she lives in a Van, flys a helicopter and might be an Alien?!! #streetphotography

Is this yours? Yeah, sir. Here you go. Thank you. You're welcome. I'm a street photographer, don't mind me. Just taking photos. This is the true test. I'm so sorry. How long can I look away? What's your name? I'm Christina. Christina, can I photograph you while you're doing your thing? Absolutely. I'm Safi, nice to meet you. What is it, Safi? Safi, like coffee, but Safi, yeah. Are you from here? I'm from up that area, if that's what you're asking. If you're asking where I'm from, I'm from Afghanistan. What about you? I've been here, well, Burbank, about two months now. Uh-huh, Burbank, two months. You're just a naturally giggly person, or am I making you nervous? No, when I get nervous, I have a nervous smile, so I guess it probably comes off a little better. No, you look awesome. Yeah, I was in Nashville for the last seven years, and then I got a job out here, so I lived cross-country. What do you do for work? I fly helicopters, so my company does the tours that go up and down the beach here. Wow, that's really cool. How did you get into pilot and flying helicopters? Um, an idea that I had when I was 19. Difficulty level, one out of ten? It's pretty extreme. Yeah, it sounds so hard. Nobody's naturally good at it, but it's like this, you know, you do enough practice, and then eventually it just kind of clicks. How's your life like right now? Like, how are you doing? Good. I'm doing, like, full-time van life, so kind of nomadic style. I know I'm like an onion. So yeah, I love it. I'm having so much fun, like, exploring around, ripping up and down the beaches. Any downsides? Yeah, parking is really hard to find. Strangers talk to you and not let you focus? No, I love that. That's my favorite part, is meeting new people and, you know, getting to try new things. But yeah, finding places to park is extremely difficult, and other than that, it's pretty good. Random things kind of break here and there, but that's as expected. Why? I don't know. Into the wild, the movie? I haven't seen it, but I've heard of it. Is that what it is? I haven't watched that yet, but I was just talking to somebody about that movie. Are you running away from people, or are you running towards, like, adventure? I think both. I think it's usually both, huh? That's so cool. I needed a fresh start from the spot I was at in my life. What was that like? Get vulnerable with me. Let the internet know. Yeah. I didn't even notice. Yeah, I record my social interactions. I didn't even notice that. Yeah, I guess running away. Went through a whole divorce process last summer and was open to change and opportunity, and that's what fell in my lap. I met a girl who was a helicopter pilot and a skydiver too, like myself, and she's like, you know, you gotta come work for us. The guys will love you. And so I interviewed and got a job here. And they taught you how to fly a helicopter? I already was rated to fly, but they are teaching me kind of the tour routes. It's a wide lens, but it captures the emotions. I feel like this is right for me. Let me just get into your eye. How did he fumble, or she, or whoever you were doing? So, yeah, I skydived for fun. So I was at Skydive Elsinore out here and got introduced to her through somebody else who was also a pilot. And he's like, yo, you gotta meet Misha. She's also a helicopter pilot and a woman. And so, yeah, we met and she immediately said, hey, you should come live here and work for us. And I said, I'll be in L.A. in two days. And the rest was history. Pretty much, that's my story. And now here I am, being a beach bum, loving California. What about the dark side of your story? It could be a bright side, dark side, but what happened? What happened? Yeah. Oh, that's probably a story for another day. That's a long one. Can you give me the cliff notes? Cliff notes, let's see. I will tell you what I don't tell most people. And that is that I started becoming a person that I wasn't proud of. And I wanted that to change and I didn't know how to change that until I completely removed myself from the situation I was in. So, yeah, I can blame my significant other as much as I want to for where I ended up, but really I didn't like that version of me. Well, I like this version of you. Thank you, me too. I'm so much happier. What's your name? Christina. Safi. Such a pleasure. Is that an add-on after? No, I'll show you. This is the add-on after. Oh, wow. But the helicopter, so you had a plane tattoo before you became a pilot? I had a plane tattoo after that was with my skydiving girlfriends. Oh, okay. That's why I have that one. And then I was a skydiver on this one, Mount Shasta. That's so cool. Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing. Yeah, thank you. How do I find you? I think I have Instagram. These laughs are so funny. I've got to show you some of these. Yeah. So goofy. Man, I usually use tight lenses. Wide lenses are so hard. Oh, that one's cool. I swear I'm somewhere in here. I don't exist. This chick's lying to me. Who is this insurgent alien? Okay, here I am. I feel like aliens would be advanced enough to put themselves in human skins and just walk around and analyze us. Yeah. Oh, okay. They're not ready yet to talk to us. They aren't ready to integrate. Yeah, these guys have a long way to go. Yeah. I heard somewhere else, which was kind of interesting, someone sent us here as an exam to develop us, and then once we're ready, they'll call us back. Huh. That's kind of cool. I like that. I love thinking about the different kind of reasons why we could be here and everything, and I like hearing people's theories. I buy it. Do you prefer that there's alien life out there, or that we are the only ones and we can explore and expand? I prefer thinking that we're not alone. Says the girl living alone in a van. I know. Paradoxical. That's why I wouldn't believe that, because I'm like, ****, I'm lonely. Are you lonely living in a van? Oh, yeah, absolutely. But I learned how to embrace it and actually enjoy it. How do you embrace loneliness? I get lonely. Any tips? I think I've found kind of the little things that bring me joy. I don't know. Kind of just doing the next best thing that feels good for me. Are you afraid to go back into another commitment relationship type of thing? Yeah. That sounds pretty scary. Definitely have commitment issues right now. I'm aware of it. Maybe you have a commitment to yourself now. I think so. I like that. Doesn't sound like an issue to me. Yeah, that's the best commitment to make, I think. I feel like I look at it as I want to feel extremely emotionally, physically, and mentally strong before I enter a relationship again, because when you go through kind of this point in life and you get torn down and break everything down, if you just jump into something else, then you don't get to heal fully. So I know I'll be ready at some point. I'm not quite there yet. I'm so close. It's like right on the horizon. I'm on the tightrope of that. Everything you do is like a Freudian slip. Yeah. A psychological Freudian slip. You're just walking on a tightrope, living in a van, flying a helicopter. Are you trying to tell people something? Maybe so. Maybe I'm that alien who's trying to leave little breadcrumbs. Be safe. Did you follow yourself? Did I what? Did you find yourself? Yeah, I did. I should be on there. If not, then it wasn't meant to be. Yes, no problem. Have a good rest of your day.