to the waterfront, almost got blown away by the wind out on the pier, spied Fort Sumter across the water

- Searched out Rainbow Row. (...but I already showed you that.) One of the houses was for sale, though, just saying.

- Stopped by the Citadel on our way out of the city (Hope’s dad went there so we had to get a token picture for him, of course.)

…And that’s all. We weren’t even there for as long as we had planned (we even made it back to Hilton Head for MK’s dinner. Yesss.) but it was charming and perfect nonetheless.

Oh Charleston. I love you because you are genuine and beautiful. If you were a person, I would probably want to be you. Or at least have a crush on you.


[All photo cred - or at least camera cred - goes to Allie MacDonald. For real, I feel so spoiled to have all these beautiful pictures now to share with y'all. I think I'm just going to have to get her to follow me around and document my life on a regular basis...]

Beijing

Awesome Word I Learned Today: Paneity, n. state of being merely bread.

Spring Break Countdown: Done with classes tomorrrowwww!!

Remember that happy little Paris commercial from last week? (Were you as smitten with it as I was?) Well, I discovered that there are more like it, for several different countries! I have seriously spent the last 30 hours debating in my head which I want to share with you guys (because three at once might be overkill), but then I decided why not Do It All? ...over a few days, of course :]

So in honor of my roommate Liz who grew up in China, and that I was reminded today by my photo screensaver that I went to visit her there last Christmas*, check this video out:

The. Coolest. Ever.


But can I just say that it looks so much warmer than it was when I was there?? Our trip looked a little like this...

 [being a Hun attacking the Great Wall, duh]

Um, woah. Reliving this for a moment was about 5738293 times better than writing a conclusion for my paper. Don't you think conclusions are the hardest part to write?

* Sometimes I forget that I’ve actually been to certain places. Is that weird? Like yesterday, a friend was over and we were looking at my collection of currencies and I was like oh, hey, rupees…I forgot I went to India once. And she thought I was crazy. Whoops.

[video source: EF - Live The Language - Beijing from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.]