suppose i come back to michigan with dreds, a tie-dye shirt, hairy legs, .... people seem a lot more "earthy" out here than back in michigan... hahahahahaha.... i actually find it quite fascinating. i might actually have to dig out my birkenstocks... and buy some trailmix.
well, i've arrived safely and in one piece in vermont. my school, i kid you not, overlooks mountains and forests... is tucked away on dirt roads.... the amazing thing is that these woods draw people from all over in the world.... today alone, i've met folks from ethiopia, krygystan, japan, china, bolivia, kenya, indonesia, serbia, .... and we all want to make this world a better place... ;)
anyway.... it's back to nametag days.... i've made it through my first day of orientation (incl. a spanish language placement test!) in one piece.... though my mind is fried and i'm on information-overload of sorts. i'm living right in the international center... in a suite of 4 rooms.... it's actually really nice, although it's back to dorm style living....
well, i'm rambling with nothing concrete to say... think i'll take my camera for a walk!!! this place is SOOOOOO similar to sweden!! i can't believe it.... (and for those of us holsby-survivors... i have found the bell.... they use a similar thing here to call to attention 230+ students)
hope you guys are all well!!!
2.9.05
questionable....
dreams... aren't they supposed to be an outworking of our deeper thoughts and fears? processing life?
i guess i'm dreading going back to school more than i want to admit.
dream: i'm back in an undergraduate program, it's exam week, and i'm trying to frantically pack and get ready to move back home.... in the meantime, i'm ignoring 5 exams (math, english, spanish, economics, and some other class). it's a thursday night and exams are all due on friday... to my dismay, i realize that i'm starting a little late (DUH!!) on massive writing assignments, tests, readings, etc. i prepare myself for an all-nighter... sitting down at the computer and staring at a blank screen is kind of scary, so i start soliciting help.... i ask my mom to pre-read something, rodrigo to give me the imperfect tense of a spanish report, economics is left on the side, i start tackling a nine page paper, reasoning all the while that my professors are reasonable people and that i can turn my work in after the weekend.... the worst part of the dream wasn't that they weren't available to help me, but that i kept thinking that people would know that i couldn't have possibly finished the work on my own by friday.... a dream about procrastination, doing the right thing, being accountable for my own work....
in the meantime, now that i have woken up, i do realize that i'm trying to pack, i've neglected my grad school readings.... and several other things.... sigh.... if that isn't a sign to get going....
alright.... so, sunday morning i start my two day drive to vermont... please keep me in your prayers. i'll try to be not so blog-silent .....
i guess i'm dreading going back to school more than i want to admit.
dream: i'm back in an undergraduate program, it's exam week, and i'm trying to frantically pack and get ready to move back home.... in the meantime, i'm ignoring 5 exams (math, english, spanish, economics, and some other class). it's a thursday night and exams are all due on friday... to my dismay, i realize that i'm starting a little late (DUH!!) on massive writing assignments, tests, readings, etc. i prepare myself for an all-nighter... sitting down at the computer and staring at a blank screen is kind of scary, so i start soliciting help.... i ask my mom to pre-read something, rodrigo to give me the imperfect tense of a spanish report, economics is left on the side, i start tackling a nine page paper, reasoning all the while that my professors are reasonable people and that i can turn my work in after the weekend.... the worst part of the dream wasn't that they weren't available to help me, but that i kept thinking that people would know that i couldn't have possibly finished the work on my own by friday.... a dream about procrastination, doing the right thing, being accountable for my own work....
in the meantime, now that i have woken up, i do realize that i'm trying to pack, i've neglected my grad school readings.... and several other things.... sigh.... if that isn't a sign to get going....
alright.... so, sunday morning i start my two day drive to vermont... please keep me in your prayers. i'll try to be not so blog-silent .....
24.8.05
unbelievable.....
isn't it great to have folks like pat robertson speaking on behalf of christians.... (note the sarcasm!!!) http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9047102/
when is the christian community going to wake up and realize (or actually listen to) what is being said under the christian guise??
when is the christian community going to wake up and realize (or actually listen to) what is being said under the christian guise??
under pressure....
why is it that i always work best under pressure???
here it is 5 days before i have to leave and i haven't packed a single thing... i haven't finished my readings.... i haven't completed important paperwork... and i'm just cruising along.... tomorrow is already wednesday... wait - today is already wednesday.... it's 1:00am and instead of going to bed, i'm sitting around writing about not mucho! guess the pressure just isn't great enough yet!!
procrastination.... sigh!
here it is 5 days before i have to leave and i haven't packed a single thing... i haven't finished my readings.... i haven't completed important paperwork... and i'm just cruising along.... tomorrow is already wednesday... wait - today is already wednesday.... it's 1:00am and instead of going to bed, i'm sitting around writing about not mucho! guess the pressure just isn't great enough yet!!
procrastination.... sigh!
22.8.05
def of home?
sometimes i wonder what/where home really is.... is it a place, a memory, a person?
sigh.... back in michigan as of last night and in a sense, i really wonder if i was ever gone for two weeks.... my little house in the woods is home... my cats are here... and yet, my heart is somewhere else... and my mind is trying to prepare itself for the move to vermont in a couple of weeks.... my 2 year housemate is moving out... i feel pretty scattered....
my time in mexico was a blessing and a gift from above.... it was HUGE to see rodrigo on his own turf and in his own surroundings... and to know what his environment looks like. but it almost seems like a dream that i was there.... did it really happen?? both of us need to keep our heads up, focused on the face of our Redeemer, and trusting that He will continue to lead.
So, CHIN UP! (and time to find some food....)
sigh.... back in michigan as of last night and in a sense, i really wonder if i was ever gone for two weeks.... my little house in the woods is home... my cats are here... and yet, my heart is somewhere else... and my mind is trying to prepare itself for the move to vermont in a couple of weeks.... my 2 year housemate is moving out... i feel pretty scattered....
my time in mexico was a blessing and a gift from above.... it was HUGE to see rodrigo on his own turf and in his own surroundings... and to know what his environment looks like. but it almost seems like a dream that i was there.... did it really happen?? both of us need to keep our heads up, focused on the face of our Redeemer, and trusting that He will continue to lead.
So, CHIN UP! (and time to find some food....)
16.8.05
lost....
it´s amazing how you can get lost in someone´s eyes.... buildings could have come crashing down around me yesterday and i don´t think i would have noticed....
(sorry, didn´t mean to get all mushy on you guys!)
i´m just amazed by this overwelming feeling that i never understood when everyone else was going through it...
now I totally understand why one of my dear college roomies, who loved headbanging music, suddendly had only mushy love songs playing on her car radio... Jim was the reason!
now I totally understand why people can´t focus on anything else that they need to do.... distracted by someone else....
one of my married friends once told me that i would be missing out on the most amazing experience by not allowing myself to fall in love.... at the time, I laughed about it and told him to scrap it! now, i´m a believer... some of you (including myself) would have never thought it would be possible for ms. otis to ever let her guard down..... wonder how i ever managed to be so cynical about love....
(again, sorry to be a sap.... i´m just trying to process this new experience..)
15.8.05
bus drivers with a death wish.....
i don´t know why it is that i always seem to end up with either taxi or bus drivers who have some sort of a death wish.... last week friday i took a bus by myself to the university area.... about a 30 min. ride....
the morning started with the bus barely coming to a stop long enough for me to climb on board, press 5 pesos into the drivers hand and find the next seat before the bus continued a full speed across the cobblestone streets.... i kid you not when i tell you that i could have been flung from one end of the bus to the other in a matter of seconds if i hadn´t hung on to the railings....
thankfully i found a seat that i could barely fit my knees in.... right above the back wheel cover! lucky girl!!!
the driver continued racing (imagine racing in a bus!!) down the road in order to beat whatever time he was supposed to... at one point he carried a full blown conversation with a bus driver next to him at record speed.... quite impressive for how narrow some of the roads are here.... you would have thought you were on a racetrack for buses!!!
in the midst of the insanity and speed, i look down and see a poor struggling cockroach meandering down the aisle.... another critter with a death wish..... it wasn´t long before a little girl´s sandle came crushing down on the poor thing that had no hope to begin with.....
sigh.... such is life, no?? don´t think i would want to be a cockroach..... la vida de las cucharachas....
anyway, 30 min later i gathered up enough courage to take the step out of the moving bus.... and manage to not trip and fall....
here's my preferred method of transportation (see below):
the morning started with the bus barely coming to a stop long enough for me to climb on board, press 5 pesos into the drivers hand and find the next seat before the bus continued a full speed across the cobblestone streets.... i kid you not when i tell you that i could have been flung from one end of the bus to the other in a matter of seconds if i hadn´t hung on to the railings....
thankfully i found a seat that i could barely fit my knees in.... right above the back wheel cover! lucky girl!!!
the driver continued racing (imagine racing in a bus!!) down the road in order to beat whatever time he was supposed to... at one point he carried a full blown conversation with a bus driver next to him at record speed.... quite impressive for how narrow some of the roads are here.... you would have thought you were on a racetrack for buses!!!
in the midst of the insanity and speed, i look down and see a poor struggling cockroach meandering down the aisle.... another critter with a death wish..... it wasn´t long before a little girl´s sandle came crushing down on the poor thing that had no hope to begin with.....
sigh.... such is life, no?? don´t think i would want to be a cockroach..... la vida de las cucharachas....
anyway, 30 min later i gathered up enough courage to take the step out of the moving bus.... and manage to not trip and fall....
here's my preferred method of transportation (see below):
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