When I arrived in Kyoto, I had a lot on my mind. The one thing I was looking forward to was this gluten free vegan restaurant that was walking distance from my hostel. I opted to walk there immediately after dropping my luggage at the hostel. When I left it was lightly sprinkling. It began to rain heavily and I had no umbrella or raincoat. To make matters worse, I couldn’t find the place and I couldn’t use my phone too much without getting it drenched. It was the first time I felt truly irritable and at my wit’s end.  Also just because I was getting to a level of starvation in this country that was uncomfortable. I had lost a good 7 pounds by this time. At home, I’m used to going long periods of time without eating because of my job, but after 3-5 days I usually get to a breaking point where I have to eat a really good meal. It was just so hard for me to find options in this country. When I got there, I can’t remember what I ordered but I know that I was still hungry when I left.

The next day I decided to do nothing. I went back to the same restaurant and ended up meeting this Ethiopian dude. He approached me and asked if he could sit with me. I told him maybe later. I realized I was so lonely that why would I turn him away? So I went to his table, immediately told him I had a boyfriend, and ate my lunch. I realized pretty quickly he was drunk and it was like 11 am. He sort of poured his heart out to me and told me about his drinking problem and childhood issues. Why does this always happen to me? I felt bad. I told him all of my own issues and personal problems too. I think he wanted to hang out longer but I managed to squirm away because I just didn’t have a good feeling about hanging out with a drunk guy and didn’t want to become a victim of my own sympathy. I went to a see an American movie (Baby Driver) and successfully distracted myself for a few hours.

The next day I was back at it with the sightseeing. I went to Arashiyama, where the bamboo groves and monkey forest are. Really awesome and worth it but pretty crowded since it was a Saturday. I felt better than the day before. The sun was out. The bamboo groves were amazing. I realized that I liked photographing spiders and spider webs. I made my way home before dark and tried to get a decent sleep