Garrulous

*excessively or pointlessly talkative

Living vicariously through friends

This site was meant to be about my many travels, but I’m so bogged down with what’s happening in the here and now that I haven’t managed to get that ticket and get on that plane for “the other side” of the planet.

Neither have I managed to chronicle the travels from the past, through Europe and in southern Africa…. I’ve got notes scribbled down that need to be typed out, and I’m slowing getting to them.

But in the meanwhile I have two friends who have traveled and are traveling at the moment.

I studied in Spain in 1980-81 and met a life-long friend there. She has returned to Spain often and plans to retire there. She writes about her experiences at http://travelswithtoby.wordpress.com

My other friend spent a year traveling and writing about her experiences at http://expatlaureen.com/ She published a book aout her experiences in 2019, so check it out. It’s called Walking over the Earth and can be found at (https://www.amazon.com/Walking-Earth-Laureen-Kruse-Diephof/dp/1951214471).

Follow the experiences of these two travelers as they chronicle their experiences away from home!

Greetings from Chicago!!

Well, I got here just before the rain! I managed to make my  flights, after fighting with TSA in Oakland about not taking off my shoes and walking barefoot where thousands of people had walked before me.

I remember many years ago when my grandmother walked barefoot  in Reno during a heat wave and came home with athlete’s foot, which spread to  her hands. She had to bandage both hands and feet for many weeks and soak them in Epsom salts. I don’t want the same thing to happen to me.

But TSA were not very sympathetic and tried to tell me I could not fly unless I took off my shoes and walked through the scanner barefoot. I held my ground and they kept me waiting, called for security (definitely playing a waiting game with me…), and finally gave in. I was subjected to a pat-down by a woman who felt everywhere looking for who knows what. They went through my luggage, wiping it down with special paper disks
that look for chemicals, and finally let me go on, after about a half hour.

I guess I shall have to buy some socks and walk through shoeless (but who’s to say you can’t hide something in your socks??)

When I got to Denver I was a bit worried because there was snow on the ground, despite the strong sunshine. I sat by a big window, basking
my bare feet in the sun, watching the workers on the tarmack, and was happy to see sunshine and clear skies in Chicago.

But by the time I got to the hostel, showered and rested a bit, it started raining, so I’m sitting here at the hostel, writing and
planning the rest of my trip.

It’s a wonderful hostel, so I’m glad I came. It is right downtown and the Elevated subway train passes right by the window of the second
floor dining room where guests eat and use a communal kitchen. Tomorrow night a group of students studying Culture and Psychology are coming to meet with any travelers who sign up for pizza and a discussion, and Saturday morning there is a two-hour “stroll Chicago.”

The room is very spacious, the shower is clean and there are lots of things to do, like a pool and ping-pong room, library, TV room and
other activities. I will be glad to get out tomorrow morning to follow the “Chicago in a day” tour and perhaps visit a few museums, see the Sears Tower and learn about the history of the city.

I want to learn about the 1968 Democratic Convention that took place here, so I still need to do some research on that.

Sunday I’m off to Notre Dame University for the Symposium on Teaching and Learning Indigenous Languages of Latin America and Wednesday night I’ll head to Minnesota to visit a long-time friend from my study abroad in Spain in 1980-81.

I’ll be back in Sunny California Sunday November 6th!

🙂

Susan

Hello world!

Welcome to my blog, Garrulous Digressions through Life. It’s presently under construction, so come back soon to read about the transgressions and diversions of my life for the past half century.

These have taken me to beaches and bars in Greece, villages in Zimbabwe, clubs in London and other interesting places in Europe, California, New York and Africa. Along the way I’ve met interesting people, seen extraordinary events, and learned a lot about life and people.

I’ve told these stories to friends, family and other unsuspecting acquaintances for many years. Now I will make them available to a larger audience via modern technology.

Enjoy!