Los Angeles and a difficult trek into Ireland

21/12 - Los Angeles is a massive, smoggy, traffic-infested metropolis. There's trash everywhere, Spanish is prominent and lots of murals on building walls. Thankfully, Stephanie and Juan have given me a place to stay and are showing me around for the day I'm here.

They live in a small studio behind Juan's mother's house in San Fernando. You have to walk up the driveway, open the gate to the back and dodge the barking German shepherd (it bit a burglar, so the burglar sued the family for not having a Beware of Dog sign. The burglar won). Inside their studio is a cozy loft that makes excellent use of what little space there is, and a young, male cat that loves to run around the room and play fetch with a ball. I'm basically Couchsurfing, but not really. 

Today I walked for miles in an unglamorous part of West Hollywood. Stephanie and I wandered around, got some Guatemalan empanadas and rode the bus and subway (which I didn't even know LA has). It's been a while since I pounded the pavement of a strange city, so both of my knees are a bit swollen and sore, maybe because of slight tendonitis. 

I dislike Los Angeles. There are too many cars and sitting in traffic is a large chunk of your day. But on the way back to Stephanie's place, life got a little bit slower as we walked on the railroad tracks, something so simple yet so powerful when having an adventure. 

But for dinner, I got a taste of eating with a Mexican family. You'll continually be served chorizo tacos and quesadillas until you waive them off, unable to eat more. But our meal time was fast paced, as we ate while cooking more at the same time. So thanks to Juan and Stephanie for making my short stay in Los Angeles enjoyable. Both were great hosts and I hope I left a good impression.

As for LAX and Ethiopian Airlines...shoot me. The system for that airline crashed, so all of the tickets and information was processed by hand. I don't know exactly how long I was standing in the check-in line, but it was easily 90 minutes. I've never experienced anything like that, and I'll try not to ever use this airline again. Imagine that kind of frustration! And imagine the only time you ever arrive at the airport about three hours early, this happens.

22/12 - In hindsight, Ethiopian Airlines is fine. They did the best they could do with a crashed system. The plane was clean and the food was quality for the most part. It was a chilled out flight. I can't talk trash about the airline now. But...

I'M IN IRELAND!

My trip seems to be hitting more snags than usual, as I was held back at customs because I don't have a work permit for this WorkAway adventure. The customs officer had to walk away with my passport twice to verify information. At one point, he asked me how much money I have and what I'd do if I had to catch the flight back to Los Angeles that night. The thought of possibly getting deported back to America made my head explode.

But after verifying that I have a return flight back to America on Jan. 2, a place to stay in Dublin for the night and that I work for the Porterville Recorder (the officer pulled up one of my stories on his computer), I was free to go, but not before I had to take a mugshot. The Irish government is watching me now.

Because of that, I had to stop in the airport pub and have a Guinness, which tastes much better in Ireland. I've heard more Irish accents in the past few hours than I have in the past year in England. Besides the accent, though, it really isn't that much different from the United Kingdom.

Walking around looking for basic supplies, I had that stupid smirk on my face again which usually is the result of being in a new country. I'm stoked! This is the 16th country I've visited in 2015, and it's already started off with a great story. The next 10 days should be a blast. Not even my right knee, which feels a little bit stiff and swollen, will ruin that. I'm also looking forward to blogging regularly again. Hopefully it inspires others.

On the eve of Ireland and a different perception of Porterville

16/12 - My new adventure has taken shape incredibly quickly.

In the time span of less than a week, I've changed my flight and found a host in Ireland through WorkAway. It turns out you're not allowed to stay in your layover country and get back on the plane on its return trip through that country, so I changed my flight to just be a round trip to Dublin. I was this close  to visiting Kenya, but it wasn't in the stars.

If I'm honest, I was a little bit surprised I wasn't more disappointed about that adventure falling through and how fast I was able to change my plans. Kenya and Ireland probably couldn't be more different; Kenya is hot right now, while Ireland is seeing rain for days on end. The No. 1 key to this whole situation is staying positive and seeing the silver lining in that there's another opportunity there; I just had to be a little bit creative and act quickly. In fact, I don't think I've heard of this kind of thing happening to anyone else. As far as I know, this is unique.

During my time in Ireland, I'll work on a farm that raises large animals such as sheep, goats, pigs, horses and cows. The mother and daughter that run the farm have nothing but positive reviews on their WorkAway page, and there is a picture of them milking some of the animals by hand. I've wanted to learn how to do that for years now. Apparently the mother is an amazing cook and the work isn't too stressful, so I'm really looking forward to this trip.

As you all know by now, the draw of traveling for me is meeting new people in their own countries and creating unique stories. I'd much rather go work on this farm than go wander aimlessly through Dublin, staying in hotels and doing the tourist thing. A friend asked me today the simple-yet-complex question of "what makes you happy?" I told her doing things not many others can say they've done and then inspiring others to do the same makes me happy. This is a trip not many others can say they've pulled off. It's been done with the intention of one thing: chasing memories.

19/12 - I'm done with work. My trip to Los Angeles is tomorrow, and I fly to Ireland Monday night. But I'm not quite done in Porterville. My remaining time here for this year has been quite amazing, especially on Saturday. It was filled with meeting fascinating people that have connections to family and a successful date that ended with a kiss, however awkward and screwed up it was. Saturday was one of those truly excellent days, one that puts you on Cloud 9.

But most of all, and perhaps more importantly, Saturday made me enjoy and appreciate Porterville and the Central Valley just a little bit more. That doesn't come from the city itself, but the people. I do like being here, and it's been much better than my first stint.

So I'll get a ride by car to Corcoran, where I'll catch the train to Bakersfield, where I'll ride the bus over the Grapevine and into Los Angeles, where my friend will give me a ride by car to LAX, where I'll fly to Ireland. So before I travel, I'll travel. Here's to cramming one more adventure into 2015 and visiting my 16th country of the year. Just like old times, expect a few more blogs documenting Ireland.