In order to avoid writing another final-essay-long post, as Dad observed during our Skype chat, I figured I should post more often. So here I am. Posting more often. (And by that I mean making the effort to post more often, getting distracted, and ending up with infrequent, super-long posts.)
The jet engine I am referring to in the post title is actually my apartment's washing/drying machine. One of my flatmates is washing her clothes and I can hear the machine all the way upstairs. It literally sounds like a plane is taking off in our kitchen. It's pretty entertaining.
Sightseeing update: I went to the Aran Islands last Saturday. It was a pretty dreary day so the main island probably wasn't at its awe-inspiring best. I did have a couple of mini-adventures though. Our first stop on the bus tour was at a lighthouse and stone fort at the highest point of the island. My accomplices and I had a lot of fun climbing through the holes in the fort walls and taking silly pictures. It was just like being back in elementary school on the jungle gym. I should act like a kid more often - it was fun! We also hiked up to another fort on the edge of the island. It took about 20-30 minutes to get up there and that was probably the first time I had done any hiking since my family hiked the Grand Canyon four years ago. (I was only just a little traumatized.) It was a good first-hike-since-the-Grand-Canyon. We were able to walk to the very edge of the island, and by 'the very edge' I mean one step too many and you would find yourself cliff diving - and not in a good way. I was able to stand at the edge for maybe ten seconds before my fear of heights pulled out the megaphone and told me to slooooooowly back away. The Aran Islands are also really famous for their knitted sweaters, which was probably one of my favorite parts about the islands. There was a documentary about yarn-making and knitting running in the sweater shop and it was SO COOL! There are stitches that only the Aran Islanders know and the families who have lived there since the beginning of time have their own stitch. I love knitting; I can only do the basic stitch, but after seeing the sweater shop, I really wanted to learn something more complex. (Insert not-so-subtle Christmas gift request here) Even though the weather wasn't perfect, it was a fun day trip.
I joined the Dance Society at school and ended up volunteering to teach salsa lessons. The DanSoc was able to get the teacher from last year to teach them, but I thought I was in charge there for a while. I'm actually pretty happy that I'm not the teacher because I was starting to realize how unprepared I was. I don't have any salsa music and I also don't know the lead's footwork for any of the moves, both significant problems unless I was teaching deaf follows. It would have been a really good experience, but it also would have been a fairly big time commitment. And now I get to go to the lessons and imagine how much better my class would have been if I was teaching! So much more fun! I really am super stoked to go to the lessons. I miss CCBDC (Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company) SO MUCH!!!! Salsa nights, Underground Blues, 7AM practice. Wahhhhhhh!!! I have found a bar in town that has salsa dancing but the challenge there is finding people who want to go so I'm not walking around at night by myself. I'm sure I can find someone to drag along at least once, but I WILL GO at least once before the end of the semester.
I also joined the Archaeology Society (cheap sightseeing trips that I don't have to organize!), and there was a meet and greet at the college bar on Tuesday. I went with Alyssa, another Butler student in Menlo. I knew about the free food, but I was not expecting the free glass of wine. It was definitely one of those culture shock moments for both of us (but not in a bad way!). I love being legal.
I don't have any trips planned for this weekend. I figure I should stay here and actually get some work done. Unheard of, I know, but I'm ready to do nothing, er, I mean, be productive, for a change. Alyssa and Jennifer are coming over later to bake carrot cake and make it a study party. I am so excited for this carrot cake. Yum!
Wish you were here!
love always!
No comments:
Post a Comment