24 hours and 30 minutes

is how long we were on the train. there were lots of foreign people, and lots of old people, and lots of really, really, weird people. we sat in the same booth in the lounge car for most of the time, mostly eavesdropping and looking out the window. the lounge car is like a greenhouse. some characters we met/eavesdropped on:
- a gregarious man named Bear, who left his DVD player unattended for long periods of time playing men in black with the volume turned all the way up
- a drunk woman who looked 100 years old and under 100 pounds, who kept demanding wine tasting while drinking beer out of a sippy cup and announcing that on fridays, john takes her dancing.
- a spindly vegan man who turned out to be SEVEN FEET tall when he stood up
- a man who resembled jesus but wore a kilt and a bright orange sweater, doing weird physical exercises while simultaneously making out with his Indian girlfriend
- the Red Hot Society, a "disorganization" whose only purpose is to have fun. they wear purple clothes and funky red hats, and are all over 80
- Scott, the snack bar's top chef, the "Ryan Seacrest of Amtrak culinary delights" says Carson, who made half hourly announcements on his wheareabouts over the intercom, and the current state of the snack bar
other announcements over the intercom:
frequently: "PREPARE TO DE-TRAIN!"
"Mr. Mendes, bring you and your special item to the lounge car"
"I've got the 5 kelsos"
"Mr. P, you need to put your foot stool up"

things to figure out:
why is my nose so stuffy?
why is my backpack so heavy?
who on this train knew each other before?

i've been wearing my dickie's overalls the entire trip, and i'm now obsessed with trains. today we got to oakland, went to the rockridge cafe to eat which is supposedly famous, and a store where every item has chocolate in it. we're sleeping in the garage aka "rompus room" of carson's friend, a pleasant girl named sophie, because a band (from texas?) is occupying the living room. still need to figure out whats up with this band, apparently they're like devotchka. regardless, everyone here is hip and young, quite the opposite of the train. culllturrre shockkk. we have to bring out duffel bags to the grocery store to fill, jordi is making us eat rice and beans only because its more "nutritious" than top ramen. we'll be going to san franscisco, not quite sure what to do but possibly MOMA and a mission burritto. carson is obsessed with paul simon...
our plans for the next 24 hour train ride on monday: go by the names Adrian Whitman, Francis Whitman, and Jack Whitman. bring sleep masks. We've customized some of our luggage with Whitman stickers.