A shake to the left, a shake to the right, and quick dip down low had my heart beating and my hands clenched! I was taken back to the trip to Houston where I was thrown from side to side, up and down, and then a very long dive downward: traumatizing. Eventually, after seeing that no one was reacting like I was, I said,
"Enough. It's time to turn your fears into something else!"
As a child I was always afraid of shadows coming from the light behind my bedroom door. When I complained to my aunt, she quickly told me to close my eyes, open them, and change the shape of the monsters. Thus, creepers lurking in my room became laughing goats. Today I turned the tussle between wind and plane into the gentle and playful movements of a rocking chair with a child in it.
Not 8-9 hours later (and two transfers) I was surrounded by people I love eating mashed potato pizza!
My friend Diego and I met at the Young Leaders Planned Parenthood Conference in Houston. We pretty much hit it off instantly, and now I'm staying in his house with his wonderful family who have already accepted me with laughter, questions, and admiration; I couldn't ask for a better place to spend my first night. Abuela and I talk about matters of consequence and toothpaste hand gestures interchangeably with the littlest, Silvio, who loves to draw and ask and talk, while Diego and his slightly younger brother bicker and argue and laugh and make me laugh. They are a beautiful people.
Tomorrow I wake for Yale. Wish me luck!
CONRAD'S MUST-DO'S:
** EAT AT BAR IN NEW HAVEN, CT.
** SMILE AT PEOPLE SITTING NEXT TO YOU AND BOND OVER YOUR DRINKS.
CONRAD'S MUST-NOT'S:
** DRINK COFFEE ON AN EMPTY STOMACH.
** IMAGINE CRASHING WHILE FLYING.
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