Podoshdi!

But it wasn't quite over, even when we left. Because thankfully I still didn't have to face real life or my Alaska withdrawals yet! When I got to the airport Cашка and Maшa were there waiting for me, with my name written in Russian (кира)! It was seriously the most adorable thing ever. I love when people you don't expect come to meet you at the airport. 

After arriving I seriously didn't want to do anything but hang out with Beck and Phi in Seattle, where I was completely disconnected from any kind of responsibility, or talk with other people who had been in AK. 

So we enjoyed the beautiful weather, went to the science center, tried to meet up with people who have no cell phone which I have decided is a horrible thing to do to people who you are visiting. But then they left.

Okay, so just so everybody can feel okay

Alaska was actually great. Well, no, okay it was actually horrible. But as a defense mechanism the brain apparently only remembers the great parts. And there were for sure some great parts. I'll put on some pictures as proof. Like the one above, one of the many charts Lauren and Felicia and I made. Or to the right here you can see the time Felicia freaked out because Juan and Lenin trashed her room. That was fun. 

And anyway overall it was, and this is honest, pretty lifechanging. It's not often you get to go places that take you completely out of your normal life, that give you a conveinient break where you can say, "Okay, everthing before this can stop, everything that comes after this could be totally different." Also, it was great not to have to drive or commute for longer than a three minute walk to anywhere or cook for myself or do laundry. So it was a positive experience overall. And see here's the TV we threw in the ocean one night. Several times. 

although this is how we felt for the last few weeks.

I’m ready to go home. There is nothing exciting here anymore. We have had slow days, which have been nice, and Desi and I met all the Taiwanese girls yesterday, who are hilarious and really friendly. They told us about the trip they are going to take after this, going to LA and Las Vegas and New York. We climbed through their window. I also watched Surfer, Dude which was actually very good and laid around with Jade. I love seeing Jade and Lauren everyday. It is surprising how incredibly happy it makes me. But overall I’m feeling done. Starting tomorrow things are going to start getting shitty with lots of fish and long hours and people being mad and no fun and I haven’t made any money at all so it just doesn’t seem worth it. Everybody is unhappy already about a myriad of things and everybody cool is getting fired. Four people in the last week or so have been fired for either drinking or failing drug tests.

Although I did get paid yesterday to paint some signs about how to properly take off gloves.

Now I am listening to Deathcab which is a sure sign of nostalgia/despondency/melancholy. I think August is just hanging over everybody’s head. And seriously, another month and a half? Almost two? Yuck. I know if I was working toward something it would help, but I don't think I'm going to make enough to do anything. And the only other place I want to be, like when I'm trying to imagine a happy place, is Palm Springs. That's funny to me. That's the nicest place I can imagine. 

Also did I mention that I finally had to take out my lip ring? It’s very weird to not having it in after four and a half years. 

HAPPY WEDDING ALEX AND CEZANNE!

I am so sad that I missed it, especially for the bad crappy surprise of a day I had. I’m sure it was beautiful and best wishes for the rest of the summer. Also I hope you bought that house.

Good lord.

I take that back. If you want to send me anything please send dried fruits and dry socks and nuts. And a bra that is designed to fit well for 18 hours.

Yesterday was a horrible horrible horrible day. Because everyone promised, again, that it would be a short day and then they crushed my hopes. I mean, it had some upsides, like when I won yet another bet about time predictions, but it finally sank in that this just doesn’t stop. I’ve stopped putting in extra effort because there is just no opportunity to recover, and it doesn’t change when we get to stop anyway. No wonder somebody invented the labor movement. Otherwise how would anyone pay bills or get unsick? We only had like 200.000 pounds of fish (instead of 400.000) but we were all still there until midnight.

Actually what upsets me most was that I like my job and I want to do it well but I’m not being provided with the proper tools. That is, sleep. So even though I feel like I’m getting better my performance is worse or steady.

Anyway, enough complaing. Because before these last few days I was actually having a really good time. I am particularly pleased that I have been able to do some accurate estimations because as we all well know I am not a good judge of anything. However I have consistently been telling people how long I think a hopper of fish will take to process, and they will bet another time against mine and I will win. My job is important enough that I get to feel good, I get to move and think. I’m really really very lucky to have it.

I just found out they were finally going to assign me roommates so I am moving in with the girl who does the bins in the cannery instead. I am sad, because I really love my room and I REALLY love not having a roommate and ESPECIALLY love having smooth white walls, and the place I’m moving into will have wood cabinlike walls, like home.

LIST OF THINGS I AM GLAD I HAVE:

1.    Two pairs of boots because at least one pair is always wet.

2. All the clothes I have found in the huge boxes of leftover clothes here.

Oh, also my lip skin is all raw and being pulled off from having to wear and remove 4 to 5 bandaids a day to cover my lip ring. But I can’t figure out yet how to take it out.