friends! i am so sorry; an update is long overdue! it's been on my mind to post on the blog for a few weeks already but i've been on the move nonstop, collecting awesome stories, acquaintances, and adventures to tell you guys about! i think last time i wrote i was in italy, about to embark on a little tour of the west coast. and tour i did! being a tourist always makes me a bit uneasy, but i met some great friends along the way and we had ourselves some good laughs and had a few interesting encounters.
the island of ischia was laidback and picturesque as hell. i mostly hung out with two sweet Swiss girls from Bern, although i did have a random escapade with an italian islander named Lorenzo. he whisked me off on his scooter, showed me the sights, invited me to eat a hearty post-easter meal with the whole famiglia (complete with homemade wine from their vineyards and buffalo mozzarela!), and took me to a secret hot spring hidden deep in the stone cliff, a few steps from the sea. divine. there were also a few drunken nights with a few crazy canadians and an american marijuana grower frim boulder. good times.
from there i moved on to rome, expecting the worst - tourist traps, loud traffic, all those city things i despise. but! i was pleasantly surprised by the eternal city: beautiful piazzas, calming fountains, street serenades, gelato (so much gelatooo), streets lined with laundry hanging to dry over your head, random roman ruins at every turn... Roma quickly stole my heart. and i made some new friends!- Sima, a sweet Iranian girl studying theater in brussels, and two Swedish engineers from Stockholm.
after rome, it was onward to cinque terre, a spattering of five tiny villages tucked away in these impossible oceanside cliffs, threatening to fall into the sea at any moment! i spent three days walking between the towns, hiking amongst acres of terraced vineyards and tanned farmers, and laying on rocks by the sea like a little lizard. the village i stayed in was manarola, and in my hostel i made friends with an 18 year old canadian guy who i wished so badly was five years older, a portlander (oregon! sorry destry) of russian origin, and TONS of aussies.
from manarola, i spent a night on the boat (my dad had sailed it back up to la spezia in the meantime) and then headed back up to france via a rideshare that i found online. i've been staying with my friends here in Grenoble for about two weeks now, enjoying the mountain air, sleep, and quality time with a family that is quickly feeling like my own. i spent last weekend in germany with friends i met in Ecuador. they took me to their weekend house in the bavarian alps, just on the border with austria, and made me try all sorts of crazy sausages and, of course, beer. can't complain (bout the beer). it was a beautiful weekend, and we even spent an evening in a casino! my first gambling experience, and unfortunately i didn't have any of that beginners luck. oh well, it was in a castle and they gave us free champagne.
now, laura (my french friend!) and i are getting ready for our own little getaway; tomorrow we leave for a week of hiking in Corsica! i am so very excited. corsica is a little island that has meant a lot to my family (my dad sent much of his youth and early twenties sailing there, and then running a sailing school) and yet i've never been. it sounds like a beautiful island, although the weather isn't sounding to great at the moment. we'll seeee.
meanwhile, i have been thinking about you all so much during these travels. you give me strength, no matter where i am in the world.
feeling lucky, with love-
carmella
Thursday 29 April 2010
Tuesday 27 April 2010
Movin'
I officially have a lease for next year. It's a totally awesome 1-bedroom apartment that Kendahl and I will be sharing, in the Mission District of San Francisco. We're planning on moving out at the beginning of June. The good news is that it's directly above a pie shop/café that our landlord owns and runs, and there's a ton of room for a couch or air mattress, so we'll have lots of space for people to sleep over. Hint hint...
Saturday 24 April 2010
Sitting on a red couch
Hello all you beautiful people!
I haven't posted lately because I have gotten into a routine, which leads me to think that I have nothing new and exciting to share. But that's not entirely true! I have been hopping all around seeing people: In DC for a mini-reunion of Bolivia study abroad friends. In New York with Amherst friends for my first Passover, which I loved. In New York again for a one-night stop at a rally to pass a Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights; unexpectedly saw Aya Hamano, who is interning for oh-so-awesome Domestic Workers United (dream job...). In Williamsburg to see Jeff Gang and Kate Silverman. And lastly in Florida with my mom to visit my grandmother at her old-people's community for a long weekend. The last was a lot of mom and Abu (short for Abuela) time. On the one hand, Abu gave me the most amazing facial. On the other, I had to get in the car with her. (Abu still drives with two feet: We're zooming up to a red light. I see it's red. Does she see it's red? I'm in the backseat. She's hard of hearing, so if I tell her it's red, she probably won't hear me. Oh wait, she does see that it's red, because we're ten feet away and she's slamming on the break with her left foot while simultaneously still pressing the gas with her right. Owww.) There were no shortage of interesting, hilarious moments over the weekend, which I could only laugh about (slightly horrified) to myself: Abu calling brown-skinned lawn workers "terroristas" because their faces were covered with bandanas. A book titled "The Latina's Bible" prompting a conversation about whether we're latino (my mom: absolutely yes; my grandmother: absolutely no, we're Hispanic). My grandmother's new-ish male companion inflaming all my feminist impulses as he tells me that "I need to make her a great-grandmother" and "she needs taking care of". These moments aside, though, the weekend was so good. So much amazing cooking. So much Spanish and Spanglish. So much sunshine.
Things have been happening in my day-to-day routine, too. The weather has gotten beautiful, so I have been spending my work days door-knocking. I show up on someone's doorstep and tell them who I am and, if they're not completely suspicious, which is more often than not, they invite me in, introduce me to everyone in their family, offer me cafecito, and show me all the repairs they've done on the house. It feels like real community-building by intentionally making relationships, and I love it. It's amazing how friendly people are.
On the other hand, this week I was assigned to take on homophobia in the workplace. Yikes. One of my bosses outed a coworker at a recent meeting in front of our entire staff (in itself grounds for a lawsuit), and then picked me to facilitate a staff retreat to address "our conflicts" with sexuality. After all, she says, we want to be "tolerant". I cringe. Maybe I will just show up with Amherst's own "Gay? Fine by me." t-shirts and call it a day.
Lastly, most excitingly, I bought this book yesterday with a gift certificate: The Bread Bible. I am going to bake my way through it! Flatbreads? Yes! Sourdough? Yes! Scones? Yes! I will never buy bread again! Yeast is my new best friend! And Megan, I will figure out how to make it gluten-free if I have to!
I am going to bake up a bread storm for all of you here so soon!
Sunday 18 April 2010
finally
I've been long overdue for a post I think.
So in (no) order, here are the things that have happened to me. So Rachel was just here interviewing for her job which was a joy. However, I had to leave last weekend to go to Washington DC for an orientation for my field season in Japan, which is being sponsored by NSF's East Asia and Pacific Institutes Program (EAPSI). So I met a bunch of delightful nerds in all kinds of fields, and built up a little network of people to hang out with while I'm stranded in Yokohama (just outside of Tokyo) for 10 weeks this summer. Also, because I found some decently cheap tickets, I booked myself a flight to Prague on May 24 (right after commencement) and will be there for a few days before I head to Freiburg im Brisgau where my good childhood friend Jessy will be. Then I'm heading home to San Diego for a couple of weeks before my Japan field season. And still going in backwards order, I'm officially walking for Rachel Meketon, don't tell the feds, and will see most of you fabulous ladies and man and commencement 2010, where I will be the first student to receive two diplomas from Amherst College (snicker snicker). What else? Romain and I found a great apartment with a cool fire escape and lots of light in Jamaica Plain, right next to the Arnold Arboretum which will be great for drooling over plants. We are still looking for a third roommate so if anyone feels like moving to Boston, holler. This weekend I was in two dance shows, one was a structured contact improvisation choreographed by a visiting faculty member from France, about the funnest thing I've ever done. And another was a duet that I choreographed on myself and a cool lady I met who loves to play around making dance as much as I do. Makes me miss my days with Meggy and Hannah. So this weekend was a blast and yesterday was the cast party where I got a liiiiiittle tipsy and was still not quite there when I made the following comment on Selena's post: "these kids are all perfect". Just to reiterate. I was drunk, I still hate kids.
Love, Rose
So in (no) order, here are the things that have happened to me. So Rachel was just here interviewing for her job which was a joy. However, I had to leave last weekend to go to Washington DC for an orientation for my field season in Japan, which is being sponsored by NSF's East Asia and Pacific Institutes Program (EAPSI). So I met a bunch of delightful nerds in all kinds of fields, and built up a little network of people to hang out with while I'm stranded in Yokohama (just outside of Tokyo) for 10 weeks this summer. Also, because I found some decently cheap tickets, I booked myself a flight to Prague on May 24 (right after commencement) and will be there for a few days before I head to Freiburg im Brisgau where my good childhood friend Jessy will be. Then I'm heading home to San Diego for a couple of weeks before my Japan field season. And still going in backwards order, I'm officially walking for Rachel Meketon, don't tell the feds, and will see most of you fabulous ladies and man and commencement 2010, where I will be the first student to receive two diplomas from Amherst College (snicker snicker). What else? Romain and I found a great apartment with a cool fire escape and lots of light in Jamaica Plain, right next to the Arnold Arboretum which will be great for drooling over plants. We are still looking for a third roommate so if anyone feels like moving to Boston, holler. This weekend I was in two dance shows, one was a structured contact improvisation choreographed by a visiting faculty member from France, about the funnest thing I've ever done. And another was a duet that I choreographed on myself and a cool lady I met who loves to play around making dance as much as I do. Makes me miss my days with Meggy and Hannah. So this weekend was a blast and yesterday was the cast party where I got a liiiiiittle tipsy and was still not quite there when I made the following comment on Selena's post: "these kids are all perfect". Just to reiterate. I was drunk, I still hate kids.
Love, Rose
Tuesday 13 April 2010
Happy Tax Day!
Hi friends,
I don't know why, but I've been feeling a little lost these days. Jenny and Emily visited for a week and that was so much fun and I got to do lots of stuff in Austin that I hadn't done before which was really nice. Now that they've gone back to their own lives, readjusting to life sans Amherst friends has been weird. I remember how useless I feel at work and small other things. I'm pretty busy, in general, but sometimes it feels a little shallow and empty... My moods just seems to spike and change frequently. Anyway, I feel better today! Yesterday, I got back to going to yoga and then I cooked with friend and jammed with my autoharp and my friend playing guitar. And today!, I got an update from Carmella who has been ambling around small Italian villages meeting tons of people. She saw a sign (in Italian and she could even read it!) that said "to get lost is to learn how to live" which has given me inspiration. One of those, right-quote-right-time moment.
Also, in exactly one month, I'll be flying to Boston and then driving to Amherst with Carmella and hopefully Rosie! As self-appointed reunion chair of Chapman, I'm going to try to coordinate our schedules to get as many of us together as possible. So be ready for some Selena harassing!
Okay more fun (NYC 2nd graders singing Phoenix):
I don't know why, but I've been feeling a little lost these days. Jenny and Emily visited for a week and that was so much fun and I got to do lots of stuff in Austin that I hadn't done before which was really nice. Now that they've gone back to their own lives, readjusting to life sans Amherst friends has been weird. I remember how useless I feel at work and small other things. I'm pretty busy, in general, but sometimes it feels a little shallow and empty... My moods just seems to spike and change frequently. Anyway, I feel better today! Yesterday, I got back to going to yoga and then I cooked with friend and jammed with my autoharp and my friend playing guitar. And today!, I got an update from Carmella who has been ambling around small Italian villages meeting tons of people. She saw a sign (in Italian and she could even read it!) that said "to get lost is to learn how to live" which has given me inspiration. One of those, right-quote-right-time moment.
Also, in exactly one month, I'll be flying to Boston and then driving to Amherst with Carmella and hopefully Rosie! As self-appointed reunion chair of Chapman, I'm going to try to coordinate our schedules to get as many of us together as possible. So be ready for some Selena harassing!
Okay more fun (NYC 2nd graders singing Phoenix):
Monday 12 April 2010
update
hi sweethearts:
guess where i am! boston! i came back on thursday night and was busy all weekend with an "interview event" for the "jewish organizing initiative" which matches young jewish leaders with organizing positions in boston. i didn't make it to the final round! was pretty down last night and this morning about it, but now i'm feeling relieved. if only because i can stop pretending to be jewish and go back to pretending not to be jewish. yesss
fortunately i have another interview on thursday - this time with a charter school in the city. hopefully the hassle of getting off the trail will be worthwhile job-wise.. it's certainly worthwhile emotionally. i get to see rose and hopefully everyone who's around amherst when i go to stay with dan this weekend! and maybe megan somehow? and my family in philly before i return to the south.
i re-read my original post about the a.t. and regretted it just a few days later. i was on the path to making some unfair generalizations about menfolk. by my third or fourth day on the trail i was spending lots of time with three (and sometimes more) really sweet men who were more "human" than "man" .. when i rejoined with the group of men from my first couple nights i realized that they were particularly and subtly macho... needless to say, i felt much more comfortable with the second group and rejoined them immediately! i also have one wonderful female friend who's kindof a mix of megan, destry, rose and carmella... (family runs an organic farm, she studied abroad in west africa, knits and rocks short hair, obsessed with her home state of maine, studies ecology, and... is a wilderness woman). her trail name is kumquat. my trail name is "whip-poor-will" like the bird.
i love the trail! i miss it! not getting into this program makes me feel a little guilty for taking so much time out of my life to meander through the southern united states... but i love it! i've met so many interesting people from all over the place! i spend time with birds and animals and bugs and plants and sunsets. i'm always dirty. gobs of dirt under my finger nails. so good.....
i love you all! i can't wait to see bunches of you this weekend! going to send an email about that right now...
big kisses, rachel
guess where i am! boston! i came back on thursday night and was busy all weekend with an "interview event" for the "jewish organizing initiative" which matches young jewish leaders with organizing positions in boston. i didn't make it to the final round! was pretty down last night and this morning about it, but now i'm feeling relieved. if only because i can stop pretending to be jewish and go back to pretending not to be jewish. yesss
fortunately i have another interview on thursday - this time with a charter school in the city. hopefully the hassle of getting off the trail will be worthwhile job-wise.. it's certainly worthwhile emotionally. i get to see rose and hopefully everyone who's around amherst when i go to stay with dan this weekend! and maybe megan somehow? and my family in philly before i return to the south.
i re-read my original post about the a.t. and regretted it just a few days later. i was on the path to making some unfair generalizations about menfolk. by my third or fourth day on the trail i was spending lots of time with three (and sometimes more) really sweet men who were more "human" than "man" .. when i rejoined with the group of men from my first couple nights i realized that they were particularly and subtly macho... needless to say, i felt much more comfortable with the second group and rejoined them immediately! i also have one wonderful female friend who's kindof a mix of megan, destry, rose and carmella... (family runs an organic farm, she studied abroad in west africa, knits and rocks short hair, obsessed with her home state of maine, studies ecology, and... is a wilderness woman). her trail name is kumquat. my trail name is "whip-poor-will" like the bird.
i love the trail! i miss it! not getting into this program makes me feel a little guilty for taking so much time out of my life to meander through the southern united states... but i love it! i've met so many interesting people from all over the place! i spend time with birds and animals and bugs and plants and sunsets. i'm always dirty. gobs of dirt under my finger nails. so good.....
i love you all! i can't wait to see bunches of you this weekend! going to send an email about that right now...
big kisses, rachel
Thursday 8 April 2010
Romantic Dinner Alone
Hi Friends,
Now THIS is unheard of -- ME posting just two days apart? Well, what I'm about to blurt out felt like the perfect and kinda cliche WHATEVER thing to put into a blog, but I was thinking about it just now but had NO ONE to tell! So I tell the blog, and all of you.
I just had my first ever romantic dinner all by myself. I've been finding lately that when I eat dinner alone, I make a somewhat nutritionally balanced something (protein + carb + veg or fruit) that's kind of lame (I lack inspiration when I'm alone) and hoover it unceremoniously while checking my email or looking at pictures of all of you on facebook or worrying about my schedule (with google calendar open) in a super Type A and stressful way. LAME! And then suddenly my dinner is gone and I didn't really ever notice that I was eating it. So, in the end, I have gotten whatever nutrients/calories/whatever my body is supposed to get, but shit man, I missed out on the good part! The enjoyment of dinner, of having something delicious and NOTICING (which for me really only happens when I'm eating with at least one other person) that it's damn good, and having dinner be this nice special moment of the day.
ANYWAYS: so tonight I made some chicken stir fry with veggies and brown rice and a salad with clementine and a nice glass of trader joe's malbec. :) I even lit a CANDLE and listened to some of my fav Brazilian and loungey dinner music and had my romantic dinner all by myself and it was awesome. Romantic dinner by myself from now on all the time. Though, it would obviously have been WAY better in Chapman with all of you, but when that's not an option, this is an okay second.
Now THIS is unheard of -- ME posting just two days apart? Well, what I'm about to blurt out felt like the perfect and kinda cliche WHATEVER thing to put into a blog, but I was thinking about it just now but had NO ONE to tell! So I tell the blog, and all of you.
I just had my first ever romantic dinner all by myself. I've been finding lately that when I eat dinner alone, I make a somewhat nutritionally balanced something (protein + carb + veg or fruit) that's kind of lame (I lack inspiration when I'm alone) and hoover it unceremoniously while checking my email or looking at pictures of all of you on facebook or worrying about my schedule (with google calendar open) in a super Type A and stressful way. LAME! And then suddenly my dinner is gone and I didn't really ever notice that I was eating it. So, in the end, I have gotten whatever nutrients/calories/whatever my body is supposed to get, but shit man, I missed out on the good part! The enjoyment of dinner, of having something delicious and NOTICING (which for me really only happens when I'm eating with at least one other person) that it's damn good, and having dinner be this nice special moment of the day.
ANYWAYS: so tonight I made some chicken stir fry with veggies and brown rice and a salad with clementine and a nice glass of trader joe's malbec. :) I even lit a CANDLE and listened to some of my fav Brazilian and loungey dinner music and had my romantic dinner all by myself and it was awesome. Romantic dinner by myself from now on all the time. Though, it would obviously have been WAY better in Chapman with all of you, but when that's not an option, this is an okay second.
Wednesday 7 April 2010
i'd rather be in a padded hallucination room
the blue man group created a school for children in new york city. this is what it looks like:
these kids will grow up, and when they see what real life is like, they will do drugs.
damn you, blue man group, for poisoning our future people-bots with psychedelic floor lighting!
Rachel comes to Boston tomorrow for a job interview! So updates on her wonderful journey soon. Until then, I walked 12 miles today (!) looking at flowering and leaf out for plants along the Charles River from the center of the city to the town of Waltham. Sometimes I bike and sometimes I walk, but either way I feel really outdoorsy and awesome when I'm finished, even though I'm just walkin' through the 'burbs. Go urban ecology!
Here are a couple of pictures I took along the way. Can you see my little temperature and light logger in the last picture? It is right in the middle, a little green gadget. Hopefully passersby won't notice and steal them, since they are $50 apiece. But its not like it's gold-plated or made by apple, so fingers crossed. Love, Rosie
these kids will grow up, and when they see what real life is like, they will do drugs.
damn you, blue man group, for poisoning our future people-bots with psychedelic floor lighting!
Rachel comes to Boston tomorrow for a job interview! So updates on her wonderful journey soon. Until then, I walked 12 miles today (!) looking at flowering and leaf out for plants along the Charles River from the center of the city to the town of Waltham. Sometimes I bike and sometimes I walk, but either way I feel really outdoorsy and awesome when I'm finished, even though I'm just walkin' through the 'burbs. Go urban ecology!
Here are a couple of pictures I took along the way. Can you see my little temperature and light logger in the last picture? It is right in the middle, a little green gadget. Hopefully passersby won't notice and steal them, since they are $50 apiece. But its not like it's gold-plated or made by apple, so fingers crossed. Love, Rosie
Tuesday 6 April 2010
Loves --
I have been unintentionally starving myself of the Chapman blog recently, and as a happy birthday to me present I just read all that I had missed. I'm feeling all mushy inside and full of love, but I won't say more. Life in New Haven is... good?! I've been feeling swept up by school and books and travel to and from NYC, a little too much scheduled life, and my silly new job at the library where I file and scan things... The coming of spring weather has me totally thawed, and another happy birthday to me occurrence is that it is supposed to top 80 degrees tomorrow! I'm stoked.
I had a really really nice assembly of nursing women at my house tonight for my birthday -- and everyone got a present! It was a potluck/clothing swap, and everyone came away with at least one thing, and Salvation Army is getting BAGS full of stuff sometime this week. But in spite of the good party, this birthday feels a little melancholic to me -- I can't help thinking of my Amherst birthdays, which were so memorable, fun and so well-documented! (where was Carmella tonight?? And surprises that super-surprised me?) And where was Rachel to move those hips when "CULO!!!" came on?? I mean, NO ONE did the CULO dance! WTF.
Anyways, I miss you all individually and all as a big happy clump. (See facebook photos of big happy clump. There are SO many!!!) BUT -- ONE muy importante piece of info: I will be in Amherst this weekend!!! W/ Mr. Dee and parents, but also going maybe to the CLPP conference (for like one thing) at Hampshire, and doing I don't know what. WHO'S FREE WHEN???
Love to all,
Megan
I have been unintentionally starving myself of the Chapman blog recently, and as a happy birthday to me present I just read all that I had missed. I'm feeling all mushy inside and full of love, but I won't say more. Life in New Haven is... good?! I've been feeling swept up by school and books and travel to and from NYC, a little too much scheduled life, and my silly new job at the library where I file and scan things... The coming of spring weather has me totally thawed, and another happy birthday to me occurrence is that it is supposed to top 80 degrees tomorrow! I'm stoked.
I had a really really nice assembly of nursing women at my house tonight for my birthday -- and everyone got a present! It was a potluck/clothing swap, and everyone came away with at least one thing, and Salvation Army is getting BAGS full of stuff sometime this week. But in spite of the good party, this birthday feels a little melancholic to me -- I can't help thinking of my Amherst birthdays, which were so memorable, fun and so well-documented! (where was Carmella tonight?? And surprises that super-surprised me?) And where was Rachel to move those hips when "CULO!!!" came on?? I mean, NO ONE did the CULO dance! WTF.
Anyways, I miss you all individually and all as a big happy clump. (See facebook photos of big happy clump. There are SO many!!!) BUT -- ONE muy importante piece of info: I will be in Amherst this weekend!!! W/ Mr. Dee and parents, but also going maybe to the CLPP conference (for like one thing) at Hampshire, and doing I don't know what. WHO'S FREE WHEN???
Love to all,
Megan
Buen dia!
if i had a camera, i would post a picture of what i wake up to every morning from my new house-- birdies a' chirpin', the mountains in the distance, a rickity tin roof a couple houses down, and lots of green. i am SO much happier in this house-- i moved about 2 weeks ago, right before i went back to the states for a week March 24.
why did i change families, you ask? well-- i think i was getting mildly depressed in the other house-- no joke. i have never felt such little energy, such 'pereza' to go home and to just get up and start the day in general. yeah, i know-- hello! such blahness does not go at all with my essential energy!! something had to be changed. i talked to my program directors, who are two super amazing women--Isa and Zaida-- sooo chapman-like and lovable, and they were not havin it-- me unhappy in that house. my host mom was an older lady and spent 12 waking hours minimum watching television, which was located in the middle of the house and polluted its sound throughout the house everyday. and we're not taking interesting programs, maybe-i'll-sit-down-and-watch-something-with-you-to-"bond", we're talking those lame-o MTV-esqe wet tee-shirt contests, bimbo babe getting lowered closer to a snake den everytime her team answered a question wrong kind of show. no thank you. every time she gave me a meal, it was like a nuisance to her. basically, i just felt like shit. so i moved-- and the family i am with now, is so so different. it is a bit unusual-- the parents are divorced and the dad doesn't live close by. the mom lives in the house on the weekends, but lives with her new husband about 30 minutes away during the week. so its just me and my two brothers-- Elias, 21and Oscar, 25-- who are super nice and amazing company. the mom is amazing-- she is smart, a social worker-- sharp and super sweet. knows whats goin' on. but the best part is Dinorah, or as we call her, mano (with the n i dont hve on this keyboard), who is the grandma that comes to take care of us during the week. AMAZING cook, and so nice. i feel happiness and altogether well being popping back up like flowers in springtime.
the US. i had to leave CR because my student visa didn't get approved and my 90 day tourist visa ran out. this was an amazing trip. spent most of it with my family, in my house in CT-- they sold the house on friday and will be moving to Tennessee within 2 months. i NEEDED that closure in my house-- i was not prepared to come back from CR to a life in the south total foreign to me. and the BEST part-- i got to steal back to Amherst for a few hours-- and just happend to be on the Full Moon night! as Max said, "you're timing was impeccable." The Zu was amazing-- sadly I didn't get to see any of you-- twas so short a visit, I mostly just hung in the Zu and with JESS, which was great. Anyhoo, so much LOVE! And sending good wishes across the world to all.
why did i change families, you ask? well-- i think i was getting mildly depressed in the other house-- no joke. i have never felt such little energy, such 'pereza' to go home and to just get up and start the day in general. yeah, i know-- hello! such blahness does not go at all with my essential energy!! something had to be changed. i talked to my program directors, who are two super amazing women--Isa and Zaida-- sooo chapman-like and lovable, and they were not havin it-- me unhappy in that house. my host mom was an older lady and spent 12 waking hours minimum watching television, which was located in the middle of the house and polluted its sound throughout the house everyday. and we're not taking interesting programs, maybe-i'll-sit-down-and-watch-something-with-you-to-"bond", we're talking those lame-o MTV-esqe wet tee-shirt contests, bimbo babe getting lowered closer to a snake den everytime her team answered a question wrong kind of show. no thank you. every time she gave me a meal, it was like a nuisance to her. basically, i just felt like shit. so i moved-- and the family i am with now, is so so different. it is a bit unusual-- the parents are divorced and the dad doesn't live close by. the mom lives in the house on the weekends, but lives with her new husband about 30 minutes away during the week. so its just me and my two brothers-- Elias, 21and Oscar, 25-- who are super nice and amazing company. the mom is amazing-- she is smart, a social worker-- sharp and super sweet. knows whats goin' on. but the best part is Dinorah, or as we call her, mano (with the n i dont hve on this keyboard), who is the grandma that comes to take care of us during the week. AMAZING cook, and so nice. i feel happiness and altogether well being popping back up like flowers in springtime.
the US. i had to leave CR because my student visa didn't get approved and my 90 day tourist visa ran out. this was an amazing trip. spent most of it with my family, in my house in CT-- they sold the house on friday and will be moving to Tennessee within 2 months. i NEEDED that closure in my house-- i was not prepared to come back from CR to a life in the south total foreign to me. and the BEST part-- i got to steal back to Amherst for a few hours-- and just happend to be on the Full Moon night! as Max said, "you're timing was impeccable." The Zu was amazing-- sadly I didn't get to see any of you-- twas so short a visit, I mostly just hung in the Zu and with JESS, which was great. Anyhoo, so much LOVE! And sending good wishes across the world to all.
Monday 5 April 2010
2 things you should know
1. When i was having one of my fits in my head about how Amherst ruined my life i wrote an email to Tony Marx asking to talk to him about my experience at Amherst, and how I feel I fell through the cracks. He agreed to meet with me next Wednesday. I don't know why I did that. I was kind of drunk with emotion at the time. Anyway, so now I feel the need to go through with it. I think it might be a form of therapy, like a way to be heard, and validated, so I can go to graduation and shake his hand and feel like he knows why I am celebrating. Or it could just be a huge awkward, embarrassing mistake. We'll see.
2. I have a meeting with Windhorse tomorrow. That's the therapeutic community thing I mentioned a few months ago, where I live with someone who's a little fucked up, and I get a stipend, and I work with psychologists to help treat them, etc. Remember? Anyway, they may have found me a match! Go fuckin light a church in a candle somewhere for me or something. I neeeeeed this job. It's the only half legit thing I have an opportunity to get my hands on. Gahh. I just flet like a needed good vibrations coming from you girls, and Julian, tomorrow. Love you.
1. When i was having one of my fits in my head about how Amherst ruined my life i wrote an email to Tony Marx asking to talk to him about my experience at Amherst, and how I feel I fell through the cracks. He agreed to meet with me next Wednesday. I don't know why I did that. I was kind of drunk with emotion at the time. Anyway, so now I feel the need to go through with it. I think it might be a form of therapy, like a way to be heard, and validated, so I can go to graduation and shake his hand and feel like he knows why I am celebrating. Or it could just be a huge awkward, embarrassing mistake. We'll see.
2. I have a meeting with Windhorse tomorrow. That's the therapeutic community thing I mentioned a few months ago, where I live with someone who's a little fucked up, and I get a stipend, and I work with psychologists to help treat them, etc. Remember? Anyway, they may have found me a match! Go fuckin light a church in a candle somewhere for me or something. I neeeeeed this job. It's the only half legit thing I have an opportunity to get my hands on. Gahh. I just flet like a needed good vibrations coming from you girls, and Julian, tomorrow. Love you.
Friday 2 April 2010
tales from the sea!
ciao bellas! i am in italia! we got here earlier this week after a short trip from toulon (france), about 3 days at sea. we had a shit ton of wind the first few days. 45 knots the first day/night - a bit stormy, so much so that i definitely couldn't keep down any of the food i had ingested that day.. gross. the second day was perffffect sailing, and the third day the wind died. we motored into naples on monday morning and were greeted with this wonderful view --
mt vesuvius at dawn.. . the sleeping giant! i think i'll climb the volcano tomorrow, and i'm definitely going to pay a visit to the ancient towns of pompeii and herculaneum soon! we've been working steadily to clean the boat all week - the owners fly in from the usa on saturday night so the place has got to be spic and span! but it hasn't been so bad. there's a studly italian boy working on the boat next door - half nude, of course. (no picture as of yet, but i'll try to be stealthy and snap one soon ! hahaha) mmm, how i do love the italian... scenery.
no but seriously, italy! wowza! on monday, i'm heading over to the magical island of Ischia to enjoy some post-Easter celebrations (scroll down to where it starts - "All what’s sacred on Sunday gets profane on Monday") and bask in some wondrous thermal hot springs! after that, perhaps rome for a few days, then cinque terra, and finally venice - that's the plan for now, but of course, it's subject to change. hahah. my dad is always making fun of me because my plans literally change by the minute. oh well, i'm just tryin to go with the flow!
thinking of you all! lots of love from the birthplace of pizza -
carmella
mt vesuvius at dawn.. . the sleeping giant! i think i'll climb the volcano tomorrow, and i'm definitely going to pay a visit to the ancient towns of pompeii and herculaneum soon! we've been working steadily to clean the boat all week - the owners fly in from the usa on saturday night so the place has got to be spic and span! but it hasn't been so bad. there's a studly italian boy working on the boat next door - half nude, of course. (no picture as of yet, but i'll try to be stealthy and snap one soon ! hahaha) mmm, how i do love the italian... scenery.
no but seriously, italy! wowza! on monday, i'm heading over to the magical island of Ischia to enjoy some post-Easter celebrations (scroll down to where it starts - "All what’s sacred on Sunday gets profane on Monday") and bask in some wondrous thermal hot springs! after that, perhaps rome for a few days, then cinque terra, and finally venice - that's the plan for now, but of course, it's subject to change. hahah. my dad is always making fun of me because my plans literally change by the minute. oh well, i'm just tryin to go with the flow!
thinking of you all! lots of love from the birthplace of pizza -
carmella
Woohoo more school!
After much hemming and hawing over schools and advisers and other nonsense, I will be attending Stanford next fall to get a Masters from their Environmental Earth System Science department. I'll be moving there this summer, and plan on living in or somewhere near San Francisco (there's a train that makes it an easy commute). So, anybody who feels like, you know, moving to California, that would be awesome. Or visiting at some point, at least.
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