So here I am, sitting at my gate in the airport, typing this on my laptop, drinking an expresso, listening to the new radiohead album on my ipod, a half OZ of extremely purple, vacuum-sealed marijuana stuffed between my butt-cheeks, absolutely DYING for a cigarette. The guy sitting next to me's daughter, a baby in a pink jumpsuit, is staring at me slack-jawed, a seemingly dumb-struck expression on her little face. When I turn my head to meet her eyes, she averts her gaze, shy, but a second later whips her head back around and smiles at me, flopping her arm around spastically as some attempt at a wave. This has been going on for 10 minutes or so....I didn't know infants had that sort of attention span. So here I am, an unwilling participant in some sort of variation on peek-a-boo...call it look-and-lookaway. Hopefully that's what this blog will be: a collection of my most degenerate/maudlin/ecstatic/morbid/hopefull but undeniably poignant moments over the course of my life here in Brazil; recollections that will both repulse and enthrall you. An unwitting game of look-and-lookaway.
Oh maybe a little back-story is in order.
Well, actually, you don't need to know that much. A californian by birth, I grew up in Berkeley, went to college in Oregon, and now I'm departing the country to tackle the next phase of my life. Why Brazil, you ask? Well, I was getting tired of the Bay Area, and the Bay Area was getting tired of me. I had grown to resent the people I was hanging out with, gotten burnt out on the exhaustive monotony of the post-college routine, and just over-all needed a change/escape. Fast forward, and here I am, sitting in this airport, ensconced in a 6-month old's gaze. I think, as people get older, they change, and their environment needs to change with them. The reason I'm choosing Brazil as my catalyst is I have a friend who lives there, who will put me up for a while until I find a job. It's a practical decision, plain and simple.
My eyelids are getting heavy. The pills I took earlier are starting to kick in. "Airplane drugs" my friend told me. I've had experience with these things before: When I went to Australia, a 24 hour flight, I bought some xanex off of my guy, 2mg bars. I popped one before I got on the plane. A half an hour in, I didn't feel anything. Being completely inexperienced with xanax—it was my first time taking it—I popped another one, thinking it was like advil or something; I always have to take two to feel any effect.
Well anyone who knows anything about benzos is probably chuckling right now. When it finally kicked in, I laid my head back and took a nap. I woke up to the stewardess putting a tray of airplane food on my seat-tray. Feeling disoriented, I turned to look at the person next to me (I had an aisle seat). The woman to my left was staring at me with a puzzled look on her face. Still drowsy, I reeled back to my food. Some abomination of an attempt at chicken souffle.
"Ugh" I said.
The sight of the food was making me queasy, so I picked it up and offered it to my neighbor.
"Hey, do you want this?"
The woman glanced at the food, then looked back at me.
"You've been asleep for 14 hours...you should probably eat something."
I must have looked shocked, because she motioned at my chest with her head, as if to prove her point. I looked down and saw half of the entire front of my shirt was soaked with drool. Embarrassment dully set in behind the xanex, and I apologized.
"Oh man, I'm sorry. Was I snoring?"
The lady looked down.
"No, but you were farting...the whole time."
Oh noooo! The situation seemed so overwhelmingly embarrassing that I just said 'fuck it'. I turned back to my meal, flipped it upside down, and went back to sleep. Another 12 hours later, I woke up in Sydney.
I can only hope this flight goes as smoothly.
They're calling for pre-boarding, cripples, babies, and rich people. I guess this is good-enough of an introduction. I'm sure you'll be able to glean more about who I am as this goes on. I have to go now, but next time you hear from me, I'll be in the mecca of samba, bossa-nova, and, most importantly, caipirinhas. Cheers readers. See you on the other side...
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