Ok. So its the third day back at school, and I’ve finally got some time to discuss some of the meaningful stuff that happened over break. First, a little bit more about GA. The hostel was really cool. Perhaps one of the coolest aspects was meeting different people. I’m not particularly gregarious, but the environment of the hostel really forces people to meet each other. I met a lot of interesting people. We played scrabble and cranium with a law student and a teacher from nyc named sam and peter. We met this huge group of kids from PA who were doing a service project for their high school, and we got completely wailed on at scrabble and chess by hans, a computer consultant from minneapolis. Staying at the hostel was far more hospitable then any other place I’ve ever stayed away from home. In fact, it felt like going home (if your mom and dad all had dreadlocks). Staying at the hostel and hearing about all the traveling people were doing really made me jealous. In the future, I’d really like to travel more and stay at hostels across the US or Europe. I think I might need to re-prioritize personal growth and exploration amidst my other goals for education and carreer.
Another funny thing that happened on the way back from the hostel is that Varu discovered a tick on her person in the bathroom of the visitor center in Savanah. She was a bit freaked out, as the tick was pretty firmly attached. So, we drove around for like 15 minutes before we found the neccessary provisions to remove the tick. Just for future reference, even though I’ve heard of this technique being used, its a bad idea to try to use heat (match/lighter) to remove the tick, as the tick might die and regurgitate its insides into you. Ugh! I eventually yanked the bugger off with tweazers which was pretty freaky because it was on pretty tight and I had to yank hard. The funniest thing about the whole episode was that the tick we just below varu’s waist line, so she had to pull back her pants back a bit to get at the tick. Any passersby must have had some interesting thoughts when they saw me and erin hovering over varu as her legs dangled out of the back seat of erins car. Though it was a deer tick (we saved it for further analysis), hopefully Varu will not suffer any long term effects.
We drove straight back up from GA. It was something like 14 hours and the most hardcore driving experience I’ve had. Luckily there were three people to take shifts and talk to each other to keep the driver awake. Somewhere between North Carolina and Virginia, I had a really good conversation with Varu. Its odd, she’s not really that much older than me, but she seems to have so much more insight on some things. I was lamenting about lack of opportunity. The kids we had met at the hostel sounded like they went to a really cool school, and one of them had been discussing his plans for attending college and all of the schools he had applied to were very prestigious. I can deal with my own failures or shortcomings, but to never have had a chance at some things (or to have had second rate opportunities) really drags me down. Well, Varu said something to me that was very kind, and really a unique perspective. It has framed some of the issues in my life better even than my discussions with my parents. She said that many people who have opportunity (prep school education, ticket to harvard), when they see something like injustice, they approach is coldly, like just another text book lesson. They lack that fire that people who have had to struggle for success have. And she said that the people who do great things are the ones who have had to struggle. I don’t know how true it is, but it does make me feel better about lack of opportunity.
After I got back from GA to PA, I went to a hardcore show with my brother. It was really awesome, though I was paying for all the hardcore dancing a couple of days later. I usually don’t dance at shows because I usually go alone and am afraid of getting hurt, but since I was at this show with my brother and his friends, I danced the night away. It was an awesome show. Louder Than Words, the band of one of my brother’s friends was awesome, as usal. A really good, young hardcore band. The Commercials also played. They are one of the few bands that is still around from when I was in a band. They sound 100% more emo now, and are still super, super tight. The style change makes one wonder though, are they really as fickle as to change to what’s “in” in the underground scene as so many people criticised a few years ago. Anyway, they sounded really good. A Nightmare Scenario played next. They’re from Williamsport, PA and are awesome. Really great hardcore/screamo. They have a really good sound that I find more interesting and enjoyable than just plain old chug-chug hardcore. Still, bands like Erie’s Problem Solver Revolver were still great. They brought the crowd to a pinacle of intensity and put on a great set. Erie hardcore is where its at. The show finished with a set by the straight edge band Embrace Today, all the way from Boston. T hey were angry and intense, but the set was great. All in all an awesome local show. I miss the scene so much. Every time I go to one of those shows I just want to start a hardcore band more than anything. I saw Colby, one of my friends from high school who was back on break from school. He said he was studying fashion design in Florida and aspiring to be a skate shoe designer. Pretty cool. Its always good to see people from one’s past every now and then.