winter pause

at this point, my winter break is over and i am back at school. however, the adventure will continue as i embark on a sociology trip to south africa for three weeks— leaving tomorrow! the reality of my impending departure hasn’t yet sunk in. i trekked from seattle to baltimore today— via turbulent denver— and i am already a little sore from hauling so much stuff. i have decided to pack lightly for south africa, quite a challenge for someone who always strives to be over-prepared for virtually any situation.

winter break in shoreline kept me sufficiently busy. i tend to get restless without work to do, but it was really nice to be able to read a bit, relax at home and catch up with my family, high school friends, and many of the kids i babysit. babysitting proved to be a win-win situation for all involved— i got to play with adorable and intelligent children (which i certainly can’t do on a college campus), hopefully helped the parents enjoy a night out, and earned a little income. i was also pleasantly surprised by my high school friends, many of whom have changed a lot since they began their college careers— all in a positive manner, however. it’s odd that some of my peers have changed so dramatically and reinvented themselves, while others remain in nearly the exact place. i suppose that’s how adult life goes? i certainly feel fortunate to have access to resources which allow me to develop: a stellar education, a supportive family, work experience, the opportunity to travel… although i feel that i am aware of how lucky i am, spending three weeks with aids-affected south africans may open my eyes a bit more.

i am unsure of how much reasonably-priced internet access will present itself in south africa, but i hope to blog when possible. i wish you all the best in 2008!

attached are some photos from break.

done with the semester!

although it felt pretty anticlimactic, i finished all my work for the semester today! i fly to l.a. tomorrow morning. the semester was fairly trying, but i know next semester will be even more so because i am taking nearly all methods classes (methods of sociology, methods of anthropology, history of sociology...) and will have increased responsibilities on campus. sophomore year, i think, is everyone's peak year at goucher. everyone goes abroad junior year and returns enlightened but indifferent to the everyday trials of campus life. so i plan on plunging in head-first into work and activities next semester, while i still care about abiding by bureaucratic policies.

on a lighter note, here are some photos from the past few weeks. they include gingerbread house-making, the amazing christmas lights in a baltimore neighborhood called hampden, and my lovely roommate maura with the menorah we lit every night... happy holidays!

college lifestyle?

thanksgiving in massachusetts proved to be very relaxing and enjoyable. my friends and their families that hosted me are very kind. and then, the harsh reality of looming final exams hit me. coming back from nearly a week of vacation- in which i did very little work but instead read three entire books, watched quite a few '80s music videos, a slept much more than i usually do- was rough.

for the first time in my life, i am not 100% happy to be at school. i am feeling bogged down and overwhelmed with all i have to do. i have five papers due in the next week. i copy edited and reformatted an entire 24-page newspaper last night. i ran out of meals and find cooking a formidable challenge (not to mention that i don't really have the resources- i have no pots/pans, groceries, time or money), so i have also adopted a typical college diet of coffee, granola bars, easy mac and candy. i also don't have very much time to sleep, let alone exercise. in addition, i have a sinus infection that has been plaguing me for almost a month. the combination of all of these factors really takes a toll after a while.

on a more positive and (but still pretty self-centered...sorry) note, i am excited for my upcoming travels. i just applied to be on an audio-documentary crew in new orleans for a week in march. and, i am beginning to think about living/working arrangements to spend the summer in baltimore...

finally, keep in mind it is world aids day this saturday (december 1). i am hosting a global peace tiles workshop with two of my closest friends (and classmates), where students have the opportunity to create personal, artistic statements about aids on 8"x8" wooden tiles. we are going to donate the tiles to the topsy foundation in south africa. peace tiles is a really cool project that i urge you to investigate- check out www.peacetiles.net and www.flickr.com/peacetiles. but if you don't have the means to make a peace tile, try to do something to honor your solidarity with the aids pandemic.

thanksgiving

it is the tuesday before thanksgiving and i am pondering how much life can change in a year’s time. a year ago i was anxiously awaiting a visit from my significant other at the time. i remember feeling so mature for having a east coast thanksgiving with this special person— we spent time (very briefly) in philadelphia, washington dc and new york city. it was certainly an exhilarating way to spend a few days! this year i feel so much more settled into goucher and ready to get off campus for a little while. i am leaving this evening to drive to massachusetts with friends. i am excited to return to massachusetts— both worcester and boston— which of course i wouldn’t have predicted a year ago. it will be so nice to be in a home and interact with family again, despite the home and family not being my own. i think thanksgiving is a great opportunity to expand horizons, so i am not fretting about not going home. when i do make it to shoreline in december it will be my first time home in over six months! college in general is such a prime time to explore new parts of the country and meet new people— i am so grateful that i am able to experience this! i am so, so thankful for my family for allowing me to have these wonderful cross-country encounters. i could not ask for a more supportive family and i look forward to seeing them greatly over christmas. i am also extremely grateful to all the friends i've made at goucher, and especially the ones that have opened their homes to me in the last year. i realize how fortunate i am to spend time meandering— that’s certainly not something everyone is able to do— and i hope to become a more well-rounded, better-informed, and interesting person for it. i certainly can't imagine where i will be in a year.

happy thanksgiving to all!

here are some photos of recent events:
1. louie came to visit baltimore in october. it was a bit of a flashback to high school. i hope he had fun here!
2. the gorgeous autumn weather in baltimore! this is the sunlight in my room.
3. some friends and i headed up to our buddy debra's house in woodstown, new jersey. we had a blast at a square dance at her quaker meetinghouse, building a bonfire on their lovely audubon reserve property, eating vegetarian chili, and going to a cute coffeehouse in their little town. the weekend excursion really changed my opinion of new jersey.
4. this is the ghost foot of one of my friends square dancing.
5. the annual dining hall version of thanksgiving dinner left us all pretty content.

jens lekman and other news

october has indeed been decidedly busy. besides working 20 hours a week, having an abundance of papers to write, being second-in-command at the biweekly 24-page newspaper, and trying to plan activities in all of my clubs, i have been really working on having fun on the weekends. going downtown, hanging out with different people, stretching my comfort zone, being independent, etc.

i am very lucky to have my brother louie visiting right now. he flew out on thursday and is staying until monday. some friends of mine had heard about a concert of the delightful swedish indie musician jens lekman in dc, which ended up being that same thursday, so we picked louie up at the airport and headed straight down to the black cat club in dc. despite an unusual bout of heavy rain, the entire night was amazing. jens' band consisted of six swedish women (two horn players, a bass player, a drummer, and two violinists) dressed in white dresses and white patent leather shoes, some of them wearing odd little hats. he also had an extremely lanky young man wearing blue highwater pants as a dj. jens himself had an air of contentment that was just adorable. as he sang his witty lyrics, he closed his eyes and had a charming half-smile on his face. his swedish accent shone through ("my fodder" and "happy birfday") but his english was impeccable. my two favorite moments of the concert were when everyone on stage dropped their instruments and began dancing in unison, and when jens led an encore performance of his tune "pocketful of money" with almost the entire audience singing with him. if you want music to bring a smile to your face, get your hands on some jens lekman.

the rain has not let up since thursday, but i hope to show louie the unique, artsy and interesting neighborhoods of baltimore today. besides that, my plans include lots and lots of homework...

fall break

we don't have classes today to mark the half-way point in fall semester. this would ordinarily be great, but i have so much homework due in the next week, that it's hardly a break at all. i suppose it is just a nice way to do my work at my own speed and enjoy the finally cool autumn weather- it was 90 degrees up until a few days ago!

my fall, so far, has been busy busy busy and much more interesting than last year. i have been specifically going out of my way to see new parts of the city, spend time with different people, and step outside my comfort level. i usually end up going to baltimore city every saturday and being completely swamped in homework every sunday. during the week i usually have about ten minutes of down time between classes, work and activities. again- that's how i like it.

i've been to many festivals this fall: the baltimore book festival, reggae and brew at the zoo, hampdenfest, the chocolate festival at lexington market. i've also had a chance to explore some awesome neighborhoods: hampden (home of the biggest slice of pizza in baltimore, a variety of hip bars, and near a strange but artsy cinematheque/theatre), canton, catonsville, mount vernon, the other side of towson, etc. i saw a wonderful, intriguing, beautiful and plotless film about iceland made by the band sigur ros; i went duckpin bowling to celebrate my good friend timmy's 22nd birthday; i've been to several bars (who knew you could get in if you're under 21?); i've met many, many colorful and genuine friends; i saw the fabulous musician andrew bird in concert; i started working on a project for the maryland state folklorist. this fall has been packed so far, and i hope this trend continues!

although i should be studying for my midterms right now and working on the next issue of the newspaper, i am going to pause to share a list of things i feel everyone should do at some point in their life (in no real order):
1. explore a city without a car. living in both boston and baltimore without a car has been such a valuable experience. not only does it improve your problem-solving skills and confidence in being independent, but it can also give you a unique view of a city that you completely miss from the safety of your own vehicle. public transportation is there for a reason, and i strongly feel that everyone should be able to use it. although, i won't lie- today, i got a ride instead of taking five different buses and it made my day so much more simple. i suppose the best solution is to have access to a car but to utilize public transportation whenever possible.
2. learn about architecture and art history. you appreciate city life so much more if you can walk down the street and identify the order of columns supporting a building or know why the architect chose a certain style. your space becomes illuminated as you learn about the decisions that went into building it. art history is a mirror of society at any given time- it's important to know!
3. go to a baseball game. for the ultimate american experience, try to absorb as much of the surroundings as possible. i suppose those of us who abstain from sporting events (ie. the husted family) are more of a minority, but it really is beneficial to understanding american culture.
4. march on washington. even if your particular protest may not change the world, being surrounded by impassioned activists in one of the most powerful cities imaginable is quite the experience.
5. among other things, sit/stand in the front at a concert, be in the minority of a group, send a letter to an old friend, keep a journal, and travel whenever possible.

here are some recent photos-

lucky

i need to volunteer sometime soon. i feel myself getting a skewed worldview, one in which i obsess over mundane little issues and think that they are serious problems. i have absolutely nothing to complain about. some of the most depressing neighborhoods in baltimore are just a bus ride away— i need to remind myself of how incredibly lucky and fortunate i am.

i am listening to a mix of my current favorite musician right now, jens lekman, and just realized that only a few months ago, i had never heard of the man. now i am a devoted fan, eagerly anticipating his concert in late october. this reminds me of how truly mind-blowing it is that life can change so incredibly quickly at my age. a few months ago, i had seen and known so much less of the country; i had no connection to massachusetts at all; i knew virtually nothing about south africa; i had never dealt with death on a personal level; my friendships, relationships, and values were so different.

i’ve really been working on balance in my life, specifically remembering to have fun and try new things. as my reading assignments increase and my stress level continues to rise, i must remind myself that none of these concerns really matter in the long run. i chose to be here and to work hard in my academics; in the grand scheme of things, another measly reading is nothing to complain about when so many in this city are trying to survive without food, shelter, and medical care. i am unbelievably lucky to have these experiences— even ones that seem unpleasant at the time.

i declared my major this week: anthropology and sociology. i’m not sure if i completely fit my own image of what an anthro major should be, but i hope that i will by senior year. my anthropology of religion class is proving to be a serious challenge, but one that i really enjoy. my local/global connections course, the second part of the international scholars program, is also really cool. the maryland state folklorist came into class the other day and discussed how she uses folklore to transmit and preserve urban culture. her presentation and our readings about folklore have made me seriously consider applying anthropology to my interest in arts administration; at this point, i think i’d like to work for a non-profit that aims to preserve urban culture through the arts.

i’ve also noticed quite a few themes running through my goucher education thus far. they seem to surface in every class and are finally tying together well. among them, ethnocentrism, cultural relativism, economic determinism, marxism, postcolonialism, globalization, nationalism, hegemony, subaltern knowledge, hybridity.

here are a few photos of some things i’ve found beautiful lately.