Hallelujah!

Monday night, almost midnight, about 30 hours away from starting my US trip, and today I finally managed to get somewhat enthusiastic about it (imagine me, as I write these lines, having on my face that expression of half excitement/half relief you normally find on faces of people who hear they have gotten that promotion at work they had anxiously been waiting for months now...). It didn't happen so... spontaneously, though. Let's just say that... I followed something ancient Greeks used to say. If you know Spanish, it sounds something like "sin Aciná ke gira kini", and it means something like... "if you are wishing for something to happen, don't just sit there, praying to Gods (Athena) to do everything for you, move your butt (needless to say this is my own... free version of this ancient saying), do something about it yourself as well, don't expect Gods to do all the dirty job for your lazy ass (underline the word "free", in "free version")". So, first thing I did this morning after opening up my eyes? I have three words for you: CD, Sangalo, w-o-w. Ivete Sangalo is a Brazilian singer (with some of the sexiest legs I have ever seen, let me add), I bought a CD (Ok, shoot me, a DVD as well) of hers last June in Rio de Janeiro, it's a "live" one, and her voice/songs are so... full of energy that perform miracles, for it is a miracle having a tightass "I don't dance" guy like me shaking his body early in the morning, before even having taken the time to pour some water on my still sleepy face. Having breakfast while listening to Her voice (the "H" has to be capital, she is a goddess, a goddess I say!), singing along (I have managed to learn by heart some of her songs), totally made my morning, but I had to do something to keep the... ball rolling, so I swiftly proceeded to step B of my "wake up man! You are going to the US! Get enthusiastic about it!" plan. Key word: shopping. Looking back, I'd say today I spent on clothes more money than what I have spent on clothes the last three years, meaning... putting the last three years together. And that wasn't all... I bought two Shakira CDs I had laid my eyes on long ago, a dozen AAA batteries for my mp3, a special "backpack" (I know this is not the right word, but come on now, give me a break) for my laptop (which I am taking with me to the US), and I swear, the more I bought, the better I felt... I swear, I am not really a shopping maniac (Ok, excluding the times I go to bookstores and CD stores, you got me...), but today... I don't know, the more I bought the more excited I got about this upcoming trip, so... what the heck?, I kept buying... At some point I honestly reminded me of some movies' scenes, where someone has a bullet in his body, and gets prepared to take it out alone, without anesthesia. Come on, follow me, you have definitely seen scenes like this in movies. What do the actors do? There is always a bottle of whisky or something around, which the actor grabs, and without giving it a second thought he drinks half of the bottle, helping himself pass into that state of mind you need, so as to do yourself something that "brrrrrrr" as to take out a bullet from your own body. Well, the more "alcohol" I consumed, the better I felt about the 44 (oh God...) hours that will pass from the moment I will leave Thessaloniki until the moment I will land at San Diego, about the five flights and the overnight bus my going to San Diego includes (long story...), about the state of the road leading from Cincinnati to Chicago (that's my overnight bus trip), about the numerous flight cancellations at Chicago's main airport because of the bad weather, about, about, about... Late in the afternoon, I went to work, whistling the tune of some Sangalo song that was followed by another song, and another song, and another song, until a colleague of mine who sits opposite me told me off (humoristically) for getting on his nerves (not really) with my super mood and my whistling marathon... Other things I left for tomorrow, little things I need to take care of, concerning the trip. A little trick to keep me pleasantly busy, keep the ball rolling, the way it did today, from the moment I woke up, until this very moment. I am traveling to the US first time ever, and regardless things that happened after buying my tickets, things that a number of times brought me close to sending my non refundable/non changeable tickets to the dustbin, I can't afford to not get enthusiastic about this trip, I owe it to myself to enjoy at least my last hours before flying, and also try have the best possible time there...