(photo by Natalie)
Humf.
Aside from missing our New York compadre, we’ve had a bit of a lazy day today.
We were at a wedding yesterday where there was an open bar. Letting a Scotsman loose on an open bar is never a good idea. A substantial amount of booze was consumed… partly to help ease the confusion brought on by attending a marriage where there were no kilts to be seen at all, and no ceilidh dancing!
Last night a slew of people asked where I was from, then immediately responded by saying: “Oh, I’m Scottish too.” I think that unless you have immediate family somewhere, or have very close ties to a country, then you’re not from that place. In Scotland, we actually go the other way. No matter where your ethnic roots might have come from, we consider people to be Scottish. You need only look at those from the likes of India, China and Pakistan who live in Glasgow and are adamant that they are Scottish first and foremost. With my ginger beard and blonde hair I’m probably descendent from some Scandinavian invaders, but I don’t really have any desire to trace my bloodline back generations to assert my Norwegian status.
A ton more shots ontop of those from the wedding combined with about a week of constantly being on the go has taken its toll, so we spent the day kicking about on the couch watching TV. Apparently the altitude here magnifies the effects of alcohol. I’ve not noticed that, but certainly felt the effect on energy levels. I’m shattered by 10 or 11pm, whereas at home I’d still be wide awake at 4am.
Tomorrow we’re heading up to Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is about 6 hours drive away. I’m on Natalie’s insurance which means I get to drive part of the way. I had a go tonight to get used to the layout of everything. Driving an automatic is really strange. The lack of clutch really screws with your brain. I keep feeling like I’m going to stall when I take my foot off of the break without putting the gas on immediately because usually I’d need to have the clutch down. Luckily Natalie was there to keep me on the right side… literally. I only had one moment where my brain didn’t compute at a junction and wanted to turn left into the left hand lane. Hah.
Anyway, we should be couchsurfing with someone in Los Alamos. It’ll be really cool to couchsurf together at a different host’s since that’s how we met. Gutted that Caroline won’t be with us!