five thoughts

i have {five} thoughts to blog about today
random thoughts
you can read them all if you please

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-one-

what a great day

when i got home from paris i had {5} surprises

letters from home

laura. ash pawlak. mom. dad. g & g ganje

{thank you}

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-two-

since she doesn’t blog

i am going to write a little about her

my sister {ash}

everyone that knows me---> knows her also

so i will update you

she is livin the life in guatemala

she has been there for {3} months & has {1} to go

she studies spanish for 5 hours every day

she is having an amazing experience

{who wouldn’t be jealous of her life?}

her & her cute friends

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-three-

lets name this baby

i have some creative minds that follow my blog

{so please}

i'm asking for your help

what can i name my travel backpack

we go everywhere together

i want to name her

because she (or he) is the {1} thing that will see everything i see

it is red--- but please no {big red} or {cinnamon bear}

they have already been tossed out

---give your ideas---

and don't mind how dis-GUSTING i look in this photo

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-four-

i love technology

it can keep families together when there are miles in between

last night

ash, M & D, and i were able to 3-way talk

i mentioned in an earlier blog that our family is in 3 different countries right now

yesterday we all got to talk via skype in the same conversation

best thing ever

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-five-

last thing on my mind

i am going to share a story

(it is a rather {long} story so feel free to pass it by)

i will try to tell this to the best of my knowledge

but i will have you know that i was {crying}

& traumatized from the whole situation

so i mean the incident is blurry

it was monday afternoon:

i was sick, i had just been on a 3 hour train ride home from paris

i had not had any sleep from the night before

i was on the bus in geneva 3 stops from my house

all of a sudden the police jumped on the bus and demanded that everyone pull out their bus passes

{quick background:}

Geneva has a great transit system. Buses are constantly running all over the city so it is very convenient. You pay 3 francs for a ticket every time you get on or you can buy a monthly bus pass. Some girls told me they had been in Geneva for a year and have never been checked. It is called the honor system and you can choose to risk it and never buy one (which lots of people actually do) or you can just get a pass. Being the “honorable” girl I am, I got a pass. Better safe than sorry.

So back to the story:

I was on the bus and the police jump on. They tell everyone to get their passes out. So I start to look in my backpack when I get this terrible pit in my stomach. Immediately I knew that my pass was not in there. It was sitting on my dresser at home. Because I had left to Paris I didn’t pack it. In my head I was just thinking, look through your stuff and maybe they will pass you by... yea right. So the man stops at me and I try and communicate that I am looking for my pass in my huge backpack. Right next to me there was a gypsy man on the bus he tried to jump out of the door and the other police man tackled him, this was when the tears started to fall. In French he told me to get up and the bus stopped. Me, the gypsy, and the two police men got off the bus. I had NO CLUE what they were shouting at me, but at this point the tears were streaming. I was crying for these reasons:

-i was humiliated that they created a scene on the bus & i was kicked off

-i had no clue what he was saying to me, & i assumed nothing good because his tone was enough

-i was an honest person, i HAVE a pass, i just left it at home

-i had gone through my stuff so frantically on the bus, who knew if i left any of it on there when we got off so fast

-maybe if i cried hard enough, he would let me off... YEA RIGHT

(they hate americans)

So there we were, sitting on the curb and I could barely breath (because I was so sick) but also because I was crying so hard. The bus had already drove off. He asked for my passport and started to take down all my information.

Then this sweet lady walked by and could hear my English as I was battling and she stopped to interpret. She was able to compromise with them. If I went to the station and showed my proof within 24 hours I could get out of the 80 franc ticket. I don’t have 80 dollars to spend on a bus fine. So he handed me the ticket, still had the nerve to say "au revoir" (have a good day) and then left.

My tears subsided and I walked the rest of the way home. When I got to my house there was my pass, right where I left it.. my photo smiling back at me.

And then I laughed, what a day!

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there are the {five} random updates on my life

.have a good wednesday.

i miss you all

with love from switzerland

xoxo