on thursday i started the year off by meeting up my family in reno/tahoe for the long weekend...just returned home yesterday. my flight to reno was something else. i arrived late (no surprise) and although i was an "a" i ended up being the last one to board the plane on a full flight. i ended up being seated in the very last row in the middle of two men. the one to my right was a dead-ringer for big pun's twin, and the one to my left looked like he just stepped right out of the movie "blood in blood out" but very middle-aged (and i was right, as he confirmed for me he was in a gang in his younger years). the first thing he said to me was "don't worry, your con "la raza" back here". from time to time he spoke in spanish. i was too tired from running to catch my flight to dispute his assumption about my ethnicity. but also not wanting to encourage the loud talking of which was something else in its own nature (talking about his gang life, his jail time (due to distributing you-can-guess-what), showing me his tatoos, talking about how he can't wait to get home so his woman can fix him up some enchiladas..). it was quite fascinating in a weird way to hear of someone who was twice my age talk about what it was like to be in a gang and the lifestyle it entailed,down to the clothes they wore. it was a long flight. i noticed, he could not sit still. very tiring. i pretended at a few points to be asleep so he would stop talking to me (i'm horrible). but i have to laugh, because he was very colorful...i don't think i've ever sat beside someone quite like this man. but the one thing i found the most funniest was when we landed in phoenix and he was so happy to be back in his home city - he started screaming at the window "i love you man" to the mountains there. it was quite crazy. i will never forget it. 

changed planes and finally get some peace and quiet on my way to reno. the time there went by too fast but it was great. saturday we went night skiing at squaw valley (north tahoe), (my first time at the ski slopes) and it was not as fun as i thought it would be. couldn't control my skis and due to my irrational fear of heights (not much of a roller coaster fan) combined with the windy, gusty, snowy, piercing weather at the top of the mountain just made it miserable (for me) - it just wasn't my cup of tea. but to each their own! i'll give it another chance though. the little resort village was cute and very cozy.