Leaving the Continent

Well, it's approaching. I have already dipped under the 36-hour mark. At 13.30, Istanbul time, I will be departing from this side of the Bosphorus to Singapore. Starting to have mixed feelings about all of this. I really really want to go to Singapore and know that it will be a blast. However, all those feelings about my life going through a change, while not being doubted, have fallen by the wayside so that I may enjoy the twighlight hours of the European Excursion.

Today, I took another trip to the Turkish baths. I have met a great girl, Betsy, 26, who works for the military at Garmisch, very very near Bad Aibling. That is what got us talking and we haven't stopped since. Hanging out with someone with whom I have bonded so well is a great relief. Looking back, I want to sort of tally the good times and the bad. The good meet ups and the ugly ones.

March 4 - 11: Amanda...mediocre time that turns great then immediately nosedives.

Mid March: Meet Machie, invites me to stay at his apt with his roommies. Great guy. Only stay half a day. Meet up with three Americans: Noam, ?, ?, down in Matmata. Hang out for three days. Mixed feelings. Didn't bond so well. Meet Australian couple on ferry ride back to Trapani and hang out through Palermo. Very good people. Wish I could have met them earlier in the trip.

March 27 - April 1: Amanda, Kaisa, Victoria; nice group of girls. Good company. A little over the top on drama.

April 4 - 9: Amanda's place. Decending the levels of hell each day. Depart early in order to avoid burning alive.

April 11(12) - 18: Lanie, Codi, and Becky. Didn't hang out everyday but this is how long I was in Florence. Had a good time. A little hectic b/c of their clases. Spent last four days in a hostel. Hostel was absolutely horrible. Did not meet with anyone there except for a few minutes with an artist guy. Amiable but preoccupied, like me.

Last week and a half of April: Pick up things at Amanda's. Spend an afternoon. Much more pleasant experience. Meet Chris at Venice "hostel" that evening and hang out. Next day, hang out a little. Not much to talk about. Good guy. Really into basketball and claims that he is a damn good poker player. He seems that he would rather do that instead of become a doctor, like his father. On the train from Venice to Ljubljana, I meet a couple who have retired from their jobs but are also Peace Corps volunteers. They were wrapping up their service, which is located in the Moldavian province of Romania. He was an attorney and subsequent representative at the state level (democrat) and amateur sculptor. I forget what his wife did prior to the Peace Corps. I arrived in Zagreb that late night and the next day, went to Ravnice Youth Hostel. Met David, Canadian/American, happens to be traveling on his passport. He and I took in some of the Biennial Contemporary Music Festival, met a couple of Australian girls, and then hung out at Apartman Cafe and the Hemingway Bar. Hang out with him for a few days. Until the middle of the next month, I did not bond with anyone at Ravnice Youth Hostel. Mostly writing. I did; however, hang out with Marko. I met several of his friends, too. Daliborka, Vedrana, Fiki, etc. Went to a linguistics presentation. Went for drinks. Meetings were intermittent. Headed for Bucharest, via Belgrade, mid-May. Did not meet anyone.

Mid-May: return to Zagreb and hang out with Marko on occassion. I forget whether or not I meet Robert during this time or before I left for Bucharest. I bond with no one else. I head back east towards end of the month. Take train to Nis, meet Bulgarian girl, Christina. Nice girl, pretty. Too young. Also meet three Americans (Victoria also has French citizenship). Met her on the bus. Met Sebastian and Dave on the train to Sofia. From Sofia to Istanbul and Cappadocia, I hung out with several people between the three of them and others. When I return to Istanbul, I did not hang out.

In fact, it wouldn't be until June 10th, when I arrived to the Moldovan border, that I was invited to join a group of cadets, studying in Chisinau, to hang out. Unfortunately, the information was either stolen or lost. I am not sure which. While in Chisinau, I met two American girls, one a Peace Corps volunteer and the other was her friend. They invited me to eat dinner with them and so I met a gaggle of volunteers and then met Katya the next night. Went out on a date. Was okay. Was promising and then she annoyed me. My Hertz rental car died on our second date. I never called her back. Prolonged my stay by missing my train out of Chisinau. Accidentally met back up with the volunteers and hung out with them over the next three days. Great time. Leave Moldova and capitulate to an illness. Remain in Sighisoara over three or four days. Josh, Cindi, Alex. Great people. Two other Americans and some strange Brits.

July. Starts as a bad month. Never meet anyone in Amsterdam except for some stoned out kids. The next to last day in Den Haag I meet three girls: one from Romania and two from Macedonia. Nothing ever comes of it as I have not heard back from them. Was nice talking to them though. I arrive back in Split and immediately and accidentally find Coonoor and Jess. Meet Kevin. Hang for a few days. Great. Go to Trieste, meet Amanda. Mixed feelings. The first two nights are nice. Meet two English girls the second night and adds a lot of fun. From there on out, sort of blah. Mixed feelings. Say goodbye to her on July 12th. I leave the next day. From the 14th onwards for one month, save for the last day or two at the Pula Youth Hostel, I am never alone. Tons of fun, probably the most fun since I have started this trip. Movie Fest. Johnny, Tom, Yuranov, Maats, Rasmus, Norweigan guys and Swedish girls, Brian and his friend, Karlos(?). Meet Sasha and Anna and, unfortunately, Mel.

August: Johnny and Sasha. August 14th is the first day alone this month. August 15th, my b-day, Sasha arrives and remains for three days. Good times. Meet lots of people on my b-day. After August 17th, I am on my own. Was on my own until I arrived to Istanbul a few days ago, yesterday, in fact, when I started hanging out with Betsy. I did converse quite a bit with three Serbian girls in Belgrade at the hostel. We never hung out.

In putting this together, I just wanted to compile data and form an opinion of it from what I am seeing rather than relying on what I would like to think without thinking through the evidence first.

I would have to say, as far as meeting people goes, the first three months of this trip was not so hot. Half of the instances I have listed here are only meetings based on conversation, not spending days together. The group I met in Tunisia proved to be cold in many ways. That happens and I do not begrudge them. The worst hostel experience goes to the one in Florence. Absolutely no one was opening up...with me. I was there. I wanted to talk. I just went back to Lanie's. May was a little better. In really looking at the evidence, Marko and I did hang out and there was that one time I met Daliborka. Marko was very and is very busy with work. So, most of May was passed without much company. However, I did not mind because I was busy writing.

June...Turkey, Moldova, Sighisoara...great times, punctuated by a lot of alone time. Getting better at not having to be lonely and on the other hand not being inundated by people.

July...August...have been amazing months in terms of what I have wanted out of this trip. Not everything but close. If these two months are any indication of how the rest of the trip proceeds, then I have a lot of fun to look forward to.