Rochester... the beginning

the shuttle dropped me off at the kahler (kay-ler) hotel. i called ryan, my couchsurfing host and he came to scoop me up. we drove back to his place, which is the top floor of a cute little house in the same neighborhood as the l'abri house. we actually drove by l'abri first. it is a mysterious, unmarked driveway that heads straight up a hill with lots of lush greenery. the house is adorable and sits atop a hill surrounded by green. i cant wait to live there.

back to ryan's house. it is 70s inspired, and to his dismay it is covered in 70s floral wallpaper and fancy tile. it is a good sized space, with a sun room attached. the sun room is covered with windows and has a day bed and some other furnishings, but no ac. the bathroom was huge. we sat for a bit and talked about the beatles as he attempted to play my mandolin. i took a shower, and by the time i got out he had retuned it and was able to play "we will work it out." very impressive.

we walked up a hill behind his house that had a great view of rochester. we ran into some fellow observers who were smokin some pot. later, he took me to a restaurant called whisky binkies and i had the best oatmeal stout ever: the poet. here, we discussed heavy issues. he is really involved in the zeitgeist movement and speaks of it in a similar way in which i would speak about christianity. i felt we could have interchanged the words "activist" and "fundamentalist" with ease. we are neither of those things, but the issues were just as important to us.

next, we parked in a neighborhood, indian heights, and quietly and swiftly walked into a closed park. after a tough hike up, we found ryan's friends and a small campfire. i watched them drink beer and smoke. one of the girls wasn't able to drive home, so she came home with us. i passed out on the daybed in the sun room while she laid on the futon in the living room. it was a fun first day/evening!