June 8th 2011
After a month of non-stop activity-ing, the exhaustion is finally catching up. This morning's wakeup was particularly hard. I mean, it may have been all the wine I drank last night or the shots at the bar, but my motivation to wakeup was lacking.
Side note:
One of the shots I did last night was genuine absinthe. I watched as the bartender placed interesting looking spoons over the glasses and lit a sugar cube on fire to melt into the drink. The he transferred it into our drinking glasses and Kayla and I cheers'd and didn't look back. First and last (maybe) shot of absinthe. The alcohol felt like pure magma going down and the sugar followed behind scratching what was left of our oesophagus. The 'comical' bartender prior to taking the shot, instructed us to inhale deeply after the shot. So when Matt, Marc and Daniel saw the tears in our eyes they suggested to "BREATHE IN, BREATHE IN!". We did. This turned out to make it 5 billion times worse! Thanks you turd of a bartender. We held our composure long enough to look bad-ass then continued to run into the bathroom to drink at least a litre of water each. Seeing Kayla and I trying to get enough water down our throats to soothe them was like watching a drunk gorilla try to start a car with a french fry.
And now back to the day's events. We saw the church of San Marco and explored the Peggy Guggenheim museum. We were all mesmerized by the olive tree Yoko Ono donated as a wish tree. We all made wishes from our hearts, some sad, some happy but all touching and then moved on. As my emotions were still running high from the tree I noticed a woman touching a sculpture, noticing to her right a long stick with a white ball on the end. I stopped dead in my tracks. She was blind. It was the most impactful moment of my life. She felt every inch of the piece of work as her friend read the information to her. And then it hit me—I was envious. Not of her misfortune, but of her ability to transform it into such a beautiful thing. She appreciated the smallest details and here I am taking the big picture for granted. This woman has changed my life and it is still hard to fight off the tears.
We eventually made it back to our Venice accommodations and had a much needed nap. Three hours later I found myself out for dinner with four of us girls along with Doug and Lorraine. It was nice spending time and explaining the impact this trip has had on us.
Tomorrow Kayla and I are leading the group to an art festival that rarely happens. Exciting!...
Love & Wishes,
V.
Post Script:
The wishes:
That I could receive all the happiness this world and the next has to offer.
AND
For you to smile :)
