Not having internet at home temporarily is a total pain in the arse because I do everything online, I realized.
Thus, to get online now, I've been coming up to my two favorite internet cafes in Dinkytown, Minneapolis -- Espresso Royale and Hard Times. The latter might usurp the former because they (generally) play awesome metal. At least, one of the baristas introduced me to some amazing sounding atmospheric metal by a band named The Acacia Strain tonight.
Makes me miss living here so much; speaking of which, I've formulated tentative plans to move here at some point next year. However, too much is in limbo right now for me to be any more specific than that.
In other news, I still haven't been able to buy my ticket to London and Israel because my mother has recently borrowed almost all of my money to pay for two MRI scans that her doctor felt were imperative, but I'm still looking forward to my trip so much. But at this point, actually buying the ticket is entirely contingent on when her and Khaled receive a settlement from their insurance company, which sounds like it may happen in the next few weeks. They'll find out for sure on Thursday.
In the meantime, I've been preparing. Gavin served as the initial motivating force for my trip, but he's been so distant lately, and I've found plenty of other reasons for traveling. Primarily, seeing my Jess after what seems like forever (since summer of 2010) will be epic in and of itself, and having her show me around London for a week sounds like a dream come true. I'm so outrageously flattered that she's actually taking the week off for the time that I'll be there -- she's a defense attorney for a large international firm, she's always extremely busy, and even the idea that she would put some of her busy life on hold to do this for me really solidifies her already immovable standing as one of the closest and best friends I've ever had in my life. I've never actually spent any time in Europe before (layovers in airports aside), so this will not only be a brand new experience for me, but following that with another year in Israel makes me look forward to the next year so much.
That's right. My aunt Deborah wants me to come join her at this job she she claims can net me 4k a month, but above all, it's an excuse to live outside of the country for awhile. Then, when I do come back to America, I plan on going right back to school to finally finish up my degree and start thinking of law schools. I'm thinking I'll come back for summer or fall semester of next year, so either May or August. We'll see how everything works out. But I really do need to go back to school finish up -- I've been out of school since Anton died in November 2009, and this new medication they have me on has been nothing short of a miracle; it completely changed my life for the better. Anton's death utterly destroyed me for so long, and it's so funny how Gavin has no idea whatsoever of just how much meeting him dramatically changed my life and finally enabled me to accept the irreversibility of Anton's death, really facilitating the almost insurmountable task of moving on after something like that (not that I thought his death was reversible or anything, but the death of anyone as smart as he was with such a bright future at the tender age of only 23 hasn't become any more comprehensible with time by any means!).
Anyways, no doubt that it'll be so nice to spend a substantial amount of time living in another country, it'll be a great financial opportunity, and when I do return to America next year, I'll have a plethora of what I know will be life changing experiences under my belt. I need that fresh perspective on life that traveling gives you; my life has been so stagnant for far too long.
I can't ever go this long without getting out of Minnesota again.
(More about my plans for next year later.)
