I said "no tequila" over and over again to my crazy friends that I made last night, and even with my supposed wisdom of how things end, and even with knowing that drinks hit me particularly hard now, after having two of them do body shots off of me (one female, one male), I admit whatever beer I was drinking impaired my judgement long enough to forget many things.
I forgot my age. I forgot my many tequila lessons of the past. I forgot my recent surgery and how that affects my digestion and absorption. Maybe it was the fun company, complete with very very cute boyz (more on THAT in a minute). Maybe it was that I was partying with a friend from college, who aside from the day before, I haven't seen in more than 15 years, thus regressing back to those younger days complete with their collegiate behaviors..... I am not sure what got into me, but it all stared with a relatively innocent round of karaoke. I have to say, she sang great and her version of Bjork was pretty damned transcendent. I, myself, ended up singing one by choice, one by default, and one duet because of the wine (yup, we started with wine - they had two-for-ones, and as most classy hostels go, they had a choice of white or red. I opted for red). Surprisingly, 95% of the karaoke list was American, and 100% of it was in English. I still don´t get this. Granted, I was partying in my own hostel, so maybe English was just the universal language for most. To be sure, it was some of the most atrocious karaoke I have heard during some songs. I know I am spoiled with being in Nashville, and before that, NYC, where even on more spotty karaoke nights (which I rarely go to anyway), most everyone can match pitch. Nonetheless, the wine took the pain away, and we all had a blast.
I sang a Johnny Cash song, an Alicia Keys song, and then a Shania Twain duet. Apparently internationals LOVE Shania. It was hilarious. After karaoke, and making tons of interesting and fun friends - some from USA, and some from all over the world, we fell in with the fun staff of the hostel, and ended up migrating to a bar called the L.A. Bar. I wasn't sober enough to understand WHY they called it the L.A. Bar, but it was small, smokey, and soon enough, random Danes were licking salt off of my chest, which is always ok with me (sooo European!!). The wine turned to a beer - only one, and I can trace back to perhaps that very moment when my judgement left the L.A. Bar. Despite protests toward tequila, one look into one fun set of dark eyes made me reconsider, and before long, I had taken two baby shots of tequila. In my defense, I also got a healthy dose of iodine (salt) and fruit (lemon slices), but this nutrition did not carry me far. I had sadly forgotten to eat. I had a very late breakfast (my former post references that experience), and forgot to eat after that, so there I was, tipsy with beers and shots being brought to me from various directions. The nice thing about this was that we were there for a very very long time (the bar closed at 5am), I managed to drink a big glass of water, and the company was really fun. Including myself and my friend Heather, we also had met Michelle, another American from San Fran, also traveling by herself. She was in her twenties and had met a really cute man that she spent most of the evening dancing with, but she did bring out my `mother lion´ side a bit, and by the end of the evening we left and all bought "chicken" sandwiches from 7-11, which actually turned out to be turkey instead. As is typical, I shared my sandwich, and even my pink donut with people. I probably should have eaten the whole thing.
I met this really cute guy, but way too young (26!?), and like I used to in my single twenties, I ended up kissing him at the end of the night. Well, really, he instigated it. I was a bit hung up on the age difference. However, it was fun and completely ridiculous. Completely. Then Heather and I went up and crashed in my hostel. It was 6am. Oh yeah, and I smoked a cigarette with my handsome man (!?) so i woke up feeling horrific and smelling homeless. Sadly, these immature (yet fun at the time!!) choices hit my body harder than it should have. I forgot to be gentle with myself.
I am thankful for many things. First, feeling human again. I couldn't eat anything for a long time, except for bread. Tonight around 8pm I was able to have a blueberry muffin. That is as far as I have gotten and I successfully turned down a pub crawl for tonight for several reasons. I am also thankful to have been in a very safe environment for my alcohol lesson - with a trusted friend from college, in a city she was familiar with, hanging with a staff from the hostel, so we were close and getting back to the hostel was easy and safe. Even the cute man I kissed worked here, so he didn't pressure me to anything more than an incredible kiss. Smart man. All in all, I wasn't down and out, alone in a strange city. In addition, when Heather and I woke up, she helped me try to have a breakfast.
My lesson come in two forms. First off, I am disappointed that I barely got to see much of Copenhagen. Even after extending my trip for two more days, I wasn't able to do the city tour that I wanted, and largely lived during the night hours. Right now, the sun goes down around maybe 4:30pm here, so my daylight hours were often wasted on sleep. Today, my final day, was spent nursing a hangover, figuring out more travel details (piecemeal travel), doing laundry, packing, and I will wander around the city later for some fresh air, I have no doubt. The other part of the lesson is realizing that even though 5 or 6 drinks over the course of 10 hours might not be a lot for some, my body is no longer normal. I chose to have a stomach surgery (POSE), and drinking is one thing that is completely modified. Up until the last two evenings, I have successfully been gentle with myself, for the most part. Also, my body is STILL HEALING! I only had surgery one month ago. I have learned for the rest of this journey, and life, in general, that I now need to be more gentle with myself and my uniquely modified body. For me.
Oh, and for those of you who are curious, no I didn't smoke weed in Copehagen. Nor did I ride a bike. I look forward to the bike lifestyle next time. As for the weed.... meh....... not that interested. I am in the music business, and from Colorado, so if I really want it...... not that hard. Obviously, I am just learning to manage a few drinks, eating, etc. Sheesh. Like a baby; Baby steps.
Incidentally, no matter what I drank, and which poor-ish choices I made last night, I still would have participated in the kiss....... wish I remembered it more, but I do remember how amazing it was.
Tomorrow morning: Berlin. Going to do Berlin better than Copenhagen, tourist-wise. I must, anyway. I am called to this area for many very different reasons. On the bright side, I was able to rekindle a friendship, hopefully be a catalyst for good things in Heather's life, and know that next time I visit this region, I have one solid friend (or more) to visit. Moving on without regrets now, and re-learned lessons to carry with me.
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