Short but sweet

Time for an update, I suppose.

Well, another semester has come and gone. I am now officially a second semester senior in college. Kind of scary ;)

Grad school application (plan A) - check.

Plan B - still looking.....

Right now, I'm back in Costa Rica trying to get rid of all the dry skin that I accumulated in Chicago. I'll be here for two weeks and hopefully get to the mountains (San Rafael de Heredia) and the beach (Malpais). It's nice to be back, but my stomach is already hurting... not ironic AT ALL. Oh well, I had a big bowl of rice at a Chinese restaurant on Christmas My appetite has completely vanished. But the weather is perfect, so I have little to complain about.

Next year (6 days) will be so exciting!! Graduation and beyond.

Stay tuned.

Peace.

Fall Semester 2009

What a wonderful feeling to be back in Raleigh with friends and all kinds of familiar faces. I knew that was eager to get back, but being here reminds me of just how much I missed everything Southern. The "new thing to do" this semester, however, is to make fun of Ellen and her new found Minnesotan accent (Oh ya, oh no, uff da - haha not really the last one, but it's caught on).

This semester seems like it should be an easy one. Five classes:

- Food Preservation

- Food Microbiology

- Human Nutrition

- Seeds, Science, and Society (my token crop science course)

- Arabic 101 (my token languages course)

It's nice to have the time to take classes that I really want to take but don't need to graduate. I think that technically I'll only have two or maybe three classes left for next semester that I'll absolutely have to take, so I'll be able to take more of what I would like to take. Which of course will be either crop science or languages, but hey, that's me.

I am also a TA in the first-year college/inquiry section of Dr. Patterson's World Population and Food Prospects course. There are actually two TAs (well, maybe three, but that's a long story) so my role is more that of multi-cultural activities that will enhance classroom participation and also teach the students to think a little bit differently than they're used to. I have some pretty awesome activities lined up for them and I can't wait to see how they respond to them. And I'm also excited that I get to share all of my experiences with them and hopefully motivate a couple to help me save the world :)

I have already taken yet another road trip, but this time, thankfully, I didn't drive. A couple food science guys and I went to Atlanta this Saturday (just for the day - boo) to see the live 10th birthday special of Good Eats with Alton Brown. I really don't watch the show that much (or ever) but two of my friends know all of the episodes and really wanted to go. They wore matching shirts, although not on purpose, and brought their cookbooks to get an autograph. It was cute haha. We were in the third tier, but our seats were right in the middle, so I couldn't complain. Since it was live, we had the stage manager telling us when to clap, lots of good outtakes moments, and even a really catty/bitchy fan that just didn't know when to keep her mouth shut. I had a lot of fun and can't wait to watch it on TV (October 10th on the Food Network, if you were wondering).

A couple friends and I have made a Bucket List for senior year, and although I slept through one of them already, we've made a great looking list that I can't wait to finish. We just added losing 1/6 of our body weight haha which will be awesome if it actually gets accomplished. But all in all, I predict that this year will be EPIC.

Peace.

New Photo Website

Since I have completely filled my gmail/picasa photo website, I've started a new one! The url is:
ellensphotos2009.shutterfly.com
Enjoy!

Peace.

South Dakotas: The Land of Big Buttes

The interns took a trip to SOUTH DAKOTA! and Nebraska, but "The Good Life" wasn't all that great. Most of the fun took place in the car, all 12 hours each way... a total of 1512 miles for the entire trip. And more inside jokes than we could count.

We took Friday off and drove all day and most of the night. On the way, we stopped first in Mitchell, home of the Corn Palace. The inside was just a big auditorium with a gift shop, but the outside was made entirely of corn. No joke. They did have some photos of all of the years and the outside of the palace. There was one that had a giant swastika sign on it, but they claimed it was "Indian Good Luck" - okay, Mitchell. Ok. We picked up some trucker hats and took some great photos with a giant corn-on-the-cob.

Continuing, we decided to take a detour and head through the Badlands, which actually turned out to be one of the most exciting parts of the trip. They were so unique, I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like it. And in the middle of nowhere! They kind of sprouted up out of nothing, which makes for a pretty amazing landscape. We also saw prairie dogs! In the wild! They were pretty loud, and dodging in and out of their little holes, so cute!

Next stop was Wall Drug. Ok, so the fun part was actually taking photos of the signs for Wall Drug all along I-90. Alexis had the camera ready and we ending up screaming and pointing if we were about to miss one. Well, maybe that was just me... There were 70-something signs, mostly advertising their free water and 5 cent coffee. Oh, and they're "new" T-rex, which turned out to be a la Jurassic Park and "fed" every 15 minutes. Once there, we took a photo on a jackalope. Oh, and we got our free water. It had a funky flavor.... haha.

We ate a lovely Mexican dinner in Rapid City before ending up in Hot Springs at a very quaint hotel on the river. We missed a lot of landscape on the way in since it was dark, but upon waking up, we saw that we were in the mountains! Such a nice change of scenery from the "Great Plains" in my opinion. We started our day by heading out to the Crazy Horse monument. We passed through some really small towns (ie. Pringle) and had a great time when we drove right through bison crossing the street! They're pretty ugly animals, but they were so close to my car! Crazy Horse was pretty impressive, but we were all pretty sure that they are never going to finish it. The family of the sculptor who started it refuse to take any help/money from the government and so they're pretty slow-going. Crazy Horse also was the home of some MARMOTS!!!

Next was, of course, Mount Rushmore. We wanted to eat lunch before taking some time with the presidents, so we drove to Keystone. On they way, we knew we were close to Mt. Rushmore but couldn't quite figure out where it was. We turned around a corner and, jokingly, I told the girls to look behind us, and there it was. In all its glory. In Keystone, we ate some pretty tasty pizza right next to a helicopter launching pad - not the quietest experience, but we were just happy to be eating. Mt. Rushmore was pretty cool, and of course, being very mature young adults, we each took a photo picking on the presidents' noses. Heh heh.

It was pretty late according to our schedule, so we headed back to the hotel and took a rest before heading off to Nebraska for dinner. The drive to Nebraska was only about an hour, but it was seriously the most boring hour OF MY LIFE. There is absolutely nothing there. Not even houses or farms. There's just grass. No hills, no nothing. Gahh. We found the only restaurant in the town of Chadron, so we settled down into a booth in Helen's Pancake and Steakhouse. Yum. They had Rocky Mountain Oysters, which aren't oysters, and therefore we didn't eat them. Jackie had Crow's Butte which started a ripple of giggles out of us mature young adults :)

The next morning we decided to just head out and drive home. I'm probably forgetting some things, but that was our road trip in a nutshell. It was really nice to get out of the Twin Cities for a little bit. Next adventure: we're dyeing our hair tonight! Ahhh!

Peace.

KOOOOOOOZA

Two updates today: the circus and the global market.

First, the global market. Today, all of the interns were invited to go to the Global Market in Minneapolis as part of a larger intern exchange program called MIX. There were about 100 (ish) interns all working in the Twin Cities region at a bunch of different companies. We arrived to the market at about 9:00 am and received our "itinerary" for the day along with $20 that could only be used at the market (think gift certificate). The Global Market is truly global, with shops from cultures such as: Mexican, Vietnamese, Hmong, Mediterranean, Tibetan, Swedish, Caribbean, etc etc the list goes on. I started the day with some jamaica juice that never tasted so sweet - I drank a lot of jamaica in Nicaragua and Costa Rica... it's hibiscus. We were all squished into a little part of the building for Latin dance lessons with the bubbly Veronica, who incidentally teaches Salsa Aerobics every Sunday morning. We listened to a guest lecturer about diversity in the workplace (after all, the whole day was supposed to be about exploring diversity). And we were going to attend a cooking workshop but it turned out that the person mixed up the dates or something. So the day was basically spent wandering around the shops and trying to fill out the scavenger hunt answers. I ended up buying a set of three bamboo bowls, some hummus and pita, Pop Rocks, and a $1 pin that says "UFFDA" - if you don't know the significance of uffda, look it up :) It turned out to be a very good day... and what's more, we got paid to have fun!

Kooza: Cirque du Soleil never fails to amaze. Kooza was set in a yellow and blue striped tent that was set up in a parking lot in downtown St Paul. We bought the worst seats and ended up being about to see everything since there wasn't a bad seat in the house. And let me tell you, Kooza amazed me. The back story was beautiful, about "The Innocent" trying to find his place in life with the help of other characters such as "The Trickster" and "The King." The music was great - there was actually a live band! They were fantastic at syncing with the performers even if a mistake was made. And of course the acts were superb. My guts wrenched while I watched the contortionists (that's just not natural!) and my heart leapt out of my body at least 15 times during the Wheel of Death (see movie link below). I can't believe the strength that those people have and the courage to be jumping around and leaving their lives in the hands of others and very flimsy looking safety nets. They are truly daring people. The clowns were hysterical! They were so goofy, a little bit over the top on the sexuality (lots of leg humping...), and overall so entertaining. Let's just say, it will probably be a highlight of the summer.

Wheel of Death: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4DfSBnBR08

Peace.

Funny Monkey Viruses and AC

Unfortunately my laptop was attacked by a killer virus that learns and understands that you're trying to get rid of it so it adapts and changes so basically you can't remove it. Long story short, don't click on a link to watch a funny monkey video on rapid share, or something like that, because ten bucks says that it's the virus. I was able to save all my files, thank goodness, but they're on my dad's external hard drive... which is in Michigan where I am not. Instead of fussing with wiping out and reformatting the hard drive I decided that it was due time to get a new computer. My old one was pretty much a piece of crap, keys missing, wobbly screen, about 15 lbs. My new and shiny HP is only 14" and less than 5 lbs. It's a very nice computer, although I really can't wait until Windows 7 comes out because Vista kind of blows. Oh well. I was even considering a Mac for a while, but then remembered that all my Latin American friends only use Windows Live Messenger to chat, so I couldn't abandon them. I'm happy with my choice to say the least.

Today, after six weeks without, I have air conditioning in my apartment! A colleague at work heard that I was roughing it and said that she would be happy to let me use hers that she wasn't using! I am so thankful, because now I can actually wear clothes in my apartment and host guests! haha...

Tonight, fellow-intern Alexis and I are going to downtown St Paul to see the cirque du Soleil performance "Kooza." I am beyond excited. When I saw "O" in Las Vegas I wanted to join the circus... or at least become a traveling circus-fanatic. These shows are spectacular and will blow your mind with the acrobatics and make your sides stitch with laughter when you watch the clowns. And it's not crappy like Barnum and Bailey or whatever, it's pure art and so gorgeous to watch. No corny elephants and ladies dressed up in sequins... it's all award-winning costumes and true athleticism. Like I said, I'm beyond excited. We do have rather terrible seats, BUT I DON'T CARE!! :)

Work is work, just a lot more of it now. I actually was able to have a down day today and work on my final project, but tomorrow I'll have to pick up where I left off. Ahhh work.

Peace.

The Dreaded, but Beloved, Routine

I thought I would share with you exactly what I've been doing every day for the past week or so. It's a lot of prep for a whole of garbage, but what's new in the food industry, really? Here it goes:

1. Find 15 1,000 mL beakers.
2. Take beakers to analytical labs and turn on the magical reverse osmosis water machine.
3. Measure 1,000 mL into each beaker using 500 mL graduated cylinder (remember, there are 15 beakers and the water comes out at an extremely slow rate).
4. Bring beakers back upstairs to sensory lab and label with tape.
5. Measure out allotted amounts of salt, sugar, and citric acid for each of the samples.
6. Stir in powders to the correct beakers with a spoon.
7. Print off labels for all of the samples (15 samples x 20 people = 300 labels). References say what taste they are (Sweet 10, Salty 4, etc) and unknowns have 3-digit codes.
8. Put labels on 2 oz. souffle cups (remember, 300!!)
9. Lay out cups for selected sample and fill with about 25 mL of solution (remember, times 20 and then times 15).
10. Put lids on all of the cups.
11. Lay out 20 empty trays all around the sensory lab.
12. Place one of each solution onto each tray.
13. Clean up mess that has been made because spilling is inevitable.
14. Put tin foil on the beakers and the remaining 500 mL and place into fridge.
15. Next day, repeat steps 7-13 again, 300 little tiny souffle cups.

And that all takes about, oh, four hours working at a steady pace. Can you say tedious? Then, turns out, only about 11 people show up for panel and I just dump the rest of the samples. All that work for nothing :( The paradox of my day.

Land of Ten Thousand Lakes

I apologize for not continuing to write about my adventures, but I have been without Internet for the last three weeks. But that changed today! So let me fill you in on what's been happening.

I'm in Minnesota! And what's more, I'm working in Minnesota! Land O' Lakes is treating me very well. I was placed in the sensory division of research and development and will be working on a two-part project that has to do with cheese analogs (think cheese without the cheese) and prism panels. That may not make any sense to you, but I think that's how it's supposed to be. I have no idea what exactly I'm allowed to tell people, but if you want to know any more, just be aware that I might have to kill you. It's nice to be back in sensory since I have done that kind of work before, but it's really different at LOL. A lot more relaxed!

I've been living in an apartment which I like; however, I don't exactly like the no roommates part. I've learned that I really need to be around people, especially living-wise. I have made some new friends which is good, haha. I've attended a wine and cheese tasting, brought home at least ten pounds of cheese, and even took a road trip with a fellow intern to Madison, Wisconsin, to visit my grandparents. I've been living without cable, and just until today without Internet. It's been a really interesting couple of weeks, and we'll leave it at that. Not too much out of the ordinary to report on, but I promise to keep you in the loop now that I'm back on the web.

Peace.

Score: 30/30

My brother was assigned an alternative project in place of the traditional "book report" that so many of us had to do in junior high English class. Instead, he was to create a 60 second long movie trailer advertising the book he read as an upcoming cinematic experience. I decided to help a little by letting him use my movie-making software, and what he came up with is pure genius. He came up with all the concepts, I just inputted it all into the software.

Watch and be amazed:

Love and Racism

Some more Costa Rica updates: Brittney, Marco, and I spent the past weekend in Manuel Antonio. I hadn't been there before but it was one of the places in Costa Rica that was mentioned in my 1,001 Places To Go book so I figured I should probably check it out. It was nice. Not my favorite place ever, but it was a nice beach town. Smaller than I thought. But nice. The first day we arrived at about 9:30 am (yes, that's correct, our bus left at an ungodly hour that morning) and we found some cabinas to stay at. We opted for the A/C rooms, only shelling out an extra $5 per night which brought the grand total to... $15 per person per night. Gotta love it. We stayed on the public beach (didn't enter the Park) and rented a couple of umbrellas to hide from the sun. We read, we slept, we jumped, we swam. A pretty relaxed day.

On Saturday we wanted to head into the National Park but there was a storm that I can not compare with any other in my life. It lasted for a good six hours with lightning and thunder threatening to rip off the roof of our cabina and suck us up into the sky. Our beloved electricity went out a couple times which not only left us in the dark, but also sticky without the A/C. Finally at about 10 am we emerged from our room only to find a sunny, yet extremely wet, Manuel Antonio. We left for the park and unfortunately had to cross a larger-than-normal river bed in order to enter. I think the only reason that they haven't built a bridge or something is so that the guy who owns the boat can earn a couple bucks shuttling the not-so-brave tourists across about 10 feet of water. We took our chances and crossed by foot. It wasn't too bad except for the polluted water that I'm pretty sure burned my skin with all its contamination. Guácala. Marco unfortunately took a spill and cut his arm and even more unfortunately dipped my camera bag into the water which he was carrying for me. No damage, thank goodness, to my camera; just some cloudy photos until it dried completely.

The park was... nice. We did get in for free: thank goodness for lunch breaks and siestas. We hiked for a while to see the vistas which happened to be all closed off probably due to the rain. I took a nice tumble on our way back down and ended up defacing my Purdue shorts (sorry Mommy). Nothing that a little sea water couldn't wash up. Seeing the beach was extremely comforting after trudging through a jungle that was only too reminiscent of my frightening time in Panama (shudder). We stayed only for a little while, hoping to beat the rain home. I think the thing I was most disappointed about was the fact that I saw no wildlife. Everyone usually sees little monkeys and can get close enough to interact with them. Due to the heavy rain, I just saw the usual collection of hermit crabs. Boring. The trip overall was very fun, catching up with Brittney, getting some color (no, no sunburn this time), and not caring if I was sweating profusely because hey, it's Costa Rica baby.

Unfortunately Brittney's trip was cut short and she left two days early to tend to some family affairs back in the States. I was left alone with little to do in Marco's house, and decided to make friends with his television. Lame, I know. I did go see my host mother, Nela, and spent a couple hours catching up with her and meeting the student that is currently living in the house. The house has changed quite a lot. No more big screen TV, the bathrooms had all been redone (beautifully, if I might add), and Nela had even planted fruit trees in the backyard. Nela hadn't changed much except for cutting her hair. And her opinion counts the most in my mind, so I was ecstatic when she said that I was looking much thinner. Overall, I'm really glad I went back to see her, even after some roughness with my host brother (but even that seemed to be patched over).

Now, to the title of this post. Love and Racism. Heavy, right? Let me explain. First, the racism. I went with Marco to one of his classes the first week I was here. He and his classmates had to travel to a part of San José in order to survey a property where they would be designing a church to be built. I tagged along in order to meet his classmates (cough cough, Margarita tú sabes) and just to understand better what it means to be an architecture student. Not that he hasn't told me exactly what he does for every second of every day, but oh well, this was an opportunity to witness it first-hand. His professor was also there, and this is where the racism comes in. When Marco introduced us, I have never felt so much hatred from one person. He refused to talk to me and wouldn't even acknowledge that I was there. It hurt. I understand the stereotype that most Latin Americans have against us "gringos" but I have never been treated that poorly. I tried explaining it to Marco, but he seemed to only want to defend his profe. He said he was an artist and he didn't mean it, but even intelligent, smart, forward-thinking artists can be assholes sometimes. He agreed with that reasoning. But it still felt awful that I was being discriminated against in such an aggressive way. I have never felt so insignificant in my life. (Needless to say, when Marco invited me to sit in on his class today, I opted out.)

Then there's love. And not the regular kind, but the kind that is shared within a family. Last night, Marco took me to meet some of his aunts, uncles, and cousins and I have never felt so welcome and loved as I was when I was talking with his family. Everyone I met made me feel like I was already part of the family, making fun of how tall I was and that I needed to make Marco start wearing high heels, or how they all wanted visas to come to the United States for our wedding. They were of course joking, and made sure that I knew it, but it felt like they were my family just joking around with me. I knew that I only met a fraction of the family (Marco's mom is one of 11 I believe, so I believe I only met 1/10 of the family... which is to say that it's a big family!!), but I was overwhelmed by how much fun they had together and how connected they all are to each other. They all still live where Marco's grandmother lived when she was alive, and only a couple have left the family compound like Marco's mother did. That kind of family can only be seen in Latin America. It's a beautiful thing, especially when they take you in as an adopted daughter/cousin/family friend.

Tomorrow I return home, just in time to clean clothes, pack them all up again, and head off to my next adventure in Minnesota. Things seem to be moving a lot quicker now in my life. But trust me, I couldn't be happier about that fact.

Peace.

Costa Rica OH NINE

Wow. I'm back. I feel like I was just here.

Arrived on Friday to a downpour in the Central Valley of Costa Rica. After going through customs and filling out an extra form to make sure they know I don't have swine flu I made it to the bag claim. Heart pounding, hands sweating, knowing that I was soon going to step outside, breath in Tico air, and see el novio. Walked outside... no Marco. Oh well, it was raining and I remember how that can slow down everything. So I popped a squat on the ground and opened my book to wait. About 20 minutes later... "Holaaaaaaaaa" :) Marco came with his dad (who I had never met) to pick me up and supposedly they were waiting somewhere else to stay out of the rain. Oh well. Better late than never.

We went to Birri to the Monte Campana hotel in the mountains of Heredia. It was so beautiful - you could see all of San Jose, Heredia, all of the lights in the valley below. The air was so fresh and pollution-free it was an honor to respire. Our room was infested by huge ants that seemed to be coming from no where but we quickly learned that if we didn't bother them they didn't bother us.

We went to the main area on Saturday morning which was empty so we just hung out at the pool for 3 hours or so. There was a water slide made out of rocks that Marco of course had to try. It was a really small place but really pretty. And they had this extremely random fuselage of an old airplane in one of the trees, as decoration or something. I was disappointed that you still couldn't see the stars even being up higher than in Barva because it was pretty rainy the entire time, but the lightning was still gorgeous.

Sunday we ate some uber tasty gallo pinto, my favorite, and left at noon. We got back to Barva and decided that at night we would go to La Casona to see some old faces. It was weird. Maria almost tackled me with a big smile and a "Pero Elenaaaaa mira que boniiiiiita!" Johnny was there and gave me a very fatherly hug and told me that I looked a lot skinnier, which of course was nice to hear because I'm pretty sure it's not true. There were some of the cimarronistas from my host brother's band (he wasn't there though, thankfully) so I caught up with them. There were some other friendly faces, but since it was a Sunday it wasn't very busy. We went to La Calidad down the road and said hello to Federico. But all in all, my Casona homecoming was kind of disappointing.

Monday we went to the airport to pick up Brittney. We found her host mom at the airport waiting for her, too, so we all waited together. Her flight was late, but it was so good to be back in Costa Rica with Marco and Brittney. We're like the Three Musketeers. Ok maybe more like the Three Stooges. And of course for dinner we had Pepino's ginormous burgers. They were a little different, but I'm not complaining about that much food for $3.

Tuesday, today, Marco and I met Brittney in Heredia central and took Marco to the university while we continued to our favorite mall, Paseo de las Flores. We went to Drea, one of the cutest stores ever. But unfortunately a lot of the clothing changed to more logos and printed Ts instead of the kinds of things they had before. Oh well. We still found some fun things. I bought a shirt for Marco that had a head and then a bunch of stuff coming out of it, like a ruler, a paint brush, etc and then at the bottom said, "An Artist's Mind." He's always telling me how he's an artist and how he thinks differently than everyone else, etc etc so I thought it would fit him well. I got myself a shirt that had a sketch of a pig's face and says "Wanted Terrorist." Haha I don't think I'll be able to wear that to the airport. Tonight we're going to go to all of the old bars that were out favority hot-spots: Bulevar, Fofo, La Casona, and La Calidad. A little "bar-hopping" if you will. Can't wait.

And I'll close with a joke. Brittney told me this one...
You know, it's pretty amazing that we have a black president if you think about it. But I guess it makes sense because people said that we would have a black president when pigs could fly. And look now, 100 days into his term, swine flu. (Get it?? Swine Flu = Flew)

Peace.

ASB Overview Movie

Made by yours truly.

Maybe if my feet weren't so big

I cause natural disasters.

Before I went on my trip to Italy, my team was having some team bonding time and we each shared something interesting about ourselves. This was soon after the earthquake in Costa Rica, and so I decided to share my theory on how natural disasters follow me when I travel. Here are the data:

Nicaragua 2005 - Earthquake (6.6) while I was there

Guatemala 2007 - Sinkhole kills 2 people

Peru 2007 - Earthquake (7.9) kills 330

Costa Rica 2009 - Earthquake (6.1) kills 15

I swear, it was kind of a joke at first, with my teammates asking me what type of natural disaster I would cause in Italy. Maybe Pompeii Part II? But no. It was decided that since Italy is on a fault line it would be more likely that I would cause and earthquake. Well oh well. Something to add to the proof:

Italy 2009 - Earthquake (6.3) kills 207

This is just plain freaky. I've been called a "prophet" by Jessica's friend, but I'm pretty sure I'm just plain cursed. And it only seems to happen in places where I travel to alone, without my family. They seem to cancel out my bad mojo. But I've kind of been hesitant to go anywhere now because who knows what could happen next... And of course my friends find it hysterical: When I announced that earthquakes follow in my wake, someone's response was, "Well maybe if your feet weren't so big..." Oh yeah, thanks for boosting my ego a whole bunch.

Peace. (I hope)
Ti amo Italia

"Your eyes are like the ocean: I want to dive into them!" (ASB ITALY 09)

Oh Rome. What can I say? I have extremely mixed feelings about my trip to Rome because I was oh-so-sick the entire time and stressed out. But you know what?! I loved every second of it. Let's do a *brief* recap.

The Vatican: I'm Roman Catholic. Not practicing very much, but Catholic nonetheless. And to be in our equivalent of Mecca was quite the experience. I received communion in the Basilica di San Pietro, saw and heard the Pope address the crowds in eight different languages, and even witnessed the wonders of the Sistine Chapel. It was a moving feeling to be connected to a religion that isn't quite your own, yet you call your own. I have never felt more Catholic in my life. My only regret: I was too chicken to go to confession. I think I would have to had a penance of a thousand Holy Marys considering the first thing I would have to say would be, "Forgive Father, for I have sinned. I have not been to confession in ten years."

DAAAAAHH pope

The Coliseo (Colosseum): Man, this thing is beautiful and I still have no idea how to spell its name! Unlike the Sistine Chapel which was a bit disappointing, the Colosseum's grandeur lived up to its name. Michael kept saying that he could hear the crowds yelling, that's how amazing it was. And to hear the stories about the things that went on in there, it was hard not to be impressed. But to walk to the lower level and see the "locker rooms" and inner-workings proved to be the most impressive. The intricacy astounded me, especially considering the weight of the rocks used. Poor, poor slaves.

Park Scholars in the Coliseo

And the outside :O

My team: What an AMAZING group of KIDS. haha. But seriously, some of the greatest people that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I thoroughly enjoyed their presence and gained a lot of perspective from all of their different backgrounds. I firmly believe that we couldn't have picked a better group of scholars. Or a goofier group. I swear, these folks were playing with nipple cups, dick rings, and everything in between. Some thought trees were pineapples, others claimed that they were serving Holy Meat to the people at the soup kitchen. I think that most of the pain I was in actually came from the amount of laughter in my daily life hanging around these goofballs! And there were no problems, as far as I could tell, between members by the end of it which made my job a little, ok a lot, easier.

The group, with Trevi Fountain in the background

Caritas (the soup kitchen): Wow. I have never volunteered for a more organized and dedicated organization. Carlo, the coordinator/manager, is so dedicated to the work he performs everyday and the volunteers are truly inspiring as well. And of course the food was much better than what I was served in elementary school, so there's that, too. But it was the "clients" who made the biggest impression. I learned so much from them: the racism between Italians and Romanians and between Italians and Africans, the life of an immigrant, surviving the streets in Rome, politics, education, you name it, they knew it. And one individual that will always stand out in my mind was Rocco. Rocco, the man who came in with the same jacket and shirt, but also with the same wild hair and gigantic smile. "ELENA!!!" he would always shout in an extreme Italian accent, always made my day. Although we had trouble communicating (I think there might have been a slight handicap of some sort) we could just sit at a table while he ate his food and enjoy each other's company. I could not think of a more rewarding experience than to witness the people that came into this place day after day. I even have a soft spot for the women in the red jacket who cussed everyone out :)

Alma, Me, and Rocco

Agencies: Well, one could see this aspect of the trip as a huge failure for me, or as a great step forward. I do not want to work for any of the agencies that we visited with (US Missions to the UN Agencies, World Food Programme, and Food and Agriculture Organization). The first, well to be honest, I still have no idea what they do or why they are needed. The second, a great organization, wonderful work, but I just have no interest in emergency food aid. My concentration is on solving chronic hunger issues through development projects, and that's just not their cup of tea. And of course FAO. Such a disappointment. I thought that since the WFP worked on emergency aid problems, that FAO would do more developmental programs. Not so. Basically all the FAO does is gather information, about EVERYTHING that has to do with crops and food, compiles it all together, finds out what's wrong, and then writes about it. No action, just a big fat book of facts and data that makes it look like we're not doing anything in the hunger front. And we're not! We're just writing books! I was so sad. And I even said to the lady, "So, these facts are great, but do you actually take any action to change them?" And she said, "No. We just influence people's opinions." LAME-O. I quickly lost interest in working with them. Too bad, because that would have been easy, living in Rome and finding facts. Oh well. There are much too many more important things to be doing with my time. Like actually FEEDING THE HUNGRY. I'm bitter, I know.

In the FAO with all the flags

Well, there's a little recap on some of the parts of the trip that stood out to me. Of course, there's a lot more to talk about: Trevi Fountain, that gay bar that we happened into, my sicknesses (I try to forget), Angelo's trattoria, seeing Katie (Yay!!), Italian parallel parking, and a whole bunch of other side notes. So ask me, and I'll share. Oh yeah, and I chopped off eight inches of my hair!

European haircuts!!

Peace.

Leavin'

Tomorrow's the big day!!! I'm off to Italy!!!

But here's what I have to tackle in the mean time: Tonight is study session in my room. I have a microbiology and biochemistry test tomorrow, back to back, 9 am and 10 am. Then I have to meet up at 11 am to go to the airport. I haven't quite determined my game-plan as to how I'm going to fight against jet-lag, but I'm pretty sure that I'll have a nice long time to sleep on the second plane ride from JFK to Rome (9 hours). I am worried that the trip won't be AMAZING, but then I remind myself that I'll be in Rome. Haha oh YEAH. Rain just can't ruin the Sistine Chapel, Colosseum, Pantheon... I think I'll survive. And be ready for thousands (no joke) of photos!

Our general itinerary, or rather the idea of the trip, is that we will be meeting with agencies during the morning (World Food Programme, Food & Agriculture Organization, US Missions for the UN) to learn about hunger policy issues, and then in the afternoon we will be working in a soup kitchen of sorts called Caritas. I'm not really sure what to expect from either aspect of the trip, but I know that I will walk away from this experience a lot more knowledgeable and well-versed in hunger issues and policies.

Well, maybe I'll have a chance to make an update when I get there, but if not...

PACE! (<-- Italian for PEACE!!)

I hate it

I hate the Internet. I hate that people can assume whatever they want to assume because they can't see what's going on on the other end. I hate that men are insecure. I hate liars. I hate when people think I lie. I don't lie. I hate when people are jealous of nothing. I hate crying so much my body hurts. I hate living in the middle of a life that I don't like. I hate being 21. I hate loving people who don't love me. I hate when people only think of themselves. I hate wanting and deserving everything and getting nothing. I hate pain. I hate that no one hugs me on a day-to-day basis. I hate not having a best friend here with me. I hate irrational people. I hate people who don't trust me. I hate when people think that I am bad or mean because there isn't a bad fiber in my body. I hate stubbornness. I hate wanting to be somewhere else every single second of my life. I hate being away from home. I hate nonsense. I hate being human and having emotions. I hate having my personal life affect my professional/educational life. I hate regret. I hate making mistakes. I hate being misunderstood. I hate having options. I hate that I'm afraid of stupid things. I hate responsibility. I hate any temperature outside other than 72 degrees Fahrenheit. I hate being cold when I'm inside. I hate canker sores. I hate losing things. I hate getting up early in the morning. I hate having so much to study and not having the least bit of interest. I hate cramming. I hate that I have no memory. I hate that I don't keep in touch with a lot of the people that I should keep in touch with. I hate having so many families that aren't even really related to me. I hate broken promises. I hate wishing for miracles. I hate pants that don't fit. I hate mayonnaise and sour cream. I hate not understanding something really important. I hate mood swings. I hate feeling empty. I hate feeling hungry. I hate being nervous or anxious. I hate stress. I hate disease and poverty and hunger. I hate feeling helpless. I hate pollution. I hate not being able to see the stars at night. I hate distractions. I hate death. I hate wondering why. I hate insecurities. I hate searching relentlessly. I hate being so frustrated that smoke literally comes out of my ears. I hate looking at beautiful things and be reminded of something sad. I hate dry skin. I hate confusion and uncertainty. I hate a lot of things.

I hate that I love my life.

What would Gandhi do?

I never could have possibly imagined the kind of semester that I am having this year. Sure, 19 credits seemed like plenty, but not like this. I have way too much on my plate, and I know saying no is something that I have a lot of trouble with. Especially when there are a lot of people counting on me. I say that I don't pine for CR, but to be honest I want that lifestyle back. For that matter, I just want any normal life back. Not going crazy worrying about information for tests that I will forget in a week because of my lack of memory. I thought that I was finding a balance... but maybe not.

Some news, I'm starting up two projects with rice! And that deserves five thousand exclamation points because it is really exciting for me, but I thought I would spare you the extra scrolling. The first is for my crop science lab, where I am observing the differences in growing rice at different depths and flooded versus non-flooded. Simple, yes, but I really have an interest in learning about growing rice since it is a staple food for 2/3 of the world's population. The second project is more of a research project about rice crops and nitrogen levels. My teacher took me to his "Rice File" and gave me so much literature on the topic that I am literally reading through things like the "Peace Corps Rice Manual, Sierra Leon" circa 1978 like it's the new Harry Potter installment. My World Population and Food Prospects class has also sparked a lot of new interest in my life and I have never wanted to go to Africa more than I do right now. My food science seem to be lacking in the enjoyment factor and that worries me. My interests are straying, to say the least. It's just too bad this is all happening so late in the game. But I am so excited about my rice!!

My birthday is coming up. The big one. I can do almost anything (still can't get a rental car, boo) after next Friday. Kind of crazy to think about.

And Italy. Ahh yes. Leaving the country once more. My spring break trip will be absolutely superb in Rome. We are hitting some road blocks with some of the agencies that we would like to meet with, but I think we will get a lot of information on how these governmental agencies are fighting hunger. And our service work at Caritas will of course be very rewarding, I already know. And I'll be in Italy! Mamma Mia!!

I also bought plane tickets to go back to Costa Rica in May. I found out my official start date for my internship and booked the tickets the same day. I'll have two full weeks, which seems like nothing but is a lot better than actually nothing. I'm hoping to get to Manuel Antonio since I never had the chance to see it. Of course I'll be going to La Casona, drink a couple Imperiales (maybe even a Pilsen...), and catch up with old friends. And I'll get to see my Tiquito...

And I'm also getting amazing cool new shoes...

Peace.

2009

I thought it might be appropriate to list some of my informal, nonofficial New Year's Resolutions for 2009. Maybe I'll fulfill them all, maybe none. But isn't that the point of resolutions? To make them and never finish? haha...

1. "Buns and Thighs"
This resolution is as old as time: the resolution to exercise more. I am a relatively healthy eater, I walk a bunch all around campus, especially given my schedule this semester, and I am in no way fat. However, by the end of the semester, and for my return trip to Costa Rica, I want to have lost some inches and fat and gained some serious muscle. I was looking at some photos of me in my prime basketball and volleyball days in high school and it's hard to believe that my legs were once rock solid and I could jump two feet in the air (ok maybe not two... but a lot more than right now). I did some serious buns work yesterday and am feeling the burn this morning, but that is a good sign, and I have got to keep it up no matter the aches and pains. No pain, no gain, right?

2. "Churning Butter"
Pending a negative drug test, I have a summer job!! I was hired by Land O' Lakes for a 12 week research and development internship in Arden Hills, MN. I'm not sure exactly what I will be doing, but I want to be good at. I want to work hard, let them know just how smart and talented I am, and then... maybe they'll hire me for another job, abroad perhaps?

3. "Knopp's Knotes"
This semester is the heaviest I've had in my university career with an astounding 19 credits. It actually should be 22, but I am auditing my leadership class because I didn't want to have 22 hours :) Anyways, I am taking 5 classes and have 4 labs and a practice session (which is the same as a lab). Classes include: Crops: Adaptation & Production (with lab), Analytical Techniques in Food & Bioprocessing Science (with 2 labs), Principles of Biochemistry (with problem session), General Microbiology (with lab), and World Population and Food Prospects. I am finally in classes that interest me and that I look forward to attending, which should help me. However, with the sheer volume of work that will accumulate if I decide to procrastinate, I need to work diligently and not put anything off until the last minute. Biochemistry will be especially challenging with pure memorization and brutal pop quizzes every week. I have to be strong and motivate myself this semester. It's not going to be an easy one.

4. "Pura Vida"
Of course, I plan to make a trip to Costa Rica in the beginning of May, after finals and before my job starts. I would like to stay as long as possible, see friends in Barva, and also travel to Manuel Antonio, one of the places that I did not get to when I was there last year. My resolution: keep Costa Rica as a prize to myself for getting all A's. Of course, I'll go even if I flunk everything, but I really want it to be my motivation and get me through the semester. And then it will be an even sweeter trip. And hopefully Margarita will come with me, and we can party like Spring Semester 2008 :) :) :)

5. "La Vita E Bella"
Last one. I am leading the Alternative Spring Break to Rome this year on a Hunger Policy trip. My co-team leader and I need to step up our game and get our affairs into order and make this as smooth and meaningful as possible. No holes, no one gets lost, no one gets sick, on time for everything, etc etc. It needs to be seamless. And I can't wait until we go. Minus the fact that I have three tests on the day that we leave, so that could be a little problem....

Well, there you go. You now know what 2009 is going to for me. Hopefully there will be some more international travel, but with Italy and Costa Rica already on my plate, I'm not complaining too much ;)

Peace.