I'm totally digging Travis. Hot just doesn't describe it, I don't know how the girls on the show can stand the beam of his gaze and not turn into a jelly-jointed puddle before his eyes, because I know I would! Besides him being a UVa trained doctor, I totally dig that his dinner conversation includes saying, "coming home at the end of the day feeling like I was doing something great is important to me."
And so the four have been selected, its a short season! I'm glad Tara, the red-headed immature catty one has gone bye bye. And I can related to Moana, the girl from L.A. who is mysterious, competitive, and surprisingly eloquent. She falls for her opposite like me, the guy who's idea of love was formed by impressions of adoration between his two parents. I don't see her with him in the long run, I think he's afraid of hurting her feelings. I see him with either the kindergarten teacher or Susan, the beauty. Sara and him work in Paris, but will they work in America? I doubt it.
So now you have my distraction and guilty indulgence of the season.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
as if you cared
Monday I had jury duty! Yay! Well actually I was quite curious about it, this being the first time I had been called. Monday I went down to the DC superior court, thinking to myself this would only take a couple hours at most and then I might have the rest of the day free to do some chores and maybe even catch one of the hundreds of movies I've been dying to see. After waiting in two different queues just to check in for about an hour and a half, I realized those hopes were completely dashed.
During the lunch break I rushed to Kinko's and was suddenly annoyed with America for not having nifty little internet cafes on every street corner, instead I had to move to two different workstation before I found one that would charge my card, had a keyboard that worked, and didn't have suspiciously stained seat cushions. And still I had to endure some leering bearded goat sitting in the station next to mine. There I typed a letter to everyone saying that my evening plans were completely suspended as a result of the arduous process of sitting around for an entire day for jury duty.
I wasn't selected. I can't say I was disappointed either way. On one hand it would have been awesome to witness one of the U.S.'s unique democratic institutions at work, on the other hand, I had much going on at work.
During the lunch break I rushed to Kinko's and was suddenly annoyed with America for not having nifty little internet cafes on every street corner, instead I had to move to two different workstation before I found one that would charge my card, had a keyboard that worked, and didn't have suspiciously stained seat cushions. And still I had to endure some leering bearded goat sitting in the station next to mine. There I typed a letter to everyone saying that my evening plans were completely suspended as a result of the arduous process of sitting around for an entire day for jury duty.
I wasn't selected. I can't say I was disappointed either way. On one hand it would have been awesome to witness one of the U.S.'s unique democratic institutions at work, on the other hand, I had much going on at work.
beirut
I was planning on going, but after talking to folks, mostly my boss and then re-evaluating if my sanity would come out intact after moving my stuff from my condo, finding a renter, securing more financial aid, securing a sabbatical from work, and getting all kinds of paperwork and end up in Lebanon in two weeks; I decided that would not be the best idea for me at the moment.
So now I'm continuing to plug away at the M.A. degree on my second year. I have vague hopes of still studying abroad but now I have late September as a deadline to figure all this out.
So now I'm continuing to plug away at the M.A. degree on my second year. I have vague hopes of still studying abroad but now I have late September as a deadline to figure all this out.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Friday, January 13, 2006
departures
It's decision time and I'm in a crux. In October I applied for GWU's Spring Semester Abroad program at American University in Beirut. They were supposed to have a decision for me in mid-November, but I didn't find out until mid-month-long vacation, that is mid-December. Now I'm back. GWU classes start this Tuesday. AUB classes start in two weeks. I'm definitley going to lose 20% of my tuition if I don't start GWU classes. I haven't told work because I was waiting for a final decision from AUB. My mom knows as of today. If I were to go to AUB, I would have to get my visa, secure student loans, sublet my condo (anyone interested or know anyone?), tell work and try to make arrangements so I wouldn't get fired, find a home in Beirut, register for classes, book my flights, take care of all that legal power of attorney stuff, turn in a bunch of paperwork to GWU and end up in Beirut in TWO WEEKS.
If I don't go, I continue just like any other Spring Semester at GWU, and try to find an Arabic tutor to master the ridiculously difficult language in order to gain proficiency and pass my Master's language requirement. There are so many reasons to stay/go not do it/do it:
Pros of Spring at GWU:
-Get work to pay for a class; continue earning salary
-Can get private language tutor in DC for Arabic
-Be able to spend time with family/friends after 8 months of shift-work hell and one month of awesome vacation
Cons of Spring at GWU:
-Same old boring Spring semester
-Not really good Middle East program, might have to take classes at another University
-No real language immersion
-still shuffling full-time career and part-time grad school; which I'm getting tired of
Pros of AUB:
-Fullfill one of major reasons to return to school and that is study abroad
-Get in-country ME exposure
-Get some sort of in-country language immersion
-travel around the Middle East
-take classes on the ME and get an ME perspective
Cons of AUB:
-So little time to prepare
-Unstable political situation in Lebanon
-get no salary while there, live on loans, and rack up monstrous debt
Neutral zone (regardless of either decision)
-Pending conflicts with work will hopefully be able to complete my M.A. in Dec '06
What do you think? One suggestion is to defer it to Fall or Summer, however I think that means pushing commencement back to May '07, and by then I would've had enough course work to graduate that AUB would just be extra credits ...
Career-wise, I worry that it might be a step back in my progression, although it means gaining experience I can't get in Washington. Also I feel like a bit of jerk asking for five months of absence after returning from an extravagant month long vacation.
What are your thoughts?
If I don't go, I continue just like any other Spring Semester at GWU, and try to find an Arabic tutor to master the ridiculously difficult language in order to gain proficiency and pass my Master's language requirement. There are so many reasons to stay/go not do it/do it:
Pros of Spring at GWU:
-Get work to pay for a class; continue earning salary
-Can get private language tutor in DC for Arabic
-Be able to spend time with family/friends after 8 months of shift-work hell and one month of awesome vacation
Cons of Spring at GWU:
-Same old boring Spring semester
-Not really good Middle East program, might have to take classes at another University
-No real language immersion
-still shuffling full-time career and part-time grad school; which I'm getting tired of
Pros of AUB:
-Fullfill one of major reasons to return to school and that is study abroad
-Get in-country ME exposure
-Get some sort of in-country language immersion
-travel around the Middle East
-take classes on the ME and get an ME perspective
Cons of AUB:
-So little time to prepare
-Unstable political situation in Lebanon
-get no salary while there, live on loans, and rack up monstrous debt
Neutral zone (regardless of either decision)
-Pending conflicts with work will hopefully be able to complete my M.A. in Dec '06
What do you think? One suggestion is to defer it to Fall or Summer, however I think that means pushing commencement back to May '07, and by then I would've had enough course work to graduate that AUB would just be extra credits ...
Career-wise, I worry that it might be a step back in my progression, although it means gaining experience I can't get in Washington. Also I feel like a bit of jerk asking for five months of absence after returning from an extravagant month long vacation.
What are your thoughts?
africa south
I've made it home safe, and after getting home yesterday afternoon I crashed for nearly 14 hours. I must explain why I felt like when I was in Cape Town and parts of South Africa, that I did not actually feel like I was in Africa. I didn't start feeling like I was in Africa until I journeyed through Kruger Park for three days and then spent two nights in Limpopo province/Venda.
It really just comes down to a stereotype I have to confront. When I think Africa I think safaris and lots of black people. Cape Town was literally a rainbow city, and blacks were actually few in many places we went. In Stellenbosch we saw predominantly white people. The Afrikaaners, Brits, Indians, and people of Malay descent think of themselves as South Africans. And they are justified certainly, as I consider myself foremost American before Bangladeshi. At Kruger most people we saw at the ranger stations were black, however with the exception of one black family, all the rest were white or Indian people. Watching animals in the wild is apparently an activity for white or Indian people. This all came as a surprise to me. In India, I saw predominantly Indian people, regardless of where I went I always felt like I was in India. Italy was most Italians, Germany mostly Germans, Barcelona mostly Catalans, Korea mostly Koreans. I hadn't confronted so much diversity in a country since England.
It really just comes down to a stereotype I have to confront. When I think Africa I think safaris and lots of black people. Cape Town was literally a rainbow city, and blacks were actually few in many places we went. In Stellenbosch we saw predominantly white people. The Afrikaaners, Brits, Indians, and people of Malay descent think of themselves as South Africans. And they are justified certainly, as I consider myself foremost American before Bangladeshi. At Kruger most people we saw at the ranger stations were black, however with the exception of one black family, all the rest were white or Indian people. Watching animals in the wild is apparently an activity for white or Indian people. This all came as a surprise to me. In India, I saw predominantly Indian people, regardless of where I went I always felt like I was in India. Italy was most Italians, Germany mostly Germans, Barcelona mostly Catalans, Korea mostly Koreans. I hadn't confronted so much diversity in a country since England.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
airline etiquette
Peeves about flying in economy class:
1. The arm rest between seats is a demilitarized zone, do not put your elbow on it, we are all uncomfortable during the flight, but I really don't appreciate your elbow digging into my arm
2. Use the head rest thingys that keep your head from listing onto your neighbor's shoulders, I don't like your drool, nor the smell of it
3. Please use deoderant, breath freshener, and have come onto the plane fresh from a bath or shower. Six hours with your vampire-killing garlic breath can exacerberate nausea during turbulence
4. Please try to time your bathroom, get-up and stretch breaks so that you do not have to wake someone up to get out of your seat.
1. The arm rest between seats is a demilitarized zone, do not put your elbow on it, we are all uncomfortable during the flight, but I really don't appreciate your elbow digging into my arm
2. Use the head rest thingys that keep your head from listing onto your neighbor's shoulders, I don't like your drool, nor the smell of it
3. Please use deoderant, breath freshener, and have come onto the plane fresh from a bath or shower. Six hours with your vampire-killing garlic breath can exacerberate nausea during turbulence
4. Please try to time your bathroom, get-up and stretch breaks so that you do not have to wake someone up to get out of your seat.
delirium
I'm at Heathrow now, more than half way home. It's funny to think a moment's decision was what made my parents decide to the settle in the U.S. rather than the U.K. I could've grown up a London-girl. London has generally felt like a second home to me anyway. And now I have another home with my sister's home stay family in the misty highlands of Venda, Limpopo Province in Northeastern South Africa.
It's hard to imagine that 12 hours ago I had blown a tire on on a muddy slippery ruddy road in a rural village two hours away from the nearest movie theater. A man who met me for the first time changed my flat tire. I snapped pictures of the adorable pre-school kids my sister works with and met the school staff. And then I took off for the airport two hours away to connect to Jo'burg.
On the flight to India, Dubai, and Jo'burg, there were absolutely no movies I was interested in seeing. On the flight home, I'm facing the oppposite dilemma, there's so many movies I want to see that my flight time doesn't actually allow me to see all of them. And somewhere in there I'm going to have to nap, although I've started my body on the EST clock again. So far I've seen "Proof," for hottie Jake Gyllenhaal, "Skeleton Key," which because I watched with such low expectations I was surprised that it wasn't bad at all, and "In Her Shoes," once again a movie I had such low expectations that I found it surprisingly funny. I tried to squeeze in "Sense and Sensibility" and "Broken Flowers" but BA was having problems with those channels and I opted to sleep. Well 9 more hours to go ....
It's hard to imagine that 12 hours ago I had blown a tire on on a muddy slippery ruddy road in a rural village two hours away from the nearest movie theater. A man who met me for the first time changed my flat tire. I snapped pictures of the adorable pre-school kids my sister works with and met the school staff. And then I took off for the airport two hours away to connect to Jo'burg.
On the flight to India, Dubai, and Jo'burg, there were absolutely no movies I was interested in seeing. On the flight home, I'm facing the oppposite dilemma, there's so many movies I want to see that my flight time doesn't actually allow me to see all of them. And somewhere in there I'm going to have to nap, although I've started my body on the EST clock again. So far I've seen "Proof," for hottie Jake Gyllenhaal, "Skeleton Key," which because I watched with such low expectations I was surprised that it wasn't bad at all, and "In Her Shoes," once again a movie I had such low expectations that I found it surprisingly funny. I tried to squeeze in "Sense and Sensibility" and "Broken Flowers" but BA was having problems with those channels and I opted to sleep. Well 9 more hours to go ....
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
limpopo
This is my last full day in South Africa. The travel has gone from ZA's most south westerly point to nearly its most north easterly region. As previously explained by a fellow District of Columbian I met on our wine tour of Stellenbosch, Cape Town is not South Africa, and South Africa is not Africa. The past four days I've actually felt like I'm in South Africa. Renting a car from the Jo'burg airport we high tailed it to Kruger National Park. Saw tons of impalas, wildebeasts, zebras, giraffes, elephants, and coated our rental car tires with more elephant poop than I can really care to stand for :)
I saw a glimpse of the elusive lion from a far distance. We did not get to see rhinos, leopards, or cheetas but we almost got into an altercation with a large elephant who had declared himself the gatekeeper of the road we were on. After idling for 5 minutes, then turning off the car to see if he'd be on his way, we turned around, and almost ran into another elephant coming onto the road who would've most certainly boxed us in.
Last night I arrived at my sister's Peace Corps site, with mountains and valleys. I stayed with her super friendly and open host family. Today I'm packing. It's incredible to think that in less than two days I'll be back in chilly D.C.
I saw a glimpse of the elusive lion from a far distance. We did not get to see rhinos, leopards, or cheetas but we almost got into an altercation with a large elephant who had declared himself the gatekeeper of the road we were on. After idling for 5 minutes, then turning off the car to see if he'd be on his way, we turned around, and almost ran into another elephant coming onto the road who would've most certainly boxed us in.
Last night I arrived at my sister's Peace Corps site, with mountains and valleys. I stayed with her super friendly and open host family. Today I'm packing. It's incredible to think that in less than two days I'll be back in chilly D.C.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
stellenbosch
We did Table Mountain in four different ways: cable car, hiked it, rappelled it, and rockclimbed it! It was slammin'! I know, cheesball so elementary school slang. First time I did a multi-pitch climb, made me appreciate how much the quartz-marred granite of Carderock and Great Falls suck. It was AMAZING to be up so high, see gorgeous views of the cape, the 12 Apostles, the beaches (Camp's Bay) while trying to avoid the blister bush (causes blisters as big as much as the gooey sap can get on you--we'll see if we really escaped it by tomorrow morning).
Now we're in Stellenbosch, the Western Cape's second oldest town, in the heart of South Africa's Winelands, and started our bacchanalia already, staying at a very charming B&B Victorian mansion. And I swear at Fishmongers, our waiter looked like Dougray Scott, although my sister swears it was the wine goggles.
I have to admit I fell asleep on New Year's. My sister insisted on going to an alcohol-free halal restaurant for dinner that night, we were already worn from hiking up Table Mountain on a hot hot day, and after trying to navigate around all the minstrels performing in the parade, we gave up on finding place to actually celebrate and retired to the hotel rooms for my 'nap.' Didn't wake up until the next day, and only a moment to say New Year's to my sister before passing out again. Then we did the tradition Capetonian New Year's Day thing and spend a good chunk of the day on the beach, saw Elizabethtown (the movie), which sucked, and once again went to bed early to wake up for our Cape Point day tour.
We saw adorable African penguins, also called Jackass Penguins, went to a Nature preserve/park, biked down to a beach, where some of our compatriots swore they saw a shark (False Bay is notorious for Great White sharks), hiked up Cape point, and then onto Cape of Good Hope where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans currents met, got chased by f.o.b.s (freshies of the Asian subcontinent sort), and stood at the most South Westerly point on the African continent. On our ride home, we saw baboons, zebras, elants, ostriches, and some strange form of tail-less rodent. Alright, well that's been the adventure so far.
Hope you all have an awesome adventurous year 2006!
Now we're in Stellenbosch, the Western Cape's second oldest town, in the heart of South Africa's Winelands, and started our bacchanalia already, staying at a very charming B&B Victorian mansion. And I swear at Fishmongers, our waiter looked like Dougray Scott, although my sister swears it was the wine goggles.
I have to admit I fell asleep on New Year's. My sister insisted on going to an alcohol-free halal restaurant for dinner that night, we were already worn from hiking up Table Mountain on a hot hot day, and after trying to navigate around all the minstrels performing in the parade, we gave up on finding place to actually celebrate and retired to the hotel rooms for my 'nap.' Didn't wake up until the next day, and only a moment to say New Year's to my sister before passing out again. Then we did the tradition Capetonian New Year's Day thing and spend a good chunk of the day on the beach, saw Elizabethtown (the movie), which sucked, and once again went to bed early to wake up for our Cape Point day tour.
We saw adorable African penguins, also called Jackass Penguins, went to a Nature preserve/park, biked down to a beach, where some of our compatriots swore they saw a shark (False Bay is notorious for Great White sharks), hiked up Cape point, and then onto Cape of Good Hope where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans currents met, got chased by f.o.b.s (freshies of the Asian subcontinent sort), and stood at the most South Westerly point on the African continent. On our ride home, we saw baboons, zebras, elants, ostriches, and some strange form of tail-less rodent. Alright, well that's been the adventure so far.
Hope you all have an awesome adventurous year 2006!
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