LA: Days 1 & 2

On Wednesday, I awoke at 4:30 in Lake Orion to begin my journey west. After an eventful ride to the airport with my dad and sister, I arrived at DTW 20 minutes before my flight took off. Thankfully, the kind woman working security could tell that I was at puke-level panic and she let me scramble through a separate metal detector.

I made my way to the terminal in my socks and stopped to breathe a sigh of relief because they'd just begun to board. 

An account of being poor, I'd been assigned a middle seat. Luckily for me, a couple was put in my row so they offered I take the window in order to sit together. The woman gave me a hang-loose sign and said "Right on" when I complied which I think is note-worthy.

Hey look, a picture from a plane.

After four hours of not speaking aloud, I landed in Vegas!

I won $1.25 on the slots then promptly lost $4.

Aaaand then I saw this.

 Fantastic.

After tweeting 6.2 million times and talking to the fam, I'd finally had enough social interaction to will myself back onto a plane.

An hour later, I arrived at LAX!

A mean woman gave me directions and then this.

(I should've asked her for 15 more 

because I loved every response to the comment contest) 

So, completely by coincidence, Katie, Liana and Brian happened to be flying through LAX the same day on their way to Australia. I decided to wait around for them to meet up before departing. It was this decision that ultimately led me to be at LAX for 9 hours. 

And that was my first day in LA.

 It actually worked out pretty cool because the LAX international departures terminal has a sweet set-up. I ended up chatting with an older businessman, Sammy, for 2 hours while charging our phones. I didn't take a picture of him because I'm learning what boundaries are. But this is the chair he sat in so do your best to imagine him.

Sammy is a really nice man and has done a lot in his life. He speaks 7 languages and tried, unsuccessfully, to teach me Chinese phrases.  We talked about his daughters, one of whom is a producer for ABC and he ended up giving me her number. So that was cool.

 About an hour and half into our conversation he told me about a time he was kidnapped in Mexico. I'm pretty positive my mouth hung open for the duration of his story. 

Apparently, a group of guys grabbed him off of the streets and held him hostage for four days in order to travel around and cash checks in his name. They beat him up and pulled out some of his teeth. He told me he was lucky to be alive and I realized I should probably stop asking questions because being kidnapped is a horrible thing to recount.

 Miraculously, he's a really positive guy and seems to be handling things well. I'm really glad to have met him. 

After Sammy left to go pick up his daughter I wandered around and became more and more delusional and exhausted. Thankfully, my friends arrived right when I was getting myself stuck in a convo with a man and his unkempt soul patch so I really dodged a bullet there.

Jazzed.

I stuck around to have dinner with them before saying goodbye as they headed off to Australia (read about their adventures here: Lianakatiebriandownunder). Afterwards, I went to wait in the underground land of LAX for my shuttle.

By the time I was in the shuttle I'd been awake for 21 hours and was really close to ceasing to function.

After a 45 minute trip I finally arrived at my friend's place in Panorama City (or Shitty as it's called) (we'll get to that). 

My safety wasn't much of a concern, however, because I a pit-bull literally slept on top of me. You can not get more safe than that. 

Her name is Milkshake and she is the best.

Day 2

I woke up and decided to sit in the dark living room and look at Panorama City crime statistics for 2 hours.

 Don't ever do that.

The only thing that prevents me from carrying Milkshake with me everywhere I go is a lesson I learned two summers ago when I went through a phase of Wikipediang serial killers.

We don't need to get too much into it, but for some reason I researched all of the gruesome details of American serial killers and didn't run alone for a month. 

Now, I'm infinitely wiser than that Allie I rationalized that just because I read the crime statistics it doesn't mean I will automatically get murdered. (BUT DON'T WORRY I'M STILL RUNNING WITH PEPPER SPRAY, MOM)

After becoming brave and taking a shower, I spent the day talking with the guys in the house, e-mailing people about jobs and googling more stuff about housing. Around 3:00 I remembered what eating was and walked a block to the nearest grocery store.

The place is called "Seafood Market Superstore" but I in actuality is just a hodgepodge of asian stuff.

So you get a sense, this is the noodle aisle NOT the oriental aisle:

 

 Oh look, eggs:

Just in case you ever happened to buy a seedless watermelon:

By some stroke of luck, I found a few grocery items I was famliar with and made my way back home.

 Unfortunately, a pipe burst in the house I'm staying at so their kitchen is inoperable. 

Lol.

So, for dinner I just threw together a PB, honey, and carrot sandwich.

E-mail me if ya want the recipe

In my defense, this was my only option at Little Asia for jelly:

I'm really tired and a little overwhelmed by the search but each day more and more things are coming together for me. So, I'll keep on it and keep you guys posted.

Sorry this one isn't very funny or enjoyable to read. 

Oh well.

"We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the porpoise of profiting by dearly bought experience. " -George Washington