Travel

It feels good to be back in New York. I left Paris at 9am yesterday morning and arrived at JFK at 10:30am. I love how that works. Well, I somewhat love it -- despite the fact that I am beyond exhausted and my body has no idea what time zone it is in. I don't know how business travelers do it.

I love to travel but I also love coming home to New York. Every time the taxi crosses the 59th Street Bridge I am overwhelmed with such a deep sense of calm and comfort.

And now it is soon time (again) for me to take a nap. Got to get up early tomorrow to teach the kiddies.

But first, some thoughts on the French Riviera--
-It's very beautiful
-Some of the tourists who visit there are *not* so beautiful, specifically the two small Italian women I encountered at breakfast every morning who lacked the ability to take a morning shower and wore the same sequined black dresses they apparently wore for 5 nights in a row. I think they may have been part of some casino poker tournament that was going on.
-Someday, I'd like to learn how to play poker (no, that has nothing to do with France)
-Carousels are fun. They are more fun in France.
-My limited ability to parlez francais always seems to be forgotten the second I land in France

I have many other things to write about but I'm woozy.

It Goes On...

The jet lag continues. I'm no doubt drinking way too much coffee and red bull (though I am also hydrating with water). I have moments of clarity (post Starbucks) but when that wears off I lapse into moments of extreme wooziness.

Jet Lag (continued)

I slept from 7pm-midnight and now it is 2:16am and I am wide awake. I realized the only thing I had to eat today was a power bar and some string cheese so I just ordered a sandwich from the 24 hour diner. I'm starving.

Also, I just now noticed that there is a dead and disgusting pigeon sprawled on my balcony. Blech. I'll have to get my super to deal with that tomorrow.

jet lag...

...is a very real phenomenon. It's no secret that I travel a lot, and at this point one would think I would be an old pro at overcoming an obstacle that seems like a minor downfall to the high of traveling. Usually, with sleep and massive consumption of liter bottles of Evian I'm able to kick it. But today has been pretty rough.

On Friday I flew from Hong Kong to Tokyo and then yesterday I flew from Tokyo to Atlanta to La Guardia. Maybe it has something to do with flying East rather than West, or maybe it's because I crossed the international dateline somewhere along the way, or maybe it's just that I spent the last two weeks packing my days with overindulgence in food, drink, merriment, museums, shopping, walking, picture taking, etc (as opposed to a week on the beach or something). But I am truly a walking zombie today. And in a few hours I have to wake up and be alert enough to teach the wee ones.

Anyone who thinks that my job (which I openly admit is fun) is *easy*, is very much mistaken. It takes all of my strength to be perky 'Teacher Sarah' who sings, dances, paints, reads, and works with the kids and their parents on early childhood development. By the end of the day I am usually exhausted. So yeah, tomorrow will be a struggle to keep my eyes open at work, let alone to be perky and enthusiastic. It's all about the caffine. And my addiction to crystal meth (kidding).

I was very proud of myself for getting as much done today as I did -- picking up Zoey, doing laundry, unpacking, beginning to organize my photos online, and paying endless bills. I'm hoping the jet lag passes by the end of the week. It is now 6:24pm and I am so ready to go to bed.

I have many amusing anecdotes and photos from my trip which I will post soon. I hope everyone had a very happy new year! So far, my 2008 has been off to a great start (and will be even better once I can stay awake longer).