A Night Out With my Mom

This happened this past summer. We know by now I am notorious for late posting.

Hey, I had an AMAZING night with my mom. We were both swaying and hungry and we went out to eat. At the counter, my mom tried to speak French which confused me because she only knows Spanish and confused the host because we were in a middle eastern restaurant. The hilarity ensued from there and included me inadvertently charming my way into some free hummus by ending the whole "sit anywhere/oh we don't care where" discussion by me saying "we are sitting here, and food is good and I apologize for our manner but I at least haven't eaten since noon" (it was 8pm)

he smiled and said he understood then loudly exclaimed on his way to the kitchen for the usual free bread that "these ladies are hungry and must be fed"  that's when he came back with the pitas and free hummus, told us it was on the house and said please eat something. He was so friendly and we were just having a good time with the wait staff and I was making my mom laugh and when she did I KNOW they heard it from across the restaurant and went oh yes, that lady.
At the end of the meal, the manager came up and complimented me on my smile and eyes as they all do, I told him how wonderful the staff and the meal was. On the way home I told my mom about the game show idea I had when I was living in the dorms this past semester. You have to guess the students major based on their google search history and sort through the ones that are like does dr Phil have a therapy license and damp men, to find the more relevant searches of the mating habits of dragonflies (zoology) and structure of methamphetamine (organic chemistry). (the search of Damp men was an unfortunate attempt by my roommate to find out if guys also had wet T-shirt contests, a google image search she made on my other roommate's phone and did not, in fact, yield the results she was anticipating).

This is the end of the post.

I hope you're laughing because I sure was.

My Next Adventure

I am writing this not only to update my two readers on my upcoming journey but to test out this new Linux laptop. I am indifferent to it at the moment. It is heavy and bulky and I really wish I had something smaller to travel with. ANYWAY, I am going to be studying abroad in Costa Rica for 89 days. hopefully, they'll let me through customs with my departure date so close to the expiration of the 90-day tourist visa. well, we will find out I guess. The last time I went through customs was in Peru and I had taken an orange with me on the plane for a snack, I was however motion sick and did not eat the orange. there as also no trash can in which I could dispose of said orange on the way to the customs line. when I reached the guy who was stamping my passport I showed the orange and he was like whatever the next guy will take it from you. then I went to the person standing next to the baggage claim and was like, 
"Hey, I know I can't take this into the country, who do I give it to?" and he responded,
"YOU CAN'T BRING THAT INTO THE COUNTRY GIVE IT TO THOSE GUYS!" and I politely replied thank you and went in the direction he was pointing. A lady there saw my orange and said, "YOU CAN'T BRING THAT INTO THE COUNTRY GIVE IT TO ME!" and I was like, 
"YES PLEASE THANKYOU- I KNOW- I AM TRYING TO GET RID OF IT" except the caps, in this case, are my wide-anxiety filled eyes and not me yelling, just talking in a frantic voice and long story short that's how I got a receipt from the Peruvian government for an Orange that they confiscated from me at the border. At least I didn't get felt up like on my way out of Frankfurt, Germany. Whee. 

The Bird by My Window

     Things have been going pretty great lately, work at the shelter is going alright, I have an amazing boyfriend who loves me, the semester is over and my friends are back for the summer. You'd think I'd be alright, right? and for the most part things are great, but every now and then, the house is too silent, the porch, the neighborhood, everything is too quiet. It feels like I'm going crazy and I can't get the voices out of my head. My depression comes back, I start losing energy and feeling useless and alone. I find myself blaming the sunshine because all I was looking forward too was the rain and thunder. It brakes the silence, thunder snaps you back, it reminds you of beauty in the rolling storms. Laced with the lighting that brightens the world, refreshed by the rain that comes with it and rolls your worries down your shoulders.
     But today I don't have thunder, I don't have rain. Instead, I have a bird by my window that flew so fast past and squawked loudly at me. telling me to get up and try to enjoy the sunshine.

so I did, I went kayaking.

     Suddenly the rustling leaves filled the quiet and the wind blew the voices out of my mind. I appreciated the sunshine filtering through the clouds after the cold touch of the river. The exertion felt good too, endorphins always help. My muscles felt pleasantly worn and stretched after the workout of paddling upstream and my mind felt at peace again floating back downriver. Sometimes it's so hard to remember that all I need to break the ice is to make myself get up and DO something.
     Sometimes it helps to have a little bird chirp a reminder at you too.

     I actually wrote the first half of this right before I went kayaking, and the second about 3 weeks later as I'm sitting on my couch, scared at how hard it is to breathe, and scared of the heat outside that makes it so much worse. I tried to be an adult and after years of issues, finally got myself checked out for asthma. The doctor I went to didn't really listen to me and just kind of there a generic prescription at me without hearing my needs, since I started this medication it's gotten worse. My next appointment to hopefully try to fix this with a different doctor isn't for another 5 days.
    
     So here I am. Finishing one of the many posts that I had started and left hanging. Trying to remind myself of when the sunshine wasn't quite so cruel.

Update: This was supposed to post last july...  not sure why it changed places in my blog.

Peru Day 2

Sunday, March 3rd; first full day

Carnival

Most of the group went to spend the day hiking up Rainbow Mountain. If you look up the hike online, you will see that it is one of the most strenuous hikes you can take in Peru. The peak is at about 16,000ft and I opted out of this excursion knowing my body would much rather take a day to acclimate in Cusco. It just so happened that this day was the Carnival celebration, so it worked out well. I ate my breakfast of fried egg, toast and fresh mango* alone and had a chance to ask my host questions, mainly about the restaurant. He used to run it, but he doesn't have time anymore. His daughter used to have a restaurant by Plaza De Armas but that one is closed down too now. They have been hosting people from all over the world for many years now and he loves meeting and learning the stories they have to tell. He spoke moderately good English and he told me about how used to working around language barriers he was, he had had some visitors from Russia and other countries that barely spoke English and no Spanish at all. I think it brings him great joy to cook and share his food with so many people from so many places. As I finish my breakfast he reminds me not to keep belongings like my phone in my back pockets or they will get stolen. He also makes sure I take a jacket, even though it was in the 70s (F), it was the rainy season.

After breakfast, I headed to the other homestay across the street to meet up with the other two from the group that also stayed behind. This house had the same sort of American home entryway, but as you went further in, there were purposely unroofed portions of cobblestone hallways and tight iron stairs to different rooms. the top floor had a small terrace with clothing lines and a wash basin. Their host was Maria; she, her husband and three-year-old son spoke no English. I was able to make my way with the polite small talk I knew in Spanish while the other two got ready. We then walked through a short ally beside the house full of bright overhanging flowers, to get to the main street where we got a cab to Avenida el Sol, (Avenue of the Sun).

He dropped us off at Qorikancha, a large grassy park underneath a cathedral and across the street from the Maximo Nivel offices. Here we ran into a couple sisters wandering in their indigenous clothing with a baby alpaca. We paid them two soles each for a photo with them holding a baby alpaca. There are quite a few locals that do this as their source of income from tourists. I tried to ask the name of the baby alpaca by pointing at it and saying  "esta llama?" (llama means Name, I was guessing on the "estate"). The little girl said "No llama, baby alpaca," before taking him back.

We headed up the stairs to Plaza De Armas the same way we were shown the previous day. Stairs are hard at 12,000ft. The plaza had some policemen in groups of four around the perimeter; I always try to take note of if law enforcement in other countries have guns. As far as I could tell, these ones only had tasers and nightsticks.
Music engulfed us as the bands in the parade warmed up their instruments and more people wandered the streets selling goods than usual. I bought a hat from one to help fend off the sun and was immediately washed with relief at the shade over my face. Artists came up to us to show us their portfolios, sometimes calling out "Hey Chikas! Want to see my sexy llamas?"** this was not a euphemism, they all had some long skinny paintings of a llamas head and neck. They were truly fabulous. We browsed and bought some art while we waited for the celebrations to start. I got two thin watercolor pieces, one of an alley in Cusco, the other of Manchu Picchu.

Plaza De Armas: The Cathedral

The parade was full of colorful indigenous dancers with broad smiles. Each group of dancers had their own small band and paraded around the plaza. Many people sat on the stairs to the cathedral to watch the celebration. The center of the plaza around the fountain was starting to fill with people armed with water balloons and spray foam in aerosol cans. I bought a small can from a girl selling them. After watching the dancers for a while we wandered into a couple stores in an alley to get away from the heat. One shop keeper was listening to what sounded like Spanish Hamilton music.

Plaza De Armas: The Temple

When we got back to the plaza, Carnival was in full swing with massive spray foam and water balloon fight. Of course I immediately joined in. The locals are hesitant to spray the tourists at first, (The adults are, kids will spray anyone) but once they see you have a can of the foam as well, they gang up on you a bit. We were by far not the only tourists in the mix; among the Spanish, I recognized French, German, Arabic, and some Australian accents. I was having the time of my life getting sprayed at from all directions, wading through a crowd and trying to keep my grinning mouth shut (only had to learn that lesson once!). After so many months of polar vortex cold and darkness in Marquette, here in the sun I finally felt like myself again.
When I ran out of foam I bought another can and headed into the fray, this time spraying at groups of pre-teen boys that would sneak up behind girls, spray them in the back of the head and run away. I would spray them, then hide the can and act like an innocent tourist. One group caught on and came after me with water balloons; I emerged from the fray laughing and soaked. The other two who were staying well away from the chaos found me again and we wandered down a side street that was only slightly less hectic. I had put the cans into the side pouches of my backpack and as we passed a couple men, who I think were Sikh from their turbans, sprayed me with foam. Whipping out my own I turned heel and sprayed them back, all of us laughing as they ran away.

It was this experience that made me realize just how much laughter connects us. There were so many people from different cultures and religions, with different histories and languages; it was enthralling to experience how fun and laughter brakes down these barriers. It was suddenly okay that I didn't know Spanish. There are so many other ways to communicate and connect with people all over the world. That isn't to say that you shouldn't try to speak the language as much as possible, you should still try your best. This is why it is so important for people not only to travel but to immerse themselves as much as possible to bring a mutual love and understanding each other; we are not so different. You don't have to know a language to communicate, there are so many people that I felt touch me, even for the briefest moment: locking eyes, smiling, nodding, spraying each other in the face with foam. It's amazing what so little can say.

We found an out of the way cafe to eat lunch at, I had an empanada. Empanadas were pretty much the pasty of Peru. it was flaky, full of chicken and some form of cheese. (in other words, fabulous). After lunch, we went back to the homestays to rest for a bit. I found out that the key I was given didn't work in the garage door, and someone I didn't recognize let me into the house. She didn't speak any English and had trouble communicating that my key didn't work and needed to be let in. She let me in and I felt bad for bothering her lunch. I went up to my room and passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow. An hour later, around 2pm the rest of the group came back from Rainbow Mountain. They said the hike was hell, they were glad they went but they wouldn't go again. Some even needed to get oxygen from a tank on the way up. Apparently, you could also rent a horse to take you part of the way. I told them about my experience and they told me I looked like I was glowing with the positive energy from the day's events.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful; I slept for another hour and the other two girls and I went out to the tree bifurcation to see where it would lead us. It ended at a snack kiosk and no extra charges ATM where we met a girl from Alaska who had volunteered with Maximo Nivel and was now looking for a job teaching English. we went a little farther down the street and found a large bridge that went over the busy street. on one side of the bridge was what I thought was a large pharmaceutical research building with a beautiful mural. we took our time admiring the view and I let the pleasant happy feelings form the day wash over me with the warm breeze. It felt so good to be in warm weather, to laugh and have childish fun again. Traveling is who I am, I don't feel like myself when I take too long between trips. I crave adventure and the flavors of different cultures.

The Tree Bifurcation

*This mango was the most amazing mango I have had in my life, it was plump and juicy and somehow melted in my mouth without any of the starchy texture that you get from the mangoes in Michigan. I asked my friend from Peru about this and she said that in Michigan we get our mangoes from Mexico (which I knew), but Peru has its own mangoes. In markets, they are absolutely huge, green and red with juice running out of the stem. If you have a layover and can do one thing in Peru, eat fresh mango.
**I google searched sexy llamas to see if I could post an example of the art; no art, just weird memes..and llamas having sex but hey nothing you can't see on a postcard from Cusco.

Peru day 1

This past spring break I went to Peru with a group of others from NMU on an international service project. Saturday we arrived in the warm, sunny city of Cusco and were greeted a smiley face flag swung by our project manager form Maximo Nivel, the local organization we would be volunteering with. They took us to our homestays, nine others and I went to one homestay, our three leaders got a hotel room and the rest stayed in the second homestay across the street. Our host was Effrain, an exceptionally welcoming and kind man living with his wife Ruth and son Diego. when you entered the house it looked like a normal American home, thought the stacks of movies by the television were in Spanish. I later found this house to have many more stairwells, hallways, and rooms than I had originally thought, Including another family, presumably relatives living there that I only saw once. As we were shown into our tidy assigned rooms with bunk beds and warm clean blankets, altitude sickness slammed into me. Cusco is 12,000ft high; I felt light-headed, dizzy, my vision started spinning and blurring at the edges. The bed was a welcome place to lie down for a few minutes while the altitude sickness medication kicked in and I enjoyed not moving. I had been traveling for at least 17 hours; one bus and two planes. I normally don't get motion sick on planes, but we had hit a lot of turbulence over the Caribbean and my stomach was not happy.

Two hours after settling in, our program manager came and showed us how to call for taxis down by the main street, a short walk out of our quiet neighborhood. The main street had a beautiful tree bifurcation along the middle of it, almost like a garden. people were walking dogs and street vendors were selling food from carts along it. I remember glancing a newspaper stand and one of the covers standing out to me, the headline read "DICTATORS" (In Spanish) and the cover held the photos of several world leaders, the biggest one, front and center being the angry, finger-wagging face of Trump. I had no local money on me at the time, otherwise, I would have grabbed a copy, curious of what the other countries had to say on the subject.

After getting taxis we were off to orientation at the Maximo Nivel headquarters. we got our project assignment, we would be working with an animal shelter called "Colitas sin Techo" or "Tails without a home." Monday and Tuesday afternoon we would be building a fence for the shelter so the dogs had more room to roam, and Thursday we would split our group into two teams to run an animal campaign in a more impoverished area of Cusco. One team in the morning, one in the afternoon. The orientation also covered more general getting around the city tips, like how to know the difference between legitimately registered taxis and fake ones, some common need to know Spanish phrases, and other safety tips. During the orientation I drank a ton of Coca tea; not chocolate, this is the leaf they make cocaine out of but don't worry, unprocessed it's perfectly safe! (Just don't try to bring any back home, the TSA dogs will sniff you out.) Coca tea is drunk a lot by new arrivals because it helps with adjusting to the altitude. Incas used to chew the dried leaves to supplement vitamins in their diet, get an energy boost and suppress hunger.

Orientation was finished with a walking tour of the area of the city around the office which included where ATMs were, stores and the main Plaza De Armas (Probably spelled wrong but that's how I learned to say it). we went up a set of stone stairs and through a couple, back alleyways to get there. stairs are HARD at 12,000ft, I sure was sucking on my inhaler. the cobblestone streets made me feel like I was back in Europe. I looked through an archway in one of the alleys and saw a large grassy yard. I laughed to myself and remembered one of my favorite books as a kid, The Secret Garden. I found it, I had found the secret garden! Spoiler alert: it contains many colorful alpacas... glances through other similar archways reveled beer gardens, restaurants, basketball courts, and soccer fields.

 Plaza De Armas is the central square of Cusco; The cathedral and temple take two sides. It's close to a lot of nice shops and restaurants. the middle of the square has a giant fountain with I forgot who on top of it. locals wander around the plaza, trying to get tourists to buy hats and sweaters from them, artists wander with their portfolios to try and sell their art. The city is littered with stray dogs, one of which knew our program manager and adopted our group for the tour, following us around and rubbing his ears on our legs. at the end of the tour, he followed us back into the office. We named him Max, short for Maximo.

Max at Maximo

Back at the headquarters, we exchanged money and were free to do with the rest of the day what we pleased. Some people who weren't feeling so good took a taxi back to the homestays, the rest of us followed the lead of the guy who said, "Hey, let's walk back, It'll be fun! trust me, I downloaded Google Maps!" yeah, we got lost. For the record, I was prepared to talk and haggle with the taxis to get us to where we needed to go. But it wound up being one of those fun adventures where you explore the city while really fucking hungry because we didn't eat lunch. On the way, we stopped at a convenience store for snacks and I got to try the legendary Inca Cola soda that every travel guide told me to try. It tastes like pineapple bubble gum and was much too sweet for me. I also tried Inca Corn which was not the same as we get in the states, it was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. think inverse popcorn. I am glad we went through, I have always appreciated the road less traveled and this one got a baby alpaca shoved in my arms by a local who wanted me to take a picture with it for a sole ( 1 USD = 3.2 Soles).

Back at the homestay we entered through the garage door with the keys we were given. Through which was an area of the house I hadn't seen yet and It blew my mind. Their car was parked in the entryway to a beautiful restaurant. There was a stocked wooden bar in front of the car, the glasses covered in dust obviously hadn't been used in a while. the entry turned past a coca-cola cooler to a gorgeous high ceiling room filled with chairs stacked on tables. the floor was a simple blue mosaic and there was a professional kitchen to the side that hadn't seen use in a while. During my whole stay, the room remained dark and the chairs never left the tops of the tables. The house kitchen was also to the side of the restaurant and through it we accessed the rest of the house, going up a set of stairs in the entryway to get to my room I shared with two other girls. Going through the doorway into the rest of the house was like stepping through a portal. Throughout the whole house, I was made to feel safe and welcome.

Dinner was served at 7pm, an amazing meal of what could be described as a Peruvian tuna casserole on yucca fries and a side of rice. Our hosts never dined with us, but this was more due to custom and at orientation, we were told not to take offense. Peruvians have large lunches as the big meal of the day and eat little to no dinner. While our homestay provided us with breakfast and dinner, we were on our own for lunches during the week. Our hosts were careful to ask about dietary restrictions and they never had any problems accommodating my lactose intolerance. It mostly just meant that I needed my meals without cheese mixed in, and on the couple occasions we had yogurt at the breakfast table, I was provided with dairy-free yogurt.

After dinner, we all pretty much passed out in our rooms. Some people (not me) had a mountain to climb tomorrow. I was going to Carnival.

I will upload pictures later, I need sleeeeeeep.

Hogback Mountain

Saturday morning, my roommates, Sarah's sister and I went out to hike Hogback mountain. or we would have, we never got there. Instead, I drove everyone around in my tiny Passat, on roads that I really should not have taken it on. If living out in Nevada had taught me anything, it was how to drive a non-four-wheel-drive car on off roads. (I know, ill advised.)

Walking out to the car, I had assumed that Kate knew the way to Hogback, seeing as she suggested a hike out there in the first place. I was wrong. I called out "Shotgun has heated seat and also has to navigate!" Kate claimed the heated seat and pulled up google maps.
We were almost out of the parking lot before she had to borrow someone's phone because her's was at 3%.
But that's okay because google had no clue where we were going anyway.
Let the adventure begin.

The first fork in the dirt road that I followed for way to long was the wrong way. I had been that way for my biology field labs before, so I wasn't quite lost. We went almost all the way back to the main road, where there was a couple people with Nerf Guns and filming equipment. Kate decided this was an excellent time to ask for help. She jumped out (so glad I'm not the only one who's father taught them to jump from a slow moving vehicle) and asked for directions. They didn't know where we could hike to Hogback either, and apparently they were filming Nerf gun and sword fights for a YouTube channel they have. Kate came back and we took another look at google, I first wanted to get back on the main road, but we decided that going back and taking the opposite fork in the road that we had previously come across would be the shorter route. It wasn't. (spoilers)

The second dirt path was, at first, much easier on my car though got more difficult as we went along. And the private property we passed by was much more concerning. The one that unsettled us the most had a simple camping trailer that was surrounded by off-putting painted scrap metal and attached to one tree was a satellite dish with the words "WE CAN SEE YOU EVERYWHERE YOU GO" painted on it, a massive traffic cam pointed at us just above.
This was the point at which we all thought we were going to be murdered.
I made sure that everyone knew that if they were locked in my trunk, there's a convenient glow-in-the-dark release handle they can pull to escape. Because that's what friends do.

So we were, at this point very high strung and pretty sure there was an ambush waiting for us up ahead on the road because the camera saw us coming. Kate was formatting a plan, I don't remember who she said would team up with who and run in what direction, its not important. As I was coming up a hill that curved down, creating a blind spot, a dog ran up the hill towards me and I screamed, stopping the car. Kate then saw the truck come up the hill behind the dog and screamed, followed by Sarah, Emily and Alyssa in the back seat all screaming at the top of their lungs. (later they confessed that they didn't know why and couldn't see what was going on, it just seemed like the thing to do in that moment).

The Truck casually stopped and backed up down the hill so we could slide past, and on the way I rolled down the window to ask the older gentleman for directions to Hogback.
What he said, a summery;
"Got matches and camping gear? it's a tough trail and many people accidentally wind up staying the night on the mountain. The trail head is about two miles further down near the main road, but if you want you can pull into my campsite and look at the mountain from my yard. I'm just going out for some beer and lunch, but I'll be back to watch the wolverines play tonight. you ladies make sure you're all prepared for that kinda trail before you go up, your not far from the trail head, but like I said feel free to pull into my camp and take a look at the mountain before you go climbing."
When he finished, Kate leaned over and asked, "Hey, do you know whats up with the traffic cam guy back down the road?"
He replied, "Oh, he's completely harmless, just an eccentric artist who specialized in Junk Art, and thought that people might come to steal his work, so he put up cameras. but yeah, he's harmless, but don't go drinking over there."
We weren't quite sure what he meant by that last bit, maybe we looked like the sort of girls that went drinking on random, scary looking private property in the middle of the woods. Regardless, I thanked him politely for his help, then rolled up my window and as soon as we passed, I declared, "Yeah we are not going on that guy's property."
Kate said, "Thank You! was that weird or what?"

We continued on our way, passing the man's camp. We felt more confident now that we were close to our destination, and firm in our belief that we probably wouldn't get murdered. My car only had to be pushed out of the sand one time and by this point we had been wandering around for nearly two hours. We found a trail head map, none of which leading up Hogback, but one expert level trail named Jedi trail. eventually things started to look familiar as we reached the harrow lake area which is spotted with lots of trails, one of which presumably leading to Hogback.
Unfortunately, we had to go back to campus without being able to stop and truly find it, I promise there will be a sequel adventure another day.

When we reached the dorms I made it all the way to my third floor destination before realizing that I had forgotten my muffin in the car and would have to go back for it.
Muffin in hand, two crows landed on the tree outside the door and, hoping they would remember my face and become the beginnings of a crow army I could summon at will to do my bidding on campus (my bidding being mostly to make me look like a bad ass on campus by having a crow army), I tossed some crumbs on the ground for them to enjoy.
Upon entering I climbed the flights of stairs all the way to what I thought was the third floor (it was the second), and took note of the interesting new display that the RA had apparently set up. after inspecting the change, I proceeded to my room, opened the door and was slapped in the face with pink. This is NOT RIGHT I thought alarmingly to myself. No one was in the room, but someone was showering and what really hit me as it not being my room was the fact that 'my bed' wasn't lofted. I stepped out of the room as quietly as I could and looked up at the name card on the left of the door. "Alyssa." Just like always, though it was a different shape and color; on the right was a different name where mine should have been. Is this my room? It's not, it can't be. My mind fuzzed over with the familiar dream fog of nothing being quite right. Is Alyssa even my roommate? My name isn't on the other side of the door, so who is my roommate? Where is my room? has everything for the past four weeks been naught but a deception? It was at this point that I noticed the room plaque had a 2 not a 3 on it and I mentally slapped myself for being a dumbass. I was on on the wrong floor and had apparently caused Sarah and Alyssa some concern with how long I'd been gone to get my muffin.

It had been a long morning.

Northern MIchigan University

    The First Week...(sorry its a month late, its been crazy)

Sunday

     Today I felt so welcomed into the dorms as I got to get to know my suitemates and roommate a little better. One of my suitemates Kate had spent the previous summer learning Brazilian Jujitzu and demonstrated on her less inclined but good sport roommate Sarah. We joked about wasp spray as apposed to pepper spray because apparently wasp spray has 20ft distance spray and would be better if an intruder came in and you didn't feel like getting up from your bean bag chair.
     The hilarity was followed by a really long house meeting on policies and how we can go to our RA if we need help with anything.  
     For the first time since I can remember, I feel extroverted and like I want to connect with the people around me. I want to open my dorm door and see who walks in with interesting stories to tell. Somehow I have found a collection of equally weird and out of place people who all love life and nature and being away from the big city. I am so happy to be here, I feel like I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I was to excited to sleep. I didn't feel anxious at all, I felt confident, at home, and at peace.

Monday

        This morning I woke up a little more nervous, now I'm just crossing my fingers that my classes don't screw me over. Today is my first day of classes, starting with organic chemistry, followed by Physics and Biology. I am hoping that I have chill teachers who are as passionate about teaching as the ones at WCC.
     Slightly nervous for my Orgo class, though it is taught by a fabulous gay Frenchman so at the very least it should be interesting. More nervous for my Physics class that is taught by A Japanese professor with a very heavy accent. It's much harder to understand him as I am much less familiar with eastern accents than I am European. overall seems like an alright day.

Tuesday

     For those of you who have read Douglas Adams Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy, you may recall him describing a small parasitic fish that lives in your ear that translates unintelligible languages and translates them. for purely selfish reasons of course, and I'm paraphrasing but the experience was described as you can still hear the scratching/gurgling of the unintelligible language, but through it, you were able to understand. well that's what it's like having my French instructor teaching the class.

     Not much happened today, only had the one organic chemistry lecture though my professor while talking about Lewis Structures said, "you cannot do this that would be crazy!!" in the exact accent of Lumiere from beauty and the beast  and it was pretty great.

     oh I also went to the fall fest which was just a bunch of advertising for clubs and local business, it was cool and also I got caffeinated Chapstick.

Wednesday

     I cried. a lot. holy fuck physics is hard. with a teacher I only half understand. After my three hour physics lab I cried in the bathroom and then went to physics lecture. and then I cried and went to my bio lecture which is very relaxing and I love the professor, every lecture he seems like he is going to pee from the excitement of teaching and that is exactly the kind of teacher everyone should have. he is a rather adorable old man who on the first day of classes talked to us about sponges for half an hour. Biology seems so far to be my refreshingly easy class.

     Later that evening I tried to tackle physics again and wound up having a complete breakdown. I ran into my suitemates room and Sarah turned from her homework asking me "what's wrong?"
"Physics" I squeaked out in a tiny voice. she gave me a hug and I felt a little better, then taking advantage of the gym by my dorm to get some exercise. this was followed by a two hour skype session with my boyfriend to help me through my homework.

Thursday

     things went a little better today, it started with a field lab for biology where we unsuccessfully caught dragonflies, followed by the three lectures and the a night chemistry lab. bahumbug.

Friday

      Today started with meeting people for lunch. It was really nice to socialize, something that comes a little more naturally here. I had two quizzes/three lectures, and in the evening Kate, Sarah, Alyssa and I went out to unnamed Morgan falls to hike. Kate and I climbed up the water fall, and after the hike Kate and sarah got in a huge mud fight in the dirt road. It was awesome and an excellent reminder that I need to get myself off campus every now and then to maintain my sanity. 

Ps. Sorry for the tardiness of this post, but been swamped with classes and such. Physics is a little better now, but still stuggling, Yahoo answers is teaching me way better than the book.