In Mapple Country

I am in Vancouver, BC, Canada right now. I came here to renew my US student visa, and that took a whole of 45 mins this morning. I have been roaming around the city all day, and I think I am falling in love with it. The people are nice; the weather is fabulous; the sights are fantastic; and the traffic is bearable. The only thing that irks me is the presence of hookers in every single street corner. You cannot take a walk in peace after dark without being propositioned a couple of dozen times.

This city is pretty unique. The roads downtown are lined with a number of “robo-bears” that are auctioned every year for charitable purposes. A few miles from downtown is a dense forest with a really cool suspension bridge. They have live native(?) music at a park next to the bridge. Oh.. and the best part… they have a really long road that hugs the marina overlooking downtown. After sundown, it was a wonderful experience to sit there in the dark, looking at skyline, listening to music with a stiff breeze blowing across your face.

Say Hi to Fishy…

Earlier this week, I got the tattoo I had wanted …

Earlier this week, I got the tattoo I had wanted for such a long time. As most of you know, the past few months have been rocky, and life has been a fight. I am still coming to terms with my own fallacies, and limits. In the recent past I have gone through a ton of emotions from ecstasy to suicidal. This tattoo symbolizes my small triumphs however insignificant they might be, and it means a lot to me.

I had never done anything without telling my parents about it. In keeping with the tradition, I told them I was getting a tattoo last weekend, and as expected they were opposed to it. I wouldn’t expect their reaction to be anything else. I told them truth. I was honest with them. Still, when I called my mother a few mins ago, she freaked out that I went ahead inspite of their objections. She is very upset. This is the first deviation in my behavior from the ideal image she had conjured up in her mind. I pains to see her so upset, yet not be able to explain things to her. How do I tell her that I need to do this for myself without telling her about the tumultuous past? If I tell her about it, she will only get more worried, and even more upset.

I guess this is just one of those times where life throws you a question to which there is no right answer.