I am in Frankfurt, Germany!

Basically I need to use Live Journal more.
The more I read about the Dalai Lama the cooler he becomes to me.
I keep thinking about his words...
Here in Germany.
It is beautiful here.
Germany is basically one big huge forest with charming, divinely clean villages and classy, so-clean-you could-lick-the-street metropolitan areas.
I met a nice girl on the flight. Her name is Shabnam and she has a young boy of six named Damien. They were flying to see the family.
Shabnmam is half Iranian.
I don't know why I feel like talking about Shabnam except she was such a sweetheart and to bring up how many wonderful and diverse people we have met.
Ava was a girl from C'ote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) who was just so sweet and so stunning she made the flight much better.
See, we all live in Austin, but what happened was that Atlantans apparently aren't used to ice, just as Austinites aren't.
An ice storm blew through Atlanta and many flights were delayed.
Therefore the trip to get here outside of Frankfurt took 48 hours. It was scheduled to take 12. Delta did put us on first class and pay for our hotels and meals.
They treat you like a goddess on first class. It is so fun.
It is worth every bit of the fuss to get to come here because Pia (my cousin with whom my mom and brother and I are staying presently) is so happy to see us.
We are going to try to meet our cousin, the director Marco Bellocchio. Luckily we have the same last name and he remembers my mom from when she lived in Italia.
Pia loves my massages! Haha. I love her. I have one of the most beautiful cousins in the world! She works here with kids whose parents are sent to Iraq to fight (American Army base). She is very antiwar and smart but she is helping those children. She might take a job in Holland so tomorrow we may go there. Amsterdam, here we come! I am getting up early to hike to the castle and meditate, pray, all that.
We are all sick (sinuses) but it is so fcking beautiful here omg it's like a dream - and I am focusing on the Dalai Lama's wisdom. PEACE.
Who would have thought that this strict land of cleanliness - where everything is always on time - and where it's usually gray - would be so nice?

IT IS SNOWING! =) The trees outside are covered slightly. The flakes are delicate and soft. Across the hill is a vineyard. This place is magical.

It is about 10:40 Pm here.
Guten Nacht Monde!!!!

HAPPY XMAS/Hannukah etc almost

p.s. My mom talked to this UPS guy - he is like the CEO for UPS Europe. Really sweet Greek man.
Ohhhhh and New York City had the most incredible sunset I've ever seen, even more so than the Hawaiian ones I got to behold this summer with my sister and Johnny (my friend I met in Hawaii who lives in TX)! It was AWESOME!
Put "see New York skyline sunrise/sunset" on your list of things to do before you die.
That and find true happiness.
I talked to this sweet girl, Kim, who goes to St. Francis College (one of just five schools in the US that swears allegiance to the Holy Father). She met him and not only that - his face lit up at the sight of all the girls and boys from her school. WE MIGHT MEET HIM TOO. We are going to Xmas mass in the Vatican with him and 800,000 of our Vatican and international friends. ;) (get it? ja you bettah)

Hey maybe we'll see some fairies in the forest. There are angels around (people get really into Christmas here. It's the real deal too, not just the "oh honey lets' go to Walmart to get presents." It's a religious/folkloric/communal thing...but nothing compared to how ROME is gonna be!!!!!! SO EXCITED!!!! THE HOLY FATHER!!!! AHHHH!!!!!) Thank you god/goddess/whatever. I'm obviously open to different religions and experiences. THIS IS AWESOME I WANNA BE A WORLD TRAVELER AND HELP PPL LIKE MY COUSIN PIA!!!!

Do a google search for my second-uncle Marco Bellocchio. Also type in "Bellocchio" and see what you find. We get to see my second Aunt in Trieste too and her kids and all that...oh famiglia is so warm. L'affeto tanto.

LOVE YOUR FAMILY (includes good true friends) THEY ARE JEWELS

random things to note: the NY Times in NY only costs one dollar. Best newspaper ever.
John Ono Lennon was a hardcore amazing godlike feminist. Yoko Ono, love of his life, goddess in her own right, miscarried their babies three times before Sean was born. Can you imagine???? Can you imagine these little daycare and elementary school age kids here not having their families because of killing and someone's lies and the government's deciet? SEE THAT IS WHY WAR IS OVER IF YOU WANT IT...HAPPY XMAS (Ono-Lennon Harrison long)

Ciao and amore!

OOHHHH German people are so nice, they just don't appear friendly at first because they are suspicious of people who smile at strangers and Americans are really loud, abnoxious, and prine to smile at strangers. It is just a cultural difference and once you get past it you'll have amazing deep conversations with folks who speak better English than you and know philosophy and politics like their back hands. You'll then realize how truly shallow much of American culture is and how ignorant, abnoxious, uneducated, and just plain behind we Americans as a people are in comparison to many Europeans. These people are SMART and really CARE about the world. They know what is going on. We have to alter the American way to an extent because well, it's true, Americans are really stupid in comparison and the opinion people have internationally of us as individuals may be high but as a society...welll....people love Americans but...are puzzled. How can we not be better informed? How can we not care about what is going on? How can we be apathetic and materialistic? This is coming from high fashion Europe - I mean ppl like nice things but ok for example: NO ONE fucking NO ONE has a car that gets less that 40 miles a gallon even though they go by litres here! I am not kidding! It is GREATTT!!!!!! And they recycle almost everything!!! Everything!!!! It is so amazing. The only things they don't recycle are compost - somehting everyone has here - and things that just can not be recycled like I'd guess nuclear waste or, haha, used tissues.

If you think Germans are still Nazis, you're fucking crazy and possibly xenophobic/ethnocentric...oh ok lol just you don't know cuz you haven't met many yet, yeah I bet that's it. But you can definitely see how a long time ago under deciet that the people could have fallen prey to someone as powerful as Hitler because, well, there are still signs of terrible economic depression.