Knowledge is Power

So, as a few of you might know, I am enrolling in school here in Austin.  I am excited because I really put it off for a long time.  I made excuses for myself why I shouldn't have studied science or taken Organic Chemistry at Berkeley, but I spend all my time working in healthcare and reading about infectious diseases.  I look up to my dad, yet I never wanted to study medicine.  I am going back to school to complete pre-requirements for a Physician Assistant program.  PAs are basically trained doctors that are limited in what they can do on their own and within a practice.  I am not saying I am going to be an MD someday soon, but I am excited to have the opportunity to practice and help individuals with their medical ailments.

Best part is soon, I will be qualified to be a Texas resident!  Can you believe it's been a year since I moved to Austin?  It's been a long road, but I would be happy to do it all again.

My Star-crossed Day

I generally feel on top of the world.  I mean, I circumnavigated the world in 90 days, conquered the Mongolian dessert, braved the Siberian permafrost, and survived a bed bug infestation in Ukraine.  For some bizarre and inexplicable reason, this past Saturday I felt something no one should ever feel - defeat. 

It is true that worse things have happend to more amazing people, and I will attest that my group of friends had a great time and nothing went infinitely wrong.  There is no real explanation why, on Sauturday night, I anxiously counted down the minutes until midnight.  I am not a superstitious person, but I am positive that my stars and planets were not aligned on May 14th.

The day started off just fine.  It was the day after everyone's last final and we were going to celebrate by inner-tubing down this river located far south of Austin in New Braunfels.  My previous experience tubing with my friends in California led me to the logical conclusion that it would be an epic journey.  One year, we planned a tame 5 mile float in Healdsburg, but on the way to our entrance point we took a wrong turn.  We jumped into the river about 15 miles away from our end destination.  We realized how cold it was getting when the beer ran out, so we started calling out to our land-bound neighbors.  "Where's Healdsburg?" we would cry out.  In response, we received mocking laughs and sympathetic head shakes.  We realized our attempt to float to our friend's house was fruitless, so we all waded out of the water and blazed a trail through a local vineyard.  The owner saw our pathetic group of crying women and men wearing their boxers as shoes.  As Blanche would have put it, "I have always relied on the kindness of strangers."  He was our guardian angel; we would have spent hours in the cold hiking to our cars without him.  It was quite the Independence Day river trip.

This year's trip was much more regimented. We drove down to New Braunfels, rented our tubes, and jumped into a groomed river filled with hundreds of oddly shaped bodies, tattoos and personalities.  Although my bad luck started earlier in the day, it hit its peak soon after we hit the water.  Nat and I lost our group after funneling through a tube shoot that catapulted me and Nat into a wall.  In trying to catch up, we didn't realize there was a dangerous man-made 3ft waterfall.  At the fall, one of our friends got trampled by strangers, Nat bumped his head very hard, and I got assaulted.  Don't really need to get into the details, but a middle-aged man decided to take advantage of my half-drowned and mildly panicked state to make a move.  It took me a while to float over to Nat and scout for some cops, but by the time we led them to the scene and I gave an account, he had slowly creep away.  I watched this pervert escape, to live another day free to molest unsuspecting women.  

This violating episode combined with a few other scattered encounters left me afraid to even drive home at the end of the day.  A part of me seriously feared that I would get into a catastrophic car accident.  I felt generally defeated and couldn't wait for the day to just end.  Luckily for me it could have been worse.  At least I have an amazingly supportive and loving boyfriend and hysterical friends to laugh about this incident with. 

"How cold does it get in San Francisco?"

When I started my trip through Siberia in late September, it was roughly 40 degrees Fahrenheit out, frosting a little bit, but far from freezing. I was wearing gloves, a scarf, nylons under my pants, a mink fur hat, and at least two shirts under my leather jacket.  My first naïve days on the Trans-Siberian Railway, I would ask locals if it would be getting colder soon; they would just look at me with the sternest blue eyes I had ever looked into and say, “Yes…you have no idea.”

 Along my travels, it was always so funny to see people’s reactions to the statement, “It does not snow in the city where I live.”  A conversation once arose that went something like this:


Siberian local: “How cold does it get in San Francisco?”


Erika: “Maybe about 10-15 degrees.” (roughly 50 degrees Fahrenheit)


Siberian local (incredulously): “Minus?”


Erika: “Dear Lord, no!!  Positive…!”


Of coures, by the end of my trip, I would occassionaly leave the hostel without my nylons, and always without my hat.  I guess a dead giveaway that I am not a Ukrainain local is to be wearing a Russian fur hat - go figure.

 

When I lived in San Francisco, I would throw on shorts, grab my parrot “Pearl” and run to Dolores Park if the fog had burned off and the sun was out.  Of course, 65 degrees used to be hot weather for me.  It is funny how our bodies get used to weather changes and climates over time. 

Tomorrow, we are going tubing down a river with laundry bags full of beer and I was concerned about the weather conditions.  It poured like the sky was going to fall yesterday, and although it has since cleared up, I decided to check the weather to be safe.  My initial thought was, “84 degrees?!?! Really??  It’s going to be too cold to get into water and go tubing.” I am a spoiled little Texan now.  I was ready to soak up the 100 degree rays tomorrow, but will have to settle for 84. Probably better this way, as I really am not in the market for Melanoma.

No Idle Hands Here!

My last month has been packed with adventures, visitors and non-stop hooping!  My AOII sister, former room-mate, Castro-club hopper and, of course, best friend, Tara came to visit.  She is a UT Law admitted student who made it to the finals for a scholarship.  She was flown out here to check out the campus and inteview.  I made it a personal goal to show her how amazing Austin is, cowboy boots and all!  We danced all night on 6th Street, went to my favorite restaurants and bars.  All in all, it was a successful weekend, though I believe she is leaning towards a different university that has a better program for public interest.  I told her if she went here, maybe we could be room mates again, but she told me she doesn't think she could live with Pearl!  Nat, I guess you are stuck with me and the little Pearl! 

After my visitor left, I devoted my time to the Austin Parrot Society.  We had a fundraiser for Bird Haven, a non-profit bird rescue, so we had a lot of work to do in preparation.  I am so happy to be a part of a group where telling people that I take my parrot on walks isn't an automatic "this girl is crazy" red flag.  I have an amazing group of passionate bird owners who are helping me find out about local vets, training techniques and feeding advice.  I even get recipes for birdie cakes!  We carpooled the the San Antonio Bird Mart to table and promote our fundraiser, but really it was the perfect excuse to buy Pearl and new discounted cage and toys!  I was told that I have the "gift of gab" by own of our members, since I was able to chat up any casual on-looker.

My parents decided to make a random trip to Austin to visit the same weekend of our fundraiser and I am so glad that they did!  I am sure that the event would not have been so successful without their enthusiasm and constant silent auction bidding.  We all learned a lot from Barbara Heidenrich from Good Bird, Inc.  She is a work famous bird behavioralist who has had amazing success with positive reinforcement and parrot training.  I am excited to get Pearl back next month and test out her new techniques!  We also did a Segway tour of Austin which was a fun mix of history lessons and rugged adventure.  Of course, thanks to my mom's Atkins diet, we dined at some of the best restuarants in Austin, Fogo de Chao and the Driskill Hotel.  Don't you love when family is in town? 

I am eager to receive my brand new LED hula hoop, compliments of Lighted Lifestyle.  I got to play with one in my class and cannot wait to that this baby to Burning Man!  It will look so cool out at night on the playa!  I am loving hooping.  It is an amazing cardio work out and I love just spinning and dancing with my hoop.  I would love to go to Hoop Camp this year in Santa Cruz, but I think due to Burning Man and lack of PTO, I will probably put it off for a year.

I have even been toying with the idea of becoming a Russian tutor.  I currently have one awesome beginner, but she is going abroad in the fall.  I think it would be a lot of fun to teach others and make a little spare change on the side. 

And that's what you missed...on GLEE!  just kidding, but I do love that show!   

Life just ran with that idea

The past two months have been full of more flights, adventures, old friends, parrots, entreprenurial ideas, BBQ, hula hoops, failures and successes.  I apologize for my delayed posts, but life just has a way of running when you aren't looking.  Now that I have wireless internet  forward to those precious two hours when you have wireless internet.  I lived my life abroad very meticulously.  I valued my Facebook more than I do now.  I actually checked my email once or twice a a day, rather than every 15 minutes thanks to "fetch new data."  So, here is my low down.  

Last time we met, I was on a last minute flight to San Diego to visit Nat's family for the holidays.  We had a splendid time, enjoying the weather and not throwing up all day.  I say the later because last time I met Nat's family for a family reunion, I successfully managed to inject about 75% of his family with the Norovirus aka stomach flu.  I am not sure if I will ever out grow my nickname "Typhoid Mary."  

After that, we were on a flight to Las Vegas for our 4th Annual Santa Rosa Crew Vegas Trip.  I think every year gets better and better!  I guess the first year we went was 10 days after my second nose surgery which in retrospect was probably not the best idea.  I was on hydocodone, couldn't drink, and got a bloody nose after being wacked in the face by a drunk friend.  Oops!  Since then, we have made so many fabulous memories I can't even begin to relay them all.  I got to ride a mechanical bull hands-free, watch an electric violin and DJ chick duo and stay out almost as late as I did in Ukraine!  The best part was playing cards in the back of our rented RV all the way back to Santa Rosa.  Some of us didn't get enough sleep, so they crashed together in the one little bed in the back. 

Next stop, San Francisco!  Let me tell you how nice it was to be back in my city!  I got to see my old roomate, best friends, old co-workers and my old favorite spots.  It was kind of difficult to get over the fact that last time I was in SF, I lived there, had a room, and my parrot.  I really miss my friends, but we got to go out in the Castro for an amazing night of dancing.  Then we got to hit up a couple of places for bottomless mimosas and brunch.  I might even be on the wall at Hot Cookie 

I now have an amazing group of close friends here in Austin and I am getting to know the sites much better.  The night life and outdoors life is amazing here. 

Random facts about my new life:

• After a couple of weeks of turning down offers, being rejected from employers and weighing out my possible options, I am now working full-time at an OB/Gyn office in North Austin.  I may now know more than I wanted to know about the miraculous journey of pregnancy, but hey, never hurts to start doing research early...way early.
• I have decided to take up new hobbies to keep busy while Nat studies.  Last week, I made my first set of hula hoops.  Good exersize, a must-have skill for Burning Man, and will look amazing if I can eventually set them on fire!
• Speaking of Burning Man, I bought my ticket and cannot wait to join my sisters, and Mark, along with our new additions to the playa, Tristan and Kara!
• I made arrangements to fly Pearl to Austin on May 22nd!  I am excited to start wandering the streets of downtown with her and continue to support the motto "Keep Austin Weird."
• I was elected Events Coordinator of the Austin Parrot Society and look forward to start organizing their fudraisers, events, etc
• I have decided to collect feathers from the parrot rescue I volunteer at, make jewelry out of the molted feathers and sell them to raise money for the organization.

This Friday I embark on an 8 hour journey with 5 best friends to New Orleans for Mardi Gras!  I imagine I will be yelling at people to throw me beads as I used to yell at the patrons of the Blue Bayou to throw me pieces of bread before I came face to face with the Pirates of the Caribbean.  Let's hope that my experience dodging hords of people at Disneyland has adequately prepared me for the madness that will ensue this weekend.


I think that just about covers it all.  Do I like to keep busy or what?? 

Flood Gates have been opened

After having spent the last month and a half studying up to twelve hours a day, you better believe that Tuesday night was a night to celebrate for the first year law students at University of Texas.  Directly after the final ended, some immediately started drinking, others napped, and others just sat dumbfounded in shock.  By 8PM all of my new friends were ready to begin the festivities of the night.  The evening was started by a three-man race to a restaurant/bar called Trudy’s.  The contestants had to tie themselves together, run to each destination, chug a large beer, and then keep running.  Nat and I made the wise decision of simply being spectators, but quickly realized that in order to continue to gawk at our friends, we had to actually run after them.  The plan quickly deteriorated, so we decided to just walk directly to Trudy’s with one other friend.

After Trudy’s, we headed to a peer’s house prior to hitting the town.  During the evening, somehow Star Wars came up and I was shocked and appalled to hear that one of Nat’s friends had never seen the original trilogy.  Out of sheer shock and offense, my gut reaction was to slap him.  Harsh I realize, but he also said he didn’t know Harrison Ford was in the movies which I think merited a slap.  I apologized, and shortly thereafter we headed downtown.

A larger group of law students had rented a party bus to head downtown, but we had something better.  It only cost my one dollar, and is totally green – public transportation.  We took some silly pictures while we waited, and I guess we were having so much fun that a homeless man decided to join us so we took a picture together.  Quite the rowdy crowd! 

Note our new homeless friend on the bottom right

At the bar, we meet up with the rest of the first year law students.  Some were dressed like elves, Santa’s ladies, or just themselves but covered in green glitter.  After a while, some of us went on a quest to find a dance floor and break it down.  Unfortunately, we realized it was still Tuesday, so dancing was scarce.  We snuck onto the third floor of a bar, only to get escorted down.  After one of our friends fell down the stairs on the way down, we went from escorted down to out.  Since everyone is done with school and I don’t have a job, I really feel like we are living the dream and constantly on vacation.  I wish this feeling would never end.

I am also feeling the holiday spirit here in Austin!  Check out the huge tree!  I felt like such a little kid spinning in circles under the tree.  I got really dizzy but held my ground.  One of our friends tried to spin but completely fell on the ground.

Nat and Erica under the Christmas tree made of lights

Spinning under the tree!

Group picture!

Reverse Culture Shock

I went to bed at the correct time on Monday night after I got back in town, slept 10 hours, and woke up the next morning feeling better than expected.   My only complaint was this strange subtle headache.  I literally felt like I had a hangover or something, but I had not touched a drop in a while.  Is this normal?  I mean, do people get headaches instead of just being tired?  What a strange symptom of being jet lagged. 

I got it together, and sent Nat off to his first final.  I was nervous for him, but confident because he was more than ready for his test.  I spent the rest of the afternoon doing some errands.  I used my Groupon for Anytime Fitness and signed up for my three-month membership for $30.  Besides catching up on four different seasons of television and going to the gym, I really did not do much during the couple of weeks Nat was taking his finals.  I know I sound lazy, but traveling around the world in three months is not easy feat!  I really enjoyed taking my time acclimating back to my life in the US.  I would like to share my observations on reverse culture shock – what an individual experiences upon return to his/her country after an extended period of time. 

My symptoms of Reverse Culture Shock include:

1. Amazement at my ability to order free iced water in any restaurant I walk into
2. Disappointment because I do not have tea or coffee 4-5 times a day
3. Being expected to listen and understand every word of every sentence uttered by every person I interact with
4. Realization that driving like a Ukrainian and not wearing a seat belt is no longer cool
5. Loneliness derived from the fact that all of my best friends do not live under one roof in a hostel anymore
6.  Feelings of rejection when my American friends refuse my offering of tea or coffee when they come over
7. Recognition that my short bangs are not high fashion anymore