Quintessence

Dear blog,



Happy 2013. I think it is going to be a happy year. I had a solid 2012-a lot of endings and new beginnings with chapters left unfinished, and with minor characters removed all too quickly (as it had seemed.) Blog, you have been approached as a journal...I guess. Maybe it is just because I find it so boring when people recount the minute details of their lives in written form...it really wasn't that interesting when it happened, yet, they spent twice the time recounting it, writing and rewriting witty sentences, to make their readers envy their immersive, cultural experiences abroad. (I guess some of my disparaging inclinations will never be subdued). Rather, I tell you what I think and what I feel. I have a personal hierarchy of reasoning...number 1 most evidently being that my opinion matters more than 90% of the population's (snarky mood today... I'm making note). Furthermore, how much more interesting is it to read a 22-year old girl write so highly about herself and her formulated theories when she has very little to show for it. I'm not a tycoon, a force, a symbol. I'm not 16 and started a blog when I was 11 that now features guest contributors such as Lena Dunham, Sarah Silverman, and Paul Rudd... I didn't stand up for my rights on a bus...nor wil, I ever... Both the bus and the metro simulate perfect platforms for rebellion--for both the passionate and the peculiar. I have seen do crack, give awful renditions of jingle bells in a foreign tongue with only the accompaniment of a harmonica, etc.. Its like this one place that allows you to do all the things wish you could do when you re driving...but can't...because you are driving. So, now, here's your chance! Please, it's more of an invitation. Being reminded that the majority of the general public is not only crazy, but more correctly defined as mentally unstable makes me feel safer and motivated to instigate friendly banter....

I recently returned from 14 days of solo travel to Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Brugge (insert applause here).

"oh my god! You're just a girl!"

" yeah and she's only 22!"

"oh my god! Do your parents know?"

" yes. They even know I couchsurfed..."

"what's that?"

"it's a website that allows you to stay on a strangers couch for free."

"you should be careful"

"oh! THANK YOU! that's the ONE thing I was forgetting to pack....my common sense"

"you seem kinda on edge...I think we should go"

"unless you have a crack pipe...that's a good idea. Cuz some loon just looted me of my two most important trinkets: that and my harmonica"



But, on a higher note of sincerity, I have to say thank you. First, to God (insert controversial gasp here). I wouldn't be who I am or where I am without the rough sketch that has been given to me. Every turn I make and over every crack I stumble, I find a new route, meet new people, and through it, learn something new about myself and the world.



Thank you family. Thank you for believing in me and supporting me and not having enough money to visit...or being able to fund my trip home. I miss you every single day, but, I survive, and prosper, because you always have taught me to do and learn on my own and for myself.



Stories will be sprinkled throughout my next 5 months here. This is my prologue and introduction. And for your visual stimulation, some pictures.

Survival Kit

One Day- Asaf Avidan