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.