Here's one from a few days ago::
February 5, 2007
I really enjoyed my classes yesterday. First up, Spanish Cinema. When I signed up for the class a few weeks ago, I thought it would be a dry history of cinema in Spain. Apparently, that was the past…they got a new professor who’s really funny, speaks kind of quickly, but all in all seems like a great guy. Anyway, I think he teaches over at the Universidad de Sevilla en la facultad de comunicaciones. So it could turn out to be pretty intense…and on the suggested reading list was three film theory books. It might not be as hard/long as Film A&A, but we definitely discussed pans, close ups, long shots, etc. The only catch is that it is in Spanish. Extra intensity.
I think I might have angered my host mother when I came home between classes and ate lunch by myself, but no one was home and I did not know when anyone was going to appear. I knew I should have taken a nap. Apparently I cannot just eat a meal on my own, I guess I misinterpreted a snack to be a meal? But seriously, the lack of snackage is killing me. Today I’m going to go to the Corte Ingles to fortify myself. For breakfast, we have two pieces of toast and some chocolate milk which is good. Then at 2/3 pm we have lunch. Dinner is at 9. There isn’t really a lot of food at these shindigs. Or I guess enough but because there are such long stretches between meals it is difficult.
Anyway, I had to walk back to school. On the way I got lost again. It’s so frustrating because I feel like the streets are continually shifting everywhere. And they are tiny and winding and I put myself at risk of getting run over all the time whenever I step out. I had a dance class in the afternoon. It was a lot of fun, and there are actually six boys in the class. Which has to be almost half of the entire male population in the Center. Then I had my poli-sci class. The professor is a sweet guy, he was asking us all about Hillary Clinton. My host mother asked us about her the other day too. What is it with Hillary? Generating international buzz already. Oh Evan Byah, where are you? And apparently John Edwards is back in the race, but taking a more aggressive stance this time around. Seriously, it’s going to be some dark horse that pulls out either party’s nomination.
In other news, I got an email from Danielle today talking about censorship in Singapore and the restrictions on the free flow of information. It made me think a little bit about the media aspect of life here. Except….when I watch the news it is very hard for me to understand because unless there are politicians speaking (they speak slowly and with measure - bless their souls) the anchors speak quickly. I have always taken advantage of the ability to communicate. Here, it is more difficult to understand and be understood because I’m at a very low reading and speaking level, although reading is improving leaps and bounds. I don’t think twice at home about flipping on the TV to watch the news; here, so desperately I want to be able to understand and all I can do is watch the b-roll (oh News I). Also, now that I don’t have regular access to a TV or hard copy of a paper, when I can use the internet to check headlines I’m out of control.
One last note for tonight. The plaza near the Catedral where the dreaded bird poop incidence took place is quickly becoming my favorite spot, despite said incident. I always wind up back there when I’m walking around aimlessly and I’m lucky enough to get to pass it every day on my way to school. It’s very open and wide and is the intersection for the Giralda, Catedral, Museo Bellas Artes and the Alcazar. And the street that leads out to Menedez is really beautiful as well. But anyway, I just love the Catedral. I’m very fascinated by it, and when we went to Church there Sunday it was the first time in three days that I felt at home and at peace.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Anniversary
On this, the anniversary of my first day in Spain, here's the post that I never got around to adding:
February 1, 2007. Day one. Over. Actually, more like two days with the time change and our arrival time. There was some horrible turbulence. I really thought I had met my match at one point, especially during dinner. Choking down the chicken was hard enough without sea-sickness. At one point, the tray of drinks fell over onto a passenger. Pandemoniom erupted for a few minutes. It was kind of disconcerting to see the flight attendants get so upset.
After dinner, the lights went off for the in-flight movie, and I couldn’t get sound or lights overheard because our console was not working. So I tried to sleep. But this did not work, despite my best attempts. Approximately three hours after they served dinner they threw the lights on and breakfast was served. So at midnight, approximately 6am local time, I was eating a muffin. It was weird to say the least
When we got to Madrid it was about 7:30 in the morning but it was still dark. Also disconcerting. However, this fact was soon overlooked upon disembarking from the aircraft (related sidenote, the airline was working this whole bilingual thing for a while, and as we got closer and closer to Spain it kind of tapered off, which was hard to try to predict which language they were going to come at you with next). The airport in Madrid is a monument to modern, minimalist architechture. Also, the gates are very close to the ground, which necessitates an elaborate labrinyth of ramps and stairways. So we get off the aircraft, no one knows where we are supposed to go. We go through customs, down three sets of escalators, to a train station. Somewhere along this journey, some of us realize that we need to be at gate M, which the way to said gate is on the opposite side of the glass partition. But we can’t get there, so we are forced to board the train.
The train takes us to another station, where we must ascend more levels of escalators, only to walk around and descend more to another station. We board another train. This train, kid you not, takes us right back to where we needed to be, which if you recall was the other side of the glass partition at the starting point. No joke, this took a half-hour schlepping all of my bags in my coat. Plus I had basically pulled an all-nighter.
Anyway, we make it to M, but there is no posting for what gate number at terminal M we are supposed to be at. So some of us plopped down at the closet one, and turns out that was our gate! We had a great view, although the airplanes were blocking it, of a mountain range in the distance and some buildings off to the other side. With the sun coming up and reflecting off the mountains, it was gorgeous. As an aside, I would be really curious to see the layout of this airport. It was absolutely the most annoying way to travel, except they did really control the flow of traffic by sending you on circuitous routes.
Anyway, the flight to Seville was cramped and was mostly students from our program. Needless to say, we all slept. We got to Seville and were met by some staffers, who loaded us onto the bus and carted us off to the hotel. It was very disorienting to step off the plane and Spanish being thrown everywhere. It’s also been rough adjusting to it, because I’m tired and I can’t focus as much as I want to. Plus it catches me off guard – I’ve never had a need to use Spanish outside of the classroom so I’m afraid to use it. Couple that with the fact that I’m probably one of a handful of students who is not a Spanish major and minor here, and let me tell you, London was looking really good at about 4pm. But I realized that I just have to have confidence and I can’t let other people intimidate me, as much as I want to allow them to. I can speak this language, I wouldn’t have come here knowing I couldn’t. So I just have to do it and not be afraid to make a mistake.
The hotel they put us up at is pretty swanky, meals have been a fun time, and I might have found some kindred spirits with regard to my pacing of meals. Nice spreads all around, although I’m starting to feel like lard. Maybe tomorrow I can work some Pilates in. We’re getting up to take a placement exam, then moving into our home. My house is right near the Alcazar, Universidad de Sevilla, and the bus station. I’m pretty excited about this, and I think it could be within walking distance from school if I had a nice day.
I’ve met some nice people thus far, and met up with the Ithaca crew. It’s been good to have them here. The only downers so far have been the fact that my face wash leaked in my bag (I can hear my mother groaning 3000mi away) and the intense homesickness I felt when I was first left to my own devices. All I wanted to do was be back in Ithaca. However, I’m here, tomorrow is a big day, we’re hoping to hit the town this weekend, so things should pick up. I’m just hoping my maniac-depressive mood swings can hold off long enough for me to get through it.
February 1, 2007. Day one. Over. Actually, more like two days with the time change and our arrival time. There was some horrible turbulence. I really thought I had met my match at one point, especially during dinner. Choking down the chicken was hard enough without sea-sickness. At one point, the tray of drinks fell over onto a passenger. Pandemoniom erupted for a few minutes. It was kind of disconcerting to see the flight attendants get so upset.
After dinner, the lights went off for the in-flight movie, and I couldn’t get sound or lights overheard because our console was not working. So I tried to sleep. But this did not work, despite my best attempts. Approximately three hours after they served dinner they threw the lights on and breakfast was served. So at midnight, approximately 6am local time, I was eating a muffin. It was weird to say the least
When we got to Madrid it was about 7:30 in the morning but it was still dark. Also disconcerting. However, this fact was soon overlooked upon disembarking from the aircraft (related sidenote, the airline was working this whole bilingual thing for a while, and as we got closer and closer to Spain it kind of tapered off, which was hard to try to predict which language they were going to come at you with next). The airport in Madrid is a monument to modern, minimalist architechture. Also, the gates are very close to the ground, which necessitates an elaborate labrinyth of ramps and stairways. So we get off the aircraft, no one knows where we are supposed to go. We go through customs, down three sets of escalators, to a train station. Somewhere along this journey, some of us realize that we need to be at gate M, which the way to said gate is on the opposite side of the glass partition. But we can’t get there, so we are forced to board the train.
The train takes us to another station, where we must ascend more levels of escalators, only to walk around and descend more to another station. We board another train. This train, kid you not, takes us right back to where we needed to be, which if you recall was the other side of the glass partition at the starting point. No joke, this took a half-hour schlepping all of my bags in my coat. Plus I had basically pulled an all-nighter.
Anyway, we make it to M, but there is no posting for what gate number at terminal M we are supposed to be at. So some of us plopped down at the closet one, and turns out that was our gate! We had a great view, although the airplanes were blocking it, of a mountain range in the distance and some buildings off to the other side. With the sun coming up and reflecting off the mountains, it was gorgeous. As an aside, I would be really curious to see the layout of this airport. It was absolutely the most annoying way to travel, except they did really control the flow of traffic by sending you on circuitous routes.
Anyway, the flight to Seville was cramped and was mostly students from our program. Needless to say, we all slept. We got to Seville and were met by some staffers, who loaded us onto the bus and carted us off to the hotel. It was very disorienting to step off the plane and Spanish being thrown everywhere. It’s also been rough adjusting to it, because I’m tired and I can’t focus as much as I want to. Plus it catches me off guard – I’ve never had a need to use Spanish outside of the classroom so I’m afraid to use it. Couple that with the fact that I’m probably one of a handful of students who is not a Spanish major and minor here, and let me tell you, London was looking really good at about 4pm. But I realized that I just have to have confidence and I can’t let other people intimidate me, as much as I want to allow them to. I can speak this language, I wouldn’t have come here knowing I couldn’t. So I just have to do it and not be afraid to make a mistake.
The hotel they put us up at is pretty swanky, meals have been a fun time, and I might have found some kindred spirits with regard to my pacing of meals. Nice spreads all around, although I’m starting to feel like lard. Maybe tomorrow I can work some Pilates in. We’re getting up to take a placement exam, then moving into our home. My house is right near the Alcazar, Universidad de Sevilla, and the bus station. I’m pretty excited about this, and I think it could be within walking distance from school if I had a nice day.
I’ve met some nice people thus far, and met up with the Ithaca crew. It’s been good to have them here. The only downers so far have been the fact that my face wash leaked in my bag (I can hear my mother groaning 3000mi away) and the intense homesickness I felt when I was first left to my own devices. All I wanted to do was be back in Ithaca. However, I’m here, tomorrow is a big day, we’re hoping to hit the town this weekend, so things should pick up. I’m just hoping my maniac-depressive mood swings can hold off long enough for me to get through it.
Monday, February 5, 2007
Ruminations
Here´s a list of some interesting obvservations about Spain thus far, in no particular order.
1. I have come to realize that Spainards do not believe in any extraneous paper products. There are tissues no where to be found. Also, they lack paper towels.
2. At first I thought that this was something only my host mom, Conchi, did, but apparently it is not exclusive to our household. We have a large coffee table, it´s about waist high on me. Underneath, there is a heater. So when we watch TV, we stick our feet underneath there and use the tablecloth as a blanket. This is considered perfectly normal.
3. Everyone is always dressed up. I mean I knew this coming here, but the sevillanos trek all across the city. And the women do it in heels. Also, everyone in Spain smells really good. I´m always walking into a cloud of perfume or cologne, but it´s not overpowering.
4. First of many embarrassing moments yet to come - Janelle and I did a lot of walking this weekend and somehow we always wind up back at the Catedral, one of the largest Churches in Christendom. We were sitting underneath a tree in the Plaza outside of the church looking at a map trying to find somewhere else to walk before meeting up with some of our friends. I looked over and there, on my one month old coat, was pigeon poop. First, I should say that theyse things are everywhere, pigeons that is, and they make sounds like owls. So we were laughing at the bird poop and Janelle was going to take a picture to document this experience. Well, we got our due, because then a bird pooped on Janelle´s hand, and it took her by surprise and she let out a yelp. Could not have identified ourselves as more American in that instant, as Janelle´s high pitched scream is echoing off the buildings, sending pigeons scattering and children crying. We booked it out of there like no other and ran around the block to Starbucks because we knew they had a bathroom. Only our progress in removing said poop was impeded by lack of paper towels, bringing us back to point 1.
5. Speaking of church, it´s very different here. At least when we went in the Catedral. No singing, no cushions on the kneelers. It´s intense. Also, when we went to go receive Communion, there was no line. It was a free-for-all. And I know this is going to sound sacriligious but I got elbowed out by an old lady. I mean, I think there is enough for everyone. If God can turn seven loaves and some fish into a feast for thousands, I think He can manage communion wafers for 100.
6. Never underestimate the power of a siesta. I fell asleep watching Contra Cien, which is 1 v. 100, the game show, Spanish style. And then I couldn´t fall right asleep an hour later. But got to love the amount of sleep. Although to go to bed, I wear fleece pajamas, a sweatshirt, two pairs of socks, on top of all of my blankets plus that sleeping bag I managed to get in my suitcase. Hands down, that fleece sleeping bag was the best 10 dollars I ever spent.
7. There´s an appreciation for the good things in life here - wine, food, company, etc etc.
8. My class schedule is great. On Mondays and Wednesdays I don´t begin until 11 10, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I start at 12 45. Add in siesta, and I´m basically sleeping through the weekdays. Hopefully I won´t have too much homework, we´ll have to see.
9. They really dig Sting here.
10. There is no rhyme or reason to the streets. They just pop up out of nowhere. And they are small, and there is always a risk of getting hit by a car or scooter.
11. I´m not really worried about crime or any other calamitous events as much as being una peatona (pedestrian). Walking sometimes is like a death wish. Janelle almost got hit by the side of a bus, while in the crosswalk and walking with the light. The motocicletas, buses and taxis will pull right up to you in the street while you are crossing and wait. Plus the motorcyclists are extra crazy, out of control. But they do look kind of fun to ride.
This weekend there has been talk of an overnight to Madrid. We will see what winds up happening. Lots to figure out this week, including planning our trips out, buying books, etc. I will have regular Internet access Monday through Thursday, but on the weekends it will be up to me if I want to go to an Internet cafe. So just a warning, if you send me an email or something after Thursday, I might not get it until Monday.
1. I have come to realize that Spainards do not believe in any extraneous paper products. There are tissues no where to be found. Also, they lack paper towels.
2. At first I thought that this was something only my host mom, Conchi, did, but apparently it is not exclusive to our household. We have a large coffee table, it´s about waist high on me. Underneath, there is a heater. So when we watch TV, we stick our feet underneath there and use the tablecloth as a blanket. This is considered perfectly normal.
3. Everyone is always dressed up. I mean I knew this coming here, but the sevillanos trek all across the city. And the women do it in heels. Also, everyone in Spain smells really good. I´m always walking into a cloud of perfume or cologne, but it´s not overpowering.
4. First of many embarrassing moments yet to come - Janelle and I did a lot of walking this weekend and somehow we always wind up back at the Catedral, one of the largest Churches in Christendom. We were sitting underneath a tree in the Plaza outside of the church looking at a map trying to find somewhere else to walk before meeting up with some of our friends. I looked over and there, on my one month old coat, was pigeon poop. First, I should say that theyse things are everywhere, pigeons that is, and they make sounds like owls. So we were laughing at the bird poop and Janelle was going to take a picture to document this experience. Well, we got our due, because then a bird pooped on Janelle´s hand, and it took her by surprise and she let out a yelp. Could not have identified ourselves as more American in that instant, as Janelle´s high pitched scream is echoing off the buildings, sending pigeons scattering and children crying. We booked it out of there like no other and ran around the block to Starbucks because we knew they had a bathroom. Only our progress in removing said poop was impeded by lack of paper towels, bringing us back to point 1.
5. Speaking of church, it´s very different here. At least when we went in the Catedral. No singing, no cushions on the kneelers. It´s intense. Also, when we went to go receive Communion, there was no line. It was a free-for-all. And I know this is going to sound sacriligious but I got elbowed out by an old lady. I mean, I think there is enough for everyone. If God can turn seven loaves and some fish into a feast for thousands, I think He can manage communion wafers for 100.
6. Never underestimate the power of a siesta. I fell asleep watching Contra Cien, which is 1 v. 100, the game show, Spanish style. And then I couldn´t fall right asleep an hour later. But got to love the amount of sleep. Although to go to bed, I wear fleece pajamas, a sweatshirt, two pairs of socks, on top of all of my blankets plus that sleeping bag I managed to get in my suitcase. Hands down, that fleece sleeping bag was the best 10 dollars I ever spent.
7. There´s an appreciation for the good things in life here - wine, food, company, etc etc.
8. My class schedule is great. On Mondays and Wednesdays I don´t begin until 11 10, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I start at 12 45. Add in siesta, and I´m basically sleeping through the weekdays. Hopefully I won´t have too much homework, we´ll have to see.
9. They really dig Sting here.
10. There is no rhyme or reason to the streets. They just pop up out of nowhere. And they are small, and there is always a risk of getting hit by a car or scooter.
11. I´m not really worried about crime or any other calamitous events as much as being una peatona (pedestrian). Walking sometimes is like a death wish. Janelle almost got hit by the side of a bus, while in the crosswalk and walking with the light. The motocicletas, buses and taxis will pull right up to you in the street while you are crossing and wait. Plus the motorcyclists are extra crazy, out of control. But they do look kind of fun to ride.
This weekend there has been talk of an overnight to Madrid. We will see what winds up happening. Lots to figure out this week, including planning our trips out, buying books, etc. I will have regular Internet access Monday through Thursday, but on the weekends it will be up to me if I want to go to an Internet cafe. So just a warning, if you send me an email or something after Thursday, I might not get it until Monday.
Friday, February 2, 2007
¨Just relax¨
So this is Spain. Day three, actually, given that we landed early Thursday. I have a post that I will add later about the first two days, but that´s stored on my laptop en mi casa and I´m at school right now.
We had our placement exam this morning. I thought they kind of threw us a curveball with the vocab as it was things like professions and what not that you would not necessarily need to use every day. I think it went well, I know I did really well on the oral comprehension, the written we´ll see. However, I don´t think they would have allowed me to register for the classes I did if I hadn´t already demonstrated proficiency in the language, and I´m just worried about holding onto my classes. I´ll find out Monday. Anyway, the building itself is gorgeous, it´s too nice to be a place of learning. Also, part of it is outdoors, which is like a normal thing here, and though it is only about 50 degrees, buildings (and my bedroom!!) are cold. I think it is colder inside than out.
My house mother (senora) is an older woman who lives by herself, except for Carlos, a six year old boy (possibly a relative but I couldn´t catch that part). She is really nice, lived in the US for a long time, so she knows English...but we can´t use it in the house unless we are talking to Carlos. Carlos lives with us during the week but on the weekends lives with his father who works in a hospital. Conchi (mi senora) has a daughter Nancy that lives in the United States. She is a sevillana but lived in the US because that´s where her husband was from, but she´s lived in Italy, CA, Hawaii, Florida, and Massachusetts. I´m really glad and relieved because she is very willing to help us with the language which is what I need and why I´m here to begin with.
Some interesting things of note here in Espana. First, when I wake up at 8am (and yes, I´ve really gotten up that early), it is still dark. Which is unnerving, because the sun should be out, etc. Secondly, I just can´t seem to escape the sustainable lifestyle. Sevilla es una ciudad que le encanta el ambiente (Sevilla is a city that loves the environment). En los calles, there are these five foot pod like green containers for recycling. The buses run on some kind of cleaner gas. In the hotel, the only way to turn on the lights was to have your key in a slot, otherwise they would turn off. In short, I can´t escape the tree huggers. Thirdly, everyone here wears pashminas. It´s my dream city. Finally, even the computer applications and keyboard is in Spanish, which is to be expected, obviously, but not something I planned, which is making this post a little difficult because you need five shift keys just to get a slash.
Other than that, I´m glad Janelle and the rest of the IC posse is here. It´s making it really easy to make friends, etc. Tomorrow we are planning on touring the city. I need to buy a hairdryer, so I need to work up the nerve to ask how (I think the word in Spanish is secadora de pelo but I´m not sure). If I´ve been lax on the communication (or for that matter will be lax on the communication) I´m sorry. I´m still trying to find my way so hopefully by the end of next week I´ll figure out what I can do. Pictures soon to follow!
We had our placement exam this morning. I thought they kind of threw us a curveball with the vocab as it was things like professions and what not that you would not necessarily need to use every day. I think it went well, I know I did really well on the oral comprehension, the written we´ll see. However, I don´t think they would have allowed me to register for the classes I did if I hadn´t already demonstrated proficiency in the language, and I´m just worried about holding onto my classes. I´ll find out Monday. Anyway, the building itself is gorgeous, it´s too nice to be a place of learning. Also, part of it is outdoors, which is like a normal thing here, and though it is only about 50 degrees, buildings (and my bedroom!!) are cold. I think it is colder inside than out.
My house mother (senora) is an older woman who lives by herself, except for Carlos, a six year old boy (possibly a relative but I couldn´t catch that part). She is really nice, lived in the US for a long time, so she knows English...but we can´t use it in the house unless we are talking to Carlos. Carlos lives with us during the week but on the weekends lives with his father who works in a hospital. Conchi (mi senora) has a daughter Nancy that lives in the United States. She is a sevillana but lived in the US because that´s where her husband was from, but she´s lived in Italy, CA, Hawaii, Florida, and Massachusetts. I´m really glad and relieved because she is very willing to help us with the language which is what I need and why I´m here to begin with.
Some interesting things of note here in Espana. First, when I wake up at 8am (and yes, I´ve really gotten up that early), it is still dark. Which is unnerving, because the sun should be out, etc. Secondly, I just can´t seem to escape the sustainable lifestyle. Sevilla es una ciudad que le encanta el ambiente (Sevilla is a city that loves the environment). En los calles, there are these five foot pod like green containers for recycling. The buses run on some kind of cleaner gas. In the hotel, the only way to turn on the lights was to have your key in a slot, otherwise they would turn off. In short, I can´t escape the tree huggers. Thirdly, everyone here wears pashminas. It´s my dream city. Finally, even the computer applications and keyboard is in Spanish, which is to be expected, obviously, but not something I planned, which is making this post a little difficult because you need five shift keys just to get a slash.
Other than that, I´m glad Janelle and the rest of the IC posse is here. It´s making it really easy to make friends, etc. Tomorrow we are planning on touring the city. I need to buy a hairdryer, so I need to work up the nerve to ask how (I think the word in Spanish is secadora de pelo but I´m not sure). If I´ve been lax on the communication (or for that matter will be lax on the communication) I´m sorry. I´m still trying to find my way so hopefully by the end of next week I´ll figure out what I can do. Pictures soon to follow!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Correction
As an addendum to Sunday's post, the suitcase in which my clothing purportedly measured 80 lbs was a pack of lies. In fact, the suitcase itself was 19lbs, putting my clothing at a more reasonable 61 lbs, 11 lbs over the weight limit for bags.
So there.
So there.
"Do they have Marine Lands in Spain?"
Made it to New York, even though I had to sit next to this obnoxiously annoying newly-wed couple. More like an obnoxious woman. I really felt for the guy. But he did get himself into the whole eternity bit, so I can't help him there. Anyway, I hope I don't have to contend with an armrest hogger on the international flight. I doubt it, considering I probably will have seats with the other people from CC-CS. But on the JetBlue flight here, I couldn't even adjust the volume! All a result of obnoxious newly-wed married woman already nagging her husband, which pushed him over onto my armrest and as far as humanly possible (read three inches extra) away from his wife.
My interview went well today. I take it as a good sign that the HR lady hugged me afterward and seemed genuinely excited about my trip abroad.
Obviously, I'm on the verge of something exciting. But today, it started to sink into my synapses. It was like I got an invitation to start my life. "Come join, Meg. We're moving along. Are you in?"
The only thing that has not changed in my life in the last few days is the temperature in Sevilla. Holding steady at 66 degrees F.
My interview went well today. I take it as a good sign that the HR lady hugged me afterward and seemed genuinely excited about my trip abroad.
Obviously, I'm on the verge of something exciting. But today, it started to sink into my synapses. It was like I got an invitation to start my life. "Come join, Meg. We're moving along. Are you in?"
The only thing that has not changed in my life in the last few days is the temperature in Sevilla. Holding steady at 66 degrees F.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
"Yeah, Taking out the Shampoo Really Helped"
I really didn't want to get too heavy into pre-trip blogging because that defeats the purpose of the whole "Spain" part of this blog (even though being half-packed has still not made this a complete reality yet; when I think about this week and I look ahead, all I see is this blank space of the unknown). But this is too good to pass up.
First, let me preface this by hearkening back to those days in early August 2005 when I began to pack for Ithaca. Anyone who was there to witness this, including the amount of crap I managed to stow away in that cubicle of a room I had in the East Tower, knows that I brought a tremendous amount of crap to school. Fall semester this year, I did a lot better. "Considering you brought a duffel bag full of underwear alone to college I think you've cut back a lot," said Janelle.
So I had all of my stuff laid out for Spain, figured no biggie, just throw it into the bag. I packed the smaller bag first - even managed to fit my fleece sleeping bag in there - and it weighs in at a comfortable 30 pounds. No problem, I've been working out.
Mondo bag was next. I just kept piling and piling until I realized that crap, I wasn't going to be able to close it. So my mom came up, rearranged some things. Then my dad came to close it, in between gasps of laughter.
When he went to pick it up, I knew I was in trouble - he couldn't even lift it.
My mom and I unpacked it, I took out my shampoo (for all of you people who were deriding me for the toiletries, there you go). That cut out about 4 pounds, plus a couple of ounces for two shirts and some shower gel I removed.
We re-packed it. My mom dragged the scale over to the luggage. I manage to maneuver it onto the scale.
80 pounds.
This is a problem.
I've only got five minutes, that's all I'm allowed before we go back to unload HALF of what I've packed (which if that's any indication, that means I'll be at the weight of the other bag, and all I really have in there is some sweaters, pjs, underwear, socks, and shoes).
Are we there yet?
First, let me preface this by hearkening back to those days in early August 2005 when I began to pack for Ithaca. Anyone who was there to witness this, including the amount of crap I managed to stow away in that cubicle of a room I had in the East Tower, knows that I brought a tremendous amount of crap to school. Fall semester this year, I did a lot better. "Considering you brought a duffel bag full of underwear alone to college I think you've cut back a lot," said Janelle.
So I had all of my stuff laid out for Spain, figured no biggie, just throw it into the bag. I packed the smaller bag first - even managed to fit my fleece sleeping bag in there - and it weighs in at a comfortable 30 pounds. No problem, I've been working out.
Mondo bag was next. I just kept piling and piling until I realized that crap, I wasn't going to be able to close it. So my mom came up, rearranged some things. Then my dad came to close it, in between gasps of laughter.
When he went to pick it up, I knew I was in trouble - he couldn't even lift it.
My mom and I unpacked it, I took out my shampoo (for all of you people who were deriding me for the toiletries, there you go). That cut out about 4 pounds, plus a couple of ounces for two shirts and some shower gel I removed.
We re-packed it. My mom dragged the scale over to the luggage. I manage to maneuver it onto the scale.
80 pounds.
This is a problem.
I've only got five minutes, that's all I'm allowed before we go back to unload HALF of what I've packed (which if that's any indication, that means I'll be at the weight of the other bag, and all I really have in there is some sweaters, pjs, underwear, socks, and shoes).
Are we there yet?
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