LEAVE IT TO ME

5:21am EST 7/7/08
MCO

to preliminarily ease any fears that i have become a victim of logistics, i assure you that i am lazily typing away in a corner of an airport food court, nibbling on an deliciously salty ham and cheese biscuit. with that, i will start this post series on what i hope to be the trip of a lifetime.

after much toil and suffering, i finally managed (with the help of several people) to get my china on. there were so many signs that perhaps the middle country was not in my cards. i didnt get the fellowship, i had to go through hell and high water to get my passport/visa, ive lost a good bit of hair wondering if someone will be able to come get me in beijing or if i will simply be left to sadly realize that i dont really speak chinese... all signs that perhaps i should turn back. well forget it all. after a weekend of severe planning with input from such notables as mummy, daddy, yessica, amanda, kerry, drew, rach, and chris and some INSANE help from my darling mitch, i was about all packed and ready to go about an hour and a half ago. amanda and i were chatting on the living room floor with my wares strewn about when i came across a nasty little realization. ::insert overly dramatic chapter end that keeps you reading::

let me build on the suspense by backtracking and telling more of my tale. dr. zhou, author of 'how the farmers changed china' (swoon) is the mastermind behind this whole trip. since about a month ago when the possibility of going was brought up, a flurry of emails would build up one possibility/destination/itinerary while one neatly placed phonecall would knock the whole thing down. im okay with this. honestly, i just want to go to china. ill take what i can get and ill take it with a smile. however, i caught on quick that no details were ever cemented down when it came to the good professor, so instead of sending my parents all of the soon to be misinformation, i told them that before i left, i would compile them ONE single document with all of the information i had. it wasnt until 2 hours ago that i sat on the living room floor at the house on hyde ('HOH'), hazily sifting through emails and gleaning vital information that i actually took a moment to examine my flight itinerary. ::OOOH, IM DOING IT AGAIN!!!::

for weeks what i thought had been an 850am departure from MCO was actually an 850 ARRIVAL to chicago. JESUS CHRIST! i read the information aloud for amanda to double check the horror. "gee jes. you need to leave.... now." now indeed. ive already missed a flight that hadnt left yet in the past and ill be DAMNED if i have to wait any longer to qu dao zhongguo. in a tornado of rapid action, i simultaneously packed the rest of my bags, finished the vital info spreadsheet, and showered in 20 min time. (and by 'I' i mean amanda did more than i did). by this time i was so sleepy and angry at the fates for trying to play this cruel trick on me that i could barely muster up any conversation with the valliant drew who was driving me to the airport (2 hours earlier than expected). to fill in the gaps he several times repeated "leave it to you."

indeed.


assuming nothing interesting happens from here til then: next time on yellow fever, jes parallels jumping out of a plane with the way she is feeling!!! stay tuned.

xoxo jes