the end is near!

Today Kim made Sarah and I's final schedule. March 31st is my last day of working at the Austing Haus. April 4th is my last day in Taos.

I am ready to go, but that does not mean I will not be a little sad when March 31st arrives.

I suppose I have a few regrets-  maybe I should have tried to make more friends or possibly not written people off quite so quickly.  I also should have worked less and instead left more time for exploration of this strange but lovely environment.

Besides those things (which I don't actually completely regret), I am unbelievably proud of myself. I survived  four and a half months of bitter cold, loneliness, and men on vacation (I will explain later my absolute abhorring of men on vacation). I was mostly able to stay happy, too; my calls to Katherine complaining about how miserable I was were relatively infrequent.

Its also hard to regret anything when I think of how much I changed, how many things I learned to do, and all of the beauty I was able to experience here. First of all, I was able to make five very good friends, Sarah, Kim, Seth, Bobby and Maria. I hiked so many incredible trails, with and without snow shoes. I learned how to throw pots on a potter's wheel. I went tubing. I learned to ski! I visited an Earthship and befriended a group of wonderful hippie boys who lived inside of it. I learned how to cook and bake a few things all by myself. I sewed a bunch of purses and made a quilt. I read at least a book a week. I wrote a number of half finished stories, and three complete ones that I am sort of proud of. I visited a couple of different hot springs. I perfected my texan accent. I had many fascinating, hilarious, and enjoyable conversations with guests from all over the world. I didn't cry or yell at any of our less pleasant guests. I refused to put up with any shit from any shitty men.

This leads directly to my explanation as to why men on vacation are the WORST. Well, to begin, men on vacation are usually drunk. Drunk men are often awful without being on vacation. When they are on vacation, they are away from the restrictions of their 'normal' life, and act as if they have no restrictions at all. They are loud, rude, clumsy, and unapologetic. This is now my second job dealing with 'men on vacation,' and you wouldn't believe some of the lines I have heard. For the most part, I have never been seriously offended, but I would certainly prefer to live the rest of my life without being asked to accompany another old, hairy, overweight man in the hot tub, or asked to give a slurring, wobbly man a kiss in order to get my well deserved tip. At this point I could write a damn good book on 'how to not pick up a girl and instead leave her totally repulsed.'

Not all men on vacation are bad. There have certainly been a few who I invited conversation from, and maybe one or two who I would have rather not left the bar or hotel at all.

There will be more pictures to come of my recent Taos adventures.

In less than a month Sarah and I will begin our journey to the Grand Canyon. In a month and a week I will be headed towards Austin.  In a month and a half there might be some Montana. In two months I will be HOME.