Friends - I
Categories: anxiety, holidays, friends
Date: 01 January 2009 01:41:12
One of the main reasons for my trip was to see people: a dear, dear friend from uni and Australia in San Jose; another dear friend from Oz who is now living with the first friend; and a friend in Canada whom I met on a Contiki tour of Europe in 1998 and whom I had not seen since 2001 -- and who is now married so I would get the chance to meet his charming wife as well. Friends are a particular blessing from God; and I know that I am blessed to have some of the best friends anyone could ever hope for.
As well, travelling alone [though never "lonely"; people tend to think the two go hand-in-hand -- I do not find it so] I find I often get the chance to meet people on my travels: whether it be on a bus, or an aeroplane, or a tour, or a restaurant or bar. And though these people may only enter my life for the briefiest of instances, it is often a blessing and joy and an experience which broadens my horizons and -- I believe -- makes me more informed and, God willing, a better person.
Photos of myself and friends, and people I ran into, are here. In the next few posts [I will try and keep them at a reasonable length] I will talk about my friends and then I will talk about the variety of people I met along the way.
My dear friend from uni who now lives in the US is Ramsin. He is someone I have a great deal of respect for and whose friendship is truly a blessing from God. Uni years were tough for me in a number of ways, but he was a steadfast friend and a wise person to turn to when my brain was not functioning in any proper or mentally-sane way. I do greatly miss him, but given I've headed to San Francisco/San Jose 5 times since 2001, I am blessed in getting to catch up with him regularly. And I do tend to disturb him by phone and e-mail regularly too. We share a love of many comedies (Seinfeld, Blackadder, Flight of the Conchords...), theology and a good laugh among many other things. As I said, I feel truly blessed to have him as a friend.
He has a lovely house in San Jose, with a great view -- even if it requires you to be rather fit to climb a number of steps to get to his place: these being some of them. But even they are nice to walk up. I spent most mornings [being an early riser] reading and drinking coffee on his back verandah and taking in the view. And it is truly great to see how at home he is over there and what wonderful friends he has -- even if I wouldn't mind him being back here to annoy more regularly. :)
The other friend from Oz, Grace, is likewise a dear friend. We started off eating, and enjoyed a wonderful dessert at Ghirardelli's as you can see above, and I think food featured prominently in most of our activities. Good to find a kindred spirit. She took me around the beautiful and fascinating Stanford Uni, cooked the most wondrous food [with help from Ramsin -- who looks pleased to be caught helping wash up] and made me feel as if I were at home. She only left for the US several months back, to have a break and do some travelling. I had not seen her for quite a while, but a year or so ago we caught up again and the friendship was renewed as if there had been no time at all.
I did need some time on my own [they are both exceptionally social; the loner within me struggles with this at times], so I hope I did not offend them when, on a few occasions, I left the house early and spent the day on my own. Anxiety is a strange beast: even with those closest to you, in fact I'd even say, particularly with those closest to you, it often rears its head more strongly. I can talk to people I have never met in a bar all night; but at times the thought of spending time with friends can scare me. Perhaps self-esteem related as much as anxiety, but, thanks be to God, I do have wonderfully understanding friends and the anxiety and stress seemed to be kept under control.
We did do quite a bit together: we ate at a number of places, including lunch with Ramsin's uncle the Bishop, they kindly took me to places I wanted to see such as Sausalito and Muir Woods, where we had a great walk and where Ramsin ran ahead and hid from us in various places, as well as indulged in some love of nature. :) They also took me to some places I did not know were so wonderful, such as Stanford University and worshipping with them at Ramsin's church [the Assyrian Church of the East] was a particular blessing and joy.
Lots more to say, and lots more people, but I will leave that for another post. As you can tell, I feel very blessed to have the friends I do; thanks be to God. And thanks Ramsin and Grace for such a wonderful holiday and time spent with you both. God bless.
