Things Indians Love: A Short Experiment in Cultural Insensitivity
(or, feel free to call me a douche for making this list)

10. Jewellery
9. Honking their horns
8. Putting coloured lights on stuff
7. Driving in the wrong lane
6. Decorating their cars (sometimes with LIVE GARDENS)
5. Mangos
4. Elephants
3. Shakira
2. Speed bumps (if speed bumps aren't available, potholes will do)

And the number one thing Indians love: giving me the neck every goddamn time we have a chicken for dinner.

P.S. I'm home. :D

As I was getting off the train at Philly station, the dude behind me started spraying on cologne. Note that this dude was enormous--and by enormous I do not mean fat, I mean Hagrid--and getting down luggage for all the girls on the train. Then he leans over to me and says,

"Hey, sweetheart, do you have a boyfriend?"

And I couldn't help it. I just burst out laughing. Like, I don't know, I suppose I should have been slightly scared that this enormous be-cologned dude was hitting on me, but it just struck me as hilarious somehow.

Anyway, I said, "No, but I have a girlfriend."

He looks at the girl just past me and goes, "You too?" and she gives this kind of terrified nod (I don't think she heard all of what was going on), and he goes, "Awww, man."

So, uh, idk. XD

Also, I watched Cairo Time finally on the train. Omg it was so great. ;____; And made me wibble all over the place. Also, Alexander Siddig remains really goddamn hot and also incredibly funny and expressive--I laughed out loud a couple of times. It was superb. Except that there was not any making out, and I felt somewhat cheated, especially because Mr. Siddig and his romance kept going past what I like to call Soujin's Nose-Proximity Kiss Ratio, which says that the closer the noses of two characters in a film become the more likely it is that they are going to kiss. Mr. Siddig and Ms. Clarkson's noses were totally past the necessary proximity for kissing a whole bunch of times, and they never actually kissed.

Also, God, I had forgotten how long he is. He has to fold himself up in order to fit in, like, normal chairs. It's hilarious. He's so lanky and tall and ridiculous and has such great crinkles around his eyes gahhh. And his accent is to die for.

I seriously should be married to this man.

I board in about a half hour, and then it's seven hours to Medway! :P Luckily I packed more films and some books and I have fic to write, so I should be able to stay un-bored-to-death.

I am planning my untimely death from pre-school nerviness. The professors, they keep sending me e-mails! I have to write down all this stuff and I haven't got a notebook here with me! Ngggah. Also my God no one sells Diet Dr. Pepper it is completely immoral and barbaric.

But the sunsets here are really nice. The lake tends to turn white from the light shining off it, and it stretches pretty far, white and still and shining.

Maria finally stopped getting angry at me; we've been watching loads of X-Men: Evolution, and it's cheered her up unbelievably. It's so nice to have her reasonably happy again. And to-morrow we're going home; I'll pack up the last of my things and by Sunday afternoon I should be settled in at school again, which I'll be glad to be. I think most of anything I hate transitioning. I don't mind changes, and I have a hard time feeling displaced; I sort of make where-ever I am my home; but I really, really hate travelling to get there, or the jittery feeling you get when something's about to change but hasn't gotten around to it yet. Ugh ugh.

I think the Depakote might be working, though. The screaming in my head has gone away, and I don't really feel as angry any more. I still get irritated and stressed out, but I'm not just absolutely furious at everyone. So! Little forward steps.

I am sitting in the Philadelphia train station right now, barely conscious because I took my medicine on the train and slept three hours, and it's almost five o'clock. (I'll be home in two hours! Well, three, counting the drive, but at least I'll be with my family in two.) I really don't like travelling.

Anyway, you should all check out this post by holyschist, which contains a ton of good links for IBARW and on feminism and beauty and some other topics. I didn't get around to doing anything for IBARW because I was in Massachusetts, but maybe I will get something belated up some time this week.

I am the only person in the train station carrying a giant purple and gold paper flower! :D So there's that. And I'm sitting right in front of my gate dammit with my flower and my computer, BECAUSE I CAN. I love Philly station and its smallness (almost as much as I love mhari). There was a nearly-full moon outside my window all the way here from Westwood; it was cheese-yellow and sat there for me all night long.

Had an adventure getting home. Got in to New York Central Station with an hour and ten minutes to the time I thought I should be on my train, and then, because of some strange and inexplicable survival instinct which I will never place or understand, asked a security guard whether my ticket was okay. She directed me to Information, where I was told that my ticket was all wrong and I needed to exchange it, and I should go to Tickets and exchange it for the correct one, and leaving on a train ten minutes earlier than the one I thought I was one. Put me at fifty minutes to train time.

So I went to Tickets and was in line for half an hour, getting highly nervous and chattering at innocent bystanders; I eventually got to a clerk. It was then twenty minutes to train time.

The clerk looked at my ticket and made calculations for ten minutes before determining that I could exchange my ticket, but it would cost upwards of forty dollars, whereupon I burst into hysterical tears because I had no money whatsoever except for a nickle in my pocket.

Ten minutes to train time.

The clerk, who I imagine was really not enjoying his day at that point, told me to go to Customer Service, where I proceeded to cry hysterically on the clerk there while saying 'I want to go home, I want to go home'. She finally calmed me down enough to figure out what it was I needed, and immediately summoned another clerk, explained the situation, and got my ticket stamped with a red stamp that made it okay to use. They both informed me that I did not have to pay anything extra and shooed me off towards my gate.

Two minutes to train time.

I ran through Central Station with my altogether too much luggage, still crying, and got to my gate, down the stairs, and onto the train just as it left.

I never want to go anywhere ever again.

(But it was the most beautiful time I have ever spent with anybody, I don't know how to say it. I didn't want ever to go home when I was there.)

I just woke up. ^^ I sort of literally collapsed at four o'clock and I've been sleeping ever since. Which--I know I'm not supposed to take naps, Zara! But I was walking into doors and having trouble talking coherently, so I think I was addled enough I actually needed to. ^^ I've been sort of getting five hours sleep every night lately.

So I slept to-day--

Except that I got up at seven and went to innercity, to a church in the Bad Part of Town where our church has been making breakfast and lunch for these teeny little hungry kids for the last few years--it's basically, they go to church camp and they get free food. And it's pretty good free food, since Tony, who organises it, ran a pizza parlour for twenty years and knows what he's doing as far as cooking goes. So we made them kajillions of scrambled egg and bacon sandwiches this morning, and Tony made me cut the crusts off every single sandwich, because he pointed out that kids hate crusts. I don't know whether this holds true for all kids--I know I liked crusts when I was little--but I obeyed, and cut crusts off of five loaves of bread. (It was magic bread! Every time I thought we were out somebody would produce another loaf out of nowhere!)

And then we took a short break, and I went to Barnes&Noble and read Fantastic Four comics and bought Waen a book about Harley Davidsons, since that's her new hobby.

Then it was back to the church and we made pizzas. We made, good lord, we made eleven pizzas, and the kids ate them all but two, one of which went home with me and one with the lady who gave me a ride home. There were maybe twenty-four kids total. Anyway, after pizza there was ice cream, and Ann and I went out and sat at the tables with them while everybody had ice cream, and I got into a long discussion with a boy who couldn't talk, which--I figured out pretty early that I couldn't figure out his hand gestures, because I fail, so I got a pen and paper out of my bag and he wrote to me and I answered back. And there was this little girl who was absolutely minuscule, and she kept touching my jewellery (I wear a lot of bracelets and shinies, because I am Vain as Anything), and I asked her which was her favourite and she liked the pink one, so I gave it to her. It was too big, but I told her she'd probably grow into it. And then the boy, whose name was Mike, was all OMG YOU GAVE IT TO HER. And I said ^^ Yes, well, she liked it. And he said I LIKE YOUR NECKLACE. And I said Nooo, my necklaces aren't for give, sorry. <3 Because my necklace is my cross Mum gave me for a confirmation present. He was kind of disappointed, but he still gave me big hugs before they left.

And then I got a ride home, and she DROVE THROUGH RED LIGHTS and I did not breathe much on that drive, and then I was home and Waen and I made an octopus cake. It looks awesome. It's Waen's first ever all-by-herself cake, actually, and it turned out great, which is really good. <333 And she's really happy with it. And after we did that I fell over.

So to-morrow we go to Wellesboro to stay with cousin Anne for the fourth of July, because they have pretty fireworks in Wellesboro and she likes us to be there. Which means I get to wear the sheep nightshirt again. Which will be win.

Hey, Taira, lovey? Happy birthday. ♥ I hope it was everything beautiful. I love you.

And I'm leaving, I'm getting up to-morrow at five-thirty and leaving, so to-night I need to wash my hair and pack and everything, and I'll certainly forget something, I know I will--

But I'll still do my weekly mailing list, and I'll try to make some telephone calls, and maybe I'll do a voicepost, though I haven't been able to in a long time. But otherwise I will be utterly and entirely without computer, so. I will see everybody--sometime next weekend, I'm not sure when. Wish me luck! I go to placate the insane cousin-y creatures! And to hide from The Aunt Who Hates Me! And to write down grandparent conversations for Luisa! And stuff! Yes, stuff! With lots of exclamation marks!

Right-o. ^_^ See you soon. ♥

Okay, D.C. people, mmebahorel got us dinner reservations. :D Information is here, please look. That means you.

In other news, my body hates me.

And Orson Welles is ridiculously icky.

(Must write next chapter of Catechism. Is all planned out. But to-morrow is baking day, and also I have Religion = Love group from three to five. Mmm, busy.)