Vegas: waking up at 9am and thinking 'OMG I either need another drink or a new liver.
Reality: waking up at 7am and taking a shower and going to work.
Vegas: strolling around with a liter of some frozen cocktail from store to store thinking that it was the most natural thing in the world.
Reality: um, not doing that.
Vegas: Butting into other people's conversations because they are talking about how slutty a girl looks, and you totally agree. Or offering your sincere compliments to a woman wearing seven inch spike heels, because let's face it, if you or I wore them, we would hurt ourselves.
Reality: offering a compliment to a girl wearing four inch heels because seven inches simply isn't seen in the real world.
Vegas: actually getting a free shot poured into your mouth by a hot bartender.
Reality: um, again, something that usually doesn't happen in the real world.
Vegas: dancing until dawn and thinking what a great dancer you are
Reality: ha, well, okay this happens a lot too.
Moral of the story: Vegas is fun. It's a city which doesn't apologize for being honest about selling and promoting sex, alcohol, and all kinds of other less than desirable behavior. Mix in some childhood friends and viola, it's a perfect recipe for lifelong memories. As I expressed in my previous post, happiness comes in waves. Seeing one of my life long friends get walked down the aisle by Elvis and then spending the next numerous hours doing shots with her family and dancing in crazy high shoes is something that is almost beyond words. We can't choose our blood family, but we can choose our family which consists of friends and if you're really lucky family.
Mushiness aside, on my last night in Vegas, as I shivered my way back to the hotel, I think I was almost glowing. It's been a long time since I've felt so connected with people, and it's been even longer since I had laughed that much. Truth be told, I was a bit relieved to get out of the city because neither my kidney's nor liver could handle another day in that place.
Upon arriving in New York, I somehow found enough energy to get out of JFK (no easy feat for anyone who has experienced the entity known as JFK airport) and revisit one of my favorite American cities. I love New York and no one is ever going to convince me that the people are rude and generally suck, and no one is ever going to convince me that Chicago style pizza is superior to New York. Unfortunately, it was starting to snow when I arrived and I simply wasn't up to walking around Central Park. Walking around Central Park in the snow sounds like fun and perhaps even romantic, but not when you're going through alcohol withdrawal and haven't slept more than 5 hours in days; so instead I found an amazingly inexpensive cafe on Lexington and set up camp. For a mere $7 or $8 I got eggs, bacon, latte and hash browns- in other words, breakfast. We all know how I feel about breakfast. Breakfast is amazing.
As I sat in the cafe and listened to people around me I couldn't help but feel a sudden sense of loss. For five days I had been surrounded by my friends and the constant banter of people around me, and then suddenly it was quiet. Yes, it was quiet in New York, and I realize how it sounds, but it was just that, quiet. This silence would just intensify as I approached Siberia. It was welcomed and annoying at the same time. In Moscow I kept trying to make small talk with the guy next to me, but as usual, no one wanted to chat about nonsense. We are not in America any more. Pity. I had forgotten how much people love to chat with strangers, I think it helps relax a little. Just to be clear, I'm not that annoying person who sits next to you and talks about my cat; I could if I wanted to, but I've also been sat with a people who don't shut up, so I get it. But would it kill people to smile at a joke or agree about the awesomeness of the coffee?
Also, I am back in Siberia, in reality. Going from non-stop walking and drinking and dancing to non-stop walking and working and hoping and being so grateful that the hot water is still working. This reality isn't so bad. It still hasn't really snowed, not the heavy, snow crunching, giddy OMG-let's-build-a-snowman snow and I'm actually kinda relieved about it. Things which I throughly about Siberia is nothing severe really ever happens here. No blizzards, no tornadoes, no ice storms, and no drunk polar bears.
No comments:
Post a Comment