1st Day

All day I've struggled to find what this post should be about. I kept on thinking of intriguing and symbolic beginnings to my soon-to-be beautifully phrased recollection of the day's events, but I failed to think of anything to follow up these starts with. I realized why. I am at the beginning. I can't write a middle or end to a story about a journey that only has just begun.
So instead I will list all the genius beginnings I thought of, and I'm sure that one will jump out as an appropriate beginning to my fantastic journey soon enough.

1. The day before I left from Maine, I looked through some old photo albums. In one from my childhood I found a letter from Mr. Rogers to me when I was 3 1/2. He had written to me after I wrote an angry letter asking him to stop calling me neighbor because my name was Nisse. He ended his detailed and cordial response with "You make each day a special day -- just because you're you."

2. Everyone of us has let ourselves get taken advantage of before because the person who is taking advantage of us is too stupid to realize what they are doing. At the hostel I'm staying, we get free breakfast. Really this just means that we get the materials to make pancakes and we have to wait in line to use the pans, butter and pancake batter. After waiting in line behind three people, it was finally my turn. I started making my pancakes and putting them on my plate. This bearded European asked me if he could have the next one. I told him he could have the pan after the girl that was behind me, but I don't think he heard. Once I placed my first pancake on my plate he took it and placed it on his plate. I was so taken aback that I didn't say anything. I didn't want to embarrass the guy who obviously didn't understand that I wasn't his personal chef, so I quickly made my next two in the pan and placed them on my plate and took my plate away as his greedy little fork was reaching for my pancake. Afterward all I could think was - that would have been a perfect in had he been a pretty girl. Instead I will avoid eye-contact with him whenever I run into him in the hostel.

3. I was walking around town today and happened to walk by church. While I always feel uncomfortable by any form of religion, this one was worse because it had a list of demands for passerbys. They were: Pray, Serve, Do, and Evangelize. I had never heard that word in that form. I hope I never do again. But I will. I know I will.

4. Catching the last bus out of the airport, I didn't get into the hostel I was to stay at until it was 1 am. I walked in to see a no vacancy sign. My heart sank. I asked the desk manager if there were any other hostels close by. She said that there was a possible option across the street, but it was probably full. I crossed the street with my increasingly heavy bags; expecting the worst. Luckily they had a few beds left. Even luckier, when I went up to the rooms each door had a large flag from a different country painted on it. I was staying in Norway. Not the best flag, but far from the worst. Right next door was Macedonia, which looks even cooler when painted onto a door. I had fallen into the right hostel.

5. When I went through customs I was taken aside to be searched. This was because I was traveling alone to a place I had no friends, and had limited resources. Also because I was using an expired passport and copy of my birth-certificate as ID. When the customs officer was looking through my bag he asked what I did. I told him I was a comedian ... sort of. I had nothing better to say; no better description of what I do. I joked that there was little other reason for me to be wearing this purple coat. He didn't laugh. I guess I should rethink my chosen profession. When looking through my bag he ran across my writing book which has the first act of a play I just wrote in it. It also has some outlining of that play. When he opened the book I said "that's a play I'm writing... It's about a terrorist... actually, which is ... ironic...ish." "And you're going to make that into a comedy?" he asked with his blonde crew cut and 6'5" Aryan frame staring down at me. "I guess so." I feebly responded. "Good luck getting the audience for that one." "Thanks, I'll need it." I laughed. He didn't.

6. I saw two homelessmen discussing what their favorite Pokemon was. I never thought poverty was funny until now.