Today Last Year, no fear

There are dates that you never forget. Today is 19th of December. The 19th is part of a sequential-trilogy of days. I'll explain. The 17, 18 and 19 of December of last year 2005, were the turning point of a very awesome Christmas.

Two days ago, I started to write this, and here goes:
On December 17th, 2005, a night much like this one, at this same exact hour/time: 1:00 AM (of the 18th actually), I was on my way to the Greyhound Bus Station in Downtown Las Vegas. I was going to make a 15-16 hour bus ride to San Francisco. It was one of the best experiences I've had.

The bus ride was pretty much uneventful, but the days before the ride, and the days after...!!! Gosh... I get teary-eyed.

I left Las Vegas at 1:45 sharp. I was driven to the station by Joel (the other one). On the bus I called Alexandra, who was the one I was meeting in SanFran, and we talked for like an hour or more, or until the people on the bus were bothered by me speaking. The road was dark, invisibly barren. We would stop at these small little outposts in the middle of the dark nowhere. And we'd move on to the road. I fell asleep, and when I woke up, the day was rising. Early morning in the plains of California, after a while buildings and urban areas started to appear on the roadsides, and soon the metropolis of Los Angeles was evident. There the bus stopped for a layover (at a very unappealing station). Then, the landscape of lonely hills returned. The bus stopped at the most solitary Burger King I've ever seen, and it was cloudy, the sky was super grey, it was a little rainy, and it was uber cold. I loved it.

But I want to tell you about the moment going to the station in Vegas, and the moment getting out of the station in SanFran.

I had been camping at Joel's appartment (the other Joel), it was the last day I was going to be in Las Vegas. We were going to eat. Joel's girlfriend had to work. I packed up my things, I put them in the back of the car. I was leaving. We had dinner at the Hard Rock Café, and then we had like four hours to kill before 1:45 AM. I don't remember exactly what we did, I think we walked around the casinos and tried to get to a show (cirque du soleil or a comedy show I'm not sure) but it was sold out. But, what I do remember is the drive to the station. So much silence. It reminded me of the taxi ride, in Orlando, from the appartment in Disney to the airport. The same quietness, the lights of the street swooping by around the car. And, just like that, I was at the station, I grabbed my bags and said goodbye. It reminded me of so many movies when goodbye scenes are so long. But this, was very casual, as if that was a natural thing, as if tomorrow I'd be there again. "See you soon", I said. "Merry Christmas", he said. "You too", I said. "Thanks for visiting", he said. "No, thank you". And just like that, I crossed the glass doors, bought my ticket and he was off and I was off. 1:00 AM that was, on the 17-18.

Then, at 6:30 PM I arrived in San Francisco, it was dark already. And the station was dirty, dark, and wet. I asked a clerk: "What's the address of this place", she said really loud(if i recall correctly): "This is Mission and 2nd Street". And in my mind I was: "Dang, I need to go to 9th street or Market street". But, since the lady wasn't really nice I just went towards where everybody went, it was a bus stop, a big one, and I had to get on one to get to Market. I called Alexandra:
"What do I do."
"Where are you?"
"Second and Mission"
"Oh my God, your so far! I'm on 17th street."
"Dont you live on 9th?"
"I was with a friend".
"Ok, so what do I do?".
"Find Market street and the Bart".
"What the fuck is the Bart".
"The subway, just ask for the Bart".

And so, I was off, with my bags, running around dark streets. I was fine tho, because I had studied Google Earth, and new the order of the streets (I'm geeky like that). Then, I asked for the Bart and people told me the directions. I went underground. I emmerged at the appointed station in 16th Street/Mission Street. It was darker, wetter, and a little getto. I was in survival mode, and I saw heaven: a Walgreens! Five minutes later Alexandra arrives and we embrace right in front of the cashier lady, who had to wait for us a while before I could pay. It was already like 8:00 PM on the 18th. On the 19th I woke up to a new city.

2005 was the year of no fear. On January 6th, 2005, Alexandra was in Puerto Rico, she said: "no fear, Joel", because I was leaving to Orlando, "why fear, Joel? Remember: no fear". I followed I guess.

No fear makes u do things... And this is/was just a pinch of those things.

What will happen in 2007?