Monday, Monday, Monday

This weekend was kind of a whirlwind! Saturday morning came way too soon, meaning I was up and working by 6am. I worked the Ballard market for about 3 hours and then my grandmother kidnapped me and took me to Sammammish to visit my uncle and his family. It was good to see them, but I was a little stressed out that day from lack of sleep and lack of information (I didn't know I was being whisked away so suddenly and have a serious character flaw when it comes to going with the flow.).

Sunday was Pike Place Market again, which was in full swing and fully annoying. Don't get me wrong, Pike is a fun market and an integral part of Seattle's history, but Sunday I had a trifecta of unfortunate situations leading to a frustrating day. First, by the time I arrived there weren't enough tables left for me to fully enclose my booth. This means that all day I had tourists wandering through my booth (which includes boxes of delicate fruit, my personal belongings, and my cash box), sitting on a bench I had snagged to try to enclose my area, etc. Second, I had no neighboring farmer to my left, so tourists were camped out there all day which caused me to have even less security and almost no barrier between myself and my customers/passers by. Third, the neighbor to my right was very busy tending to customers and a small child who I think is her cousin or niece. FOURTH, I was directly across from the world's first Starbucks so there was always a massive crowd of people in front of it taking pictures, asking me about it's history (I DON'T KNOW!), etc but NOT buying my produce! The end result was poor sales, constant stress about being robbed, and no opportunity to sneak away to grab lunch or use the bathroom. Needless to say I was VERY GRUMPY when my grandparents picked me up at the end of the day.

However, after all that mess I got to attend the Incredible Feast. It's a fundraiser for the Seattle Farmer's Markets where farmers' goods are honored by famous chefs using their goods to cook a dish. Then everyone gets to wander around and try little bits of each dish. I left there having eaten an incredible variety of foods and barely able to walk or keep my eyes open from exhaustion and fullness.

So today is Monday and my day off. I get tomorrow off too! I spent today sleeping in and then took the bus from West Seattle to the U District to enjoy some Fallafel and Bubble Tea. I also watched the latest episode of True Blood and am now camped out in the U District library trying to fill out my visa application forms. The forms aren't difficult but they're really stressing me out! It must be the knowledge that one forgetful moment could make next Thursday extremely stressful and possibly disasterous. So I've decided to print fresh copies of everything, find all possible information and then sit down and fill it out very, very slowly. I'm also going to keep a few blank copies with me when I go to the consulate for my appointment just in case I need to make a change or something. *sigh*

Well, that's about it for today. This is my last full week of work. I fly to DC next Wednesday bright and early! My visa appointment is Thursday morning then Leigh and I have a couple of days to enjoy DC (national zoo, national mall, a few museums, good food, and shopping) before heading to Ferrum for a long visit with my parents. I'm really looking forward to this time at home before heading to France, but for now I need to focus and do a lot of good work until I fly out and continue to enjoy my stay here in Seattle.