Rest and Repose

I was feeling rather isolated yesterday since I don't yet know anyone in Kyoto. On their days off, my coworkers sometimes socialize and later tell me stories of their nights out or even just hanging out in their living rooms together. I am aware that I am on an individual journey here, but sometimes, I feel lonely in a city where almost all of the non-Japanese people are tourists.

Yesterday one of my coworkers, Emily, called and said that they had an extra futon for me to crash on if I wanted to go hang out with her and Scott. I had class in Osaka in the morning anyway, so I caught the train in and we went to a small restaurant/bar call "Absinthe."

On a whim, I decided to have some absinthe and then decided to order a hookah to smoke some cherry-flavored tobacco. I'd first tried a hookah in Turkey (we had apricot tobacco there), and even though I don't usually smoke, it's a nice treat once every few years since the water filters and cools the smoke before it hits your lungs, leaving a subtle sweet cherry taste on your tongue.

Scott asked me a question about my beliefs which sparked a discussion about religion, spirituality, life, afterlife, deja vu, dreaming, non-linear time, multiple dimensions, and the evolution of our consciousness, among other things. I haven't gotten that philosophical in a long time, and I'm sure it was a sight: me discussing metaphysics and religion while gesturing with a hookah and sipping on absinthe.

It was a great feeling to just relax a bit and let loose in a peaceful sort of way. I went back to their place and slept for six hours, dreaming intensely of my grandparents and family, not waking once through the night, something I rarely do.

It's exactly what I needed.

Thank you Emily and Scott...