Okay, so apparently I am unaware of the definition of a "real" post. But I guess it does not include papers. At least that's what certain, more dedicated, bloggers tell me. Apparently that's a cop-out. I disagree, but let's just call it even (since it's my blog).
Christmas time is a funny time of year. We have about 2 weeks until the 25th, but I must admit...I don't feel like I'm very much in the Christmas mood. Maybe it's because I have a total of zero decorations up; maybe it's because it's middle of exams. Perhaps it is because it's 70 degrees out and sunny everyday. Oh, wait. That's in Florida, not Boone.
I mean, I've gotten most of my Christmas presents and what not, but there's something missing. So how can I conquer this dilemma? Let's brainstorm. I can go to Big Lots before work tomorrow and get icicle lights. That's festive. And I can leave them up all year for an extra touch to a boring apartment. Possibly a wreath, although that's pretty one-time-use (and, no, I won't be RE-decorating it for Easter, Mardi Gras, or Shavuot). Maybe I can fill a vase with some holly branches. Those are even free!
Any other free/long-lasting ideas?
Friday, December 12, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
it's exam time and this is a small paper i've written...
for an environmental ethics class which discusses different viewpoints on how to treat nature and other beings
Title: Appalachia’s Loss of Biodiversity
The Appalachian Mountains are some 350 million years old, sharing ranges with Morocco and Scotland. The highest point in Appalachia is 6,684 feet at Mount Mitchell; the average height is 3,000 feet. This provides for some of the world’s most diverse and interesting flora and fauna. Within the past 20 years, however, pollution and global warming have greatly diminished the diversity within these ancient mountains. Some of the lost or endangered species include the gray wolf, the eastern hellbender, the bog rose, and the noonday globe snail, and this is but a sliver of the possible examples of flora and fauna affected by humans in the Appalachian Mountains.
Humans alter biodiversity in many ways, from harmful pollution and emissions to introducing harmful and invasive species to monobreeding certain flora and fauna. The 1990s is the warmest decade on record, with 1998-2005 being the warmest years recorded in history. This change has greatly and irrevocably affected, for example, especially the boreal forests that are unique to high elevation mountains in the southern Appalachians, such as those on top of Grandfather Mountain. These forests date to the last glacial period when as far south as Pennsylvania was glacially covered, resulting in the prominence of boreal forests in the south-eastern United States of America. As the world warmed, the glaciers retreated north and the boreal forests were slowly pushed higher in elevation until they are at the point that they now occupy. It is obvious that global warming is becoming more prominent as these rare forests begin to suffer from pollution and consequently disappear completely from even the highest points in the Appalachians. The loss of these forests means the loss of certain bears, coyotes, foxes, birds, and several species of plants unique to these forests. In addition to this, it signifies the loss of an incredible history and rich culture in the southern Appalachians.
It is imperative to preserve not only boreal forests, but to prevent environmental damage of any type, be it pollution, urbanization, or invasive species. The human species dominates Earth, however, this is not a justification to irrevocably ruin every other species, or indeed, to compromise their existence, in any part of the planet. A being holds moral standing simply through being alive. Merriam-Webster defines “life” as “an organismic state characterized by capacity for metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction.” If a species merits this classification, humans have no right to compromise its existence. However, this does not prevent this compromising. Humans must understand the extent of their everyday actions and thought processes.
Biodiversity loss is a major problem, no matter what ethical viewpoint one might suppose. Because Americans are famous for their constant cost-benefit analysis, I will discuss this issue from a utilitarian standpoint. According to a study by David Pimentel, “the approximately 50,000 non-indigenous species in the USA cause major environmental damage and losses totaling approximately $137 billion per year.” Humans have introduced various species, from the English sparrow to domesticated cats and dogs, for different reasons, with environmental implications that we are now paying for. In terms of pollution, “the true costs of [nutrient] pollution are probably much greater than $4.3 billion,” in the USA, according to Walter Dodds, from the University of Kansas. It is clear that the loss of biodiversity costs the USA billions of dollars, with no seen benefits.
To use the cost-benefit analysis gives another viewpoint that might be more understandable to a more economically-minded critic, however even Herman Leonard and Richard Zeckhauser admit, “We are not claiming that every important social value can be represented effectively within the confines of cost-benefit analysis. Some values will never fit in a cost-benefit framework…” It is clear, then, that although using this thought process to analyze environmental losses, one must also consider values as “additional considerations,” knowing that there are inherently things that surpass monetary valuation, as is the American norm.
In the process of realizing the importance of biodiversity, and in order to combat the loss of it, there are a number of things we can all do. Simply reducing emissions and pollution is the first step in helping areas such as the boreal forest. Fighting coal mining in the Appalachian Mountains also falls squarely into this category. Gardening, buying organically, and buying locally also encourage agricultural education and thus inhibit the spread of polluting conventional practices. These are simple acts that every Appalachian, indeed, every American and citizen of the world, can take to ensure that humans coexist responsibly and considerately with other species of the world, whether because they have inherent value, or because it is more beneficial to value biodiversity than to spend billions attempting to restore it.
Title: Appalachia’s Loss of Biodiversity
The Appalachian Mountains are some 350 million years old, sharing ranges with Morocco and Scotland. The highest point in Appalachia is 6,684 feet at Mount Mitchell; the average height is 3,000 feet. This provides for some of the world’s most diverse and interesting flora and fauna. Within the past 20 years, however, pollution and global warming have greatly diminished the diversity within these ancient mountains. Some of the lost or endangered species include the gray wolf, the eastern hellbender, the bog rose, and the noonday globe snail, and this is but a sliver of the possible examples of flora and fauna affected by humans in the Appalachian Mountains.
Humans alter biodiversity in many ways, from harmful pollution and emissions to introducing harmful and invasive species to monobreeding certain flora and fauna. The 1990s is the warmest decade on record, with 1998-2005 being the warmest years recorded in history. This change has greatly and irrevocably affected, for example, especially the boreal forests that are unique to high elevation mountains in the southern Appalachians, such as those on top of Grandfather Mountain. These forests date to the last glacial period when as far south as Pennsylvania was glacially covered, resulting in the prominence of boreal forests in the south-eastern United States of America. As the world warmed, the glaciers retreated north and the boreal forests were slowly pushed higher in elevation until they are at the point that they now occupy. It is obvious that global warming is becoming more prominent as these rare forests begin to suffer from pollution and consequently disappear completely from even the highest points in the Appalachians. The loss of these forests means the loss of certain bears, coyotes, foxes, birds, and several species of plants unique to these forests. In addition to this, it signifies the loss of an incredible history and rich culture in the southern Appalachians.
It is imperative to preserve not only boreal forests, but to prevent environmental damage of any type, be it pollution, urbanization, or invasive species. The human species dominates Earth, however, this is not a justification to irrevocably ruin every other species, or indeed, to compromise their existence, in any part of the planet. A being holds moral standing simply through being alive. Merriam-Webster defines “life” as “an organismic state characterized by capacity for metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction.” If a species merits this classification, humans have no right to compromise its existence. However, this does not prevent this compromising. Humans must understand the extent of their everyday actions and thought processes.
Biodiversity loss is a major problem, no matter what ethical viewpoint one might suppose. Because Americans are famous for their constant cost-benefit analysis, I will discuss this issue from a utilitarian standpoint. According to a study by David Pimentel, “the approximately 50,000 non-indigenous species in the USA cause major environmental damage and losses totaling approximately $137 billion per year.” Humans have introduced various species, from the English sparrow to domesticated cats and dogs, for different reasons, with environmental implications that we are now paying for. In terms of pollution, “the true costs of [nutrient] pollution are probably much greater than $4.3 billion,” in the USA, according to Walter Dodds, from the University of Kansas. It is clear that the loss of biodiversity costs the USA billions of dollars, with no seen benefits.
To use the cost-benefit analysis gives another viewpoint that might be more understandable to a more economically-minded critic, however even Herman Leonard and Richard Zeckhauser admit, “We are not claiming that every important social value can be represented effectively within the confines of cost-benefit analysis. Some values will never fit in a cost-benefit framework…” It is clear, then, that although using this thought process to analyze environmental losses, one must also consider values as “additional considerations,” knowing that there are inherently things that surpass monetary valuation, as is the American norm.
In the process of realizing the importance of biodiversity, and in order to combat the loss of it, there are a number of things we can all do. Simply reducing emissions and pollution is the first step in helping areas such as the boreal forest. Fighting coal mining in the Appalachian Mountains also falls squarely into this category. Gardening, buying organically, and buying locally also encourage agricultural education and thus inhibit the spread of polluting conventional practices. These are simple acts that every Appalachian, indeed, every American and citizen of the world, can take to ensure that humans coexist responsibly and considerately with other species of the world, whether because they have inherent value, or because it is more beneficial to value biodiversity than to spend billions attempting to restore it.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Some excerpts of my thoughts
To begin: Thomas Fuller once said, "The soul is not where it lives, but where it loves."
If this is true, my soul is a widely spread one. She is a citizen of The World, refusing to be wrangled by the constraints of one simple country or place.
Life is beautiful. And here we are--we are dropped into the middle of it. We feign a beginning at the start as we enter the world wide eyed and pure when everyone else is far on along... someone has always been there, but never like you.
--
Someone else said, "Let the beauty that you love be what you do. There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the earth."
I search for every way to let the beauty that I love shine through the color-by-number days that dominate. On the first day of classes this semester, a guy said he was there because "I just want to learn anything about everything." I think that's a good life goal. So let's learn anything about everything, astounding ourselves by our capacities to live and to be wondrous creations.
In the end we will find that it is so much easier to open our minds to think and to wander and our hands to keep us on the ground, working through trials together and celebrating victories as one.
--
My life has been blessed with exquisiteness, but never so much as when surrounded by the bluest of ridges. Fire on the mountain with fall, or the purity of snow under the bare trees, I delight in this home and in the honesty of this true love. I love what I learn in them and I love seeing their beauty and majestic glory and the awesome power they hold and release so willingly. Although I am driven and called in so many directions, these rolling graces are my identity and my base of being. Although I know I will have to part from them for a while, I see myself marrying this ancient pureness that teaches me, gives to me, and takes from me. I see myself spending eternity here, even if I must leave for a bit. Time here is short. I savor every moment here and every experience and all I see, do, learn, hear, feel, and all. It's an interesting position to be in--in the beginning of time and I don't have time to do it all. But this world is so big and intricate and small and glorious. And there's so much for us to do and I love this, this overpowering and overwhelming freedom and possibility. Just possibility and freedom.
--
It's the search for Beauty and Goodness that compels me and motivates me. This search will lead me throughout my life, whatever it will bring.
--
I try to embrace the next step of the soul, when finality is on the tip of everyones' minds. We must all embrace it, as scary as it seems to be that lonely. But what counts is how we arrive at this next step, surrounded by and fluent in all dialects of love, or silenced by the lack of the truest tongue? It doesn't matter where you're going--what matters is the journey. And that is so true. Sometimes we get too caught up in being grown-up and "mature," whatever that is, when what we could probably use is a dose of child-like innocence. Let's immerse ourselves in the joyous purity of life, love, and wonder. Family, friends, places and learnings. Let's fill our moments with worthy thoughts and actions and praise for the opportunity to do so.
If this is true, my soul is a widely spread one. She is a citizen of The World, refusing to be wrangled by the constraints of one simple country or place.
Life is beautiful. And here we are--we are dropped into the middle of it. We feign a beginning at the start as we enter the world wide eyed and pure when everyone else is far on along... someone has always been there, but never like you.
--
Someone else said, "Let the beauty that you love be what you do. There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the earth."
I search for every way to let the beauty that I love shine through the color-by-number days that dominate. On the first day of classes this semester, a guy said he was there because "I just want to learn anything about everything." I think that's a good life goal. So let's learn anything about everything, astounding ourselves by our capacities to live and to be wondrous creations.
In the end we will find that it is so much easier to open our minds to think and to wander and our hands to keep us on the ground, working through trials together and celebrating victories as one.
--
My life has been blessed with exquisiteness, but never so much as when surrounded by the bluest of ridges. Fire on the mountain with fall, or the purity of snow under the bare trees, I delight in this home and in the honesty of this true love. I love what I learn in them and I love seeing their beauty and majestic glory and the awesome power they hold and release so willingly. Although I am driven and called in so many directions, these rolling graces are my identity and my base of being. Although I know I will have to part from them for a while, I see myself marrying this ancient pureness that teaches me, gives to me, and takes from me. I see myself spending eternity here, even if I must leave for a bit. Time here is short. I savor every moment here and every experience and all I see, do, learn, hear, feel, and all. It's an interesting position to be in--in the beginning of time and I don't have time to do it all. But this world is so big and intricate and small and glorious. And there's so much for us to do and I love this, this overpowering and overwhelming freedom and possibility. Just possibility and freedom.
--
It's the search for Beauty and Goodness that compels me and motivates me. This search will lead me throughout my life, whatever it will bring.
--
I try to embrace the next step of the soul, when finality is on the tip of everyones' minds. We must all embrace it, as scary as it seems to be that lonely. But what counts is how we arrive at this next step, surrounded by and fluent in all dialects of love, or silenced by the lack of the truest tongue? It doesn't matter where you're going--what matters is the journey. And that is so true. Sometimes we get too caught up in being grown-up and "mature," whatever that is, when what we could probably use is a dose of child-like innocence. Let's immerse ourselves in the joyous purity of life, love, and wonder. Family, friends, places and learnings. Let's fill our moments with worthy thoughts and actions and praise for the opportunity to do so.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
a change is on its way
As we enter the polling booths, fill the little bubbles with names beside them in, and make our voices be heard in how we believe the country should be run, people all over the USA, North America, the Western Hemisphere, and the WORLD sit down, turn their TVs and radios up and wait to see just how the people of America have decided to lead their country. I must say, America, I do approve the decision we have all made! (338-200 electoral votes)
It's amazing the feeling that comes with pride. Being 21, I've never really been old enough to understand what is going on in politics until about the time of the Clinton shenanigan. Since then, it has tended to be downhill. Consequently, I've always experienced this feeling of urgency, this feeling that if Americans don't do something rapid and dramatic our country and world will be irrevocably damaged. Tonight, this seemingly endless feeling was justified with such a GRAND and GREAT feeling of RELIEF.
When Barack Obama won tonight the presidency of the United States of America, I once again became proud to be americana. Once again proud to think of a future where I walk through the streets of Mexico, Spain, France, Argentina, or any country, for that matter, and where I hold my head high because I know that the policies of America are just and right with the world. I've walked through many a street in many a country and never have I felt honestly proud to be American. Tonight, I know that my future will be different.
The next four years are going to be full of trials and tribulations, but they will also be full of hope and deliverance, of results and hard work. The next four years are going to show an American public as satisfied with its president as we were with JFK. The next four years are going to show the world just how open minded and willing America is to progress and to develop sustainably. The next four years will show how we can cut the path for this future.
I'm looking forward to being represented by such a thoughtful and considerate man as Barack Obama. When I think of Obama on the stage in Chicago during his speech, his face serious and professional, his words true and clear, for the first time in my life I am really and truly proud to be an American. For the first time in my life I can truly say, I think that America is going to go somewhere positive here, and I can truly say, I think that we are going to be pioneers in demonstrating what is honestly right and good in the world.
Barack Obama has shown us what it is to be a decent and diligent American. We should all strive to match his standards. We should all strive to imitate him. We should all strive to be our best, and we should do it for us, for our children, for our world, and for our president.
Yes, we did.
It's amazing the feeling that comes with pride. Being 21, I've never really been old enough to understand what is going on in politics until about the time of the Clinton shenanigan. Since then, it has tended to be downhill. Consequently, I've always experienced this feeling of urgency, this feeling that if Americans don't do something rapid and dramatic our country and world will be irrevocably damaged. Tonight, this seemingly endless feeling was justified with such a GRAND and GREAT feeling of RELIEF.
When Barack Obama won tonight the presidency of the United States of America, I once again became proud to be americana. Once again proud to think of a future where I walk through the streets of Mexico, Spain, France, Argentina, or any country, for that matter, and where I hold my head high because I know that the policies of America are just and right with the world. I've walked through many a street in many a country and never have I felt honestly proud to be American. Tonight, I know that my future will be different.
The next four years are going to be full of trials and tribulations, but they will also be full of hope and deliverance, of results and hard work. The next four years are going to show an American public as satisfied with its president as we were with JFK. The next four years are going to show the world just how open minded and willing America is to progress and to develop sustainably. The next four years will show how we can cut the path for this future.
I'm looking forward to being represented by such a thoughtful and considerate man as Barack Obama. When I think of Obama on the stage in Chicago during his speech, his face serious and professional, his words true and clear, for the first time in my life I am really and truly proud to be an American. For the first time in my life I can truly say, I think that America is going to go somewhere positive here, and I can truly say, I think that we are going to be pioneers in demonstrating what is honestly right and good in the world.
Barack Obama has shown us what it is to be a decent and diligent American. We should all strive to match his standards. We should all strive to imitate him. We should all strive to be our best, and we should do it for us, for our children, for our world, and for our president.
Yes, we did.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Me encanta estar mas relajada :)
Well, well! Today I was so productive. I did a little homework (that I've been putting off since beginning of September), I got some photos from Europe printed at Walgreens, I made pumpkin soup (which, by the way, is delicious!), I cleaned at Ruth's for 4.5 hours, and I went to dinner with an old friend!
You want the recipe for pumpkin soup? http://www.pumpkinnook.com/cookbook/r
ecipe07.htm
I'm making the pumpkin frappes next.
And last night I had made muffins! But they are pretty spongy... I didn't have baking soda :-[. Maybe next time I will have my act together. Actually, I know I will. I bought some baking soda.
And so the Spain presentation went well. I need more interactive activities to do with the kids, so if you have any ideas let me know! I do different grades at different times. I need any ideas. Seriously, any.
On a different note, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. came to campus Thursday. He spoke on "Our Environmental Destiny". Look him up (http://www.robertfkennedyjr.com/). He's awesome, and pretty much completely responsible for NYC's incredible water supply story, not to mention a hundred other things that I'm sure you're not interested in at all. The speech wasn't dim or depressing. It was hopeful and encouraging and inspiring! Too bad we had to get out of the auditorium because it was reserved for only an hour and we had been there for 2.
Doc Watson also came on Friday. He, too, was incredible. David Holt, Richard Watson, and Riley Baugus (well known recently for work on Allison Krauss and Robert Plant's CD). It was one of the funnest formal/sit down-type concerts I've ever been to!
Also, Old Crow Medicine Show is coming to App! December 3rd. I'm counting down the days. They're a Nashville bluegrass band. And I'm into it.
Well, on a completly different topic to close with, I just want to encourage you to vote (all 2 people that might read this). Don't vote for just anyone. Remember that whoever you vote for has the power to revive or kill America. GET INFORMED about energy (ESPECIALLY ENERGY) policies, immigration policies, tax, education, health policies, and anything else you can get your hands on. It's simple. Go to www.johnmccain.com, and http://www.barackobama.com/index.php. Look at what they have to say, but more importantly, read them analytically. HOW are they going to do what they say they will, and by when? If you don't vote, you have no right to complain and no one has the resposibility to listen to your lazy non-voting butt when we end up watching Tina Fey as one character for the next 4 to 8 years. So vote and vote early!
You want the recipe for pumpkin soup? http://www.pumpkinnook.com/cookbook/r
ecipe07.htmI'm making the pumpkin frappes next.
And last night I had made muffins! But they are pretty spongy... I didn't have baking soda :-[. Maybe next time I will have my act together. Actually, I know I will. I bought some baking soda.
And so the Spain presentation went well. I need more interactive activities to do with the kids, so if you have any ideas let me know! I do different grades at different times. I need any ideas. Seriously, any.
On a different note, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. came to campus Thursday. He spoke on "Our Environmental Destiny". Look him up (http://www.robertfkennedyjr.com/). He's awesome, and pretty much completely responsible for NYC's incredible water supply story, not to mention a hundred other things that I'm sure you're not interested in at all. The speech wasn't dim or depressing. It was hopeful and encouraging and inspiring! Too bad we had to get out of the auditorium because it was reserved for only an hour and we had been there for 2.
Doc Watson also came on Friday. He, too, was incredible. David Holt, Richard Watson, and Riley Baugus (well known recently for work on Allison Krauss and Robert Plant's CD). It was one of the funnest formal/sit down-type concerts I've ever been to!Also, Old Crow Medicine Show is coming to App! December 3rd. I'm counting down the days. They're a Nashville bluegrass band. And I'm into it.
Well, on a completly different topic to close with, I just want to encourage you to vote (all 2 people that might read this). Don't vote for just anyone. Remember that whoever you vote for has the power to revive or kill America. GET INFORMED about energy (ESPECIALLY ENERGY) policies, immigration policies, tax, education, health policies, and anything else you can get your hands on. It's simple. Go to www.johnmccain.com, and http://www.barackobama.com/index.php. Look at what they have to say, but more importantly, read them analytically. HOW are they going to do what they say they will, and by when? If you don't vote, you have no right to complain and no one has the resposibility to listen to your lazy non-voting butt when we end up watching Tina Fey as one character for the next 4 to 8 years. So vote and vote early!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
I've got a few minutes
Okay, so I haven't arranged any photos, or gone to yoga 3 times a week. But I think I've done well by doing the rest.
Today I am going to be giving presentations to high school Spanish class students at the local high school about Spain. I'm pretty excited, since I'm a little obsessed with talking about Spain :). Plus, my friend, Jose is giving it with me. Jose is from the school I studied at in Spain and now he is studying at my school in the USA!
It's been absolutely gorgeous here in the fall. I'm in love with it (as ALWAYS).
Chicago over fall break was completely fantastic!! I flew up there with the other girl that studied from ASU at my Spanish school to see the girl's roommate from Spain. The three of us traveled a lot together and became really good friends. We were, needless to say, ecstatic about seeing each other! Thursday and Friday we stayed outside of Chicago at the roommate's apartment where she goes to school. We made a traditional Spanish lunch, hung out, and laughed a ridiculous amount. Saturday and Sunday we spent in Chicago. We went to a Spanish tapas (not "topless"... tapas) bar and walked around the city. It was so fun. I'd like to go back at this moment. Anyways, I loved it.
So now it's back in Boone and back to real life :). I've had the week off work until Friday, so it's been very relaxing and I love that.
Today I am going to be giving presentations to high school Spanish class students at the local high school about Spain. I'm pretty excited, since I'm a little obsessed with talking about Spain :). Plus, my friend, Jose is giving it with me. Jose is from the school I studied at in Spain and now he is studying at my school in the USA!
It's been absolutely gorgeous here in the fall. I'm in love with it (as ALWAYS).
Chicago over fall break was completely fantastic!! I flew up there with the other girl that studied from ASU at my Spanish school to see the girl's roommate from Spain. The three of us traveled a lot together and became really good friends. We were, needless to say, ecstatic about seeing each other! Thursday and Friday we stayed outside of Chicago at the roommate's apartment where she goes to school. We made a traditional Spanish lunch, hung out, and laughed a ridiculous amount. Saturday and Sunday we spent in Chicago. We went to a Spanish tapas (not "topless"... tapas) bar and walked around the city. It was so fun. I'd like to go back at this moment. Anyways, I loved it.
So now it's back in Boone and back to real life :). I've had the week off work until Friday, so it's been very relaxing and I love that.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
New-Fall's Resolution
Some people make New Year's Resolutions. I'm making a New Fall Resolution. Fall's awesome. These are goals for October:
1. actually get my life in order and arrange and order some photos from study abroad
2. GO TO CHICAGO OVER FALL BREAK!!!
3. Make pumpkin pies
4. Soak up the last rays of sun
5. Go to yoga 3 times a week
6. enjoy gorgeous Boone fall
7. make apple sauce
8. wear cozy long sleeves
9. Begin thesis research and GET SOMEWHERE on it.
10. Stay educated about politics.
Yeah, so some of those are silly, but I feel that if I make fun ones in there, too, then I might have more of a chance to accomplish them. And there's only 10 of them. I'll let you know if they get done...
1. actually get my life in order and arrange and order some photos from study abroad
2. GO TO CHICAGO OVER FALL BREAK!!!
3. Make pumpkin pies
4. Soak up the last rays of sun
5. Go to yoga 3 times a week
6. enjoy gorgeous Boone fall
7. make apple sauce
8. wear cozy long sleeves
9. Begin thesis research and GET SOMEWHERE on it.
10. Stay educated about politics.
Yeah, so some of those are silly, but I feel that if I make fun ones in there, too, then I might have more of a chance to accomplish them. And there's only 10 of them. I'll let you know if they get done...
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Here's an update
Well it's been a while since I've written, but hey... life happens :).
So here I am. Senior at ASU. I'm a double major in Sustainable Development and Spanish.I graduate in May and after that I have no idea. I might do an internship over the summer with SAF, a program that works with farmworkers assessing assessable things like health and whatnot. After that, who knows? Maybe Costa Rica.
Wouldn't that be nice!
Anyways, so I have a job at the bookstore. I'm a clothes folding extraordinaire. I also help Sonya get ready for the football games by pulling all kinds of clothes, etc. to bring up to the stadium to sell to over zealous fans.
So that's my life. I like to spend my little bit of free time on the SD farm out in Valle Crucis. It's astonishing, the freedom you can feel by just playing in the dirt. We grow all kinds of things. I have lab out there on Tuesday mornings at 8 AM. We start the morning off right, weeding or harvesting something. The past few weeks have been potatoes. I've learned so much from those morning labs.
This weekend, Dayna, Jack, and Erica are visiting. Erica is visiting just because, and Dayna and Jack came up because Jack does the horse shoeing at Eustace Conway's place at Turtle Island Preserve. It's a pretty sweet gig. Check it out... http://www.turtleislandpreserve.com/
So maybe I'll start doing this blog thing again. I like to read Dayna's so maybe she'll like to read mine :).
For a laugh... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZkdcYlOn5M
So here I am. Senior at ASU. I'm a double major in Sustainable Development and Spanish.
I graduate in May and after that I have no idea. I might do an internship over the summer with SAF, a program that works with farmworkers assessing assessable things like health and whatnot. After that, who knows? Maybe Costa Rica.
Wouldn't that be nice!
Anyways, so I have a job at the bookstore. I'm a clothes folding extraordinaire. I also help Sonya get ready for the football games by pulling all kinds of clothes, etc. to bring up to the stadium to sell to over zealous fans.
So that's my life. I like to spend my little bit of free time on the SD farm out in Valle Crucis. It's astonishing, the freedom you can feel by just playing in the dirt. We grow all kinds of things. I have lab out there on Tuesday mornings at 8 AM. We start the morning off right, weeding or harvesting something. The past few weeks have been potatoes. I've learned so much from those morning labs.
This weekend, Dayna, Jack, and Erica are visiting. Erica is visiting just because, and Dayna and Jack came up because Jack does the horse shoeing at Eustace Conway's place at Turtle Island Preserve. It's a pretty sweet gig. Check it out... http://www.turtleislandpreserve.com/
So maybe I'll start doing this blog thing again. I like to read Dayna's so maybe she'll like to read mine :).
For a laugh... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZkdcYlOn5M
Thursday, July 17, 2008
sanctuaries abound
so i came home early. and i am so glad for it. 28 days early and now i've been here 1.5 weeks.
yesterday we went white water rafting. in a few weeks we're going to florida to visit family, but also to see some of my 2nd home state's natural beauty. i'm riding my horse when i want to and laying in the sun when i want to (although right now i'm a little burned). i'm spending as much time as i can with my family and i'm savoring every moment.
someone said to me the other day, "i bet you miss europe, i mean, we ain't got no great big ole cathedrals and stuff like that around here." my reply was, "this is my cathedral" as i swept my hand over the vista. there's no better way to explain my appreciation and love for this place that always calls me back.
yesterday we went white water rafting. in a few weeks we're going to florida to visit family, but also to see some of my 2nd home state's natural beauty. i'm riding my horse when i want to and laying in the sun when i want to (although right now i'm a little burned). i'm spending as much time as i can with my family and i'm savoring every moment.
someone said to me the other day, "i bet you miss europe, i mean, we ain't got no great big ole cathedrals and stuff like that around here." my reply was, "this is my cathedral" as i swept my hand over the vista. there's no better way to explain my appreciation and love for this place that always calls me back.
Friday, July 4, 2008
here's the current picture
July 4th and I'm going back to America tomorrow!
I was struggling to decide whether to go back early or stay on, there at the farm, so I made a list with 2 sides. Side one: Reasons to leave. Side two: Reasons to stay. With side one being completely full, with double columns in some places, and side two having 12 reasons (5 of which were: "I said I would stay"), I decided that leaving overpowered staying.
Maybe if things had been different, I would have stayed. I'm sure of it. But at this point, I am ready to be home. And my parents are amazing enough to want me to come home so badly that they go through so much to get me there.
But my last day at the farm wasn't too bad. It didn't rain all day until about 2 hours before I left (I left at 6:30PM). I rode Molly in the woods, spent a lot of time with my friend Edel, her 8-year-old cousin that she's babysitting, and Molly's owner, Sheila. I rode Butterfly about 30 minutes and tried to get her to jump, but seeing as how if she were a human she'd be a DITZY blonde, she was being silly and I gave up on jumping. Other than that I finished packing. Sometimes I have days where the one-hour ride isn't my only joy :).
But now I am in a hostel in Dublin and tomorrow I will be at the airport at 8 AM to try and get on a plane, standby, to America. I hope that you had a great 4th of July. I've missed summer and ALL that comes with it (bar-b-ques, swimming, sun, family, friends, sun, creek, sun, blackberries, fruit, family, etc.). So hopefully by Saturday at 23:29, local time, I will be rolling into my beautiful state of North Carolinaaaaaaaaa
I was struggling to decide whether to go back early or stay on, there at the farm, so I made a list with 2 sides. Side one: Reasons to leave. Side two: Reasons to stay. With side one being completely full, with double columns in some places, and side two having 12 reasons (5 of which were: "I said I would stay"), I decided that leaving overpowered staying.
Maybe if things had been different, I would have stayed. I'm sure of it. But at this point, I am ready to be home. And my parents are amazing enough to want me to come home so badly that they go through so much to get me there.
But my last day at the farm wasn't too bad. It didn't rain all day until about 2 hours before I left (I left at 6:30PM). I rode Molly in the woods, spent a lot of time with my friend Edel, her 8-year-old cousin that she's babysitting, and Molly's owner, Sheila. I rode Butterfly about 30 minutes and tried to get her to jump, but seeing as how if she were a human she'd be a DITZY blonde, she was being silly and I gave up on jumping. Other than that I finished packing. Sometimes I have days where the one-hour ride isn't my only joy :).
But now I am in a hostel in Dublin and tomorrow I will be at the airport at 8 AM to try and get on a plane, standby, to America. I hope that you had a great 4th of July. I've missed summer and ALL that comes with it (bar-b-ques, swimming, sun, family, friends, sun, creek, sun, blackberries, fruit, family, etc.). So hopefully by Saturday at 23:29, local time, I will be rolling into my beautiful state of North Carolinaaaaaaaaa
aaand i wrote this one july 1st
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
You want the honest truth? No sugar or candy coating? Well, the past few days have been shitty. They’ve been hard for me emotionally and each day I’ve counted the minutes until I could go to bed and pass a few hours without thinking (that is, hoping I actually went to sleep when I went to bed). It’s been rainy and cloudy outside and now the wind rages incessantly. Where did this wintry summer come from? Is this seriously how I chose to spend my few months of summer vacation? Where is my family? The people who love me and with whom I feel so comfortable, knowing that I can do anything, good or bad, and I am still, like always, just Marianne. I had such a good time with my parents. I had been missing them for six months and we had 10 days together to catch up and explore and see and play and drive and talk together. I loved it. Then I came back to the farm. Back to Marion, who reminds me sometimes frighteningly of Grandma Rupp. Back to Godfrey, who is quiet, who throws me off, and who lets his wife rule his life. And back to Natalie, a sweet, quiet, shy 30-year-old, still being dominated by her overpowering mother. Back to this weather, back to defending every move I make. Back to feeling, at times, like nothing more than some servant, because that’s how Marion will treat you. Sometimes I just get really quiet, and then when my only friend comes I just have nothing to say to her. That’ll make you wanna be someone’s friend, won’t it? But what’s it matter—she’s leaving in 2 weeks to travel and I won’t ever see her again. There goes my only friend. Not to mention that I am missing a beautiful Boone and a beautiful Hollis summer with 4th of July parties, sunshine, bar-b-cues, festivals, birthdays, friends visiting, and general family life.
So you might can see why I sort of have been having a hard time.
But then…
Just like everyone else, though, I have these days. And they pass. Today was that day for me. I realized that I need to heed my own constant advice and suck it up. I have to make the best of this time here because, 1. I have a month left, and 2. if I just sit here thinking about how much it sucks, that’s what it is going to do. If I get up and laugh, play, work, cook, bake, whatever, it will be a lot better. Yeah, the weather sucks. Bad. Yeah, I miss my family and friends. Yeah, I’m missing out on all the summer fun times and family, but if I can make this time here a good time, then life will be a lot more enjoyable. I hate it when life is unenjoyable. It’s no fun.
I guess I could always just pay the money and hop on a plane back home. I could be home in time for supper tomorrow. But then I would be failing on the obligation I made to myself, and basically, I’d be running away. No way to deal with it. It’s hard, but I guess I’ve dealt with a lot of shit in the past 6 or 7 months. I can get through 30 more days of this. All I have to do is concentrate on the things through which a light of hope and happiness shines. The hard part is finding those things and then on pushing the knowledge of what you’re missing back home into the back of your mind. The world is a beautiful place, I just have to remember to remember that.
lack of internet=lack of posts. wrote this on june 8th.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Alright, so it’s been a while since the last time I’ve had a chance to make a post. Warning: there will be a large gap between topics in this entry and the last. I don’t even remember what I wrote about last.
Anyways, well, I’m in Ireland and it’s beautiful. It reminds me a lot of Virginia flatlands, right when you’re getting into the foothills. It has no climate, only weathers in a day. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this as an Irish weather forecast: cold and foggy morning with possible snow. Afternoon: cloudy with sunny spells (yes, they say sunny spells, not rainy spells, or cloudy spells, but they keep their chins up and let you know that treasured moments of sunshine might be coming your way today). The evening has a chance of being in the low 20’s, Centigrade, with bountiful sunshine. Sunrise will be at 6:05 this morning and sunset will be at 22:45 tonight. It will undoubtedly rain overnight, but with a chance of not raining until morning when it could turn into light sleet.
Hahaha. And I love Irish time. It reminds me of Spanish time. Which I love J.
Well the family wedding was the 31st of May. Other than when I had to work (I’d rather not get into those GORY details. It was quite the experience and I prefer to not relive it), it was so fun. A weeklong party! The wedding reception was here at the house and I nearly killed someone during the craziness of preparation. But the hard work was worth it as I got to know probably ½ the people of Ireland and as we stayed until 6 AM singing Irish folk songs and laughing. The next day, the garden party (oh-so-“civilised”) was marked by a lot of hung over people, haha, but what really made it fun for me was the fact that in the morning (about 11AM) I got up and made coffee for the 3 people that were camping in my front yard, then spent the next 3 hours playing Frisbee and hanging out with them and other wanderer-ins. Those hours made me really miss Boone and all that we do, or don’t do, and all our hanging out. That night I went over to the bride and groom’s house where I hung out with the groom and his cousins until about 3 AM and then stayed the night at the cousin’s/at the groom’s sister’s house. It was fun just sitting around and talking about nothing. So anyways, the whole week was really fun. I don’t think I’ve ever spent more time being tipsy off high-dollar wine and Proseco than I have in the past week-and-a-half. The whole experience has, for the most part, been very civilized, leaving me yearning for target shootin’ expeditions and contra dancing craziness.
I started riding the horse the other day. Wow. I am out of practice. It’s been a while since my last lesson and since Marion (the woman who I earn my keep for) is a noted dressage judge and teacher, it is painfully obvious. With time, though, I think I might be able to get back into it. It’s been 3 days and I can feel myself bonding with the horse J.
So the family is Godfrey and Marion. They’re about 60-or-so years old and Godfrey’s family is very historical and of ooooold money, although I only know that because other people have told me. Marion reminds me, sometimes to the point that I cringe, of my Grandma Rupp. Ouch. But she’s very eccentric and loves to talk. Godfrey is quiet, and throws me off because of it. Natalie is the oldest girl, 30-something, and lives at home. She’s really pretty and sweet. She needs to get out of the house, in my opinion, to save her mind from her Mom. But I’m sure there’s more to the story than I know. Charlotte is 28 and is the one that just got married. She’s cool and I like her husband. Leo is the English Labrador. He’s about 10-years-old, but still has a little puppy in him. Butterfly, Bella, Magic, Dunn, and Molly, and Dreamer, are the horses. They all stay in the fields except Butterfly, who I ride, and Molly, who is trying to lose weight, and who I take for daily walks like a puppy dog, haha. I live in the caravan between Bella’s field and the barn. It’s green and one-of-a-kind. I like it because I’ve got my own little place out here. The house is a 1700’s “lodge.” Marion’s started a Bed and Breakfast (like a LOT of other big, old, farmhouses in Ireland) in it about 18 years ago. It’s a 7-bedroom, 7-½ baths, house. Pretty nice, huh? Well, the old family house is across a few fields (potato fields). Godfrey’s family is big and I like all of them whom I’ve met. They’re really nice. They all live here in the area or in England. From the riding ring I can see Kilkea Castle, built in 1103. It’s right across the field (hay field). It’s a ritzy hotel now, but still really sweet.
My main roles are to, number 1, take care of the horses. I feed, brush, pet, walk, ride, play with, holler at, and give kisses to them. Oh yeah, and I clean their stalls where applicable. My other roles include dish washer, kitchen-looker-after, receptionist, gardener/waterer, helper of the 72-year-old cleaning lady with the house when she comes twice a week, and the do-er of whatever else Marion wants me to, which ranges from grocery carrier, to cake baker, to, in the times between when Lucy the cleaning lady comes, bed sheet changer and floor vacuumer. So those are the things that fill my days now that the wedding is over. I won’t go into all I did before and during the wedding. It was a lot of work and would take forever to fully say. So, yeah, that’s my life. In my off-time, I play with Leo, I read the newspaper, I read a book, I sit in the garden-swing and watch the weathers come and go, I talk to my parents on the telephone, I clean my “house,” I sit in the grass, I listen to music, I pet the horses, I sometimes write in my journal, and I look forward to the week-and-a-half that Mom and Dad are gonna be here. Don’t be jealous—I know they’re a lot of really, really exciting free time activities, but don’t forget that I’m doing them in Ireland J.
Okay, well, that’s an update on my life, I guess. Don’t say I never wrote ya nothin’.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
mooooving on!
Well, in the past three days I think I've cried enough to fill up the Nile in a drought. Currently, I am waiting in the Madrid-Barajas airport for a flight at 8:15 PM to Dublin (don't get jealous, it's not as fun as it sounds) from Spain. Oh man, how I didn't want to leave Sevilla. My stomach has been hurting for the past week with the amount that I didn't want to leave.
But alas, I've said my "hasta luegos" and hope that they aren't empty promises of later returns. What a family I have there :). It's not as hard as it could be, though--I've traveled so much this semester so other than having 3 bags worth of stuff instead of one bookbag, it kind of just feels like I'm going on another weekend trip, only this time I'm alone. At least that's what I am telling myself. I'm trying to save every memory I have of the past 4 months--locked and guarded and replayed every chance I get.
How about this: on the train to Madrid, I was inspired by a cartoon. Yeah, a Disney cartoon (at least it was Disney). The movie they played was "Meet the Robinsons" or something like that. The slogan of the movie was "Always move forward" and so that's what I'm gonna do. Once I start myself on thinking on Sevilla and my family and every, every, everything there, I get a little torn up about how it's over. So I decided I had to stop thinking about it like that and start thinking about all that's happened and how I'm going to freakin' IRELAND, man!! whooo!!
PLUS, MOM AND DAD ARE COMING!!!! Dad sent me the details on their booked flight. Ohh man, I cannot even express to you how excited I am to get to see them so soon. On Sunday, June 15th, at 5:15 AM, I might just explode from happiness--I think I will be on overload because I'm already at the top of being content :). So less than one month. One short little baby, itty bitty, tiny month!
A few things I've discovered while in Spain: there's no rush; evenly paved roads are overrated; you can make a sandwich out of anything. literally, bread and anything; Spanish is the coolest language ever; and also, that my life is a whirlwind.
But alas, I've said my "hasta luegos" and hope that they aren't empty promises of later returns. What a family I have there :). It's not as hard as it could be, though--I've traveled so much this semester so other than having 3 bags worth of stuff instead of one bookbag, it kind of just feels like I'm going on another weekend trip, only this time I'm alone. At least that's what I am telling myself. I'm trying to save every memory I have of the past 4 months--locked and guarded and replayed every chance I get.
How about this: on the train to Madrid, I was inspired by a cartoon. Yeah, a Disney cartoon (at least it was Disney). The movie they played was "Meet the Robinsons" or something like that. The slogan of the movie was "Always move forward" and so that's what I'm gonna do. Once I start myself on thinking on Sevilla and my family and every, every, everything there, I get a little torn up about how it's over. So I decided I had to stop thinking about it like that and start thinking about all that's happened and how I'm going to freakin' IRELAND, man!! whooo!!
PLUS, MOM AND DAD ARE COMING!!!! Dad sent me the details on their booked flight. Ohh man, I cannot even express to you how excited I am to get to see them so soon. On Sunday, June 15th, at 5:15 AM, I might just explode from happiness--I think I will be on overload because I'm already at the top of being content :). So less than one month. One short little baby, itty bitty, tiny month!
A few things I've discovered while in Spain: there's no rush; evenly paved roads are overrated; you can make a sandwich out of anything. literally, bread and anything; Spanish is the coolest language ever; and also, that my life is a whirlwind.
Friday, May 2, 2008
poco tiempo
Last night was the last night here for one of my friends. She’s leaving today. It made me realize how close we really are to another change. 17 short days have I left in Sevilla. 2 weeks and 3 days. And after? Another change. This is my life: changing. Wait, isn’t that a David Bowie song? I won’t lie, I’m excited! But… also nervous. I guess that comes with it though, right? Well, I’ve made it this far.
Man, I think I have changed so much in these past few months. The Spanish priorities just seem to make so much sense. What is important for them is not boring meetings where over-the-hill-aging and balding men drone on about last quarter’s returns, nor the higher paying, but higher stress job. What is important for these people is, well, people. It’s so much more important, if you see someone in the street, to stop and talk than to rush off to something lame and unexciting. They never stop talking, either. It doesn’t matter if they know what they’re talking about or not—as long as words are coming out of their mouths, they’re satisfied. I hope that when I get back to school, these things will also be more important to me. My friends, and my family are what are important. Getting my work done, too, but not in a manner that I am going to die from stress. That’s just no way to live your life. Right?
I do miss those mountains, though. And all that comes with them and with Boone and my school and friends and Hollis and my family and my home. It’s a different kind of miss, now, though. A few months ago it was: I wouldn’t mind to go home. Now, it’s a miss that I know I will soon fulfill, but at the same time, I’m trying to get all I possibly can from what is Sevilla. Life is a crazy thing, always keeping you on your toes. Maybe it’s because I’m a girl and my emotions change as often as a newborn’s diaper. But I think it’s normal :o).
God, how I dread leaving. There’s so much left here to see and do and get used to and laugh at and contemplate and love and grow to understand. 4 months is not enough time at all.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
here and where?
It’s hard to believe that my time is coming so quickly to an end here. In 17 small days I will be leaving my Spanish home and life to be whisked to a far away land of green and of English. In reflection, I am unable to sum up this time in words. Now I know what Tolkein was talking about when he wrote about the limits of language and words. The world and all the experiences and moments in it are just too much to be confined into what we like to call these things. It’s impossible. Every day is different and every moment changes me forever. This is what I’ve come to realize. I can’t even refer to these past few months honestly as “months” or a “semester” or anything like that—they make it all seem so small and insignificant.
It’s all the way the Spaniards wear their winter coats and call it “cold” at 70 degrees. It’s how the Italians love their wine and the way the French sing their language. It’s the beauty of God’s perfection and the fact that I get to see a new thing everyday. It’s my little sister learning English and my family’s wild Spanish-ness. It’s how most Spaniards think that New Mexico is part of Mexico and how it has a beach and how the USA is the size of Spain and how they don’t know what the Pantheon is and how they tell me I’m a blonde It’s how they think it’s weird to eat fruit, but they have stew for lunch every damn day, and how they sleep all the time and how they never do any work. They’re so lazy and once you accept that it’s the perfect way to live your life: work a little, take a break, work a little, sleep, maybe work a little more and then go party. It’s the Spanish laughter floating into my window every afternoon and how they speak-throw their Castellano. It’s the smell of lunch and the sound of the pot whistling and the flannel sheets in 90 degrees because it still gets “fresquito”. It’s all this and so much more that I can’t even write down because I’d be writing forever and I’d waste my time and yours because there’s no way that you’ll ever understand just from reading what I write. You have to come here and live it and breathe it for yourself. And then we might be able to talk about how different our experiences have been.
So all this plus a trillion more words might maybe get me close to explaining Spain and all this. But I doubt it.
It’s how they laugh their way through life, living, loving, family-ing, sleeping, eating, and always talking. I’ve come to appreciate it so much and it’s a goal to spread the word of how great their lives are by exemplifying it. Their stress free way of floating through life, enjoying each other and enjoying the earth is just what I’d like for us to do. At least we could try it.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
To the END OF THE WORLD!!
Wow, I actually didn't know that y'all for real read these. And by "y'all" I mean Terry and Dayna. So... awesome! :)
Well, driving in the city is stressful. Driving in 5-foot-wide streets is even more stressful. I admire the Europeans because they can go anywhere and get their cars in any spot. I, on the other hand, am a typical woman driver. Yes, I will admit it. But, I must say that I do alright for myself, seeing as how we rented a car this past weekend and drove to Portugal!
We went to Lagos, Portugal. It’s a pretty beach town with a lot of tourists, but nice beaches. The weather was great and we basically just spent all day laying in the sun (don’t worry, the level of sunscreen in my bottle is significantly lower). The water was sooo cold, but I loved it! It was really relaxing from my oh-so-stressful (ha!) lifestyle.
On Sunday we decided to go to the point furthest West in Europe. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in my life. They used to think that this place was the end of the world. It’s in the southern tip of Portugal and it is absolutely breath taking. The cliffs just drop and the view goes on forever of just… water. So after boggling our minds for a little while and getting some sweeet photos, we decided to head back to Lagos to spend our last hour in Portugal on the beach. Well, as it usually goes, we got sidetracked and stumbled across this little beach out there near the end of the world. It was the best beach in the world! It was pretty private and no one was there, really. So my friend Erin and I went for a little dip. It took about 15 minutes to get out to where the water was above our waists because we are such wimps, haha! We were going so slowly. But we finally get out to where our feet don’t touch and I can see them just as clearly as I can see anything. The water was perfectly crystal clear and so cold and so perfect! I loved it. I can see why people would consider this perfect place the end of the world. What a creation!
So after we finally get back to Seville, we have a bullfight to go to! Well, this bullfight is not like the American rodeos we normally go to. This one is barbarous and treacherous. I’m glad I went because it’s a cultural thing, but I’m glad it was pretty cheap because I did not really like it, haha! Maybe it’s one of those things that the more you see the better you like it. It was cool, though. It was definitely something I am glad I saw.
Finally, though, I got back home and got a shower and checked out how burnt I was (surprisingly not too much, although my back’s a little itchy), and went to BED.
It was a fantastic weekend. I didn’t want to leave that beach—it was perfection. Maybe one day I’ll get to go back, or I’ll keep exploring and find more beaches as beautiful.
Monday, April 21, 2008
this weekend
So this weekend, the weather in Seville has been a little crazy. In all of Spain, actually. Maybe it´s the global warming. Well, do your part because this Tuesday is Earth Day. (there you go--my plug for all things sustainable.) So it has rained all weekend and Friday it hailed during lunch! So I didn´t really leave the house much. Thursday some friends and I went to a bar/dance club that is supposed to be really exclusive, but it wasn´t, not really. I ended up talking to this kid all night that is from Seville but lived in Ireland for 2 years. I spoke Spanish, he spoke English, haha! Saturday I thought I´d get out of the house after being uber-lazy, so I walked to the city center, a good 45 minute walk and by the time I got there, it started raining so I just found a bus and came back home. Sunday a friend and I went to this town, Cordoba. It´s a small town about 1 hour away from Seville. It´s really pretty, but small. It used to be like the capital of what is now southern Spain when southern Spain was Arabic. So there is a SWEET mezquita (I don´t know what it´s called--it´s the place where they go and pray 5 times a day) and it is really gorgeous. The town was really nice and I liked it a lot. Well, we ended up leaving a little earlier than planned because the weather kept getting hot, cold, rainy, cold, hot, rainy, hot, etc. Then last night I got home, ate dinner, and me, my mom and my sister watched a girly teen movie on my sister´s computer. It was funny because we were in my sister´s bedroom, so we were all laying on the 2 twin beds that are in there and it just made me feel like I was right at home.
I´ve realized lately that it´s taken me 3 months to get used to Spain and now I am leaving in 3 weeks. What a shame, right? But I´ve realized that I´ve gone through these stages of living abroad:
1st month: amazement at actually accomplishing my dream of coming to Spain.
2nd month: see everything, do everything, and try and adjust at the same time.
3rd month (2 parts) 1st part: frustration at not understanding completely and at the dumb customs. 2nd part: feeling bad for being frustrated and wasting time.
4th month: sadness that now that you´ve finally adjusted you´re leaving in a few days and so now you´re trying to truly, truly appreciate everything around you.
haha. So... man! I am just happy that at least I´ll be here for the summer months, too, so I can come back and visit, or I could travel more if I felt like I wanted to. Guess I´m luckier than others in that sense--some people leave May 17th to go back to the US to waitress. Bad call.
I´ve realized lately that it´s taken me 3 months to get used to Spain and now I am leaving in 3 weeks. What a shame, right? But I´ve realized that I´ve gone through these stages of living abroad:
1st month: amazement at actually accomplishing my dream of coming to Spain.
2nd month: see everything, do everything, and try and adjust at the same time.
3rd month (2 parts) 1st part: frustration at not understanding completely and at the dumb customs. 2nd part: feeling bad for being frustrated and wasting time.
4th month: sadness that now that you´ve finally adjusted you´re leaving in a few days and so now you´re trying to truly, truly appreciate everything around you.
haha. So... man! I am just happy that at least I´ll be here for the summer months, too, so I can come back and visit, or I could travel more if I felt like I wanted to. Guess I´m luckier than others in that sense--some people leave May 17th to go back to the US to waitress. Bad call.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Travel Letter #2
This is the letter I sent to my family just the other day.
I think the last thing I wrote in that last letter was when we went to Madrid and Paris. That was really fun. Since then I’ve not really been going too many places; I’ve just sort of been hanging around Seville. That weekend after Paris, though, a friend and I went to Granada, Spain. It’s a town about 3 hours east of Seville. It’s my favorite place that I’ve been to this whole semester. It’s small and has basically one tourist attraction—the Alhambra, which is this fortress that dates back to, I think, the 9th century or something like that. It was really pretty and has been a fortress, a palace, a house, blah blah blah. It’s been a lot of stuff. So we went to the Alhambra. Well, Granada is in the middle of the mountains with the backdrop of Sierra Nevada, which is the highest mountain in Spain. So it made for a beautiful background to the Alhambra. That night, Friday night, my friend and I were wandering around Granada and stumbled across this perfect overview of Granada and the Alhambra and Sierra Nevada. A lot of people were hanging out there so when we found it we were kind of surprised. As we were hanging out there, this American kid came up to us and started talking to us and we made plans to hang out that night. So Amanda and I went back to our hostel, had dinner, which they made for us and it was some typical Granada dish, then met back up with that kid and went out for wine and tapas. It was pretty fun but we headed back to bed fairly early because the next day we had big plans to go hiking. So Saturday we got up and hung around for a little while. I ended up having a 2-hour conversation with 2 people, one from Slovakia, the other from Japan. After a while, though, Amanda and I set out on our adventure. We basically just walked out of Granada and hiked around the mountains all behind it. I wanted to go skiing on Sierra Nevada but Amanda was too nervous, haha! So we just hiked around behind Granada. It seriously was that fresh air that I needed, though. Being in the city had been killing me and I was going crazy, so going to the mountains was the perfect thing. After our daylong hike we headed back down to Granada and walked around. It’s an awesome town. I think if Boone, NC, were Spanish, it would be Granada. I think that’s why I liked it so much. So after a while we decided to head back to go catch the bus to Seville. We ended up missing it and had to stay in Granada another night (darn!, right?). I was happy for that. But we finally got back to home, sweet, home, Seville on Sunday.
That following week was midterms, so I studied a good bit and I did alright on my tests. I made lunch for my family one day (chili and cornbread!) and had a pretty calm week.
That Friday I went on a daytrip to Jerez de la Frontera, which is about 45 minutes south of Seville. It was a pretty cool town and is really famous for its sherry (“sherry” in Spanish is actually “jerez”—the name of the town). We spent the day there and took a tour of a bodega and hung out in Jerez. It’s an incredibly small town so we caught the 8:00 night bus back to Seville. The bodega was really pretty and the lady told us everything she knew about sherry making, which was basically everything there is to know. So that was an interesting little trip.
The next week we had off school. It was Holy Week and Seville has a ridiculous weeklong parade. All the churches make these float things. They weigh 100s of pounds and have bigger-than-life figures of Mary or Jesus or the Crucifixion or any Holy Week scene. Most churches have two floats—one of Jesus and one of Mary, and hundreds of people that dress up like the KKK and follow and lead the floats. This is a 500-year-old tradition and is really really famous. It was pretty cool and really crowded. I stayed here for the whole week, so I saw a lifetime’s worth of Mary-and-Jesus floats.
So the next week we had school again. Ugh. But that Saturday I went with the university’s sport department to go hiking. We went to Sierra Morena in Córdoba, about an hour east of Seville. It was a group of about 30 Spaniards in a charter bus that went out there (and 5 Americans). The hike wasn’t hard at all, but if you were to just listen to the Spaniards, you’d think we were hiking Mount Everest! The hike had two parts—one went through a botanical hilly garden. We made a circle through it and then went up the mountain to an overlook. Some of the Spaniards even bailed out after the garden, saying it was just too hard. Hahaha. Ohh Spaniards.
Anyways, the next Monday I had a visitor! A friend of mine from ASU who is studying in England came down to visit for a few days. It was really fun and I showed her all around Seville. She was here from Monday night through Thursday morning. It was kind of funny because I still had school, so she waited for me here at the house in the morning and she speaks only a few words of Spanish. Well my host mom would try and talk to her and she just had noo idea what to do. My host mom’s daughter speaks a little English, so she’d try and translate, but hearing about the mornings from my friend’s point of view was pretty funny.
That Thursday Stephanie went on her way back to England and I had a few hours to sleep a tiny bit and then pack to go to Italy. This week we have had off school for Feria (I’ll tell ya about that in a second), so we traveled a little around Italy. Two friends and I flew into Pisa Thursday night and Friday we spent a little while there. Basically the only thing in Pisa is the leaning tower so after we saw that we caught a train to Florence. Florence was my favorite town in Italy. It was just gorgeous and we hiked up this hill (one of the seven hills of Ancient Rome! Pretty cool, huh?) and saw an overlook of all of Florence. That night we went to dinner with a friend of one of the girls in our group and hung out in Florence and stuff. It was really fun and even prettier at night, with the river and all the buildings lit up. The next day we spent a little while in Florence then caught a train to Venice. Venice was gooooorgeous and just like the movies! I liked it a ton but it was definitely really expensive and really touristy. But it was beautiful. That night, instead of staying in Venice, because a hostel costs about 75 dollars (and we don’t like paying more than about 15 dollars a night), we took the 7-hour night train to Rome. We finally got to Rome and stayed just outside the city in a little campground. The city is amazing. We saw everything there was to see and I’m pretty sure we left no ground uncovered. We finally got back to Seville Thursday morning about 7 am.
It had been raining in Seville a monsoon for the past 3 days and they say we got a month-and-a-half’s worth of rain in 3 days! The river is so full. But everyone’s kind of bummed out because it’s been raining on this Feria week. Well, Feria is a huge deal. Basically it’s just another excuse for Sevillians to party it up. Everyone goes to this one designated Feria section of town (this part of town is not used for anything other than Feria—one week of the year) and gets dressed up in Flamenco dresses and sets up these tents and just eats and drinks and dances. It’s pretty crazy. There’s a little fair on one side, too. It’s really fun and it’s cool because it’s such a Sevillian tradition.
So tomorrow I have school again. We have to finish out aaaaallllllllll of April with no more breaks! I don’t know what I’ll do. But thank goodness we have May 1st off for another festival. Going that long with no days off? Shew!
Seriously though, Seville is really beautiful right now with all the spring flowers and birds and the weather is getting a lot warmer lately, too. I only have one month left here, though! I hope to come and visit my host family at least once over the summer one weekend or something since I’ll be fairly close.
Travel Letter #1
This is the letter I sent to my family in March.
So, I know I’ve been pretty slack on keeping everyone updated on what’s going on around here, so this time I’m actually writing. I guess most of you know that I went to Morocco on February 8-10. It was pretty crazy. We kind of just decided to sign up with this tour group that was going (because it’s kind of dangerous to go by yourself, especially if you’re American, and extra especially if you’re a girl). The group ended up consisting mostly of kids from my university (Americans and Canadians), so we all already kind of knew each other, which gave a nice dynamic to the trip. So, we rode the bus down to Algeciras, Spain, to cross the Strait of Gibraltar to get to Ceuta. We got there a little after 5:00 in the evening. We didn’t get on the ferry until 12:00 at night because there was a huge storm that we had to wait out! That was my first time on a ferry and I’ll tell ya, it took a lot to not get seasick because the waves were so big from the storm. Anyways, we finally get to Morocco, cross the border, and get to the hotel at 2 or 3 AM. After dinner (yeah, a 3 a.m. dinner) we slept a few hours and visited the city in which we were staying, Tetuán, Morocco, a small town in the north of the country. Our tour guide, who called himself Michael Douglas (I think because it’s easier to say for Americans than Muhammedwhatcha-ma-call-it Jihabad), and was pretty funny, led us through the markets and then brought us to a bazaar. It was crazy in the bazaar, because they wanted to bargain. I’m real bad at that, but I did get one thing. After a Moroccan lunch of cous cous and some other plates, we went to Tangier, which Morocco gained not too long ago from France. Tangier was really pretty—very European. A lot of middle-eastern princes have their vacation palaces there. After a tour (and after riding camels!!) we had 45 minutes to walk around in the center at about 7:00 at night. So 5 of us girls thought that it would be good to walk around together. Not so. All the guys inside the stores kept hollering out to us and calling us the Spice Girls, haha! The people of Morocco are Muslim, so the guys think it’s crazy to see an American, especially a light-skinned one. Anyways, after that, we went back to the hotel and said our good-byes to our beloved tour guide, Michael, ate dinner, and went to bed. The next day we took a bus up to Chef-Chaouen. This city was so beautiful—completely blue and white, like a little Greek town. It was up in the mountains and very gorgeous. We toured it and then had some free time to walk around and do a little bargaining with the shop owners.
I think my favorite town was Tetuán because it was the most typically Moroccan, and my next favorite was Chef-Chaouen because it was just so beautiful. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to drive across Northern Morocco in bus versus flying or something like that because it let us see the beauty of the countryside. I never knew that there were such mountains up there. They were maybe the biggest reliefs (drops from top to bottom of the mountain) that I have seen, only possibly rivaled by the mountains in central Mexico. They were gorgeous, though, and because of the storm, they had clouds clinging to them and rolling down them. So pretty. Anyways, after Chef-Chaouen we hurried back to Ceuta to try and catch the ferry back to Spain, because they told our leader-person that they were waiting for us. That wasn’t true. We flew down the mountains for about 2 hours and around hairpin turns, which was kinda fun, haha. But we got to the ferry station and they told us that the ferry was too full and that we’d have to wait for the next. Well, the storm was still sticking around from the other day so we had to wait in the ferry port for 8 hours. Once we finally got on the ferry, I took some Dramamine (a drug that people take for car sickness) and went to sleep for the 2-hour ferry ride. When we FINALLY got back to Sevilla, it was 7 am and I had to go to class from 9 am until 3 pm so I didn’t even go to bed—I just showered and went to school having slept about 3 hours in the past 24 hours (and an intense 24 hours). Needless to say, I said some pretty crazy things in class that day!
But Morocco was really fun, and completely different than anywhere I’ve ever, ever been. I would have felt so uncomfortable had I not been with a group, so I am very glad that we decided to do that. Morocco is beautiful, a little strange, and absolutely sketch, haha! (just kidding… but mostly serious)
The week after Morocco was crazy. I couldn’t catch up on my sleep, I had a ton to do, and I was getting a cold. Ahh! So that week is kind of lost in the abyss. But the following weekend I stayed around Seville. My host mom, Pastori, has breast cancer and on that Friday she had her 2nd chemo treatment, so I wanted to make sure she was okay because in the apartment it’s only me, her, and her 11-year-old daughter (who is adopted) although her other kids, who are all about 30-years-old come over all the time. Plus, it was a good excuse to rest. That Saturday we went to a family bar-b-que. They’re a lot different here than in the states. But the food was delicious. It was mostly steaks that were cut up, and also pork and fish. Plus, of course, olives and bread, because they eat an obscene amount of bread and olives, and then things like chips, etc. The bar-be-que was at the house of the parents of the husband of a daughter of Pastori’s (if you can follow that relationship). They live in a little town about 30 minutes outside Seville and they have two places. One is a house on the edge of the little town, and the other is a 5-minute’s walk down the street to a little one-room house in a field next to where their sheep and chickens are. They have that one-room house just to host parties, so it’s pretty nice. They also have a puppy that was SOOO cute and looked just like Buddy and Cody did when they were babies. I think it was a Mastiff? I’m not sure. I told them that we used to have a Great Pyrenees, and they said that that dog was kind of like that one, but not exactly. They knew the Pyrenees breed because it originated, of course, in those mountains, which are in Spain. Anyways, the family is really fun and I had a good time. The food was delicious, and it’s funny because the father of the husband of Pastori’s daughter calls me “La Rubia”—“The Blonde Girl.”
So after that weekend I had finally rested and gotten over Morocco and had a great week at school. I like my school—it’s kind of out in the country and I have a 10-minute bus ride out there. I met some kid that goes to the University of Sevilla and he made fun of me for going to UPO, telling me that they call the UPO kids rednecks because the school isn’t in the city. Haha.
So, that brings me to my latest trip/adventure. A little background explanation: this past Wednesday and Thursday were holidays for my province, Andalucía. Wednesday was “Puente” and Thursday was “Día de Andalucía” which translates to “we are Spaniards and so therefore we search for reasons to have ridiculous parties without having to go to work.” So we didn’t have school those days and the study abroad kids at UPO never have school Friday. So, me and 3 other girls decided to take advantage of this break. We skipped that Monday and Tuesday and left the Thursday before (February 21st) and took an 11PM bus for 6 hours from Sevilla to Madrid, the capital of Spain. At 5 AM we got to Madrid and stayed there for Friday through Monday. Madrid was so pretty. They have a ridiculous amount of palaces and huge buildings, and parks. It was really fun—we walked about 3,657,503 miles through the city and went everywhere and saw everything, I think. We didn’t experience the oh-so-famous Madrid nightlife, though, because by about 11 at night we were so beat that we just went straight to bed.
We went to some fantastic museums, in place of nightlife, which was 100% okay with me, since I’m a big nerd. We went to The National Museum of the Prado. In there was Goya, el Greco, Rebrandt, Velázquez, Ribera, Raphael, Bosch, and a hundred masterpieces. This museum wasn’t my favorite, since Renaissance art isn’t really my thing, but it was still awesome!
We also went to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, (in Madrid there are 3 incredibly famous museums and this one, Prado, and the Reina Sofia are them) which had a temporary exhibit of at least 4 huge floors dedicated to Picasso. Wow. I didn’t even know he had that many works. Other than that, though, there was everything from Italian primitive paintings to Dutch paintings, impressionist to expressionist, and all in between. I liked the Thyssen, but I was definitely Picasso-ed out by the end!
The Reina Sofia was pretty cool, as well. It had Dalí, Miró, Gris, Picasso, even one by Diego Rivera, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I thought it was strange that in the museums in Madrid, we couldn’t take pictures. I can see how it might get out of hand, though. Oh, well!
We also went to a museum up there of the collections of Lázaro Galdiano, who apparently was some really rich dude that seriously loved Goya. His collection included everything from 3rd century B.C. golden earrings to 19th century English paintings—quite the diversity. The museum was actually the mansion he lived in when he was alive. It was three floors stocked full of every epoch of art.
Other than museums in Madrid, we spent a lot of time hanging out in parks and walking around. It’s a beautiful city.
Sunday night we didn’t get a hostal room because we had a 5 AM flight to Paris. We wanted to save money so we slept in the airport that night, haha! We got to Paris and it just started out hilarious. We were taking the metro to our hotel and one little old lady got on the metro after us, but her jacket got caught in the door of the train. She just kind of looked at us as if to say, “Ahh! Ugh!” and started talking to us in French, with very lipstick-covered teeth. She realized we didn’t speak French, but kept making funny faces to express her fake distress over her jacket. That was a good/really funny way to start out our visit in the City of Amour. We giggled a ridiculous amount.
I LOVED Paris. I felt a little guilty because I felt obligated to like a Spanish city more than a French city since I speak Spanish, but Paris definitely rated over Madrid. It was so gorgeous and I’ve never seen such buildings. It was a little awkward sometimes because none of us speak French past the basic—hello, how are you, thank you, good-bye, do you speak English, and I don’t speak French—plus a few random but essential words like, toilet. But we got by since a lot of people speak at least a little English, and sometimes we’d find someone that could speak only French and Spanish. If none of that worked, we just used the tried-and-true pointing and grunting. Plus, in the group of us 4 girls, two are more flirty, so these French guys would always try and talk to those two, but every time they would talk to some guy, our sides were hurting from laughing so hard since the language barrier served for such a comic relief.
Anyways, Paris was gorgeous. I’m sure I’ll forget something, but I’ll try and list all we saw on Monday morning through Thursday morning. We saw: Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame (our hotel was basically right next to the Notre Dame), the Pantheon, the Louvre, the d’Orsay, the Arc de Triumph, a thousand centuries-old churches, Montmarte (which is the highest point in Paris), the Madeline, the Opera house, Moulin Rogue, and so many little areas of Paris. Although it was rainy every day except for one, it was still just absolutely gorgeous. I would love to return any day.
The Louvre: we decided to go to the Louvre from 6:00-9:00 one day because it was way cheaper to get in. Bad decision. Well, bad decision for me because I’m a museum nerd—good decision for two of the other girls in our group. It is called the Louvre Palace, and for good reason. It’s SOOOOOO big, with an awesome amount of every type of art. It took 30 minutes just to figure out how to get around in there! But, I saw some fantastic art, and some of the most famous works of art in the world—the Mona Lisa, some of Michelangelo’s most famous sculptures, including The Dying Slave, and, by other artists: Venus de Milo, Psyche and Cupid, and 372,894 other sculptures. Also, something that really, really impressed me was Napoleon’s apartments. I guess he lived in the Louvre Palace for a while and he had one hell of an interior decorator because the apartments are insane and so gorgeous. I saw so many paintings in the Louvre, but I don’t want to bore you with just listing them off—all I can say is that I really want to return one day to see everything I missed because I was so rushed.
In the d’Orsay, I saw every impressionist painter, I think, which means I was pretty much in heaven for a few hours. Van Gogh, Corot, Degas, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Gaudí, Munch, Cézanne, Gauguin, Matisse, Pissarro, Sisley—just to name a few. I really loved the d’Orsay, but I also love impressionist paintings.
Oh man, and let me tell you that the reputation that French food has is so true. Everything we had was ridiculously delicious. Expensive, but worth every penny. We tried to have the typical French food, so I had croissants, one girl had ratatouille, I had crème brulee, we had baguettes, crepes, which I thought were only for putting sugar and fruit in, but they use crepes for everything, like a sandwich. We also had the best tartes in the world, delicious French onion soup, and a ton of other things. The gustatory opportunities are endless.
The other girls really enjoyed the shopping opportunity, but while they went shopping I went to a park to write a little in my journal, but mostly I went to people watch. That was a good decision, since I’m not really big on shopping. I ended up in a park in front of a church that I’m sure was at least 200 or 300 years old (a baby in terms of French architecture). The most interesting part was when I happened to look up from my journal at one point and saw a man crossing the park with his dog and we happened to make eye contact. Well, I looked back down, since I was just chillin, and not looking to have philosophical conversations with some random old French guy, but he came over to talk… in French. I said, “Bonjour,” but, clearly, after that I was lost. So he started talking in French, but I just said, uhhhm… sorry. So he switched to English. He was an interesting person, and explained to me that “I am I” and “you are you” and that I must modify myself to achieve a future. Haha! That was quite the conversation. His dog was nice and he told me about 3 times that he spoke 6 languages, and just because I am learning Spanish it isn’t enough and that I must modify myself! That is just one example of a crazy encounter I had with a Frenchman. They’re silly over there. I don’t know where the stereotype comes from that French people are rude and smelly. Everyone we encountered was so kind and helpful, and no one smelled worse than any American :).
So Thursday afternoon we reluctantly left our hotel and flew back to Madrid. From Madrid we took another 1 AM bus back to Seville and I finally crawled into my flannel-sheet bed at 8 AM and didn’t get up until 2 PM when I ate lunch and then hung out for the rest of the day. It was difficult switching back to thinking and speaking in Spanish when I had been around only my American friends for a week.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Hola!
Alright, so yes, I am making a blog, to the inspiration of Dayna Causby, my beloved sister.
So I've been in Spain now for 3 months. It's pretty awesome. I have one month left here and I can't believe it is going by so quickly!! I've been traveling a little and hanging out a little. It sure beats stressing out about real classes back in the States. I'll post the e-mails I sent to my family about my travels and stuff.
I have a website of photos from last summer, too, when I studied in Cuernavaca, Mexico. It's http://community.webshots.com/user/mariannerupp
I guess I should post some photos from Europe on there too, right? Well, I might put it on my to-do list.
So I've been in Spain now for 3 months. It's pretty awesome. I have one month left here and I can't believe it is going by so quickly!! I've been traveling a little and hanging out a little. It sure beats stressing out about real classes back in the States. I'll post the e-mails I sent to my family about my travels and stuff.
I have a website of photos from last summer, too, when I studied in Cuernavaca, Mexico. It's http://community.webshots.com/user/mariannerupp
I guess I should post some photos from Europe on there too, right? Well, I might put it on my to-do list.
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