Sawubona

So it's my first day back from my week and a half stay in Virginia. In all honesty it's not the greatest feeling in the world, in fact I'm sure I wouldn't be real happy at all if it wasn't for you who read this (and some who dont). I suppose it was because the time I spent down south did alot fo good for me that I wasnt aware could be done. It was a time to collect myself and feel renewed spiritually, even though that was not the intended purpose of going there.

I was a bit nervous for the train ride up there since I've never taken a train by myself, let alone for 10 hours. I found a couple seats with no one in them so I didn't have to sit next to anyone for quite a while. It was actually about four hours that I just sat there watching the scenery go by and listening to stuff I felt would enhance the experience. But then a couple of business people got on and one of them sat next to me. The guy sounded like a teenage surfer kid that dropped out of school early on in his life. Like that movie. But he seemed nice. Anywho, then alittle later some big muscley guy sat next to me and talked on his cell most of the time, and he had a very feminine sound to his voice, and I think he was kind of flirting with a really deep, raspy voiced man on the phone. It was hard not to laugh at points. So I sat there in the same position the entire time he was on the train next to me, which was about 3 and a half hours, and needless to say my legs have never hurt so much in my life.

But anyway, the good stuff was that the scenery that I got to see (toward the south) was breathtaking. It made up hear look desolate and grey and just unappealing in general. It was like riding into paradise. There was so much green, and so many rivers. It reached a peak once we arrived in Virginia. So after being stopped on the tracks for about 20 minutes waiting for a couple of other trains to come the opposite way, we proceeded for about another 20 minutes to Richmond where I met up with my aunt.

The first few days we spent adjusting to eachothers presence and taking rides around the town so I could see different places and meet people that she knows. Over the course of the entire trip I got very good at saying "nice to meet you", which was nearly impossible for me to do prior to it. The parts that my aunt said were the not so pretty parts of the town were blissful compared to what I was used to. And the good parts I didn't even know existed anywhere in the country in terms of its beauty.
Everything was so laid back. All the people were too. My God, the people were incredible. One day we took a trip down to this place called Carytown, which was this long street of all these weird stores and restaurants. The feeling there was incredible. Everyone seemed to be happy and in good spirits. I didn't feel like I had to look over my shoulder the entire time like I usually feel up here. If you made eye contact with almost anyone they'd smile and say hi or nod or something. Up here I barely get a stern look of questioning from passerbys. And there were so many mixed cultures. Yet everyone seemed to be accepting of them all. Even the bum on the sidewalk playing an acoustic and singing Rolling Stones songs was smiled at and even joined by complete strangers as they walked by singing the song with him. I saw a group of young black kids with pots and buckets just pounding away, not even for money, they were just playing for the love of it. I felt I could actually feel good and not feel bad about it.

So anyway, not that anyone cares (or even really knows of him), the Bela Fleck concert was astounding. The garden it was at was gorgeous, it was almost worth the price (only 18$) just to get a view of the place. There was a pond behind the stage and trees and flowers around the entire area. The best part was the area in the garden that it was at was so intimate that the farthest away from the stage you could be was only about 40 yards. We sat up on a hill for a while and watched the crowd come in. As the show started I got a few good pictures of the trio. I was thinking it was going to be banjo, guitar and stand up bass, since it was an acoustic trio, but it was banjo, guitar, and fiddle. Fiddle! It was phenomenal. Not just the fiddle, the entire thing. They played a couple songs I knew, and the rest I had never heard before, but every compostion was incredible. My aunt eventually decided to try to find a spot closer to the stage, so she went up to a point to the left of the stage about 30 feet from it. So I got some even better pictures, a couple of Bela looking right at me as I took them. I only expected one set, cause ya know, it was only 18 bucks, and it was a small setting. But no, they played two sets. It was about two and a half hours long in total. But the highlight by far was the last song they played (not including the encore). At this point I had gotten right up to the front, right in front of it all. I was about 15 feet away. They brought out two guest musicians, one by the name of Chris Thile who played mandolin and another whos name I cant recall who played stand up bass. This particular song lasted about 20 minutes. It was extraordinary. So this whole time I'm feet away from them watching all this stuff happen that I couldn't really wrap my mind around. Needless to say I got the best pictures from this view.

So that was great. The rest of the time was spent reading and sitting on my aunts back porch looking at her garden and watching her dog Charlie sniff the ground and bark at birds. That may not sound exciting but her garden is made up of all different kinds of flowers I dont know the names of that are quite impressive looking. I wrote some things down as I became more and more overwhelmed (in a good way) by certain things, but I dont think I'm gonna share them. Mainly because it's long and I dont think any of you would really care to read it.

My dad came down last thursday and that day we went to a local coffee shop and talked for about an hour and a half on religion, government, and the economic and social differences in our society. I realized he's alot smarter than I've been giving him credit for. My cousin Sarah's graduation from military college was on Saturday. I met my (sort of) uncle and some friends of Sarah's. One of them was quite possibly the nicest, most collected, easygoing guy I've ever met. The best conversation starter I've ever met as well. I hung out with my cousin all day Sunday which was very fun, and then left yesterday for a 13 hour drive home. We got lost in New York for a while so that didnt help.
Dumbest name for a city- Yonkers. That's where we got lost. Yonkers.

Anyway, I've missed you all very very much and I'm sure if it wasnt for you (with the exception of Taylor, that rat bastard!!! No Im kidding, you're cool... sometimes) I would've stayed down there alot longer than I did. And now this Saturday it's off to see the Dave Brubeck Quartet in Boston. Huzah!