(Blood) Family Vacation...

...complete with special guest appearances from Forbes Family members!

In the beginning of September, Madre and I went to London and Denmark. Here are the highlights:

Here's Madre at the back of Buckingham Palace. This is the closest to Kate's dress that we were allowed to take a photo. Viz, it was beautiful and miniature.


Here's Madre with our special tour guide/motivational coach at the second level of St. Mark's Church, approximately 500 steps up.


It was windy up there. I think we both look like mutants, but we did not do a very good job of taking lots of pictures together, unless they are on Madre's camera, so I'm uploading it anyway.


Madre + me + London.


Madre and British star Matt Lucas after the performance of Les Mis we saw.


Then we caught up for coffee with Chris and Lucy! Please note that I am the only person in the photo who you will not need to one day call "Doctor."


Next, I tried to take a picture of Jon on the night bus at approximately 2:30am.


Then, he tried to take his glasses off before I took another picture of him.


Then, he gave me blue steel.


Then, we both tried to smile and look perky when all I wanted to do was curl up on the floor of the night bus and fall asleep.


And that was London.

Then we went to Denmark, where I have never been and where Madre hadn't visited in 30 years, to see our family who I've never met. They proved that I pretty much only got my dad's genes, especially because Madre is the short one in her family. See the lady sitting down? That's my namesake, Kirsten. She is very nice and very stubborn, which I thought was appropriate.


We pretty much spent most of our time here, at the dinner table, where they just fed us and fed us. It was fantastic.


Then they took us to a Viking village to learn about our heritage.


Then Madre and I went to Copenhagen for a few days, which was great. We saw Tivoli and all of the palaces and the statue of the Little Mermaid, and we ate the food my grandma used to make. Some old German lady took a crooked picture of us at the Gefion Fountain.


As a non-blonde in Denmark, I felt a bit like this child.


But it was a wonderful vacation, one of my best yet. Daniel even made a special appearance!


Good friends, good family, good food, good times.

Favorite Pictures I've Never Shared - Angkor Wat Edition

Angkor Wat, Siam Reap, Cambodia, December 2007

Favorite Pictures I've Never Shared - Elephant Edition

Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand, October 2009








AV and KR: Will you please take a picture of us with the baby elephant?
Nice lady who worked at Elephant Nature Park: Yes, but be careful. If you get too close to the baby, the mother might attack you. So don't get too close to the baby, and if you see the mother coming near you, move away.

A Few Things

1. I'm kind of sad that by writing this post, my story about the naked guy and the chicken suit will no longer be at the top of my blog.

2. I'm definitely going to lie and say #1 is the reason I didn't write one single blog post in 2010...oops.

3. On a trip to San Francisco in December, it was decided that I should now be referred to as Ruchu$. Expect my hit single about substituting hard alcohol for a toiletry to drop later this year.

4. Forbes family Christmas party, as sponsored by Mr. Soros:



How would one go about buying a photo booth?

5. I'm writing this post from my new address on W. 64th St, NYC.*
*Address withheld in the event that one of the less stable fans of a certain bespectacled chalkboard enthusiast Googles (Bings?) my employer and somehow stumbles across my blog. Available upon request.

Put your chicken suit back on and get the hell out of my bed

So I went out with a girl from my hostel on Halloween, and after one overpriced drink at the hostel bar, we spent the rest of the night wandering around Sydney, trying to find a bar that was neither totally empty nor filled with wasted gap year kids. Unsuccessful, we finally gave up and called it a night around 1.30. At that point, I was really, really sick of drunk people, and I figured I'd just read a bit and then go to sleep.
I go back to my 10-person dorm room and quietly make my way over to my bottom bunk by the light of my cell phone. Except when I get to my bed, someone is in it. There's a shirtless guy who is definitely not from our room in my bed - head on my pillow, sleeping under my blanket.
"Hey," I whisper, shaking his arm.
Nothing.
"Hey, wake up, " I say, shaking his arm harder.
A little grunting but no eye opening.
"Hey!" I yell, shaking his face.
Eyes still closed.
By now, the people in the bunks around me are waking up and asking what's going on. After confirming that the guy is definitely not from our room, the British girl in the next bunk (who was SO SIMILAR to the "More beef?" girl, Mgalla and Willie) says, "Just drag him out. Drag him out of your bed. You want me to come do it? I'll get him out." I tell her I got it, grab his wrists, and drag him out of my bed. He protests a little but still doesn't open his eyes and falls out of the bed like a sack of potatoes. At which point, we discover he's naked. So now, instead of a drunk, naked man passed out IN my bed, there's a drunk, naked man passed out on the floor next to my bed. British girl pours water on his head from her top bunk, and he barely even moves.
Not wanting anything else to do with this guy, I decide it's not my responsibility to drag him out of the room, so I go down to reception. Unfortunately, the only person working at the reception desk overnight turns out to be a 90-pound Indian man, which I think will not bode well for the situation at hand. Luckily, said reception man is able to grab a couple of bouncers from the downstairs bar. After the bouncers come to the room, turn on the lights, yell at the drunk, naked guy, pour some more water on his head, drag him a little bit more, and block a swing from him, they finally get him sitting upright on the floor in the middle of the room, covered in a blanket. But they aren't allowed to bring him down to the lobby or throw him out without any clothes. After he is repeatedly unable to tell them where his clothes are, we take a closer look around the room and decide his clothes must be the ones on the floor next to the bed across the room, where some girl is passed out, so passed out that she hasn't woken up yet, despite the lights being on and the bouncers yelling and the near-fighting. And it's Halloween, so what are his clothes?
A chicken suit.
I change my sheets and finally get to sleep at about 2.30. The next morning, I'm in the elevator, and this massive cloud that reeks of stale alcohol gets on the elevator, followed by the passed-out girl from last night and her friend. Having no idea who I am, she turns to her friend during the one-flight ride and asks, "But where's Steve?!?"

Brief life update: AV came to Thailand (AWESOME, minus the brief food poisoning), I had a stopover in Kuala Lumpur (very cool), I did New Zealand Road Rules with Madre (indescribably AWESOME and we didn't hit anything), and I've been in Australia now for almost 2 weeks (also great, went to Sydney and the Blue Mountains and am now at a friend's house in Canberra). Laptop got sent home with Madre, so I don't have any of my pics to post.
Future plans: Melbourne on Tuesday, London on the 19th, home on the 23rd!

Orange Food and Fat Naked Animals

I'm picking up Manvale from the airport in 4 hours, and I've made all the necessary provisions.



If I wasn't biking to the airport, I would've picked her up a Big Gulp (yup, they have those here), but I thought it would be unwise to bike one-handed on a 6-lane highway.

In other exciting news, tomorrow is the last day in my foreseeable future as an employed person, as well as the day I'm moving out of my apartment. Here's hoping my whole life weighs less than 20 kg so I don't have to pay any extra baggage charges. And then on Thursday, we're going to celebrate my lack of employment by going swimming with elephants. That will be followed by visiting the largest outdoor market in the world (35 acres) and a trip to a 7-tier waterfall.

A part of me is just in utter disbelief that any of this is actually happening, that my life isn't just going to be continuing in the same way it's been for the past year, that this may be the last time I live in Thailand, that all these e-tickets and itineraries I just printed are for actual flights that are going to take me to new places. And then the realization hits and I get SO EXCITED. I truly cannot wait to be on the same continent as all of you again. 55 days until I'm back on US soil.

Madre is a Badass

DUH. Like you didn't know that already.

But Madre felt the need to further prove her badass-ness, so she's doing a half-marathon in December - her SECOND. I really need to step up my game because I'm now the only member of the Ruch family that hasn't done one. Anyway, the bottom line of this post is that she's awesome, she's doing a half-marathon for a really good cause (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis), and she needs to raise money to do it, so send everyone you know here. Tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell your coworkers! Tell anyone who will listen! The Ruch family will be forever grateful.

And now, in Madre's own words:



Dear Friends and Family,

On December 6, 2009, I will be doing the 13.1-mile Las Vegas Rock and Roll Half Marathon to raise money for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America as part of the Team Challenge program. One of the greatest contributions of the Foundation is towards research to find a cure and funding for this research is essential. I have committed to raise $3,800 in donations for The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America to help with this research funding.

Please help support me in this commitment by giving as generously as you can…just visit my webpage at www.active.com/donate/lv09newjersey/linda to donate online or mail your donation (payable to CCFA) directly me at Linda Ruch, 166 Union Place, Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660. With over 83% of your donation going directly to research and patient support, you can truly make a difference and your contribution is 100% tax deductible

If your company matches charitable contributions, please include matching forms with your donation.

As I walk the 13.1 miles, you will be with me in spirit, and your sponsorship will inspire me to walk stronger and faster to the finish line. I know times are tough right now but I can’t do this alone and every bit helps…$10, $20, $50 or whatever your budget will allow…it all adds up!

Not sure what Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are? Check out this link. (If the link isn’t working for you, go to the end of this letter for more information.) When I saw the video of the 8-year-old boy preparing his own feeding tube so he could get enough nutrients to survive, I felt I wanted to get involved. Finding a cure for these diseases will mean a long, healthy life for this boy and others like him.

Thanks so much for your support and generosity! And, of course, many thanks for your good wishes to sustain me in my training through to the finish line.

If you know anyone else who would like information about the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, please feel free to forward this letter.


With warm regards,

Linda

www.active.com/donate/lv09newjersey/linda
www.ccfa.org


What is Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis?

Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are collectively known as inflammatory bowel diseases. Crohn's disease is a chronic (ongoing) disorder that causes inflammation of the digestive or gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Although it can involve any area of the GI tract, it most commonly affects the small intestine and/or colon. Ulcerative colitis on the other hand, affects only the colon. The inflammation involves the entire rectum and extends up the colon in a continuous manner. There are no areas of normal intestine between the areas of diseased intestine. In contrast, such so-called "skip" areas may occur in Crohn's disease. Ulcerative colitis affects only the innermost lining of the colon, whereas Crohn's disease can affect the entire thickness of the bowel wall.

It is estimated that as many as 1.4 million Americans have IBD; however, many more suffer in silence due to potential embarrassment and alienation. Crohn's disease may occur in people of all ages, but it is primarily a disease of adolescents and young adults, affecting mainly those between 15 and 35. However, Crohn's disease can also occur in people who are 70 or older and in young children as well. In fact, 10 percent of those affected -- or an estimated 100,000 -- are youngsters under the age of 18. On average, people are diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in their mid-30s, although the disease can occur at any age.

www.ccfa.org