I really need a girlfriend (my own age) down here to whisk me away when I need to escape.
I can't be going up to Oakland every weekend to see Pru. It just doesn't work like that.
I am counting the minutes until my sister comes to visit me...
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
My Fun.
First week of school went really well. I've been in an unusually optimistic mood all week (until tonight, of course, but we'll get to that later). Wednesdays are brutal. 2 labs, both 3 hours, a 3 hour lecture and another normal lecture. 9am to 9pm, back to back to back to back. But it's fun! School is fun for me now. Micro is SUPER hard, but everything we will learn pertains to my interest. Same goes for both Physiology and Pathophysiology. I honestly think Gym will be my hardest class.
Tutoring is great! I have all 3 of Barry's labs and I am also running the Friday open lab again. Each lab, I have been so into helping people that I look at the clock and feel sad when it's over. I feel like I could tutor and teach the new students for days on end without feeling tired. I feel great. I feel like it's filled a void in my life that I have been missing forever.
Gio's asked me to come back for one day a week. CHEAP PIZZA! That was my downfall and why I am taking the Gym course this semester...
I feel like I have got it all together. I've got my study group who are all taking the same classes as me and we have the same fun when learning. Precious is doing so well in my apartment. She's not afraid of noises anymore and was actually eating grass and chasing lizards outside today! I am so happy to see her when I come home. It is definitely helping the depression that I have been in for the past 6 months.
That is...all up until tonight.
It's amazing how one person who you don't even care about can make optimism shrink to the size of a pea in just a few sentences. I really don't like being criticized for hating IV, not finding partying every weekend to be awesome and being called an old lady. Okay, so I call myself an old lady, but for jokes. It doesn't feel as good when someone else calls you an old lady and rolls their eyes at you.
I try, but I simply don't get along with people my age, I guess. Almost all the people I actually enjoy hanging out with are older. Or have the same interests as I do: like school. School is fun for me. I don't think it torture. I really enjoy learning.
Maybe it's because I was never a "stellar" student in high school. I skid by just to graduate and somehow got a 3.0 out of that. I've found my stride. I feel smart for the first time in my whole life. I've found something I love (and something I don't love). I don't deserve to be treated with such disrespect and unkindness that these people (and generally Isla Vista) treat me. I am so ready to break up, move on and live somewhere where I can enjoy my own space and not hear college kids screaming, banging against things, blasting music and car alarms ALL THE EFFING TIME. I'M JUST OVER IT!!!!
I think that's all I should put for now. It's already too much and I just needed to vent. I am going to go knit now. My cat and my old lady habits have more important things to do than to get shit faced and fucked up everyone Thursday thru Saturday.
YOU'RE PAYING FOR THIS EDUCATION, SO FUCKING USE IT.
Tutoring is great! I have all 3 of Barry's labs and I am also running the Friday open lab again. Each lab, I have been so into helping people that I look at the clock and feel sad when it's over. I feel like I could tutor and teach the new students for days on end without feeling tired. I feel great. I feel like it's filled a void in my life that I have been missing forever.
Gio's asked me to come back for one day a week. CHEAP PIZZA! That was my downfall and why I am taking the Gym course this semester...
I feel like I have got it all together. I've got my study group who are all taking the same classes as me and we have the same fun when learning. Precious is doing so well in my apartment. She's not afraid of noises anymore and was actually eating grass and chasing lizards outside today! I am so happy to see her when I come home. It is definitely helping the depression that I have been in for the past 6 months.
That is...all up until tonight.
It's amazing how one person who you don't even care about can make optimism shrink to the size of a pea in just a few sentences. I really don't like being criticized for hating IV, not finding partying every weekend to be awesome and being called an old lady. Okay, so I call myself an old lady, but for jokes. It doesn't feel as good when someone else calls you an old lady and rolls their eyes at you.
I try, but I simply don't get along with people my age, I guess. Almost all the people I actually enjoy hanging out with are older. Or have the same interests as I do: like school. School is fun for me. I don't think it torture. I really enjoy learning.
Maybe it's because I was never a "stellar" student in high school. I skid by just to graduate and somehow got a 3.0 out of that. I've found my stride. I feel smart for the first time in my whole life. I've found something I love (and something I don't love). I don't deserve to be treated with such disrespect and unkindness that these people (and generally Isla Vista) treat me. I am so ready to break up, move on and live somewhere where I can enjoy my own space and not hear college kids screaming, banging against things, blasting music and car alarms ALL THE EFFING TIME. I'M JUST OVER IT!!!!
I think that's all I should put for now. It's already too much and I just needed to vent. I am going to go knit now. My cat and my old lady habits have more important things to do than to get shit faced and fucked up everyone Thursday thru Saturday.
YOU'RE PAYING FOR THIS EDUCATION, SO FUCKING USE IT.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
In Your Reflection, He Lives in You.
Yesterday, I wanted to do something nice inside on the rainy day. So I took out my knitting, snagged a blanket, and popped in 'The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride.' I thought the moment wasn't complete enough, so I packed a very small bowl of Tahoe grown green.
Almost immediately, I felt that familiar pang in my stomach. It was calling: "FOOOOD!" I marched over to the fridge. I took out a slice of American cheese. I folded it up into tiny squares to eat and turned around to watch the whole first scene of the movie.
Obviously, being as obliterated as I was, watching the whole first scene was quite the experience. I couldn't get over how powerful and connected to nature I felt. Then I started to laugh. I was all by myself in my apartment with my cheese, knitting and the Lion King 2 laughing hysterically.
It then occurred to me: why is this illegal in the United States?
I believe the government's main argument is that they want to suppress all laughter.
Rotten bastards.
Almost immediately, I felt that familiar pang in my stomach. It was calling: "FOOOOD!" I marched over to the fridge. I took out a slice of American cheese. I folded it up into tiny squares to eat and turned around to watch the whole first scene of the movie.
Obviously, being as obliterated as I was, watching the whole first scene was quite the experience. I couldn't get over how powerful and connected to nature I felt. Then I started to laugh. I was all by myself in my apartment with my cheese, knitting and the Lion King 2 laughing hysterically.
It then occurred to me: why is this illegal in the United States?
I believe the government's main argument is that they want to suppress all laughter.
Rotten bastards.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Stay warm. Stay dry.
Well, I am back from the riveting South Lake Tahoe. What more is there to do than to wake 'n bake, eat junk food and make crafts? Tahoe is dead. But regardless, I had a lot of fun. It's the people you surround yourself with that make all the difference. My best friend is my escape, my sister is always there for me and my cat's purr lulls me to sleep every night. This is home.
I've really gotten good at knitting. I've made almost a half a dozen of those headbands. I've got a beanie to make Joey still. It's been great! I wish I had this much time to knit when school started.
Speaking of, I didn't get that Luria Library Scholarship. HUGE bummer. I used the $200 gift card my dad gave me and bought 2 of my 4 books. They were used. Damn, school is expensive!
It's monsoon rains down here in Santa Barbara. It's dumping snow in Tahoe. My mom's down here with me. She heads back tomorrow. It's scary thinking of her driving in this weather all by herself. Make me nervous.
Apparently, we had a tornado on the 6800 block of DP. Yep. Blew my mind out of the water, too!
I've brought Precious down to Santa Barbara with me. So far, she is acting real skiddish. First time in her life she has ever been that way. Things are looking okay, though. She has warmed up a lot since Monday night. I hope she likes it. If not, I have to take her home. I feel bad I tore her away from the only home she has ever known. I hope she will eventually forgive me for that.
I've got my job back at Gio's. One day a week. Not sure when yet. Matt still has to call and let me know. Lots of scholarships and financial aid stuff to apply for this week before school. Once school starts, my immune system will slowly begin to decline due to increased stress levels. Let's root for another 4.0 semester, yeah?!
Stay warm. Stay dry. Ciao.
I've really gotten good at knitting. I've made almost a half a dozen of those headbands. I've got a beanie to make Joey still. It's been great! I wish I had this much time to knit when school started.
Speaking of, I didn't get that Luria Library Scholarship. HUGE bummer. I used the $200 gift card my dad gave me and bought 2 of my 4 books. They were used. Damn, school is expensive!
It's monsoon rains down here in Santa Barbara. It's dumping snow in Tahoe. My mom's down here with me. She heads back tomorrow. It's scary thinking of her driving in this weather all by herself. Make me nervous.
Apparently, we had a tornado on the 6800 block of DP. Yep. Blew my mind out of the water, too!
I've brought Precious down to Santa Barbara with me. So far, she is acting real skiddish. First time in her life she has ever been that way. Things are looking okay, though. She has warmed up a lot since Monday night. I hope she likes it. If not, I have to take her home. I feel bad I tore her away from the only home she has ever known. I hope she will eventually forgive me for that.
I've got my job back at Gio's. One day a week. Not sure when yet. Matt still has to call and let me know. Lots of scholarships and financial aid stuff to apply for this week before school. Once school starts, my immune system will slowly begin to decline due to increased stress levels. Let's root for another 4.0 semester, yeah?!
Stay warm. Stay dry. Ciao.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
COSTA RICA!!!!
I am finally back in the United States! Woo hoo!
Costa Rica was amazing! We spent 3 weeks treking around the whole country. We landed in San Jose and hung out for a few days. San Jose is much like LA. BIG city with lots of people and corporate businesses. It's also scary at night. The taxi drivers are maniacs. They fly through stop signs and red lights like it's nobody's business. It's like being on a roller coaster. INSANE! We stayed at Hostel Bekuo and met up with a British lad. We invited him to Monteverde with us.
Then we headed up to Monteverde in the Cloud Forest for my birthday! It was so beautiful! We stayed in this wonderful cabin from Cabinas Valle Campanas. Beautiful family! Rayna is a wonderful hostess and I highly recommend staying there if you ever visit! She recommended the best for us. We hiked up through the Cloud Forest and saw so much wonderful rain forest! On my birthday, we went Zip Lining through the Cloud Forest and it was the biggest rush of my life! LOVED it! We also visited a Bat Museum and got to see all the different species that live in Costa Rica. Monteverde was one of my favorites!
After Monteverde, we took a private shuttle with the Brit to Brasilito on the Pacific Coast just north of Tamarindo. That's when it got HOT! I thought I was melting! Brasilito was fun! Our room was right on the ocean (literally, the beach was on the other side of the street in front of our door). Joey got to surf a bit on Playa Grande. I tried, but panicked in the water (open water terrifies me!). I collected WAYYY too many seashells. Near the end of the day, I got some excellent shots of the sunset. I also put on 4 applications of sunscreen but got SOOO sunburnt. We were going to try and wake up late at night to watch a Leatherback come ashore and lay her eggs, but it proved to be quite an expensive task. Regardless, Brasilito was fun, but at the end of the trip, the Brit decided to part ways and head to Tamarindo while we went to Montezuma.
Montezuma was next and it was so great! It is this tiny little town, only 2 blocks long and it's on the tip of the northern peninsula. The nearest police station was 20 miles away (20 miles is quite a bit when there are only dangerous dirt roads leading to everywhere) so the town was pretty liberal. We stayed up the road smack in the jungle in this Hostel-style hotel names Luna Llena. BEAUTIFUL view and hotel. I woke up to monkeys on the deck one morning. Iguanas try to catch sunlight on the roofs of all the buildings but they are made out of metal so the Iguanas can be quite loud and frightening if you don't know what they are. Luna Llena was so beautiful. Joey surfed at another Playa Grande and we hiked to beautiful waterfalls. We had a great time! :)
Next up was a ferry across the channel to get to Turrialba. Turrialba is east of San Jose, so it was quite the day of travel. Turrialba is a little like San Jose, but a lot smaller and with more wildlife surrounding the town. It's not very touristy so the prices were very reasonable with souvenirs and other things. Veronica taught me how to knit there which was so fun! I love knitting now! Turrialba is also known for their coffee which is SO DELICIOUS! We bought lots while we were there. We also went White Water Rafting on the Pacuare for a full day. It brought back so many memories of my Dad! I had such a good time!
After a couple days there, we went to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean for Christmas! We were staying at Rocking J's hostel and had rented out J's Palace for three days over Christmas. It was the most magnificent house I have ever seen! J (founder of Rocking J's) had built the whole thing himself. It was loaded with tiled mosaics, incredible artwork, hammocks and little flairs of the Caribbean! As he was showing us around, he gave us a complimentary joint. WELCOME TO THE CARIBBEAN! :) Rocking J's was an experience alone. I could write a book about it, but you'll just have to check my Facebook and see pictures...or go there yourself! Puerto Viejo was a typical Caribbean town. Vendors everywhere. Rasta everywhere. Jamaican weed EVERYWHERE! Joey and I had some (hello! Jamaican weed in the Caribbean? A genius wouldn't turn that down!). It was a very fun high. :)
During the last few days we had free, Darius, Shane, Larissa, Veronica and Ross (the Brit! We met up with him again) all wanted to head to Panama for a few days. I really didn't want to go because we had been so active and busy for the last few weeks that I just wanted to sit in the Caribbean at Rocking J's and do absolutely nothing. Panama was a little too spontaneous for me, so we split up. Joey stayed with me and the others went to Panama. Joey and I had fun the last few days in Puerto Viejo. We spent wayyyy too much money shopping for our families, we spent one morning at an animal reserve playing with baby Howler monkeys, and rode bikes all the way to Punta Uva where we snorkled in Emerald colored waters! :) It was very nice and relaxing...just what a vacation should be!
Nearing the end, we headed back to San Jose and reunited with the others. The others had a great time in Panama and came back with Ross. We had one last 'hoorah' at Club Vyrus, the bar we stopped at on our first night where everyone enjoyed Cuckrochas. We said our goodbyes and departed on December 31st 6am Costa Rican time. Joey and I walked into our apartment at 11:15pm Californian time (1:15am Costa Rican time). Twas a long day.
I am so happy I went to such a beautiful place. It was challenging for me to be so far away from my family and miss them so much over the holidays but I am still so happy I went. I really want to go back and see what I missed another time (not during the holidays!). I miss the warmth and patience that everyone seemed to bestow. I am relieved to see everything in English again, but a part of me misses trying to talk to everyone in my broken Spanish (also, warning: not as many people speak English as you would think!).
PURA VIDA!
Costa Rica was amazing! We spent 3 weeks treking around the whole country. We landed in San Jose and hung out for a few days. San Jose is much like LA. BIG city with lots of people and corporate businesses. It's also scary at night. The taxi drivers are maniacs. They fly through stop signs and red lights like it's nobody's business. It's like being on a roller coaster. INSANE! We stayed at Hostel Bekuo and met up with a British lad. We invited him to Monteverde with us.
Then we headed up to Monteverde in the Cloud Forest for my birthday! It was so beautiful! We stayed in this wonderful cabin from Cabinas Valle Campanas. Beautiful family! Rayna is a wonderful hostess and I highly recommend staying there if you ever visit! She recommended the best for us. We hiked up through the Cloud Forest and saw so much wonderful rain forest! On my birthday, we went Zip Lining through the Cloud Forest and it was the biggest rush of my life! LOVED it! We also visited a Bat Museum and got to see all the different species that live in Costa Rica. Monteverde was one of my favorites!
After Monteverde, we took a private shuttle with the Brit to Brasilito on the Pacific Coast just north of Tamarindo. That's when it got HOT! I thought I was melting! Brasilito was fun! Our room was right on the ocean (literally, the beach was on the other side of the street in front of our door). Joey got to surf a bit on Playa Grande. I tried, but panicked in the water (open water terrifies me!). I collected WAYYY too many seashells. Near the end of the day, I got some excellent shots of the sunset. I also put on 4 applications of sunscreen but got SOOO sunburnt. We were going to try and wake up late at night to watch a Leatherback come ashore and lay her eggs, but it proved to be quite an expensive task. Regardless, Brasilito was fun, but at the end of the trip, the Brit decided to part ways and head to Tamarindo while we went to Montezuma.
Montezuma was next and it was so great! It is this tiny little town, only 2 blocks long and it's on the tip of the northern peninsula. The nearest police station was 20 miles away (20 miles is quite a bit when there are only dangerous dirt roads leading to everywhere) so the town was pretty liberal. We stayed up the road smack in the jungle in this Hostel-style hotel names Luna Llena. BEAUTIFUL view and hotel. I woke up to monkeys on the deck one morning. Iguanas try to catch sunlight on the roofs of all the buildings but they are made out of metal so the Iguanas can be quite loud and frightening if you don't know what they are. Luna Llena was so beautiful. Joey surfed at another Playa Grande and we hiked to beautiful waterfalls. We had a great time! :)
Next up was a ferry across the channel to get to Turrialba. Turrialba is east of San Jose, so it was quite the day of travel. Turrialba is a little like San Jose, but a lot smaller and with more wildlife surrounding the town. It's not very touristy so the prices were very reasonable with souvenirs and other things. Veronica taught me how to knit there which was so fun! I love knitting now! Turrialba is also known for their coffee which is SO DELICIOUS! We bought lots while we were there. We also went White Water Rafting on the Pacuare for a full day. It brought back so many memories of my Dad! I had such a good time!
After a couple days there, we went to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean for Christmas! We were staying at Rocking J's hostel and had rented out J's Palace for three days over Christmas. It was the most magnificent house I have ever seen! J (founder of Rocking J's) had built the whole thing himself. It was loaded with tiled mosaics, incredible artwork, hammocks and little flairs of the Caribbean! As he was showing us around, he gave us a complimentary joint. WELCOME TO THE CARIBBEAN! :) Rocking J's was an experience alone. I could write a book about it, but you'll just have to check my Facebook and see pictures...or go there yourself! Puerto Viejo was a typical Caribbean town. Vendors everywhere. Rasta everywhere. Jamaican weed EVERYWHERE! Joey and I had some (hello! Jamaican weed in the Caribbean? A genius wouldn't turn that down!). It was a very fun high. :)
During the last few days we had free, Darius, Shane, Larissa, Veronica and Ross (the Brit! We met up with him again) all wanted to head to Panama for a few days. I really didn't want to go because we had been so active and busy for the last few weeks that I just wanted to sit in the Caribbean at Rocking J's and do absolutely nothing. Panama was a little too spontaneous for me, so we split up. Joey stayed with me and the others went to Panama. Joey and I had fun the last few days in Puerto Viejo. We spent wayyyy too much money shopping for our families, we spent one morning at an animal reserve playing with baby Howler monkeys, and rode bikes all the way to Punta Uva where we snorkled in Emerald colored waters! :) It was very nice and relaxing...just what a vacation should be!
Nearing the end, we headed back to San Jose and reunited with the others. The others had a great time in Panama and came back with Ross. We had one last 'hoorah' at Club Vyrus, the bar we stopped at on our first night where everyone enjoyed Cuckrochas. We said our goodbyes and departed on December 31st 6am Costa Rican time. Joey and I walked into our apartment at 11:15pm Californian time (1:15am Costa Rican time). Twas a long day.
I am so happy I went to such a beautiful place. It was challenging for me to be so far away from my family and miss them so much over the holidays but I am still so happy I went. I really want to go back and see what I missed another time (not during the holidays!). I miss the warmth and patience that everyone seemed to bestow. I am relieved to see everything in English again, but a part of me misses trying to talk to everyone in my broken Spanish (also, warning: not as many people speak English as you would think!).
PURA VIDA!
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