Thursday, 9/4 - Seattle

Day 10

Kyle and Jina had planned to leave early in order to high-tail it back to Chicago, but decided they couldn't go without getting tattoos first. Kyle called around to several places that all required appointments, but finally found one that took walk-ins.

First we went back to Pike's for more fruit, more bao buns, and to drop off some of Lisa's job applications. She worked up the guts to apply at one of the fish markets that was looking for help, so we sat at the counter and chatted with the guys for a bit to try and get her in. They kind of gave her a hard time since she was a girl, warning that it was hard/dirty work and may be a lot of manual labor, cold in the winter since they had to be outdoors. But they were nice guys and seemed to have fun working there. The middle-aged manager was an aspiring musician, and one of the workers showed us his music video on Youtube using the little computer covered in dried fishy slime. Talented or not, we thought he might be interested in Lisa for her recording experience if not for a willingness to handle giant fish.

Jina and Kyle kept wandering off in spite of Kyle not having his phone and Jina's not working properly, but eventually we all found each other, got our food, and set out in search of the tattoo place. It was confusing but we managed to find it in Capitol Hill. Kyle had found a piece of native american artwork resembling an abstract wolf - close enough to a spirit coyote - which he got in black on his chest. His took a few hours to do. Meanwhile, Jina got a small running rabbit on her foot, which she claimed was the most painful she'd ever gotten. The whole time we were waiting for Kyle, Lisa and I debated whether to get anything that night. Lisa ultimately decided to hold off since her idea was elaborate, expensive, and would've taken a long time. I knew what I wanted and where, but was afraid of the worst case scenario happening while I was out of the country with no insurance. But I finally worked up the guts and decided now was a better time than any. I had just been waiting for someone to go with me, and wanted it to be a significant time and place. What better way to culminate the trip than with a tattoo?
Once the other artist was free, I told him I wanted the American red cross symbol on my wrist. I didn't think to bring a picture to be exact, but everyone knows what it looks like anyway. He drew it out, scanned it, and printed it on tracing paper, and after adjusting it once for size he got started, outlining it in pen first before going in with the needle. It was probably not the worst pain I've ever felt, but it was harsh and uncomfortable. I squeezed Lisa's hand the whole time, at first wanting her to talk to distract me. But then I decided it'd be better to just sit and meditate, relax.. It only took about 15 minutes thankfully. I felt dizzy and lightheaded for at least the first half hour, but at some point during our late dinner I recovered.

It was pretty late by the time we finally got out - probably a little after 10. We went up the street for some pizza at a place called Piecora's. It was kind of sad, being our last meal..we thought about the fact that we'd probably all never be in the same place together again. We discussed places to possibly meet up years later - Italy, Dubai, South Korea. I'd like to make it happen one day.
Finally we ended up back at Dan's, where Lisa and I would stay for a couple nights. We unloaded the rest of our stuff and stood in a long group hug outside before Kyle and Jina drove off into the night, way behind schedule.