| Vagina Monologues |
[Nov. 13th, 2006|06:34 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  tired | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Bunty aur Babli | ] |
I got a part in the Vagina Monologues!
Let me repeat that just in case you don't think you read that correctly the first time...
I GOT A PART IN THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES!!!
My monologue is ( Because He Liked to Look at It )
...so come see it Feb. 22, 23, or 24! |
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| purple monkey dishwasher soap |
[Aug. 2nd, 2006|10:31 pm] |
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So, as I was on my way to a meeting at AU with my scholarship advisor yesterday my shoe broke. The strap fell off of my flip-flops (or at least out of that part in the front). Serves me right for getting Old Navy flip-flops for $3 (though in all fairness I've had that pair since sophomore year). I headed over to Payless to get a new pair but it was closed so I called Emily (whom I had just talked to 1 min. before), desperately begging her to let me come over and steal scotch-tape. She said that CVS sold flip-flops, so we landed up searching the aisles for a new pair...but $24 was way above my budget so we landed up scotch-taping my flip-flops together. Only Em and I have these random adventures...this might have been even more random and crazy than "purple monkey dishwasher soap" in Vietnam. |
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| Guilin, the most beautiful place in the world |
[Apr. 20th, 2006|06:43 pm] |
Wow! Wow, wow, wow!
China is amazing! Now by this I mean, I don't like Beijing at all. It's a horrible city and I never want to live or work in China. But travel, yes, I could travel. We recently embarked on a month-long escapade, two weeks traveling w/ the program t/out China followed by two weeks traveling with my friends t/out SE Asia (specifically Vietnam and Thailand). China is an amazingly beautiful country. This year has been the most amazing of my life, b/w two study abroads in Argentina and China. And I just had the two most amazing days of my life in Yangshuo, Guilin. Guilin is known as the most beautiful place on earth and it is. It is surrounded by greenery-covered mountains rising out of fog and mist. When I imagined what China would be like, this is what I thought of: a beautiful place, mysterious b/c of the layers of mist all around. I spent Wed. floating upriver for 2 hours in a raft surrounded by this incredible beauty. Our 2-person rafts soon got into the craziest fights with water guns which was a ton of fun other than the fact that we were still sopping wet two hours later. I love nature and I love water and I love mountains and it was amazing to be admist all of that. I just want to stay in Yangshuo for a month and write and paint. Yesterday, was even better. It was the perfect day. In the morning Becca and I awoke bright and early, eating breakfast at 8 AM. Afterwards women qu san san bu (we took a pleasant stroll) around town, checked our email, and had coffee and strawberries (which I haven't had in a long while so I savored both). Then we met up with other people form our group. I landed up going out w/ the boys...we rented mopeds and took a 2-hour long loop around the river, soaking in beautiful scenery t/out. (Btw, I love mopeds! They are the coolest things ever! They only go about 30 miles/hr but they seem so fast and you can't get hurt in them...and they're just so badass!) The we went through the Water Cave. We crouched thru this cave for a good 1.5 hrs (yeah, this cave would never be open to tourists in the US, it wasn't exactly the safest or the easiest thing to crawl through) until we came to a mud bath which the boys jumped in while I took pictures. And it was so fucking hilarious! Afterwards, we spent another 30 minutes in the cave and then emerged into the bright sunlight and the most amazing view I've ever seen in my life. I saw the most beautiful mountains behind miles of paddy fields. There was a man with a straw hat with a bullock cart which is the stereotypical image I had of China so I had to smile. After that, we rode back to town and had dinner...after which I had a sauna and an hour-long Chinese oil massage. It was the perfect end to the perfect day. |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 22nd, 2006|11:39 pm] |
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I rode on the back of Jon Bike's bike today (so nicknamed for his bike). It felt like a very Chinese thing to do. |
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| Happy St. Patrick's Day! |
[Mar. 18th, 2006|12:23 am] |
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| |  awake | ] |
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| | Wake me up before you go-go | ] |
Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!
I officially just celebrated my first St. Patrick's Day, Irish-style. After going to see the Chinese acrobats, we decided we had to go out since we were in the bar district and it was St. Patrick's. So we found an Irish pub, I'm guessing the only Irish pub in Beijing, and I think every single Western person in Beijing was there. We danced to a Chinese band rocking everything from Sting to U2 to "Miss American Pie", followed by an Irish band and a woman riverdancing. All in all, it was a great night. Ah, St. Patty's in Beijing. |
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| partying madness |
[Mar. 9th, 2006|07:04 pm] |
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| | tired | ] |
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| | John Mayer | ] |
I am the party god! I repeat, PARTY GOD. Apparently I have become a huge partier, such a huge partier that I can even make some of the other abroad kids (mind you, when I use the term abroad kid you should be hearing "Does no work, parties like hell") squirm. One kid from our program came up to me and said I was the craziest one at the club the night before and he just couldn't believe it (apparently he didn't understand how I could be sober when I was dancing on that coffee table...) Just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about when I say I've become the biggest partier....
Thurs. night: went to club Propaganda (b/c it's ladies night meaning we get in free :)
Which was awesome! Becca (the roomie) and I were easily the hottest ladies in the joint. As soon as we walked in, we got up on stage and danced up there all night!
Sat. night: toga party in my apartment, then I went to Propaganda
Craziness in my apartment....I learned the valuable college art of flipcup (which by the way I completely suck at and even though I was just drinking coke couldn't manage to flip the damn cup!) followed by Becca and I rocking the crowd at Propaganda, as usual (they should pay us b/c we make that place look good!
( Only bad part of the night was when a girl passed out in our apartment....and then we returned to a ton of people sleeping in our apartments. )
Tues. night: party in friend's apartment
Tonight: Propaganda
And I bet you I'm probably going out again Sat. night.
Ah, the true abroad life....no work, all play makes me lots of fun! |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 2nd, 2006|08:50 pm] |
***You Are a Natural Flirt***
Believe it or not, you're a really effective flirt.
And you're so good, you hardly notice that you're flirting.
Your attitude and confidence make you a natural flirt.
And the fact that you don't know it is just that more attractive!
What Kind of Flirt Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofflirtareyouquiz/ |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 2nd, 2006|08:45 pm] |
| You Are 16% Evil | 
You are good. So good, that you make evil people squirm.
Just remember, you may need to turn to the dark side to get what you want! |
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 7th, 2006|12:26 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  content | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Norah Jones | ] |
I had an amazing day today!!
I woke up bright and early this morning to go to kung-fu and not only was I not late but I got there at 6:30, 15 minutes before class even started. I wasn't lost today and I was one of the few people in class who actually knew what was going on b/c I reviewed the moves w/ Jon yesterday. The teacher is awesome...he doesn't speak a word of English and it's still really easy to tell what he's saying. And have I said that kung-fu (or gung-fu as it's called here) is just plain awesome??
Then I went to Chinese class which is from 8:30-11:30. Usually I arrive exhausted out-of-my-mind, but today I was awake and completely invigorated from my kung-fu lesson. Half-way through the class we realized that it was snowing outside, snowing a looootttt. I was giddy as a schoolgirl about the snow. So since I'm the kind of kid who always asks teaches at AU if we can have class outside when it's gorgeous days, I decided that I should try something of the sort. I told the teacher that in the US when it snows too much school gets cancelled b/c there's so much snow. And so he said that we could go after we reviewed the dialogue and 2 minutes later he let us go, 30 minutes early! It was amazing...we had the best snow fight of all time! I was trying desperately not to stick my tongue out to catch the snowflakes made of acid from the deadly smog hanging above Beijing...but other than that, it was great. I haven't had that great a snowfight since freshman year in the grassy nole. We pummeled each other until all our other friends came out of their Chinese classes and then we attacked them. At some point each one of us smashed a snowball down on Tom's head...best statement of the day had to be when I did it and he screamed, "I just did my hair! Bitch, you're going to get it!" I thought he was going to kill me!! Anyways, it was a fun fight. And the campus looked so beautiful covered in the white snow. I love snow. Yeah for amazing days! |
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| Yay for cheap stuff! |
[Feb. 3rd, 2006|02:45 am] |
I went to the Silk/Pearl Market yesterday where after 5 hours and much negotiating I walked away with a (fake) Spyder jacket, (fake though they look real enough) Puma shoes, 3 shirts, an ink/brush set, a tie, and 2 DVDs. You want to know how much I spent for all of that? $60!!!
I love China. |
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| Xing nien quaile!!! (Happy Chinese New Year's!) |
[Feb. 3rd, 2006|02:11 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | content | ] |
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| | Jack Johnson | ] |
Happy Chinese New Year's!
This past weekend I went with our program to Tiyuan and Pingyao (the oldest still-standing city in China) b/c we have a week off for Spring Festival. It was amazing! The first night, after about a 7-hour drive, we split up into small groups and celebrated New Year's with host families. I was scared to death...I thought it was going to be a miserable experience involving my roommate attempting to communicate w/ them w/ her basic Chinese skills to communicate while I stared at my plate. Turns out, the daughter who was 18, knew English. We spent our New Year's chatting w/ the girl, learning words, watching the yearly New Year's program, and learning how to make dumplings (which aren't too hard to make...though the fancier shapes are)...not to mention, fireworks! The Chinese are crazy about fireworks! Last week Becca (the roomie) and I heard someone doing fireworks on the roof and we thought we were being bombed! This week, all day-long we hear fireworks, and they're loud! When we did them w/ our family we were w/in 10 feet of exploding TNT-type fireworks, bangers, and rockets that flew up into the air. Imagine watching the yearly 4th-of-July fireworks show in the park w/ the huge fireworks being set off by pyrotechnics. Now imagine them being set off about 10 feet away from you...it was insane! We hid under our hoods and kept on poking our heads out only to run away screaming at the loud noises and falling debri. At one point, the blast from one firework was so strong that it knocked us back a foot! I have never been so excited, and yet so terrified, in my life! The Chinese New Year's celebration cannot be beaten....it is da shit.
The city of Pingyao is surrounded by a wall (kind of like the Great Wall, only smaller). The buildings are stone and have been there for at least a thousand years. Even the hotel we stayed in was located in an ancient stone building. It wasn't bad other than it was freezing. And of course there's the story of the ( walk of shame and the menage a trois ) Being in Pingyao during the weekend and experiencing that old city was truly incredible. I have to say it's a great way to celebrate the New Year's. |
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| Ni hao! |
[Jan. 21st, 2006|05:35 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Frank Sinatra | ] |
Life in Beijing....how to describe it? Beijing is cooooolllddd. I'm talking COLD! I was happy yesterday b/c it was 2 degrees celcius (36 faranheit) and that was warm! Usually it's negative. The pollution is overwhelming (the Beijingers call it "fog" but really it's smog of death!!)...it's often hard to breathe and you constantly want to hack up a flemball of all the shit that you're breathing in. No one speaks English (w/ the exception of our program directors and teachers). Everything is written in characters so can't really read anything. I have 9 hours of Chinese class per week!!! 3 hours Mon., Wed., and Fri. mornings from 8:30-11:30. Yeah...talk about long classes. Actually, all of the classes here are blocks so my other classes meet only once a week but for 2.5 hrs. What else...Chinese food in China is nowhere near as good as Americanized Chinese food (or even Chinese food elsewhere in the world). They eat everything that moves! Seriously...it's awful for a vegetarian. I had to memorize the characters for meat and vegetarian b/c I have trouble pronouncing those words and the character for vegeterian is the most complicated character ever! (it's got like 50 strokes)
It's not all bad, we got Julie...she's a fluent Chinese speaker so she translates for us. She always has to order for us (though I can do alright on my own) b/c menus are all written in characters...one time we walked into a restaurant and she just translated the entire menu for us. The people here are great...it's funny because about 20 out of 35 people are from AU but I hang out w/ very few of the AU people. And the sites are incredible...we already went to the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the Summer Palace which were great (other than the incredibly bitter cold). So really funny story which knowing me I think you will enjoy...we were on a group visit of the city and while we were there someone said "vamonos" ('let's go' in Spanish), so I said "andiamo" ('let's go' in Italian). Then somebody else said 'let's go' in another language and being the language dork I am (my goal is to learn one word in every language) I started asking people to say 'let's go' in any language they knew. Before you knew it we had about 10 different languages and further proving my dorkinesss I decided to direct a little video w/ my camera of us all saying 'let's go' in different languages. Here they are:
English: let's go
Hindi: chalo
Italian: andiamo
Spanish: vamonos
Cantonese: jao la
Cambodian: lun lan
Vietnamese: juntarey
Thai: paikrup
Mandarin Chinese: zoba
French: alonsi
And being the language dork I am, I've actually been picking up Chinese rather quickly so maybe I'll be able to actually have a complete conversation and, more importantly, order Chinese dishes in Chinese by the time I return to the U.S. Most important Chinese words ever: "donggao" (cake) and "qiaokeli" (chocolate)...enough said.
So that's all for now... |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 11th, 2006|09:58 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  drained | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Leaving on a jetplane... | ] |
In the past 3 weeks, I returned from Argentina, went to California, returned from California, unpacked from Argentina, saw about 5 Million people, filled out a stupidly long security clearance for the State Department, packed all my stuff, and flew to Beijing. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe my new home is an airport. Well, that would be incorrect, my new home is Beijing but seeing as that fact hasn't sunk in yet I am caught in the twisted, confusing world of the eternal traveller. In those 3 weeks at home, AU's pathetic excuse for a winter break, I managed to do all that running around and no relaxing. So now I'm in Beijing, exhausted out of my mind, completely mentally unprepared to be here. And this Chinese thing is freaking me out. I'm still in Spanish mode which is making it even more confusing....I don't even know which language I should be responding in and its odd b/c now I feel more comfortable w/ Spanish and suddenly I need to learn Chinese....where am I???
...I have no home. :( |
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| Back at home.... |
[Dec. 26th, 2005|08:45 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | melancholy and nostalgic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Bhajans | ] |
I returned from Buenos Aires this past Mon. I finally came home. And you know what? For the first time in my life it doesn't feel like home. I keep remembering this line from Garden State where Zach Braff is telling Natalie Portman how there comes a point in everyone's life where home is no longer home and becomes more of a place where you can store your shit. And I think I finally hit that point. Going to a university 30 minutes away from my house, I guess I've never felt that feeling before because I could always just run home on the weekends or my parents could stop by. I guess it's b/c for the first time in my life I learned what being independent was. I had to make my own life for myself in a place thousands of miles from my home where they speak a completely different language, in what seemed like a completely different world, totally aislated from my friends and family in D.C. Leaving Bs.As., during the ride home, I was so sad to leave Bs.As.....and the sad thing is that I know that it is not only the place that I would miss but the entire experience and all the friends I had made there, an experience which I am so thankful for but which I can never get back again. So I returned to D.C. the other day and I realized that for me, now, my apartment in Bs.As. reminds me more of home than my parents' house in VA.
P.S. Ahimas114, I'm still waiting for that post we chatted about at Veggie Garden... |
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| wrong place, wrong time |
[Nov. 23rd, 2005|06:16 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | shaken up | ] |
You want to hear about weird days....
I went to Blockbuster today to rent a movie and I went up to the register to ask the woman if they had Dirty Dancing. She was speaking on the phone and she looked up for a second so I could ask her if they had the movie, answered, and then went back to speaking on the phone. I still had another question though so I was waiting until she finished. Meanwhile there was this group of about 3-4 guys, they were around 15-16 and one was 10, I figured he was one of their younger brothers. And they started bugging this woman...and I didn't quite understand what was going on (it was one of those moments where Spanish just totally confuses the hell out of me) and I saw one of the guys go behind the counter. I didn't know what was going on, I didn't know if he knew the girl (the Blockbuster worker was in her 20s) or not and all of a sudden I see her opening the register and one of the guys w/ all the cash in his hands, and the 10 year-old starts asking me if I have money and I'm telling him "no tengo nada, no tengo nada" (I don't have anything...which was a blatant lie and I was concerned about them taking my money but I had my computer in my backpack). So, while they're focusing on this woman I quickly move to the back of the store where I see another customer behind a rack of movies, whom they haven't spotted either. So I hid there until the boys left, and the Blockbuster woman seemed so shaken up, on the verge of tears. And I felt so bad, b/c I kept on thinking, "why the hell didn't I do anything?" b/c the boys weren't armed or anything and they weren't that big and I had a computer in my backpack and a water bottle, I could have done some damage with that...but I froze and I freaked out and like a coward I hid in the back of the store. And b/c I was so ashamed of myself I didn't even stop to console the woman who probably needed it. Though in retrospect, it's probably better I did nothing...we were both lucky that there we didn't get hurt, and I'm even luckier b/c they didn't even take anything from me. Anyways, I went to the Italian girls' apt which is right next door, all shaken up, where Roberta (or as she is now known, Mommy Roberta) calmed me down and gave me chocolate and made me promise to call her as soon as I got home, and said I should return to their place if I wasn't feeling alright. Point being, thank God and thanks for the wonderful Italian girls who are watching out for me.
Yeah, it's been an interesting day....
On a positive note, the Italians and I had a chic flick movie night yesterday and Hanae, my roomie, called me at about 1 AM b/c I wasn't home and she just wanted to make sure I was safe and ok. I am so grateful for all these wonderful people I have watching out for me. |
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| Randomness... |
[Nov. 15th, 2005|09:15 am] |
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Is it sad that in my Microsoft Word spell-check (Argentina) dolarizacion is listed before polarizacion? Ahhh...US hegemony, making the world go round. |
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| The wonderful world of Bs.As. |
[Nov. 6th, 2005|11:07 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  accomplished | ] |
So I was reading Big Sam's LJ and I noticed he had an entry summarazing his stay in London and I thought "What a great idea", so here's my entry all about Bs.As.
To this day, I have been in Bs.As. for 4 months, during which time:
I have come to regard Bs.As. as a home
My Spanish has improved by leaps and bounds
I learned economics (and a number of other subjects) in Spanish
I have met all sorts of interesting people, from Argentina and from all over the world (my group of friends consists of 2 Italians, 2 Norwegians, 1 Mexican, 1 Austrian, 1 German, 1 Colombian, 2 Canadians, 1 Brit, a bunch of Americans)
I visited 3 different Latin American countries (Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay)
I skiied up in the mountains
I rode a motorbike
I flew over the Andes
I saw a glacier (or at least the 1/3 above the water)
I saw penguins and elephant seals
I went whale-watching
I hit my 20s
I spent 104 hours in bus in 2 weeks
I threw several amazing parties
My house was trashed
I bar-hopped
I stayed out until 7 in the morning
I snuck into my homestay house at 7:30 in the morning
I got my first apartment
I learned how to cook (at least some dishes)
I learned how to salsa
I learned how to tango
I learned a bit of capoeira
I ate my first parrilla (although it was vegetarian)
I ate lots of dulce de leche
I ordered Chinese food in Spanish (puedo tener un "chow-mein" por favor?)
My mom and I switched roles...for the first time in her life I was the one deciding where to go and the one who understood the language
I learned how to live independently
I survived the expereience |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 1st, 2005|11:01 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | drained | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | M.I.A. | ] |
Happy belated Halloween everyone!
I had an interesting Halloween experience...I threw a Halloween party in my apartment on Friday. It was a costume party (I was Zorro) and it was a blast...everyone was wearing silly, cheap costumes that we bought at one of the few Halloween stores here w/ their immense selection (meaning you might be able to find one decent-looking mask if you're lucky), and there was great music (my choice of course), and a ton of people (have I mentioned how weird it is when you don't know half the people at your own party?). Anyways, here's a little background on the party. The week before I had had a party at my place, it was for Jesse and my b-days b/c we were both travelling during our actual b-days. And b/c it was my b-day and so I could make any rule I wanted, I decided it was going to be the non-alcohol party...b/c well I don't drink and I didn't want other ppl drunk that night (it actually was a bit lame...but it also was a school night so that could have been it b/c ppl had class at 8 the next morning). So then for this party I said that if people wanted to drink alcohol, that was fine...I wasn't going to buy it but they could bring it and Hanae and Alfonso (the roommates) were planning on buying some. Anyways, that meant that by the end of the night, the house was completely trashed! There were bottles and ash everywhere (b/c everyone smokes...it is Bs.As., and ppl just happened to be smoking like crazy that night and having a smoking roommate (Alfonso) couldn't make the smokers go outside to smoke). I went to bed at about 6:30 AM, way too tired to clean up at that point. I woke up at 11:30, b/c I had to go to a tutor soon after and went downstairs to the worst mess of my life. And b/c I couldn't stand the site of the dirty house, I didn't bother waiting for the roommates to wake up, just started cleaning. So after cleaning up the majority of the mess (didn't clean the dishes which had ash on them b/c I have this thing about cigarettes and I just didn't want to touch that stuff), went up to go shower, then ate breakfast (up in my room b/c I couldn't stand the smell of the ash in the kitchen or the remnants of ash all over the table), and went to my tutor. When I got back about 4 hours later (yeah, I was at the tutor's for about 3 hours) w/ my head about ready to explode, I noticed that the 8 or so dishes I had left (out about 40) had been left untouched. I was really hoping Alfonso or Hanae would do them, esp. b/c I did all the rest. So tired and a bit crabby now...luckily Jesse had hopped over the terrace b/c he needed to get something and he did the dishes b/c he said it had been a good party and felt bad for me.
Anyway, moral of this story is I'm never going to have another party involving alcohol at my house again b/c I don't want to be responsible for cleaning up that shit ever again. Although I think I can cross "house getting trashed" off of the list of things you need to do while you're in college.
In other news, Bush is here for a Summit of the Americas. He's in Mar de la Plata which is in the south of the province of Bs.As. I thought I left the U.S. to get away from him, why is he stalking me?!! |
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