Coreyoria World Tour

I'm home! Arrived back in St. Louie the night before last. After driving through 15 states and stopping in several of them, I have returned. And I must say that it does feel good to be home. My room is still an utter disaster ... clothes and crap have exploded everywhere, but I'll clean it up in good time. I really did have an amazing journey and getting the chance to not only see Israel, but also live there was such an opportunity (one that I hope wasn't merely "once in a lifetime"). I miss all the great people I met there and I have a good feeling I'll be in touch with a number of them. Back to reality, though. That means job searching, cold weather ... but also good things like spending time with friends and exploring a city I've never lived in before. It was great to end my trip with waterparks, swamp buggies and ocean waves, but all of the driving was exhausting and I'm definitely ready to be in one place ... for a little while anyway. ;)

Thanks for keeping track of me and my goings-on while I was abroad. As always, I'll keep it updated with my plans for future travel and eventually pick up where I left off next time I go on an adventure.

I just wanted to put up these pictures of this waterslide we went on that had a funnel because it was so rad. It's kind of random, but here:





Awesome, huh? Well soon enough my very own pictures will be posted on Flickr. Some of them are up there already from the beginning of my trip. But I have yet to upload the rest or get them organized. It should be done soon seeing as I have a sinus infection and little energy, which gives me plenty of time to spend on the computer. :)

Stay great,
Corey

Okay, so it's what? 5:20 in the morning and I am abnormally awake. My body clock is so screwed up after going back in time 8 hours and then taking a 17 hour roadtrip, that even I don't know what to think. I guess my life conclusion that jet lag is psychological and a war that can be won with perserverance of the mind is, after all, wrong. Damn you, jet lag, for causing me to be tired when everyone else is awake and to be awake when I should be sleeping like a baby! What to do ... what to do. Could this have anything to do with the Claritin-D I was forced to take last night as the result of a killer headache and uncontrollable sneezing yesterday? Ugh, I'm a mess!

I have naturally decided to get up and blog after a fit of internal rage caused me to pop out of bed and Shea asked me, "What the hell are you doing?" Me - "I can't sleep; I'm going on the computer." He - "You're a freak, Polk." Yeah, yeah, what else is new? How long was I supposed to wait there for? For the first time in a week, I feel full of energy. Why is it now? Ahhhh! Jet lag, though art my bane!!!!

Anyway, I'm in Florida, safe and sound. Our New York City excursion got nixed as a result of Brendan's checking out process being more of an ordeal that we had previously thought. And since going into the city can be somewhat of a process and we were low on time, it got tossed aside. Moma and Teany will have to wait for some other time, but I was truthfully glad to be out of the Northeast and heading south, as was Brendan. To D.C., the city where as far as we can tell - the sun is always shining. What a beautifully clean space full of preppies. Brendan feels at home there and I a little out of place, but we both agree it's wonderful.

We stayed with his sister for the weekend, mostly going out to eat and walking around. We did get a chance to go to the Holocaust Museum and WWII Memorial, both of which were crowded and impressive. I'd probably learn a lot by living in D.C., because there are so many museums and places to go to learn about history without reading history books, which I cannot do for some reason without falling sound asleep. Where's a history book when you need one anyway?

Sunday was awesome because I got to meet up with Cassie, a fun and amazing person that I was fortunate enough to meet whilst traveling through Europe last summer. Right around the time of the anniversary of that unbelievable trip, too. So we sat around in cafes, perusing through photos on the MacBook Pro that I advised her to buy (what a sweet computer), reminised a bit, and then she headed south again (she had been in D.C. coincidentally over this weekend for her sister's bacherlorette party). Cassman, it was so great to see you!

Monday around noon we began our own trip to the sunshine state and at around 4 in the morning, we decended upon Boynton Beach. Yesterday we went for an impromptu swim in the Atlantic Ocean. Luckily we had just been at the mall buying new flip-flops and had both purchased swimsuits on sale. We were just going to take a drive, but this was much better. Now finding the beach my family normally goes to proved hard. So what do I do when I'm lost? Call my mom of course. She always knows what to do and where to go, so I call her often for these types of things. Brendan refered to me as Batman and to her as my Alfred. Haha. Mom, you make a good Alfred!

Things in store: more beach, maybe a water park, a swamp-buggy trip through the Everglades with my grandparents, South Beach in Miami, and oh so much more. Stay tuned.

Signing off,
Bruce Wane

TIME article:
The Toughest Airline Security of All

So I promised details from my hellish journey back home, but since I don't really feel like hashing it back out and reliving those moments, I'm just going to insert a passage from an e-mail that I sent my friend telling him what happened. And it goes a little something like this:

"Man do I have a story about my flight. The sand dunes were great that night, but being that everyone had already left the kibbutz by the time I left, my last night seemed pretty much uneventful because almost everyone went to bed by 12:30. This means I sat around by myself for 2 hours. My taxi to the airport was fine and then it was pretty much hell after that. I was interogated by 7 people at the airport, very personal and demeaning questions, and then they emptied all of my belongings out of my bags, going so far as to empty medicines out bottles and gum out of wrappers. They just dumped everything into buckets - forget about any organization I might have had. I don't know if I fit the description of a Lebonese terrorist or some shit, but they were like hell-bent on not letting me go. Then they had to hold the plane for me because it took so long and it was almost impossible to pack everything back into my bags. I had been in a little room with these people for 3 hours! At this point I also hadn't slept for about 24 so it felt like a nightmare. My flights went fine other than feeling a bit like a sardine whose limbs would go numb everytime it tried to fall asleep, but then Brendan was supposed to meet me at JFK but didn't make his train in it so I was forced to drag all of my shit onto the subway by myself. Ugh! I was so jet-lagged and exhausted, plus the heat and crowd ... I wanted to break down and cry. Luckily, he met me at Grand Central where he bought me a smoothie and I tried to recompose my sanity. Still it seemed like the longest day of my life and not quite as smooth as I had imagined! Chimpanzee that ... "

Needless to say, I'm happy to have all of that behind me. I understand why they went through such stringent security measures, eepecially in light of everything that has come out over the past few days. I sure am glad I left before all of this and that my flights were on time and I'm here now. As soon as Brendan gets back from checking out of his apartment, we'll hit the road.

Hasta la vista, baby!
Corey

Well, I am home safe and sound. And from the looks of it, I got out before a bad situation got worse. I'm happy to be home, in the company of friends and family. I had quite the ordeal with security on my way back and it was certainly a bumpy return home, but now I'm here safely and that's what matters. I'll post more on that later on that chaotic mess of a trip.

Anyway, Brendan will be officially moved out of his apartment tomorrow (woot! Way to get out of that hell hole, B-dawg!), which means we can commence our little roadtrip. Tomorrow we plan on going into NYC, going to MOMA, and then to Teany. Yea! After that we're going to drive to D.C. to visit with his sisters for a few days. Good times, good times. I pretty much fell in love with D.C. last time I was there, so I can't wait to be reunited.

Take care, everyone!
Corey

To say the least, it's been a very intense last few days here on Kibbutz Ketura. I'm feeling very torn about leaving, even though most of my friends here have already packed up and shipped out themselves. Still, I find my self increasingly attached to this sun-baked piece of desert and to the memories I have made with the people I'll miss.

Friday was my final day cleaning hotel rooms. It was quite the last day, too. On one hand I received my first and last tip for cleaning rooms. 20 shekels! Woot. On the other hand, it was from the most obnoxious tour group we've ever had. They were Canadians and not Americans, thank G-D, but whats the diff - they were those stereotypical Japs in the worst sense of the word. Horrid little things that were completely spoiled and walked around like they were better than everyone else. So I'm cleaning the kitchen in these little apartment like units at the hotel, washing the dishes, changing the trash bags ... clanging around a bit in the kitchen. There are four rooms attached and from one of the rooms I hear, "Whoever is in the kitchen needs to shut up!" Being the only one in the kitchen, I kind of shrugged and continued on. But then again, "Whoever is in the kitchen needs to shut up!" Still, I ignored and went about my business. However, when I heard, "Seriously, whoever is in the kitchen needs to shut the fuck up!" - well, I had had enough. So I opened the door and said, "Excuse me?" There were like 10 girls in the room having a sleepover and boy were they shocked when they saw me. One of the girls whispered, "It's someone from the kibbutz ..." Ha. "Oh my G-D, we're sorry. We're so sorry." "Yeah," I said, "I'm just trying to help you guys out by cleaning up. I'm sorry if it's a bit noisy, but I'm just doing my job." Then I got apologized to and thanked over and over again. It was okay though, because the tips evened things out. Even so, what a last day!

Friday night all of the volunteers went to a neighboring kibbutz and danced the night away and last night there was a good-bye party for a few of us girls that are leaving. There was wine and chardonnay so I can't complain. Then last night there was a world beat musical performance and I walked away with a free CD from the band so no complaints there. Also, a guy from the beginning of my time here came back to visit and we rode the infamous wheel of death (pictures will be posted in a short while and you'll be able to see it in all its glory).

This morning I awoke before sunrise to catch it rise over the Jordanin mountains. Martina, Sarah, and I climbed atop bales of hay to get the perfect shots. Hay is sharp and gives you splinters. I don't recommend climbing on it unless you're trying to capture the sun rising over Jordanian mountains or something equally spectacular. It wouldn't be worth it.

Oh, another thing I did was take a walk out to the "cow graveyard." Where they used to take the cows when they died. All that's left is bones now. It's a creepy site and you'd never know it was there unless someone else showed you, like many things in the desert.

Today lots of people left and we exchanged information and I was given a photo CD and I realized how much I am going to miss this place and the people and got all sad. It's a bittersweet feeling, but good things are coming my way so I'll smile as a wave good-bye.

Tomorrow holds in store a trip to the sand dunes and then I am going to Eilat with a friend of mine for drinks before getting to the airport at the hellish hour of 3am to start my trip back home. Okay, someone is waiting for the computer and I'm done hogging it.

Shalom,
Corey

I am now in the final days of my stay here in Israel. And while I'm not necessarily "excited" about leaving the Kibbutz and parting with all of the great people I've met here, I know I'm moving on to something positive and bright. I'm looking forward to living in a new city with good friends (Chicago - here I come!). I'm looking forward a little roadtrip with one of my favorite people in the world. And I'm so happy to have done this and experienced the things I have. Also, I'm thankful to be done cleaning hotel rooms! You can't believe how happy I am that tomorrow is the last day I will have to clean up other peoples' trash and shit and hair out of drains. Really dreadful stuff, but considering this not too bad because of the great people and environment I was surrounded by. Not a day went by where the mountains and desert became less impressive and beautiful. The heat I could maybe do without, though I feel I've adapted quite well. It's the upcoming winter I now fear. So I check out of here Monday and at three o'clock in the morning begin my journey back to the States.

Until next time,
Corey