whirlwind vacation
I am back in the real world after Minicon and my trip to San Francisco for Colleen & Rodrigo's wedding.
There's so much i want to record here but i know me and I'd better at least get a summary down.
Minicon was great! Much positive interaction. i never feel like i volunteer much because i have so much fun doing it, but if i count up the hours - i put in almost 2 full work days (including Tuesday and Wednesday setup) so i guess i shouldn't feel bad.
I wish I'd had more time to digest Minicon before my trip to CA, bc it's all a haze now. .. but i had a good time. :)
ok on to CA!
I don't seem to travel much anymore. I've been promising Colleen I'd come visit her for. .. yikes - over a decade. But it took her wedding to get me to face my travel fears and actually do it. and I'm so glad i was able to!
the trip started well with the guy who scanned my bag agreeing with my "Lyanna + Rhaegar = Jon?" shirt. Lol!
The flight was fine & they were able to pick me up at the airport.
CA looks SO different from The Midwest! I kept taking pictures of the landscape but they just don't capture it.
They put me up on they're couch/futon and it was such a blessing to be there and get to spend so much time with them as they prepared. They are amazing individuals and i have faith they will be a strong couple. this was my first time meeting Rodrigo in person. He was probably the most stressed he's ever been in his life (There was a death in the family i don't want to go into) and he showed amazing coping skills and self awareness.
The wedding itself was transformative. they based it on the Cosmic Mass that i think Matthew Fox started. So unlike any other wedding. In acommunity center. They put up 6 altars (focus stations): family, self, earth, romance, red tent, & friendship. I can't capture how amazing it was so I'll list the parts here and hope that the video comes out. Conch shell, greeting each other like long lost friends, tech difficulties that we sang through, video from Matthew Fox, circle dance, poem: we have come to be danced, 20 min of freeform community dance, pelting each other with flowers, via negative with permission to cry, blessings, vows, and being wrapped in the quilt we all contributed to. There was also this amazing song that goes from i am not afraid to i am so afraid and back. I've never seen a wedding that allowed space for how scary the step is and it was beautiful.
my take away from the wedding was that i need some thing in my life that allows me to connect more.
There so much more!
Colleen and Rodrigo gave me more of their time the next day before they left on their honeymoon! They took me to see 2 amazing views. One on a hill in El Cerrito and the other at the Berkley Marina. Then cafe gratitude. And they dropped me at Games of Berkley. I wondered in Berkley for an hour (saw a protest for homeless rights) and then took BART to Debbie's (i can't remember how to do lj tags right now). Alan and Debbie fed me a scrumptious meal and we caught up and then they let me go to bed early. I slept 11 hours! What a gift.
Friday was my 1 fully tourist day On my own. I rode 2 cable cars, visited ghiradelli square, rented a bike and biked across the Golden Gate Bridge! took a ferry passed Alcatraz, rode a city bus, saw the women's building, ate organic ice cream, visited borderland books, visited dandelion chocolates, made it to the gaming meetup group I'd looked up, and introduced 2 young gamers to creme brulee at the little shop around the corner from gaming. What a day!
Saturday Debbie let me tag along to her Tai Chi class, then i met up with my friend Sarah who i know from Jr high. We ate at Gracias Madre, visited Bolerium Books, Clarion alley's murals, and Good Vibrations. Then BART and flight home.
People were so friendly and helpful. Including 1 time in Oakland when i stopped to write a note on my phone and a woman came out of her house in a bathrobe and asked if i needed help finding something!
I may never get out to California again. This trip will be a warm memory of friendship and adventure. I am so lucky to have been able to go thanks to the help of my beloved friends. :)
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