Business as Usual

Woke up super late today, as my alarm didn't go off when it was supposed to. Felt sort of achy and generally not great, so I made a quick trip to the market and then stayed in bed for the day. Things are better now, so I should be okay for tomorrow. Spent the day listening to A Ring of Endless Light, drawing, and replying to emails/drafting essays/watching gymnastics on YouTube. Nothing much of consequence to report.

Just a Normal 9-8 Day

This morning I left for class at 8:45 and didn't get back to my place until just before 8 PM. While this is an improvement from lazing about at home for three days straight, it was a rather long time to be at school. (By the way, in European English "school" basically refers to high school, and "university" is college. So no, European friends, I did not go back to high school for twelve hours, haha.) My classes were good, though - a lecture on the aftermath of wars, which felt a lot like my human rights class from last spring, and my Churchill class (Sarah - I'm taking a Churchill class this semester!), which today focused on his opposition to Indian reform. Have to say, Churchill was pretty darn stubborn, and also pretty darn wrong when it came to India.

When I got home, I made a new recipe from my Vegetarian Times magazine, Mac and Cheese-Style Cauliflower (so good!), walked upstairs to find demon cat on my bed, kicked him out, and Skyped my mom. I got her to show me my copy of The Fault in Our Stars, complete with J-scribble, which made me really ridiculously happy. More importantly, there is exciting news: my mom will be coming to France to visit me in April! We're still figuring out where we want to go, but I'm so thrilled she's able to fly out here in the first place. It'll be her first time in Europe as well; I can't wait to go meet her in Paris and spend a week traveling around with her. I miss her and the rest of my family so much - it'll be wonderful to be together again.

I have another long day tomorrow, so I'll wrap this up. Bonne nuit!

Day Seven

Or, the post where Aida complains a lot when she really should be grateful she's even in France in the first place.

It has now been a week since I arrived in France. I don't really have much to write about today, as nothing of consequence happened. My French class met at 9 AM, which meant I had to get up entirely too early for someone who still isn't used to the time zone, and take the Metro during rush hour. I may not have mentioned this before, but I'm mildly claustrophobic, so this morning's ride wasn't very fun. The Metro car was completely packed, and as usually happens when I'm in a small, enclosed space with many other people, I started to feel anxious and short of breath. Luckily, I only had to wait five minutes until my stop, and then I could concentrate on running over to Sciences Po. By the way, apart from the Republique Beaux-Arts Metro station, Lille's Transpole system is in desperate need of some good cleaners. Maybe I'm spoiled by the DC Metro, which is generally clean(ish), but I'm not very happy with having to navigate around a floor covered with cigarette butts, used tickets, leaves, and spit. I know I sound peevish - I think I'm probably a little homesick. I was uncomfortable with how much people smoke in Virginia, but in France I'm starting to get a permanent stomachache from all the cigarette smoke. I've met some incredibly nice people in the international program who smoke, and I understand that it's an addiction and very hard to quit. That doesn't change the fact that it's deadly, and I don't enjoy being constantly surrounded by it. Sigh.

Other than having to deal with the Metro and smokers, the day went by reasonably well. I'm a fan of the cheese sandwiches served in Sciences Po's cafeteria, though I suspect I'll have to start limiting my intake if I don't want to gain five pounds of French bread. I finally took out some vegetarian recipes tonight to try and put together a menu, since for the past week I've basically been surviving on yogurt, bananas, and peanut butter when I'm not at school, and cheese sandwiches when I am. Basically, I really need some vegetables, stat.

No big plans for the weekend. I might go to an international student get-together tomorrow night, although considering most of the BDI events have involved bars and partying, I'm a little out of my element at them. Apparently there's a nice market in Wazemmes on Sunday with great prices, so I might do some shopping then. Other than that, I'm trying to take it easy; I've already had to spend money on French insurance, and until UVa sends me my refund in about a week, I've got to be responsible with my expenses. Shame, really, because I'd like to go to Paris, but I ought to be practical. Even in Europe, I'm the scholarship student.

I Love My Mom (and Other Stories from October)

Having discovered that I have only posted six times this month, I decided to write a nice, anecdote-filled update about my adventures in October. This is also the last post you will get from me as a twenty-year-old, so join me on this journey of reminiscence as I look back on the first year of my twenties.

My mother came to Charlottesville on Thursday to spend the weekend with me, which was just was lovely and wonderful as I had hoped it would be. I took her around UVa, showing her all my favorite places and (most of) my favorite people. It was so different from the last time my mom had been in Charlottesville, the summer before my first year, when I knew absolutely nothing about my new town of residence and was just as overwhelmed by everything as she was. This time, I was walking so quickly my mom had to ask me to slow down, and I could tell her all about UVa and my college life. She was staying in my dorm room with me, so there was no need to wait for her to meet me in the morning or walk her back to a hotel in the evening. Instead, I spend nearly every moment of the weekend with her. Friday I introduced her to Miss Kathy, brought her by my work-study, took her to lunch at Fine Arts, and gave her a little tour of Central Grounds; later that evening, we celebrated my birthday a few days early by going to dinner at Basil, a Mediterranean restaurant, with Sara. Saturday we mostly spent shopping (I now have five pairs of shoes instead of two), and Sunday was more leisurely, with a long brunch at Runk and an afternoon of studying, topped off with informal worship at Wesley. This morning we had breakfast at Bodo's and then said good-bye. I miss her already, but she's back in California safe and sound, and the visit was short enough that we didn't get on each other's nerves (much) and I think she had a good time.

Other October happenings:

• I've finally started watching Doctor Who, having heard so much about it from friends both online and off. It can be really cheesy, and the aliens are laughable, but I kind of love it. I'm just about to finish series two of the newer BBC show, so far I'm familiar with Billie Piper as Rose, Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor, and David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. Series one was good, but series two is fantastic; David Tennant makes an amazing Doctor, and I think he and Billie work well together as Doctor and companion. That said, I think my favorite episode so far is still "Father's Day" from series one, although I enjoyed "Tooth and Claw" from this series. I haven't watched the series two finale yet, but I've heard I should be both very excited and very sad. We shall see.
• Third year has been very busy indeed. Partially it's my own fault for taking six classes, but also I just have a lot of work. So much reading, I don't really know how to handle it. Ruth says that the classes at Sciences Po are much easier; I certainly hope so. I don't think I could take another semester like this.
• Last weekend was Wesley's annual Pumpkin Palooza, where some friends and I ended up going as the gang from Scooby-Doo. I was Velma, though I sadly lacked in orange socks, and my hair is already quite a bit longer than Velma's really should be. Still, I think we pulled it off all right. It was a fun outing in any case, and since the evening ended with an Avatar marathon, it was a very nice night indeed. Matt, Andi, and I have reached the episode where SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS Zuko joins Team Avatar SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS, and I'm quite excited for the next marathon now that this momentous event has occurred. Yay vicarious living!
• Pooja gave me an exercise book from the early 90s so I can develop a routine that doesn't require me to leave my room, should I not be able to find a gym in France. The pictures haven't aged well (Sara: "Why is she wearing spandex on spandex?"), but the workouts are decent. In fact, my body has only today fully recovered from the soreness, and I imagine it will return in full force when I do my lower-body routine tomorrow. So much pain, but good pain, I think.
• Evidence that I have lost a significant amount of weight since in the past two years: I put on my old Regency dress from first year to go to Maria and Pooja's Halloween party, then called Sara in to help me with the buttons. As she was doing them up, she tugged on the back of my dress and said, "This needs to be taken in, maybe by a couple of inches." She even suggested that I pin the back of it, as there is apparently a significant gap between the buttons. Sometimes I get frustrated that I'm not slimming down as quickly as I want to, but then something like this happens and I have to remind myself that progress is being made. I'll probably never be a size 0 or even a size 6, but I am getting better, and that's what's important.
• Richie and I actually had a reasonably long Skype conversation this weekend. True, our mom was there, too, but I was pleasantly surprised at the length and quality of the call, and felt very good about it when I hung up. I'm hoping this is a sign of things to come for next semester, when I imagine I will become very dependent on Skype.
• Well, I'm about to be twenty-one, and I will consume alcohol for the first time ever within the next twenty-four hours. Yes, I really have completely abstained from drinking, even during my first two years at college. And while I plan on trying alcohol, I don't plan on getting drunk. Actually, I don't plan on ever getting drunk. I'm just not interested, and frankly I don't like the idea of losing control. I'm weird enough at, say, three in the morning. I don't need any of the silly things I do when I'm sleep-deprived exacerbated by drunkenness.
• I'm slowly becoming more and more addicted to the Vlogbrothers channel on YouTube. I've been laughing myself silly over John Green's Miracle of Swindon Town series, and I'm following the saga of the Fault in Our Stars signing with great interest. Nerdfighteria makes econ reading bearable, basically.
• Happinesses: this episode of Parks and Recreation, The Harry Potter Companion, a fantastic fanart site, Pav Lunch with Wesley every Tuesday, finding new ways to tie my scarves, figuring out how to implicitly differentiate, seeing the cute kids you babysat during the summer in their Luke and Leia costumes, Carter Mountain, and watching Disney songs in foreign languages.

Well, that's it for now. Next time I update, I'll be 21!

Fall and the Swing of Things

I've had a sore throat all day, so I think I'm going to go to bed soon (eleven o'clock is so early for me, you don't even know), but I wanted to write a quick update since I've been fairly infrequent about posting this week. Yesterday was my first calculus test, which as last night's post might indicate, could have gone better. I was confident about half of it, and probably got considerable partial credit on the rest, so naturally I left the test room more than a little upset. Today, though, was quite nice, apart from the sore throat. It was my usual Friday routine (class, lunch, work), and it was chilly, only about 64 or so at most, but there was something comforting in the normalcy of it, I guess. After work, I met Sarah for dinner, and then we went to Whole Foods, my little slice of heaven on earth. I now have a fridge full of whole wheat pita bread, hummus, red grapes, yogurt, and a little bit of goat cheese, which I love. Leslie had referred me to the LivingSocial $20 worth of groceries for $10 deal, so I ended up only paying 50 cents for all of it (well, $10.50 total, I suppose, but I only had to pull out five dimes at the register). Then I decided on impulse to go to the gym, which probably didn't help my throat but felt good nonetheless. I ran an entire mile without stopping tonight; that was actually my gym goal for the semester, so I guess I'm going to shoot for two miles without stopping or completing a mile in under 10 minutes (that and losing 15 pounds, but I don't want to be unreasonable about things). I also made considerable headway on my study abroad application and had a nice conversation with my dad. All in all, a decent Friday.

Observations on a Tuesday

• Apparently the peanut butter, jelly, and apple sandwich from the Pav is over 800 calories. How is that even possible? I'm definitely eating only one half in a sitting from now on.
• Kabob Palace's brown rice is even better than its white rice.
• Once again, I went to the gym and overworked myself to the point where I felt sick. My stomach still hasn't fully recovered. What am I thinking about? Food. Brain, what is wrong with you?
• Sporcle minefield quizzes are so addictive. Yes, I can get all the state postal abbreviations within a minute if I just try one more time. Wait, fingers, why do you keep pressing the K instead of the R when responding to "Arkansas." (This happened twice. What the hell? I definitely know my state abbreviations, I just have to think about them for a few seconds sometimes.)
• Just when I think I'm done with my homework, more pops up. It's like Whack-a-Mole. Just stay down, goshdarnit!
• I may or may not have spent more time thinking about how to draw a turtle-duck than reviewing my history homework. The history homework will get done before bed, however, because there's a section assignment due tomorrow and I intend to rock it.
• Mad Men is weird. By the way, I will never like it more than The West Wing, for the simple reason that so few of the characters are even remotely sympathetic. Peggy, Sally, and Hollis the elevator guy are cool. Harry Crane is relatively likable. The priest played by Colin Hanks, Betty, and Trudy Campbell have their moments. Everyone else I just want to slap, especially Don.
• Rain is overrated.

Monday Night, As I Listen to the Rain

is a phrase I never used when I lived in El Centro. The phrase "Monday night, as I listen to the severe thunderstorm that may or may not continue until 11 PM, according to the National Weather Service" applies doubly. Yet here I sit in Charlottesville, recovering from a particularly strenuous gym visit by lying on my bed, listening to the steady downpour outside my window and battling my way through Plato's Republic. I think I worked myself too hard tonight; I ran for nine minutes straight, then alternated jogging and walking on the treadmill for the remaining eleven. When I finished, I felt sick to my stomach and had to sit on a bench outside the cardio room for a while before I could go back in and finish my workout. That's probably not a good sign. On the other hand, I've lost half a pound since Wednesday, so maybe I need to just tell my body to deal with it and soldier on.

Today was fairly nice, if not as productive as yesterday. I went to class, ran some errands on the Corner, watched some Mad Men, and had dinner with some PMP mentors and mentees. Only two classes tomorrow, so hopefully things will be more restful then. So far, September is off to a good start.

Howl's Moving Castle (and This Week's Miscellany)

Last night I watched Miyazaki's adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle. On the one hand, it was absolutely beautiful and really enjoyable to watch. On the other, it was basically nothing like the book. Considering I still haven't entirely made up my mind on the book, maybe this is a good thing, but a lot of the changes the movie made just didn't make sense. There was no reason to make the Witch of the Waste into a senile old lady. Why was Michael a little boy (who apparently goes by Markl)? What was the point in making the scarecrow-prince in love with Sophie? If you're going to introduce Lettie, why put her in just the one scene and then not bring her up again the entire movie? I'm thinking that if I hadn't read the book, I would be able to appreciate Miyazaki's film for what it is. Certainly it is a very pretty fairy tale. Jones's book is a deconstruction and affectionate parody of the fairy tale genre, though, so I'm thinking Miyazaki either missed the point or liked some elements of the story enough to produce his own wildly different variation of it. I just missed seeing Sophie be really awesome at the end, I guess. So ... yeah. I've now seen my fourth Miyazaki. Spirited Away is still my favorite. Which one should I watch next? I've seen Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Ponyo.

Here are this week's other happenings:

• Today was Myers-Briggs day at work. I'm an INFJ, which actually made a lot of sense when I read the description. Apparently Eleanor Roosevelt was also an INFJ, and she's one of my favorite historical figures ever, so hells yeah.
• Boy Meets Girl is so darn predictable and has every Cabot quirk I don't like. I shall prevail, though, because this woman's writing is like my crack. I wish I could quit you, Meg Cabot! Except no, I don't.
• My knees hurt from too many lunges. Ouch.
• I am enjoying my Very Potter Musical soundtrack way too much. My neighbors haven't knocked on my door and asked me to stop singing along yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if they do.
• Inconsistent Internet is inconsistent. At least I'll be back in the dorms soon, where I rarely have any Internet problems.
• Ahh last week in the apartment. I shall be a laundry and cleaning fiend next weekend. This weekend, though, I plan on being a lazy bum. No one can stop me!
• The weather is so gorgeous right now. Other than the mosquitoes, I would love it if every day was like today.

Flawless weekend, here I come!

Good Life

Hallelujah! The kitchen in my sublet is close enough to the UVa network that I can get Internet without trekking over to the South Lawn. It's not the strongest connection in the world, and I can't lounge around my room while I use it, but at least it's indoors and I can bring the fan over if I get too warm. As I told my mother yesterday, I can survive without Internet. It's just so much easier when I don't have to.

Work was fairly standard and I had a good time playing with the kids today, even if I got caught in the rain without an umbrella on my way from the bus stop. The real fun of the day, however, came after work, when Kaitlin dropped by for dinner and Deathly Hallows: Part 1. We made Thai stir fry and then settled in to watch the movie. Kaitlin hasn't seen the last few Harry Potter films because she's (understandably) disgruntled at how the earlier ones came out, but she told me after we finished this one that she liked it much more than she expected to. Unfortunately she's a little busy with summer classes for us to go see Part 2 in theatres like we'd planned, but we're thinking that maybe we can have a group outing when we all come back to school in a few weeks. Already I'm impatient for third year to start, although admittedly I'm getting along fine without the homework.

There's not much else going on. I'm reading Boy Meets Girl by Meg Cabot, which ought to be a quick read, and then I'm moving on to Lorna Doone (perhaps the snack cookie fits in somehow). Oh, and my parents are amazing, but I'm pretty sure they know that already. Bonne nuit!

Business as Usual

Today was a pretty standard day. I ordered my textbooks, went to work, played Sims, and talked to my mother. Exciting news, at least for me: My mom is coming to visit in October! She'll be here for three full days just before my birthday, which means I'll actually get to celebrate with her in person for the first time since my eighteenth. She'll also get to see my dorm room, which she's never been able to do before.

Explanation: I hadn't yet set foot on Grounds when I decided to come to UVa. My family and I made a cross-country road trip with all my stuff the summer before college, ending up at my aunt's house in Pennsylvania. From there we drove down to Charlottesville for a couple of days, about a month before the semester was due to start. As it was July, I didn't have key card access to my dorm, so my parents saw the outside of it, but by move-in day they had been back home for several weeks, and my aunt was the person who moved me in. Second year I took a plane instead of a car, and my parents didn't go with me. So this will be my mom's first official visit, for all intents and purposes. After all, none of us knew anything about Charlottesville when we drove down to see UVa. Now I've been living here for nearly two years, and I feel confident in my ability to give my mom a real tour.

Nothing much going on the rest of the week. That's okay. I'm happy to just spend my evenings reading novels and my days winning my bread.

Happenings

• I went to see Deathly Hallows again this afternoon. Compared to the midnight showing, this audience was dead quiet, but I was able to catch some lines I missed (like Ron's "That's my girlfriend, you numpties!") when sitting with the boisterous crowd from last week. There weren't many people in the theatre with me, but I was rather dismayed to see at least two young children with older relatives. Perhaps they had read all the books, knew what was coming, and had parents who knew they could handle mature content, in which case I don't really have a problem with them seeing the film. However, there was a little boy of maybe eight or nine who sat in my row with his father, and I heard him quietly ask if they could leave a couple of times. My suspicions are that there are plenty of parents operating under the misassumption that the Harry Potter films are kids' movies, and going to see one means fun for the whole family. 
• This is actually an issue I think about with regard to my own future children, because there's no way I'm not going to share Harry with them, but it's tough to know which age to start at. The first two or three are perfectly acceptable for six to nine-year-olds, but I'm really uncomfortable with the thought of someone in early elementary school reading about Hermione's torture in Deathly Hallows, for example. That scene was hard for me to read at sixteen, and while Josh handled it relatively well at eleven, I still don't know if I would be okay with a child that young experiencing it. Food for thought.
• Went back to Whole Foods to pick up some groceries after the movie. Yes, it is still my happy place.
• I don't mind not having a car, but it is rather annoying knowing I'll have to add on 30-45 minutes of travel time whenever I want to go shopping. Mostly this isn't a big deal, because especially during the school year I don't have much cause to run errands over in Seminole Square, but it is rather irksome knowing that, even if I get my groceries done at 3:30, I likely won't make it back to work for the rest of the afternoon because I have to take the bus all the way around, past Fashion Square, to get to the university area. Ugh.
• About to make a quiche on my own! I'm quite excited to see how it'll turn out.

A Six-Year-Old Beat Me at Monopoly Today

Among other things, although since I was taking over from his grandmother and only played about half the game, I'm not sure it really counts as a loss on my part. Why no, I'm not defensive at all. Do I sound defensive? I don't care...

Pretty normal day. Worked with the kids, Skyped with Meagan, and made more crepes than one person should really be eating in one day. I'm going to see Deathly Hallows again tomorrow, since I got a couple paychecks yesterday, and I might make another trip to Whole Foods while I'm out there. Not looking forward to the end of the week, when it's going to be 100 degrees or more with heat indexes up to 115. Those kinds of temperatures are only acceptable in El Centro in mid-May. I'm loving my Charlottesville life, but this is not going to be a fun week to be outside.

The Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Men

Today got off to a good start; I was in church five minutes early and got to enjoy lots of fruit during fellowship time. I planned on going grocery shopping sometime in the midafternoon, after I'd had a chance to rest and goof around, but, alas, I left things a bit late and by the time I was ready to leave the bus schedule had ended for the day. On the bright side, I figured out which bus I should take to get to Whole Foods, so hopefully the next time I go out I'll be laden with quality organic fare.

I spent the rest of the afternoon Skyping Richie and then my mother and watching Firefly. I'm still not blown away by it but it's enjoyable. Just three more episodes and then Serenity to go!

Various and Sundry

This week's miscellany:

• Lauren made a delicious pink lemonade pie for her and Alex's cookout on Saturday, and I liked it so much I looked up a recipe and threw it together last night. As it turns out, there was leftover filling, so I made another one tonight for Fourth of July weekend.
• Going to the grocery store easily adds another two hours or so to my daily routine, however, so I decided not to trek all the way out to Barracks for pre-made pie crust. Instead, I bought some graham crackers at CVS and mixed up my own.
• Unfortunately, I could not get the graham crackers to "sand consistency" no matter how many times I hit them with a hammer (they were in a Ziploc bag). My crust is therefore very lumpy and takes up way more of the pie pan than with the store-bought kind.
• I also made mint chocolate chip pie because I had cheap ice cream in my freezer (it was 2 boxes for $5 at Harris Teeter, so I bought French vanilla for the pink lemonade pie and mint chocolate chip because it's my favorite). Betty Crocker recommended a chocolate crust, so I went ahead and made an Oreo crust. I'm not entirely happy with it, but it tastes all right.
• I now have an insane number of dishes to wash. Ugh.
• It costs the same amount of money to laundry here as it does in the dorms, and there's no conveniently-located quarter machine nearby. I've been meaning to do my laundry for three days now, and I can finally get to it after going to the Corner to get change.
• There is a possibility that I might have two houseguests this weekend. Exciting!
• Virginia mosquitoes are vicious. I can't remember the last time I had this many bites.
• I may or may not have watched the Brave trailer (see yesterday's post) five times today.
• The button on my umbrella broke off and I'm not sure how to fix it, or if I even can. Of course this happened today, when it was pouring rain outside. At least the buses run on Tuesdays.
• The next West Wing episode on the list is "Celestial Navigation." YES.
• I like that I can roundly verbally abuse Antonin Scalia at work and not get in trouble for it.
• My brother is in Chicago right now. He was accepted to a summer program, which means he'll actually get to figure out his way around campus before the other freshmen do and not look completely lost for the first few weeks of the quarter. Haha. I'm kind of miffed UVa never offered me anything like this, though.
• I rescued The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe from the $5 bin at Bed, Bath, and Beyond yesterday. I'm so glad to finally have my own copy, since my family cruelly denied me the one at home.
• No work on Saturday! I haven't had a day off in over a week now!

¿Que está pasando?

Today was a typical Charlottesville summer Saturday. I got up, went to the Farmer's Market, bought crepes for breakfast (strawberry-cinnamon-white chocolate = A+), worked at Mira's, and had fun at Lauren and Alex's get-together. Unfortunately, I'm still recovering from my adventures in babysitting yesterday, so all you're getting is a perfunctory drive-by post again tonight. I think some iPod Monopoly and/or Sims 2 playing is in order. Until tomorrow!

On Notice, Part III

I had a decent day, but I'm tired and want to exercise minimal effort before bed. Basically, woke up, went to Mira's, worked with Noah, came home, ate dinner, left the apartment, had a mini-Mash marathon with Annie, Aaron, and Emily, went home, and listened to Stephen Colbert and Keith Olbermann on Fresh Air while doing sudoku puzzles. That's about it.

Have another On Notice board! Bonne nuit.

(By the way, I mean Republicans generally. If we're friends and you're a Republican, I'm able to look past your politics because I like you as a person. If we're friends and you're a Yankee fan... well, everybody has their faults.)

It's Monday, Monday

My day was spent scanning images at work, playing The Sims 2, and washing dishes. Nothing interesting to report. I'm off to eat a very late dinner (because my body still thinks it's 8 o'clock rather than 11) and maybe watch some West Wing before bed. Good night!