Let's skip way ahead.

Ok, so the short end to this long story was that I got my passport, even though I had to pass through a few more trials and tribulations after that.

Since then, a bunch of things happened! Like so many, you won't even believe it! I'll break it all down by states and countries first, OK?

CALIFORNIA
Oh man, I hardly even remember now. I finished up both of my jobs, had a going away party at the beach, packed up all my things (well, most of my things), ate a few pies, saw a few peaches rot (very sad) and toasted some marshmellows!
And other things! But I can't remember now!

Then I flew home to OREGON
While there I saw my awesome family and hung out with my awesome friends. Activities included: being completely shunned by the dog (not quite as sad as seeing peaches rot, but a little sad), going for a daring river adventure with my bro and dad (and aformentioned dog) and cutting my foot open on a rock, watching my dad sew my foot back up in his office (he is a doctor, so don't worry), going to the John Kerry rally in Portland with my pals Peter and Neil and Neil's baby Taylor (real live baby not baby as in girlfriend baby) -- it was the biggest rally so far of this election season, over twice the size of the second biggest (also a Kerry rally), which was pretty awesome, eatting pie (by my mom), playing Scrabble with my grandma, trying to go to Enchanged Forest with my sister, but getting lost and going to a flea market Mount Angel Abbey instead (cheaper and equally castley), packing and buying new clothes for the first time in over a year.

THEN I flew to see beautiful Erin in WISCONSIN
And continued my streak of doing awesome things by doing awesome things with Erin. These included: going camping at a Yogi Bear campground, visiting a cheese factory, water aerobics with senior citizens, getting my hair cut (by Erin!), being happy with my hair cut, going on a big lake in a motorboat with a lot of her family, going in a smaller lake in a canoe with just her and her brother, eatting real Chicago-style pizza for the first time (in a car in the rain), thunderstorms, cookies, Garden State, a lot of love, etc. etc!

Now I am in LONDON (this is a country, not a state)
and I have been on an airplane sitting next to a large African businessman who spoke no English but was cool anyway, been on a tour in a double-decker bus, seen a huge statue of Prince Albert, admired the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London, seen a play in the reconstructed Globe Theatre standing up, wished I could sit down while watching aforementioned play, wished I could sit down AFTER aforementioned play, crossed a lot of bridges, seen a GIGANTIC metal spider, heard a street musician covering James Taylor, heard a lot of people call things "brilliant," eatten at a real English pub, learned that real English pubs are a bit pricey, learned that there is NO circus in Picadelly Circus (also quite sad), taken the Underground a lot, carried POUNDS of British currency (ha ha, get it?), stopped at an Internet cafe, and am now out of time.
Muc love and more later,
-Aaron

More for everyone

I fixed comments so that they're open to everyone now, not just those registered on blogger. Rejoice!

continuing SF adventure! but no pictures this time

So there I was in the Nob Hill district, home to many tall, ornate town houses in every candy color imaginable, bobbing up-and-down streetshills straight out of a Dr. Seuss story, and I had been told, the post office and consulate I needed to visit to complete my mission. I was confident I could find the Spanish consulate, but it was the post office that posed a problem, since I could not seem to reconcile the directions I had looked up that morning on the hostel’s office computer with the tourist map I had also snagged from there. I had apparently copied them down wrong as it looked like I’d just be going in circles – as far as I could tell there was no other reason ight turns in a row.
I although I didn’t have the address of the post office, I did know which street it was on, so I cut ties with my pre-planned route and turned left. If the post office didn’t show up within a few blocks, I could just turn around. In the meantime, I asked some people walking around the neighborhood where I could find my destination.
They were not helpful.
“I’m not sure, we don’t actually live here, but I think I saw one somewhere around here.”
“You know, I don’t know this area really at all.”
“Hmm, there used to be one around here somewhere, but I think they moved it.”
None of this inspired much confidence in me. After about three hills and twice as many blocks, I decided to turn around and once I retraced my steps back to where I turned left instead of right I began asking for directions again.
The first place I stopped was a coffee shop where the cool kids in green aprons directed me a few blocks up a different street than I had been traveling on, but assured me “it’s right there!”
It wasn’t. What was there was a UPS store. An honest mistake, sure, but the UPS store does not sell anything resembling the special envelope I needed. The man behind the counter had crooked teeth and was chatting quite intelligently about politics with the elderly lady buying balloon stationary when I walked in, begging for directions to the USPS (note the first S).
Then, once this info had been relayed to me, I walked another four blocks back to the coffee shop, turned and walked one more block. And there was the Post Office. And I learned never to trust someone in a Starbucks apron for directions.

MY DUEL WITH THE DRAGON!
(continued)




My battle with the dragon did not go well. We were tussling something awful when out of nowhere he thwacked me with his massive reptilian tale and I was out of there like a fly ball on a summer’s day.




But when I landed headfirst somewhere on Nob Hill, there was no one to catch me.




Also, somewhere in the fray I had lost the special envelope I had bought from the post office and absolutely needed in order to apply for my visa!




That darn dragon had stolen it!




Or maybe I had just left it on my desk back home.
(note: in real life my desk is messier than this and the walls aren’t green.)