So the field school kids are gone. It is very weird not having twenty other people around. I am sure I will like some of the quiet, but I know it will get old quick.
I am watching the LSU - Arkansas game right now. It feels so nice to be able to watch it. I will probably miss the championship games though, unless there is a third game, b/c we are going to the south coast with three other people to document a church, an aqueduct, and any other buildings we can. It will be nice to see some more of Jamaica than just the northern parts. We are going to Alley, a small town, and then on the way home, we are going to stop in Negril and stay there a night to see what it is like. It should be a nice little trip.
This last week was filled with work and play. We basically finished documenting our first building in sketchup. It has more detail than the other buildings we have to do so the others should go faster. We went to the beach several times, including today. I actually think I got some sun today and not sunburn. I dropped down to 50 spf for today and the sun was a little stronger than it has been the other days we have gone to the beach. The field school peeps left plenty of extra sunscreen so Gareth and I should be set for a long time.
I think my favorite thing about Jamaica is the sounds. I have a lot of them memorized and they have become kind of likes sounds of "home." There is the ice cream man who rides around on his bike and honks a little horn. There are the dogs who bark late into the night. There are the honking horns - Jamaicans use their horns a lot when people are walking in the road, or really for whatever reason they like. There are lots of sounds of people talking. My favorite sounds come on Sunday when you can hear singing from several of the churches. If you walk around town, you can hear sermons, singing, etc. It's really nice. I think these sounds will stick with me and when I am home, I will hear a bike horn and think oh there goes the ice cream man...
Tonight we are going shrimping with Peter. We are also going to take the boat to the Rock and get dinner. I am excited b/c they have festival - it's a type of biscuit made with cornmeal that is delicious. Otherwise, the Rock serves a lot of seafood so I had a cheese patty so that I won't be starving and will survive on the festival. After dinner, we are going to take the boat to glistening waters. I am going to bring my camera this time (in a ziploc bag) and try to take pics and video of it to put on facebook so others can see how cool it is. Then tomorrow morning, we leave for Alley...
So far the Manse is feeling more like home. When we get back on Wednesday, Gareth and I are going to set up our own rooms and the studio/living room. Then on Thursday, Jessica and Josi (the other two people still here who we are helping on this project with) leave and it will be just two of us....which will be very weird...
Well, LSU is really laying it on Arkansas so I guess I'll watch the rest of it and then get ready to get on Peter's boat - fingers crossed that his engine doesn't die.
j
--this is a juggling whale & while he can only juggle one thing at a time, you try doing that & holding your breath for six hours & let's see how well you do--
Friday, June 19, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Settling in...
Sorry for the delay in updates...been busy getting settled in (which has taken me a little longer than others I think) and getting into a routine.
I still am waking up at like 5 when the sun comes up, but now I get up, take a shower, and then get back into bed for a little nap before breakfast. It seems to be working out great; I get a nice hot shower and don't disturb anyone else, get back in bed, listen to some music, and have a nice rest before the day starts.
The lime burn at Good Hope was a lot of fun. We ate jerk chicken (which by the way is tourist Jamaican food, not real Jamaican food, they really don't eat a lot of jerk), vegetable soup, breadfruit salad (similar to potato salad), and coconut bread. My favorite was definitely the coconut bread -- think similar to those Hawaiian rolls. We walked around the property which is huge, toured the great house, and swam in the Martha Brae river (see facebook for photos). It was a good day and nice to be out in the mountains where it is quieter for a bit.
Sunday was spent lazing around the Manse and at the beach. It was cloudy though so no sun. I wouldn't be surprised if I came home the same color as when I left. That 70 spf really does work, but I kind of hope it lets a little bit of color through.
Monday was like any other Monday. You'd think that Mondays in Jamaica would be different, but nope. I didn't feel like I got much accomplished yesterday as I worked on doing the courthouse gate in CAD all day. But I finished it today, it looks awesome, and I got a lot of other stuff done too. It was quite a productive day. I actually started putting stuff in sketchup and hopefully by the end of the summer, I will have mastered the program.
We watched the sun set tonight - it was so beautiful. I didn't take any pictures, my bad, but I figure I'll see another one over the next weeks. The clouds looked like they just ended in the ocean. It was pretty cool to see.
I am learning more and more about Jamaican culture, etc. and how it really is much different from the US. It is more aggressive and that is hard to explain, but it is. And not aggressive as in violent b/c they will have arguments and yell and situations that normally at home would result in a fight, here they don't. It ends at the argument. And it is a male dominated society even though the women do so much. They really do basically do everything. But don't start thinking that the men are chauvinists or not nice to girls b/c they are. It's just really interesting to see how different cultures work and it's almost better to accept the fact that you won't understand why they do what they do. I guess it goes both ways.
Tomorrow is market day. Well the main market day. There's a market on the weekends too, but not nearly as many people come in to sell goods. We are taking Calvin with us so that we get the best deals on fruits. Our goals are to get sour sop, sweet sop, and jack fruit. We had some sour sop yesterday and it is a strange texture, but really good. It's kind of custardy I guess you could say. I have had watermelon, pineapple, Julie Mangos, and regular mangos. In order, my fav is the watermelon, Julie Mango, pineapple, and reg mango. The pineapple here doesn't even compare to the stuff at home. I really don't like pineapple at home at all, but here it is really good. Plus. the fruit guy a block from the manse is really good and will get us anything we ask usually. And he is an artist at cutting the pineapple up, it's so cool to watch.
Oh and the height of Jamaican fashion for men is mesh tank tops. There are some that are sold with sleeves, but some very lucky friends of mine may be getting mesh tank tops as souvenirs. Like they wear them in all colors. No joke. I have gotten so used to seeing them though that I don't even do double takes when people wear them. Peter makes them look good. Lila even told us the proper way to wear one i.e. don't tuck it in and don't wear your pants too high when you are wearing the tank top.
Well Sean and I have a "date" at 10:30 - he stood me up last time (he was having computer problems) so I don't want to be late....
j
--What if we all got along & people loved each other & sang songs about peace? he said. Would that be a good world? & I said I didn't know about that, but it would be a good summer camp & he looked at me & shook his head & said, It's no wonder you're leaving us with such a mess. --
I still am waking up at like 5 when the sun comes up, but now I get up, take a shower, and then get back into bed for a little nap before breakfast. It seems to be working out great; I get a nice hot shower and don't disturb anyone else, get back in bed, listen to some music, and have a nice rest before the day starts.
The lime burn at Good Hope was a lot of fun. We ate jerk chicken (which by the way is tourist Jamaican food, not real Jamaican food, they really don't eat a lot of jerk), vegetable soup, breadfruit salad (similar to potato salad), and coconut bread. My favorite was definitely the coconut bread -- think similar to those Hawaiian rolls. We walked around the property which is huge, toured the great house, and swam in the Martha Brae river (see facebook for photos). It was a good day and nice to be out in the mountains where it is quieter for a bit.
Sunday was spent lazing around the Manse and at the beach. It was cloudy though so no sun. I wouldn't be surprised if I came home the same color as when I left. That 70 spf really does work, but I kind of hope it lets a little bit of color through.
Monday was like any other Monday. You'd think that Mondays in Jamaica would be different, but nope. I didn't feel like I got much accomplished yesterday as I worked on doing the courthouse gate in CAD all day. But I finished it today, it looks awesome, and I got a lot of other stuff done too. It was quite a productive day. I actually started putting stuff in sketchup and hopefully by the end of the summer, I will have mastered the program.
We watched the sun set tonight - it was so beautiful. I didn't take any pictures, my bad, but I figure I'll see another one over the next weeks. The clouds looked like they just ended in the ocean. It was pretty cool to see.
I am learning more and more about Jamaican culture, etc. and how it really is much different from the US. It is more aggressive and that is hard to explain, but it is. And not aggressive as in violent b/c they will have arguments and yell and situations that normally at home would result in a fight, here they don't. It ends at the argument. And it is a male dominated society even though the women do so much. They really do basically do everything. But don't start thinking that the men are chauvinists or not nice to girls b/c they are. It's just really interesting to see how different cultures work and it's almost better to accept the fact that you won't understand why they do what they do. I guess it goes both ways.
Tomorrow is market day. Well the main market day. There's a market on the weekends too, but not nearly as many people come in to sell goods. We are taking Calvin with us so that we get the best deals on fruits. Our goals are to get sour sop, sweet sop, and jack fruit. We had some sour sop yesterday and it is a strange texture, but really good. It's kind of custardy I guess you could say. I have had watermelon, pineapple, Julie Mangos, and regular mangos. In order, my fav is the watermelon, Julie Mango, pineapple, and reg mango. The pineapple here doesn't even compare to the stuff at home. I really don't like pineapple at home at all, but here it is really good. Plus. the fruit guy a block from the manse is really good and will get us anything we ask usually. And he is an artist at cutting the pineapple up, it's so cool to watch.
Oh and the height of Jamaican fashion for men is mesh tank tops. There are some that are sold with sleeves, but some very lucky friends of mine may be getting mesh tank tops as souvenirs. Like they wear them in all colors. No joke. I have gotten so used to seeing them though that I don't even do double takes when people wear them. Peter makes them look good. Lila even told us the proper way to wear one i.e. don't tuck it in and don't wear your pants too high when you are wearing the tank top.
Well Sean and I have a "date" at 10:30 - he stood me up last time (he was having computer problems) so I don't want to be late....
j
--What if we all got along & people loved each other & sang songs about peace? he said. Would that be a good world? & I said I didn't know about that, but it would be a good summer camp & he looked at me & shook his head & said, It's no wonder you're leaving us with such a mess. --
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The work has begun...
So we started our project for reals yesterday. We are documenting the courthouse here in town using hand drawings from a previous year and cad plans. Now you would think that those would be really helpful, but we have had to do a lot of alterations, and it will probably take a lot longer to do than we originally thought. We are supposed to do more than this building this summer, but this one should take a couple of weeks or so ish.
last night we went to glistening waters where the martha brae river meets the caribbean and there is a lot of phosphorus that when agitated caused the water to literally be bioluminescent. I don't have any pictures b/c Peter's boat tends to get wet on the inside during the trips, but it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. When you swim in it, you leave a trail of light and it's pretty dang awesome. We hit a few spots and the spot with the most phosphorus was full of jellyfish, but Peter saw them right before we jumped in. They were really neat to see too; some were really big, others were smaller, but you could see them floating and their tentacles.
Big news of the day - I slept til 7 this morning and not 5:30. One of my medicines may have helped me with that as it does make you sleepy, but let's hope this trend continues.
Today, Gareth and I are hoping to cut out of work an hour early (I mean we did work during our lunch hour) and go to Tony's - i.e. the beach. I could use an afternoon nap on the beach. Our "office" is an outdoor table in the courtyard of the manse that has sez breezes all day. It's pretty sweet. I am not sure where our rainy day office is yet as we haven't gotten rain while working, but it will probably be inside the manse. Photos will come later. I still haven't taken any pictures yet; just haven't thought about it.
Today was also market day. They call it the bend down market b/c tarps serve as the roofs, but you have to bend down some to get under them. They have literally everything you could ever think of there. One of the girls got some Julie Mangos, and it was delicious. You can also buy underwear (they have Calven Klain - honestly how it was spelled), shoes, and anything else you can imagine. It was definitely cool to see and I will probably be frequenting it for the mangos. There is also a really good fruit stand close to the manse with a really nice guy who could get us the hookup. Walking through the market got me used to being called whitey or hissed at to get my attention to buy stuff. It is actually pretty amusing when the little kids call you whitey - and it's not really an insult, it's just an obvious statement.
On the schedule for the weekend is the lime burning at Good Hope and spelunking in a cave full of bats....
j
--You're not going to see people like this again for a long time, he said & I said I always saw people like this & he looked at me for a moment & said, You're not from around here, are you? --
last night we went to glistening waters where the martha brae river meets the caribbean and there is a lot of phosphorus that when agitated caused the water to literally be bioluminescent. I don't have any pictures b/c Peter's boat tends to get wet on the inside during the trips, but it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. When you swim in it, you leave a trail of light and it's pretty dang awesome. We hit a few spots and the spot with the most phosphorus was full of jellyfish, but Peter saw them right before we jumped in. They were really neat to see too; some were really big, others were smaller, but you could see them floating and their tentacles.
Big news of the day - I slept til 7 this morning and not 5:30. One of my medicines may have helped me with that as it does make you sleepy, but let's hope this trend continues.
Today, Gareth and I are hoping to cut out of work an hour early (I mean we did work during our lunch hour) and go to Tony's - i.e. the beach. I could use an afternoon nap on the beach. Our "office" is an outdoor table in the courtyard of the manse that has sez breezes all day. It's pretty sweet. I am not sure where our rainy day office is yet as we haven't gotten rain while working, but it will probably be inside the manse. Photos will come later. I still haven't taken any pictures yet; just haven't thought about it.
Today was also market day. They call it the bend down market b/c tarps serve as the roofs, but you have to bend down some to get under them. They have literally everything you could ever think of there. One of the girls got some Julie Mangos, and it was delicious. You can also buy underwear (they have Calven Klain - honestly how it was spelled), shoes, and anything else you can imagine. It was definitely cool to see and I will probably be frequenting it for the mangos. There is also a really good fruit stand close to the manse with a really nice guy who could get us the hookup. Walking through the market got me used to being called whitey or hissed at to get my attention to buy stuff. It is actually pretty amusing when the little kids call you whitey - and it's not really an insult, it's just an obvious statement.
On the schedule for the weekend is the lime burning at Good Hope and spelunking in a cave full of bats....
j
--You're not going to see people like this again for a long time, he said & I said I always saw people like this & he looked at me for a moment & said, You're not from around here, are you? --
Sunday, May 31, 2009
First Full day in Jamaica
So we arrived here yesterday around 2, but had to wait in immigration and customs lines for at least an hour. We got lucky in that three huge planes arrived at the airport at the same time. Then we went out the exit we thought we were supposed to, but after like 20 minutes realized it was where all the tourists were going to get on buses. Then we found the right place and our host, Dr. Parrent, drove us back to Falmouth, which took about 25 minutes.
The scenery is beautiful. There are mountains and clear waters. Falmouth is a nice town and we toured it today to look at the historic district. Saw some cool buildings, but didn't take any pictures just yet. They will come later. I didn't want to look too out of place. The field school kids were here when we got here, but took an overnight trip to Kingston, so we have the place to ourselves for the night, which will be nice and help in the settling in process. This afternoon, we hit a private beach at a place called Time and Place. A guy named Tony runs the place and was telling us some good stories.
Foodwise, nothing has been too crazy yet. Dinner last night was fried chicken and french fries, mostly because the field school kids were tired of curried stuff so the nice ladies that cook three meals a day, made them that. When we got here, they made Gareth and I cheese sandwiches since we hadn't eaten all day (I fought the temptation to buy a $7 sandwich on the plane). They were wheat bread, cheddar cheese, and some sort of jelly. Now you may be thinking that is gross, but it was delicious. When we have to cook for ourselves, my diet may consist solely of chesse jelly sandwiches. It wasn't grape jelly though, I will have to find out the secret...Breakfast was good too - I wasn't terribly hungry since I am not a breakfast person, but I did have an awesome blueberry muffin and tea.
I have seen some things so far that I wasn't expecting. Like lots of goats. Just chilling. There were other things too, but now they have slipped my mind. Last night there was a concert in town and when I woke up at 5 (b/c the sun comes up earlier here and hence may lead to me waking up a heck of a lot earlier than I want to) and it was still going strong.
I am glad that we start working tomorrow. Gareth made the good point that we kind of feel purposeless so far just b/c we haven't started doing anything. Work will help me adjust so much since I will have something to keep me busy during the day. I will be learning google sketchup and hopefully by the end of the week, I will be a master. That will be an awesome skill to have now...hint hint employers hint hint.
I have my bed all set up with the mosquito net. It's kind of like a safari minus the continent of Africa, giraffes, etc. I also rigged some stuff up inside my net with a couple pictures I brought, a book light, and a fan so it's a pretty sweet setup. In a few weeks though, I will be moving to a different room since the field school kids will leave and Gareth and I will have free reign of the space. I have scoped out all the possibilities and have narrowed it down to two rooms - one that has the best light and breezes or one that has its own bathroom attached. The best light one has a bathroom right next door so the options really are going to be very tough to choose between.
We are going out to dinner tonight with Ed Chapell from Williamsburg (he's a preservation celebrity) which should be fun and then the work begins in the morning.....as a nerd I am stoked for work...
Me Hongry....
J
--We had neighbors once who never cleaned their house & left dishes in the sink & when there were no more dishes their dad would go out & buy another set of plastic dishes for $9.99 at Ben Franklin & one winter the house caught on fire & there were great piles of melted plastic everywhere & nothing could be saved & they moved to a new town with nothing but the clothes on their back & a new set of plastic dishes the church ladies gave them. Sometimes it doesn't take much to make a new start. --
The scenery is beautiful. There are mountains and clear waters. Falmouth is a nice town and we toured it today to look at the historic district. Saw some cool buildings, but didn't take any pictures just yet. They will come later. I didn't want to look too out of place. The field school kids were here when we got here, but took an overnight trip to Kingston, so we have the place to ourselves for the night, which will be nice and help in the settling in process. This afternoon, we hit a private beach at a place called Time and Place. A guy named Tony runs the place and was telling us some good stories.
Foodwise, nothing has been too crazy yet. Dinner last night was fried chicken and french fries, mostly because the field school kids were tired of curried stuff so the nice ladies that cook three meals a day, made them that. When we got here, they made Gareth and I cheese sandwiches since we hadn't eaten all day (I fought the temptation to buy a $7 sandwich on the plane). They were wheat bread, cheddar cheese, and some sort of jelly. Now you may be thinking that is gross, but it was delicious. When we have to cook for ourselves, my diet may consist solely of chesse jelly sandwiches. It wasn't grape jelly though, I will have to find out the secret...Breakfast was good too - I wasn't terribly hungry since I am not a breakfast person, but I did have an awesome blueberry muffin and tea.
I have seen some things so far that I wasn't expecting. Like lots of goats. Just chilling. There were other things too, but now they have slipped my mind. Last night there was a concert in town and when I woke up at 5 (b/c the sun comes up earlier here and hence may lead to me waking up a heck of a lot earlier than I want to) and it was still going strong.
I am glad that we start working tomorrow. Gareth made the good point that we kind of feel purposeless so far just b/c we haven't started doing anything. Work will help me adjust so much since I will have something to keep me busy during the day. I will be learning google sketchup and hopefully by the end of the week, I will be a master. That will be an awesome skill to have now...hint hint employers hint hint.
I have my bed all set up with the mosquito net. It's kind of like a safari minus the continent of Africa, giraffes, etc. I also rigged some stuff up inside my net with a couple pictures I brought, a book light, and a fan so it's a pretty sweet setup. In a few weeks though, I will be moving to a different room since the field school kids will leave and Gareth and I will have free reign of the space. I have scoped out all the possibilities and have narrowed it down to two rooms - one that has the best light and breezes or one that has its own bathroom attached. The best light one has a bathroom right next door so the options really are going to be very tough to choose between.
We are going out to dinner tonight with Ed Chapell from Williamsburg (he's a preservation celebrity) which should be fun and then the work begins in the morning.....as a nerd I am stoked for work...
Me Hongry....
J
--We had neighbors once who never cleaned their house & left dishes in the sink & when there were no more dishes their dad would go out & buy another set of plastic dishes for $9.99 at Ben Franklin & one winter the house caught on fire & there were great piles of melted plastic everywhere & nothing could be saved & they moved to a new town with nothing but the clothes on their back & a new set of plastic dishes the church ladies gave them. Sometimes it doesn't take much to make a new start. --
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
the journey has begun
I made it to DC last night after going through the Pittsburgh airport, home to two very loud, obnoxious little girls whose favorite word was booty and whose mother, well, thought it was hilarious that her daughters were so loud and rolling on the ground while running into other passengers. Needless to say, mr. xanax made an appearance. I got a taxi all by myself and today, I rode the metro alone and successfully made it to the correct stop. Whoop whoop.
Short meetings this morning, lunch from whole foods, and a rendezvous with Ashley who took me on a driving tour through some neat DC neighborhoods and to Georgetown cupcakes, where I went with the vanilla squared. It was delish. It was great to see her and I get to come back to Charleston as a guest speaker after Jamaica, which will be fan freaking tastic but I am sure I will feel confused being a speaker and not a student.
Just hanging out in the hotel room now until 5:30 when we go to dinner - I could go out walking, but I may try to sneak in a little nap. The others were hitting the mall and we are going to hit as many museums as possible over the next few days. It's great being with a crowd of people who are as excited about museums as I am.
Getting more and more excited for Jamaica - while the others are going to Sweden and Ireland, it makes me feel good when Gareth and I say we are going to Jamaica and everyone goes "oooh." I know this experience will teach me a lot about myself, others, my surroundings, and I know I will grow so much from this. I am just ready to get there and get settled and tack up that mosquito net. Anyone who wants me to send them stuff will be able to find my address on here once I know it. Care packages, postcards, love letters, etc are appreciated and will likely be reciprocated.
Well the travel channel and nap time calls me....
j
---carries a lot of suitcases but all of them are empty because she's expecting to completely fill them with life by the end of this trip & then she'll come home & sort everything out & do it all again---
Short meetings this morning, lunch from whole foods, and a rendezvous with Ashley who took me on a driving tour through some neat DC neighborhoods and to Georgetown cupcakes, where I went with the vanilla squared. It was delish. It was great to see her and I get to come back to Charleston as a guest speaker after Jamaica, which will be fan freaking tastic but I am sure I will feel confused being a speaker and not a student.
Just hanging out in the hotel room now until 5:30 when we go to dinner - I could go out walking, but I may try to sneak in a little nap. The others were hitting the mall and we are going to hit as many museums as possible over the next few days. It's great being with a crowd of people who are as excited about museums as I am.
Getting more and more excited for Jamaica - while the others are going to Sweden and Ireland, it makes me feel good when Gareth and I say we are going to Jamaica and everyone goes "oooh." I know this experience will teach me a lot about myself, others, my surroundings, and I know I will grow so much from this. I am just ready to get there and get settled and tack up that mosquito net. Anyone who wants me to send them stuff will be able to find my address on here once I know it. Care packages, postcards, love letters, etc are appreciated and will likely be reciprocated.
Well the travel channel and nap time calls me....
j
---carries a lot of suitcases but all of them are empty because she's expecting to completely fill them with life by the end of this trip & then she'll come home & sort everything out & do it all again---
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
I petted a water buffalo
not much has gone on the past few days. went to the library. read articles, wrote notes, scanned images, photocopied. tried to get some quality research done so that i can move on to other sections of the thesis which i affectionately call feces. applied and sent off for a passport yesterday. just need to finish my us icomos application so i can be an intern overseas this summer. fingers crossed.
today was fantastic. went to middleton plantation. google it. i will have pics later when i find my camera cord. it has the oldest formal gardens in the country. didnt even see them all and was there four hours. saw a cow, named her louise even though her name is rio. milked her too. check that one of the life to do list. i petted a water buffalo named adam. he had a pen mate named burk. they also had stinky pigs, ducks, geeze, chickens, a mean looking rooster, and horseys. louise was my favorite. one of these days i will get a cow.
the main house and one of its flankers are gone. due to those darn yankees. felt they needed to burn stuff, including books!!! now that's not cool at all. i have yankee in my blood, but i may not claim it any more seeing they burned books. aghh!!! only thing left is south flanker and they converted it to their house after the rest of their property was destroyed, looted, and burned in the civil war, the war of northern aggression, the war between the states, the war of secession, etc. still have the rubble piles of the house though which is interesting that it was never moved, reused, etc. still has the original hallway present. coolio.
we rolled down the hills. made for some serious fun. a group of older ladies said they would have joined in but they didnt want to hurt themselves. i dont know how i did that so much as a kid. i was really dizzy and i picked up some serious speed. i know i caught air at some points. we saw an alligator. jossy almost walked into him and that could have ended badly. we did a lot of walking and saw some of the most beautiful gardens and landscape eva. once again i will add pics later for all to see. i mean seriously i am so lucky to live here and see the stuff i get to see. i dont think i could ever live somewhere that is not beautiful. it would be depressing. i.e. detroit. and dont try to tell me that detroit is pretty, im not stupid nor blind. so it was a seriously amazing day. beautiful weather. in the high 60s low 70s sunny with a nice breeze. eat it northerners, midwesterners, other southerners, etc. but its supposed to rain tomorrow and cool off. so it will be in the low 60s. better find my coat.
been reading a lot about tabby. its alright. interesting just gets tiring. i get it, you mix shells with water, lime and sand and pour it in a mold. check. got it. i will soon be moving on to concrete. get excited....
went to a partay at a professors place last night. met some very interesting people whose relatives have been in charleston since like well...the beginning. like 1670. thats serious. had some killer cheese and grapes and white wine. was also called brilliant by my prof. now i am hoping he was sober when he said that b/c if he wasn't, then that would be disappointing. but i think he was. he had a great martini glass - it was flashing. i must find a set just to have to drink kool aid out of.
but the party and my terrible way of not putting myself out there made me realize, along with some encouragement from a good friend, that i should be more confident in myself. not sure how to gain that, but definitely something to work on for...i wont say 09 b/c i dont really like resolutions....but rather to work on for life. confidence is not something that comes naturally, we will see how this goes. once again, fingers crossed, i will soon run out of fingers to cross...
gonna go tidy up the humble abode and jam out to some tunes, then maybe aimless internet searching for awhile....i know, exciting...
--I'm an outsider by choice, she said, but I'm hoping that won't be my choice forever.--
today was fantastic. went to middleton plantation. google it. i will have pics later when i find my camera cord. it has the oldest formal gardens in the country. didnt even see them all and was there four hours. saw a cow, named her louise even though her name is rio. milked her too. check that one of the life to do list. i petted a water buffalo named adam. he had a pen mate named burk. they also had stinky pigs, ducks, geeze, chickens, a mean looking rooster, and horseys. louise was my favorite. one of these days i will get a cow.
the main house and one of its flankers are gone. due to those darn yankees. felt they needed to burn stuff, including books!!! now that's not cool at all. i have yankee in my blood, but i may not claim it any more seeing they burned books. aghh!!! only thing left is south flanker and they converted it to their house after the rest of their property was destroyed, looted, and burned in the civil war, the war of northern aggression, the war between the states, the war of secession, etc. still have the rubble piles of the house though which is interesting that it was never moved, reused, etc. still has the original hallway present. coolio.
we rolled down the hills. made for some serious fun. a group of older ladies said they would have joined in but they didnt want to hurt themselves. i dont know how i did that so much as a kid. i was really dizzy and i picked up some serious speed. i know i caught air at some points. we saw an alligator. jossy almost walked into him and that could have ended badly. we did a lot of walking and saw some of the most beautiful gardens and landscape eva. once again i will add pics later for all to see. i mean seriously i am so lucky to live here and see the stuff i get to see. i dont think i could ever live somewhere that is not beautiful. it would be depressing. i.e. detroit. and dont try to tell me that detroit is pretty, im not stupid nor blind. so it was a seriously amazing day. beautiful weather. in the high 60s low 70s sunny with a nice breeze. eat it northerners, midwesterners, other southerners, etc. but its supposed to rain tomorrow and cool off. so it will be in the low 60s. better find my coat.
been reading a lot about tabby. its alright. interesting just gets tiring. i get it, you mix shells with water, lime and sand and pour it in a mold. check. got it. i will soon be moving on to concrete. get excited....
went to a partay at a professors place last night. met some very interesting people whose relatives have been in charleston since like well...the beginning. like 1670. thats serious. had some killer cheese and grapes and white wine. was also called brilliant by my prof. now i am hoping he was sober when he said that b/c if he wasn't, then that would be disappointing. but i think he was. he had a great martini glass - it was flashing. i must find a set just to have to drink kool aid out of.
but the party and my terrible way of not putting myself out there made me realize, along with some encouragement from a good friend, that i should be more confident in myself. not sure how to gain that, but definitely something to work on for...i wont say 09 b/c i dont really like resolutions....but rather to work on for life. confidence is not something that comes naturally, we will see how this goes. once again, fingers crossed, i will soon run out of fingers to cross...
gonna go tidy up the humble abode and jam out to some tunes, then maybe aimless internet searching for awhile....i know, exciting...
--I'm an outsider by choice, she said, but I'm hoping that won't be my choice forever.--
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
long time no type
so I am now back in chucktown after a week in the lou. well i have been back two days. yesterday was filled with watching nc state lose to rutgers for the sole reason that their star quarterback got hurt. was sad to see them lose. then i watched tv and thought about working on my thesis.
here's a summary of my trip to the lou: first plane ride sat next to elbows mcgee who traveled with like fifteen bags (may be a slight exaggeration) full of knitting needles and yarn. 1. how do you get through security with all those needles and b. what makes you think that you can knit on a plane and just send your yarn bits everywhere. I got off the plane with yarn all up on my pants. not cool elbows not cool. also she was wearing one of those wallet purses circ 1994 that she wore the whole flight and anytime she moved it was in my side. she also lifted the arm rest when i told her i was in the window seat. how often do you leave the arm rest up when you dont know the person you are sitting next to? heck i leave it down when i do know the person next to me. weird... next flight companion was a sleepy asian girl who i hope wasnt japanese b/c they guy behind us, who is spending a year in japan teaching english, kept saying how the japanese were the most racist people. awkward...oh and he totally only learned japan and went there b/c of his incessant love for anime. i just know it.
so i get to the lou. set up the village. help gene with his trains. by the way they are fifty five years old and still work. i think he told everyone this. except sean. b/c he doesnt talk to sean. for some reason. i mean someone helps out your family when you are not there for the past six years and you cant think of one nice word to say to him. seriously? so he's not a millionaire, or an engineer, or a genius, but isn't it good enough that he cares about your family and everyone else enjoys his presence? get over it. he's not going anywhere.
wrapped presents. did a little shopping. ate a lot of delicious food including way too many cookies, desserts, sweets. made a bunch of cookies, desserts, sweets too. played with idgie. fed butch all the food in the world including corn, black eyed peas, and bacon b/c at 16 she is allowed to eat whatever she wants. watched high school bball with ally. then....christmas. opened presents. the usual. ate great dinner. ham. roast. potatoes. corn casserole. etc. saw bedtime stories. very cute. should have bet on gene laughing at a fart during the movie. b/c i would have won some serious money. hung out with sean and kevie. he still loves me - kevie that is. im guessing sean does too. he's told me so. did some more shopping. went through old stuff in my closet at the rent's house. reminisced on how i wish i was back in high school and playing sports, but this time i would start in basketball and not just keep the team's gpa up. watched tv and movies to round it all out. hopped back on places but this time didnt spent a million hours in detroit delayed and seeing my own breath inside the airport. never fly through detroit in the winter. went through memphis, contemplated getting on the flight to baton rouge and tupelo. ate lenny's which they forgot to put the cheese on. but it was still good. sat next to a seemingly frustrated lady on the way to charleston who totally stole my arm rest. i dont care if you are bigger than me, you dont get my arm rest. got back here and scrounged up a meal and slept.
woke up yesterday with a runny nose. went to bed and woke up with ears on fire. like seriously i wanted to cry they hurt so bad. fortunately, the pain has died down, but i still can't hear a thing. head colds suck. i cant wait to take the tylenol cold with antihistamine in an hour and half. hello sleep. i just wrote a chapter of my thesis which took like thirty minutes but i have been putting it off for two days. i would have a lot more info for it if the c of c library wasnt closed. i mean i know its break but people do do research over breaks. duh. also took a four hour nap today and am still pooped. ugh...
i have some really exciting plans for new years. note: hint of sarcasm. im thinking of getting some groceries and just eating and watching tv all day. theres an absolutely fabulous marathon on bbc america tomorrow, seriously contemplating watching that. honestly i have babysat for like the last ten years on new years so i dont know what to do. plus im not a boozer so its not like im gonna go hang out at a bar to build up to a ten second countdown. although it is nice to be in the same time zone as the one in ny so that i dont have to watch the ball drop twice. new years is kind of anti climactic holiday. i mean unless you have a bunch of friends to hang with it really is pointless.
on to aimlessly search the internet for an hour while i should be doing real work but choose not to....
--There are 7 levels of hell, she said, & I think one of them is reserved for people who bring jello salads to every potluck they go to.--
here's a summary of my trip to the lou: first plane ride sat next to elbows mcgee who traveled with like fifteen bags (may be a slight exaggeration) full of knitting needles and yarn. 1. how do you get through security with all those needles and b. what makes you think that you can knit on a plane and just send your yarn bits everywhere. I got off the plane with yarn all up on my pants. not cool elbows not cool. also she was wearing one of those wallet purses circ 1994 that she wore the whole flight and anytime she moved it was in my side. she also lifted the arm rest when i told her i was in the window seat. how often do you leave the arm rest up when you dont know the person you are sitting next to? heck i leave it down when i do know the person next to me. weird... next flight companion was a sleepy asian girl who i hope wasnt japanese b/c they guy behind us, who is spending a year in japan teaching english, kept saying how the japanese were the most racist people. awkward...oh and he totally only learned japan and went there b/c of his incessant love for anime. i just know it.
so i get to the lou. set up the village. help gene with his trains. by the way they are fifty five years old and still work. i think he told everyone this. except sean. b/c he doesnt talk to sean. for some reason. i mean someone helps out your family when you are not there for the past six years and you cant think of one nice word to say to him. seriously? so he's not a millionaire, or an engineer, or a genius, but isn't it good enough that he cares about your family and everyone else enjoys his presence? get over it. he's not going anywhere.
wrapped presents. did a little shopping. ate a lot of delicious food including way too many cookies, desserts, sweets. made a bunch of cookies, desserts, sweets too. played with idgie. fed butch all the food in the world including corn, black eyed peas, and bacon b/c at 16 she is allowed to eat whatever she wants. watched high school bball with ally. then....christmas. opened presents. the usual. ate great dinner. ham. roast. potatoes. corn casserole. etc. saw bedtime stories. very cute. should have bet on gene laughing at a fart during the movie. b/c i would have won some serious money. hung out with sean and kevie. he still loves me - kevie that is. im guessing sean does too. he's told me so. did some more shopping. went through old stuff in my closet at the rent's house. reminisced on how i wish i was back in high school and playing sports, but this time i would start in basketball and not just keep the team's gpa up. watched tv and movies to round it all out. hopped back on places but this time didnt spent a million hours in detroit delayed and seeing my own breath inside the airport. never fly through detroit in the winter. went through memphis, contemplated getting on the flight to baton rouge and tupelo. ate lenny's which they forgot to put the cheese on. but it was still good. sat next to a seemingly frustrated lady on the way to charleston who totally stole my arm rest. i dont care if you are bigger than me, you dont get my arm rest. got back here and scrounged up a meal and slept.
woke up yesterday with a runny nose. went to bed and woke up with ears on fire. like seriously i wanted to cry they hurt so bad. fortunately, the pain has died down, but i still can't hear a thing. head colds suck. i cant wait to take the tylenol cold with antihistamine in an hour and half. hello sleep. i just wrote a chapter of my thesis which took like thirty minutes but i have been putting it off for two days. i would have a lot more info for it if the c of c library wasnt closed. i mean i know its break but people do do research over breaks. duh. also took a four hour nap today and am still pooped. ugh...
i have some really exciting plans for new years. note: hint of sarcasm. im thinking of getting some groceries and just eating and watching tv all day. theres an absolutely fabulous marathon on bbc america tomorrow, seriously contemplating watching that. honestly i have babysat for like the last ten years on new years so i dont know what to do. plus im not a boozer so its not like im gonna go hang out at a bar to build up to a ten second countdown. although it is nice to be in the same time zone as the one in ny so that i dont have to watch the ball drop twice. new years is kind of anti climactic holiday. i mean unless you have a bunch of friends to hang with it really is pointless.
on to aimlessly search the internet for an hour while i should be doing real work but choose not to....
--There are 7 levels of hell, she said, & I think one of them is reserved for people who bring jello salads to every potluck they go to.--
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