The Northeast to London via the Atlantic Ocean

Firstly, I want to acknowledge that the last blog post I made was a little too long. Part of the reason for that is that I didn't edit it down because my computer was dying and I didn't have the charger in Philadelphia and I really wanted to send it out before I got back to New York for some reason. However, on a larger scale, I have also realized that I need to keep separate travel journals for myself and for the world. So this is going to be a little less day-by-day, play-by-play, and a little more overview-ish.

PHILADELPHIA: NOVEMBER 24-27
I stayed with my friend Genevieve and her wonderful roommates Tabi and Emily. They have a vegetarian house and I was happy to learn some new recipes. Higlights include:
- Going to the Magic Gardens, a several building public art installation whose walls are all covered in mirrored mosaic.
- Eating at the Victor Cafe, a restaurant in South Philly where all the staff on the floor are trained opera singers and dinner is stopped every fifteen minutes while someone performs an aria.
- Watching Genevieve record a music video straight to VHS. Check her out! Her artist name is Veev.
- Taking a walking tour of West Philly and seeing the gentrification as it begins to happen.
- Having a supra, a traditional Georgian feast involving food, singing, toasting, and lots of wine. We used to have them quite frequently with the Slavic choir, Slavei, that I sang in at Wesleyan, of which Genevieve was also a part. So we contacted all the Slavei alumni in Philly and got together on Saturday night to do it again. I have really missed all those songs and want to start up a little Slavic choir when I get back to the bay area to get that music back in my life.

NEW YORK: NOVEMBER 27-JANUARY 3
Back with the family again for the holidays with two long weekends in the city. Highlights include:
- Seeing a friend from college, John Ryan, perform with his band Petunia in Brooklyn.
- Gathering materials for holiday wreath-making (fir, juniper, holly, pine, pinecones, little spiky balls) in Prospect Park in Brooklyn with Maya Meissner, a friend from middle school, and her mother, who I haven't seen in years.
- Seeing the SEM ensemble, a long-running experimental music ensemble in New York, perform excerpts from John Cage's "Songbooks I and II." Especially cool because another good friend from college, Nate Repasz, is now performing with them and involved with them administratively. It's a very small company and I'm super proud of him for doing so well. And we share a birthday, so we have a special connection.
- Seeing the Michaelangelo exhibit at the Met - twice! I was amazed by Michaelangeo's work, particularly his drawings of people. His understanding of muscular structure and how weight is held on different muscles when the body is in different poses was astounding to me. Others copy his work and their figures look distorted and wrong. His are perfect. I was also in awe of his crosshatching technique, how he used just pencil lines to make contour and depth so perfectly.
- A luau-themed holiday party in the city with a whole roast pig to eat.
- Another supra.
- My birthday party, which reminded me that even when separate from my usual community I am loved and have connections in many places all over the world.
- Seeing 4 am on three separate occasions.
- A surprise visit from my girlfriend Hannah for my birthday. Flew across the country for just three days before heading back for work!
- Seeing the Messiah at the New York Philharmonic.
- Birthday dinners and holiday dinners with the entire Weiser side of the family, often with more than 30 people around the table. We had at least four of those.
- Lining the walkway to her house with Christmas lights with my cousin Annaliese.
- Meeting my housemate from Oakland Sara McDaniel in New York and going to the Whitney with her.
- Seeing and hearing a sound art exhibit with Uncle John, Aunt Shoshana and cousin Ariel at the Museum of Art and Design.
- Hannah coming back for the trip that we actually planned together.
- New Year's Eve Party in Brooklyn and the countdown that we realized was late because our livestream of the ball dropping was a a few seconds delayed. It was the second coldest New Years on record in New York. I'm very glad we were inside and not watching the ball drop in Time Square.

QUEEN MARY 2: JANUARY 3-10
I took a ship across the Atlantic. And not just any ship: it was the Queen Mary 2, flagship of the Cunard line, and probably the nicest cruise ship on the planet. The funny thing was that it was also the cheapest ticket I could find across the Atlantic. Great experiences at low prices - I'll take it! Highlights include:
- Never having to pay extra for appetizers or dessert.
- 5 course meals for lunch and dinner every day.
- A 24 hour buffet.
- Watching the sunset over the Atlantic from the hot tub.
- Watching the sunset over the Atlantic on a different night with a bottle of Moet & Chandon.
- A band playing hits by the swimming pool.
- High tea with sandwiches and scones and cakes every day.
- Dressing up in a suit every night for dinner.
- Getting to know our dinner companions, the four others with whom we shared a meal every night. I want to briefly relate the story of Henry (Henri?), an older man who was born in Luxembourg to a Jewish family, hid in France just across the river from Arles for several years during the Nazi occupation, crossed to Portugal by foot on Christmas Eve (his seventh birthday), was detained in a jail in Portugal, and eventually made it by ship to New York. He didn't know he was Jewish until he was asked the question one day in school. He came home and asked "Mom, are we Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish?" and his mom shouted from upstairs "We're Jewish!"

LONDON: JANUARY 10-16
My first step onto international shores on this trip!! This journey has really really begun. I stayed in an AirBnB with Hannah for six nights. Highlights include:
- Seeing the super touristy sights: Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Globe Theater.
- Going to the Tate Modern.
- A Jamaican twist on the Sunday Roast at Rudie's in Dalston.
- An underground club scene at Bar A Bar in Dalston - all the UNTS UNTS and hip twentysomethings that I ever imagined the London club scene to be.
- Going to Book of Mormon (I highly recommend it, too irreverent to put into words).

And now I am here in Paris staying with friends of friends. The hospitality I have been receiving all over the globe astounds and humbles me.

I will write again after a few more cities.