CHAKRA! what a great word!

hey ladies, check out this Chakra test and find out what's really going on with you.
my heart and throat chakras are over-active, something to work on for the future...

otherwise, i'm still loving my jessjoy original mural (sometimes I just sit and stare at it...!) and my sustainable agriculture class. yesterday afternoon, i spent 4 hours on a CSA farm in a GORGEOUS little valley in Conway, MA (Sosososo beautiful, with a river running through the land and a great suspension bridge!) and it's ALL HORSE-POWERED! isn't that so awesome?? no fossil fuels at all! too bad the farmer imports TONS of exotic minerals for his soil that get mined from all over the place. :(
also, I think I'm going to take a little class on medicinal plants in Noho with a kid from my class which is uber exciting! i love me some herbs!! aaaaaand, my momma is coming up for a visit in week - wish me luck! hahah (sometimes 2 people ar so alike it's scary... possible yelling may occur.)
hope everyone is enjoying these last remnants of late summer and those first fall breezes- i know i am!!
all my love, carma (? haha it just came out that way, and i kinda like it. it fits the whole chakra hindu theme i've been trying out in my life lately... hehe)

CALLING ALL CHAPMANITES

Reunion Halloween Weekend!!!!

I just bought my plane ticket for Halloween weekend and Rosie's coming for sure too. Megan?!?!?!! Hannah?! Wanna fly over from Lisbon?

Hi Dearests...

Chapman babies --

I am still the same... I am crazily studying for an exam on Thursday, and looking forward VERY much to Thursday evening when Rachel bean will grace me with her presence... (and I just remembered that my grandma is coming for drinks at 6:30, Rach -- can you make it by then? It will be fun! And funny! PS there's also a midwifery potluck we could go to, but it's at 6, which won't really work... ha.)

My days of nursing related activities are really really long, but in a good way, I guess. I actually think I am starting to learn stuff... as in, I think I know a whole shit ton more than I did one month ago, which is gratifying. Clinical is CRAZY, but I think I am really going to love it... I am working on an infectious disease floor, which is a little bit scary, a lot sad, and quite interesting. My patient last week was sad. :( I just have never been around so many really sick people all at once, and it can feel really overwhelming.

In response to Hannah bean (whose hair I love), I haven't been finding very much time for dancing -- only for furious runs at the gym to SUPER loud music, which feels AMAZING after these long long days... but I hope to start going to this african dance class I really like, and also to salsa! (with Milo!) hopefully starting next wednesday.

Okay, study time! Kisses and I am missing all of you LOTS! Come visit!!
Megan

Hello!

I'm sorry to have disappeared off the face of the earth! I'm still alive. I've been in Lisbon for over a month now, which is hard to believe. I semi speak Portuguese---as in, really no grammar, but I get my point across. 

AND, big news, I have a job!!!! A full-time teaching contract with International House Lisbon until the end of June. Can you believe it? I finished a pretty intensive one month teacher training course, and got the contract immediately after--the day I finished. I'm still stunned at how easy it's been. Then again, the hard part comes on Thursday, when I actually have to teach. I'm teaching 18 hours a week, to kids, teens, and adults. I think it'll be fun. I've also been researching some African dance classes (Megan & Rosie, are you still dancing? Do you have time to?), so I'm hoping to squeeze those in somewhere. Lisbon is actually really cool for African dance because of the huge Angolan, Cabo Verdian, and Mozambican (spelling?) immigrant communities. So there are mainstream discos here that play Kizomba and Fulana and all this other African music that I'd never even heard of before.

So, life feels pretty good at the moment. I can't quite get used to the idea of not being able to just pick and go anymore. I'd kind of liked the feeling of just "trying Lisbon out". But Brazil is in the future somewhere, and then there's always Santo Domingo...and Cuba...so many places to go!

Oh, and last little bit of news: I cut my hair! (That's why there's the huge photo at the top...) I know, it's silly. But I got this incredible urge to chop it all off, and it just wouldn't go away. So on the last day of the course I walked into the first salon I found and told them to cut it chin-length. The guy refused (typical!) because he said it wouldn't look good, so he cut almost chin-length (love that you have to compromise with your stylist...). It feels so good! And maybe makes me look a little more Portuguese...?

Anyway, love you guys. Sorry I'm so terrible at keeping up to date, but I do think of you all tons. In fact, I met Martin (Aguilera) yesterday for coffee, since he's in Lisbon on a Fulbright, and Amherst nostalgia kept trickling in to our conversation. Plus, our Christmas card is the only photo decorating my room so far, so you all know that you have a special place in my heart!

Love, 

Hannah

Pictures from the beach (I go almost every weekend, since it's only a 20 minute train ride away!) with my roommate, Nina, who's from Brazil, and a friend, Thomas, from France. 

got a loverly call from selena, who has inspired me to start inundating you guys with hilarious videos.
POST 1

Lashisse from Molly Sims

be your own hero

Hi guys,
So my apartment still kind of smells like mothballs (we are trying to get rid of our pantry moths). On the upside, I got loads and loads of sleep this weekend. Missing my kids at Amherst and not-at-Amherst a lot. It's true about city life being lonely amidst the crowd.
I found a pretty sweet Russian grocery store called Bazaar in allston which stocks decently priced fresh veggies and deliciously odd russian chocolates. I'm heading in to the office (on a Saturday!) to do some work that I had forgotten to bring home (but then again, they do say 'don't bring your work home with you', right?). And then, hell, I might even go to the gym (I HAVE to use it, it's free!).
Also, went to see Whip It yesterday with Emily...got a free t-shirt. It was nice, I didn't expect to be getting any more free t-shirts after Amherst.

an apology

i am sorry that what i wrote caused sam to post that nasty ass picture. i take full responsibility. love you!

tips on living in poverty: recognize household herbs

Everyday on my way to work, I walk by this random patch of rosemary in the middle of downtown, on the busiest street, in front of this mammoth bank. I have no idea what it's doing there, but it taunts me with its rosemary smell and succulent little waxy leaves. So, yesterday I was cooking dinner for a few friends and I wanted to make roasted vegetables, and obviously rosemary is a key ingredient that works best fresh. Ever since we made those kebabs and roasted veggies at Megan's house, I've needed my fix of fresh herbs (and now know what they look like in plant form). So obviously, I brought a little plastic baggie to work and obviously, I ripped out a few branches of rosemary after work. Obviously, there were people everywhere along the street giving the weird girl looks for ripping apart a seemingly innocuous plant and stuffing it in a little plastic baggie. I actually had to reach over this homeless guy sleeping in front of the plant. The vegetables turned out great!

Now I'm looking for basil and thyme on my way home from the bus in the more suburby neighborhoods.

tree of life&love//arbol de la VIDA

Look what the amazing Jess Joy gifted to me on my wall !! !

also, MAINE.

Speaking of meat...

Here is a picture of a "meat baby" from one of my favorite websites: thisiswhyyourefat.com. Is he meaty enough for you becky? haaa It kinda makes me miss woodside in a weird way. Anyways I miss you too Becky and I hope school is going ok for all you remaining 10e's. I went to the first ever Green-ival festival in Sioux Falls this past weekend along with celebrating Austin's 25th bday at the fittingly-named gay club in town....CLUB DAVID...and speaking of David...I hope some of you have the chance to pop in and say hi to him in val. We have been emailing and chatting pretty consistently, but I get the feeling that he is a little lonely. I have been doing a little bartending and am writing a cookbook..well sort of...I'm actually just compiling a big book of all the recipes I love and just a few that I have actually created. That's all I got for now...love, sam.

the sun also rises

hey everyone! it's been forever. just wanted to say that nothing has changed. still alive. still hate school. still miss you ladies. the zu is fuckin weird as shit. makes me miss the hell out of chapman and sam ellingson and meat. comps are kicking my ass. otherwise business as usual. the trees are started to change and that nice crisp fall air is already here. it's that bitter sweet, beautiful time in new england. i love that chapman girls are in and out of town all the time. please come back again and again! give me fair warning so i can be ready to play. i love you!

becky

Carmy was right, Cirque du Soliel in Amherst was so great. Back from a bus ride back to Boston, full up on a delicious zu dinner cooked by Rachel, having seen a whole lotta wonderful people.
Oh Rachel, I forgot to mention, I ran into Rona at Rao's! We said hi!
Not a lot else. Back to the grind until further notice.

Nurse Megan, and Other Pretend Nurses. :)

Needles!

Hi Loves --

I know it's been a while... but here I am! I am wearing scrubs and sitting in my dining room... when I should be constructing some sort of sandwich-like lunch... I have been perpetually late to school (my usual 5 min) since its beginning, and I'm not sure when this will change. Perhaps I should make it a Sept 18 resolution?

I'm sure you've all heard, but things have been a little crazy around here with the terrible murder of Annie Le, a yale med student, who was found in the building next to ours. Lots of caution tape, police, news vans, and pushy reporters -- everyone has seemed relieved that they figured out who did it, but it's sad too...

Anyways, today, I am going to stick real people with needles! Can't believe it. A group of 34 of us are getting on a bus from school to Rocky Hill, CT, where they have a free health care day for vets. So I will be administering PPD (tuberculosis) tests, which involves giving a subcutaneous (under the skin) injection, taking blood pressures (I am terrible at this), and washing feet?! Ha!

In the interest of not missing the bus, I must go! BUT: I WILL ALSO BE IN AMHERST TOMORROW! Not until lateish, because I have my first real day of clinical tomorrow, but because Milo is DJing at UMass. COME! Can't wait to see whoever's around!

Love,
Megan

Thursday's dilemma

Learned today that my neighbor, the awesomely-named Dallas, is selling his blue 2002 Honda moped for a meager $500. I have coveted this scooter for years. What's wrong with it, you ask? Nothing ! He simply doesn't want to store it for another winter. My little brother and I are thinking of going halvsies on it -- $250 each and splitting the time we use it. At first I thought I was weakly submitting to my occasional materialist inclination, but then I realized that riding a moped is, in fact, a means to save the world. Think about it: 80-100 miles per gallon; filling up the tank for an insignificant $1.50; and riding my way to work for as long into the winter as I can withstand the cold. Al Gore does tell us to drive a low-emmission vehicle. My Saab gets pretty bad gas mileage and, no matter where I find an apartment, I'm going to have to drive to work. It's also a sound financial investment -- in the long run, I'd probably save money.

So.... do I go for it? I did some internet research; here are the pros/cons:
(+) The gas mileage, almost end of story.
(+) As far as scooters go, Honda's are the best. Way more reliable than Vespas.
(+) This particular scooter is in great condition -- ready to go today.
(+) Everything for a moped is cheaper: gas, insurance, registration...
(+) Moped riders don't need a motorcycle license to operate in Massachusetts -- ie one hurdle overcome.
(+) $500 is the best price I'd get. Ever.
(+) I rode horses all through the winter growing up, I think I could handle a scooter for most months of the year.
(+) It's awesome, obviously.
(-) I don't exactly have $500. Or $250. Actually, I don't have anything close to it. Meaning: I'd have to owe my brother my half of the deal, paying it off in increments from my AmeriCorps stipend, which we all know isn't exactly putting out Goldman-level salaries. I've already spent the past six weeks paying off my credit card bill from this summer's travels, and everyone says don't get into debt. At the same time, wouldn't it be a money-saver in the long run?
(-) No, I couldn't really ride it all year long, meaning that storage is an issue, December - March. Zu basement an option?
(-) A potential source of conflict between me and my brother. Obviously we're both going to want it all the time. But I think we could be mature about it.
(-) Insurance, registration, et al is always a hassel, and I already have to manage my car's upkeep.
(-) Getting it down to the Pioneer Valley is also a problem, requiring a U-Haul, which would require a 'relocation' grant from AmeriCorps. But I'm getting that anyway, I think.

Any of you all have an opinion? I'm taking it for a run around the neighborhood tomorrow...

I have!

BUSINESS CARDS!! Mommy, I feel like a real boy! Email me your addy and I'll send ya one. Work is great :)!

procrastination

every moment counts.

love
rachel

singing the poison ivy blues

Hello friends, my life feels a bit ragged and crazy at the moment. I blame it on the fact that I recently lost the jade necklace of Selena's that I used to wear all the time - sadness. Also, I have a crazy case of poison ivy and that's pretty annoying. But, yesterday I went for a lovely walk with Julian through the woods to a hidden swimming spot (!!) and that was pretty awesome. Maybe it'll heat up again sometime soon and we can have one last swim? Fingers crossed. (for the folks who aren't in new england, fall is catching up to us here, and fast. I don't want to believe that summer's over!)

Otherwise, WATSON. whoa. Haven't even started writing (and it's due monday! ah!) but my head is bursting with A PLAN. The countries on my list are (at the moment): Scotland, Namibia, South Africa, and Brazil. I'll keep y'alls updated.

oh! I went to see the Cirque du Soleil tonight! It was incredible- Rosie, I wish I could have seen it with you to hear your thoughts on it all!


this man's muscles were ridiculous.
Anyway, I love you all. Good night!

ps did I mention poison ivy sucks?

DeKalb County, Alabama, where I spent another weekend singing. This was too good to pass up. Note the license plate.

Anybody who wants to come hang out in Northampton, let me know! I'm pretty much moved in, although my room is still a mess, due to the amount of crap that I own. But it's nice nonetheless.

the maine event!

Hey all, so yesterday I was in Maine with Rachel, Carms, and Sarah DZ visiting Destry. We arrived late Friday and after food, wine, sleep, we drove out to a 'finger' and walked to a deserted beach. Well, deserted except for a Bates ecology class on a field trip and a (hopefully) unrelated group of kids smoking pot. We took a little walk, dipped our feet in, and went back, beating most of the rain, but not before I turned my ankle (AGAIN...but its okay).

So this week I worked a lot, attended many meetings and class, and generally feel initiated in IN SCHOOL. Also, I got into a dance that a faculty member is choreographing for a show in a few months (woot!) Happy about that, going to keep on dancing! And what else....ran into some more Amherst people...watched Obama's health care speech.
Tonight me and Emily are going to see a concert across the street (Telefon Tel Aviv) and I'm so pumped. PUMPED TO BE MELLOW.

Ah! I almost forgot the most exciting thing:

PINK!

the makings of a good semester

this is what a good first day of school looks like (my last!!)

7:30 am hit the snooze button
7:45 am stumbled out of bed, get some clothes on, down the stairs to the kitchen where i get to see becky's lovely face first thing (:
9 am spanish for heritage speakers. a room full of caribbean ppls who, like me, can speaky the spani but no can escribar espanol.
10am-11:30 shelving in frost
11:30-12:30 lunch in the zu with caiters, we stir fry up some yummy greens and other veg + nuke some veggie burgers. delish
12:30 cait scuttles off to class, i bike off to umass. the morning fog has lifted and i'm swimming in beautiful sunshine
1pm sustainable agriculture class with my favorite gardening sustainability guru who i TAed for last semester. we introduce ourselves and our agriculture experience. good vibes from the group
2:30 i join a kickass bike brigade of fellow sustainable ag kids across the umass campus over to sunset farms, where we spend the next few hours pulling up tomato plants, hearing about the farm's incredible history (started by a couple from brooklyn about 30+ years ago, they're in their 70's now, 50 yrs of marriage, 12 acres of luscious food+flowers - such a beautiful thing going at this place..), and snacking on raspberries, muskmelon (like a cantaloupe but smoother, you can eat it alllll!), watermelon, fresh salsa, ETC. i think i love farming so much because i just plain like to EAT. i really love my classmates from this class. lots of familiar faces and a bunch of new awesome buddies, and i gotta say i thoroughly enjoyed being in a badass biker gang. yuh
5:15pm feeling nostalgic for summer (and it was just so darn SUNNY!) so i head over to north amherst, hang out at the old house for a bit, then head over to puffer's pond, chat with my sister on the phone (or really, just talk at her for half an hour... why is our relationship so weird?), and hop back on my bike
6:30 check book prices at amherst books for a quick second (too expensive, i decide to forgo school books. hrm) and pull up to the zu right as they call "dinner!!" - the first of the semester. enjoy a delicious meal with boos- rach becky cait dan zorina tatiana and lotsa other peeps including new friends like anna reid, etc (: YUMMMMM.
7ish go for a little walk with becky, end up on the football field where we witness one of the greatest sunsets of all time. truly epic. damn. it's a good thing we weren't on drugs for that, we would have lost our minds i think
and since then i've been relatively unproductive. i showered, that's about the extent of it. not a page opened for my enviro studs seminar tomorrow. oh wells. and so the procrastination game begins again.

ON TAP :
picking up a free couch tomorrow!
maine this weekend!
watson proposal... at some point! soon?

yayyyyyyyyyy.

ps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHhUAGvl-K8 OLD SCHOOL JAM (why am i listening to the dawson's creek soundtrack right now?)

gnight!

workin' gal

Last Friday, I finished my first week of work! I sit behind a computer or in front of a manual and do "research" (reading the FEMA website and a lot of facebook and gchatting) and go to my boss's office and listen to her ramble for an hour or so, a day. So, it's pretty much exactly like Amherst. Class/lecture for a few hours a day and then "research". I can even wear my ripped up jeans and sneakers! I think I'm really going to enjoy this year of work and I've already learned so much about disasters.

Right now, I just sat down in the living room after washing the dishes from a spaghetti and meatball dinner one of my housemates and his girlfriend cooked. My housemates are jamming out next to me with a guitar, harmonica, and recorder. It's weird living with all boys after living with all girls. Life is pretty much as perfect as it can get. My only complaint about life in Austin is that I'm too social! I've gone out almost every night last week which meant a lot of recuperating time in the office (and a lot of not working). There's also been hilarious boy drama SO CALL ME FOR THE DEETS.

Highlights of living cheaply:
Found a way to get into Austin City Limits for free
Found a place where I can play free pool (and the owner gives me free pizza too!)!

One of my housemates, Andy


Andrew, another housemate, on the right and his friend Matt making a blueberry pie


Me making MEATLOAF from Andrew's recipe

Thinking about Amherst

Look at this: I was sleepy and looking forward to my book, and then wooow ! (a Rachel-ism) I read all these lovely posts and am compelled to write. Plus I missed my day due to traveling/interviewing/celebrating Rachel in beautiful birthday fashion. Selena: I miss you too, terribly. And Megan, Hannah, Rose, Julian. I miss our different personalities together. Saw the rest of us this weekend, in bits and pieces, which I loved.

Here are some pluses and minuses (or petals/thorns, in Selena lingo) of recent days:
(+) Rachel (and her birthday! Yay that she was born!), Carmella, Becky, Cait, Jess, Scott, Sarah and Sarah, Dan, lots of others I am forgetting to write including Zu folks
(+) Sleeping under the beautiful full moon on the glorious Zu roof -- wonderful in its own right, plus a great story to tell the kids I babysit
(+) Saturday morning Amherst farmers' market. Yes!
(+) Delicious pastry for breakfast as if in Paris. Yes!
(+) Bumping into extra good people on the street, ie Jess first and then Cait. Yes!
(+) Seeing Hong (aka the Val stir fry lady), my former ESL student and dear friend. I missed her.
(-) Hong asking me, "You when have baby? Now!" (this is actually a postive because it was hilarious, but still a little scary)
(+) I have a job! In Holyoke! I like the people I'm working with and am all around excited about it
(-) Said job will not begin until November because there are no AmeriCorps orientation trainings I can attend before then. (Selena, what do you think of this?) I am advised by random adults to push my way into a training anyway. We'll see.
(-) Said job pays even less than I expected
(+) I can still survive on limited funding for a year with help of food stamps et al
(+) Said job does not require that I live in Holyoke so I can, in fact, rent an apartment in Northampton (was a concern but not anymore)
(+) Decision made to move to Northampton/the Pioneer Valley soon anyway so that we can spend more glorious time with glorious people. I start looking for apartments and part-time jobs today.
(+) My mom supports this decision so I am guilt-free.
(-) Missed Rose and Megan in Amherst this weekend. Hope I see you guys soon.
(+) Yard sale shopping with my mom today, channeling Selena. I find a table and a lamp/table thing for cheap. Planning to spruce up the lamp/table thing, channeling Megan. Looks like I will turn crafty in my newfound adultness.
(+) Camping with Monty this week, a planned quick return to Amherst on Thursday for apartment searching, and hopefully a visit from Rachel, Sarah D-Z and maybe Carmella next weekend
(-) Missing news of Megan on the start of nursing school, Julian on the start of work, more from Rose on the start of classes, Hannah on the start of English teaching school
(+/-) Though eager and glad for what's ahead, am already nostalgic for the year behind.

On that last note: Here is a quote from Proust's Swann's Way that made me think of our Chapman House. It felt particularly pertinent after this weekend, after being about Amherst but Amherst not being exactly the same for lack of certain important personalities. For Selena, because she's missing it:

"what a contradiction it is to search in reality for memory's pictures, which would never have the charm that comes to them from memory itself and from not being perceived by the senses. The reality I had known no longer existed....The places we have known do not belong solely to the world of space in which we situate them for our greater convenience. They were only a thin slice among contiguous impressions which formed our life at that time; the memory of a certain image is but regret for a certain moment; and houses, roads, avenues are as fleeting, alas, as the years."

Thus, my memory of Chapman House is but regret for a certain year living with you.

hi darlings,

in rao's w rosie, and it feels so comfortable/natural - she'd better be here every weekend!

school's beginning again and i'm picking up on all the weirdness of not having a complete chapman in amherst ! missing selena something terrible. there was a big dinner party in the zu last night (which i mostly missed because my parents were in town) - could have almost been chapman, but relocated to zu with zu kinks and specialties.

zu is wondrous . i really believe that we have the best group evers (missing monty destry, but they'll be nearby). everyone seems so sweet and chill. but especially sweet. i'm trying to cultivate lots of love, even (or especially) with the people i don't know so well, so that when you all come to visit all you feel and see everywhere is LOVE.

disappointed again by a boy. my summer hook-up called last night to say he just wants to be friends. at least it's clear (not ambiguous). but shot up hopes of having an easy sleazy lover this semester. not sure if i'll be able to find someone else. going to take m. mendoza's advice and look far afield from amherst (ie, hampshire and umass grad students).


the ceot (community engagement orientation trip) was some kind of happy hell, just worked and slept for two weeks, all the way up to 9 pm on friday, my birthday. proceeded to get very drunk and very high and say strange things to many people (but mostly sarah d-z, destry, and barry scott). twas also a full moon, thus perfect finale to my summer....

i think the main thing that came out of it was: i feel an incredible connection to the moon, and i want to live many many lives, starting in on new ones as soon as i graduate (oh! graduation couldn't come quick enough ! or slow enough ! what a difficult thing - saying goodbye to the valley in subtle ways ... already stopped talking to people that i just don't expect to see again..)

yet oddly, i've made a new group of good friends - my ceot trip leaders were phenomenally lovable, the sweethearts - a big group of sophomores. i really like the 12s !

OK, enough odd rambling. problem is, i haven't posted in a while!

OTHER PEOPLE NEED TO POST! WHERE IS HANNAH! ?? MEGAN ?! Ok, love, rach.

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

first days of class, blah blah, I'm going to Amherst this weekend!
SEE YOU THERE??

selena, how did you get to a computer at your hang-out party? miss you too..

i miss

i miss everyone....

so long sweet summer?

what?! it's freaking september? i can't really complain and say - already!? - cause it's been a luxuriously long summer so far (and it's not even over yet!). in fact, i get to enjoy it until next tuesday when classes finally start up around here. yep!

I got back from Oregon late Friday night and I am so grateful for Rachel and Romain who so graciously came all the way out to boston to pick me up. portland was fantastical, as was to be expected. it was so wonderful to reconnect with the people and the land, and i think i fell in love with the farm all over again. everyday a new adventure, a new skill to learn, a new path to take in the woods... I'm pretty convinced that Portland is where I need to be, hopefully in the near-ish future!

As lovely and slow-paced as my week on the farm was, life has taken off at full speed since my return. FOOT training, planning, and organizing - meetings, meetings, meetings. and then moving moving moving. moving out of my north amherst house, into the zu (feels so good to be back!), chapman storage, newport storage, heaving becky's unweildly mattress down our tiny staircase... it's been a lot of heavy lifting and I'm downright exhausted. the thought of hiking for three days in the berkshires with 7 little freshies is not so appealing to me at the moment... i think a nap is definitely in order. but first, some pictures!

me & myrtle!!

the view of the garden from above