Alyna 4th of July: Crabfest Music Jam,Leg Workout & Farewell to NYC !
by Alyna
July 7th: I am heading back home to Vancouver tonight; I am super excited to get back home to my family, friends, and my home, but I am going to miss my cousins so much.
I mean, Amaani and I have been sharing a bed for the past 2 months; I wake up to her and fall asleep to her, and now the only way I can hang out with her is either over Skype or the phone. It really is sad. And I can’t believe that 2 months have flown by so freaking fast.
I still remember my first day in the city – May 7 – the day I went for a long run through the city, and grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s. That was a darn good day! It is so crisp in my mind still. I even remember thinking that I would think back on that very day at the very end of my trip. Ha!
The weekend before the 4th of July we took a bus to a small town in UPstate NY. Every year Amaani’s friend, Odetta, and Odetta’s family invite a whole bunch of their friends and family up to their getaway house to celebrate Odetta’s birthday. 
They call this annual event Crabfest because they get a whole TON of crabs to eat for dinner, and make a bunch of delicious crab dishes for themselves and their guests. It was one of the best camping-esque trips I have ever been on.
Odetta and her family are all super talented musicians, and a lot (or almost all from what it seemed) of their friends are super talented musicians too.So the entire trip everyone was jamming out with drums, guitars, flutes, accordions, and all sorts of other instruments.
We played volleyball, softball, swam in the river, MADE SUSHI FOR THE FIRST TIME, ate copious amounts of delicious food, drank spiked fresh fruit smoothies, laughed, drum circled, danced under the moonlight, roasted marshmallows around the fire, made s’mores, and sang. I was so relaxed and peaceful all weekend long.
In fact, I was so inspired by the improv jam sessions amongst all the musicians that I have decided to learn to play the guitar. My brother and dad both play the guitar, and have a couple of guitars kicking around at home, so what better instrument to learn than the one I have been exposed to the most ?!
Hey, & Jimi Hendrix’s father was from Vancouver, my hometown- Jimi was born in nearby Seattle, & spent sometime in Vancouver !
When I came back to NYC, I did a Leg work :
Wednesday was Amaani’s Birthday / 4th of July BBQ so a workout was impossible to incorporate; instead, I drank frozen liquor drinks and ate chips and dip – it was an
AWESOME day! Great company and good vibes!
