A surprise from above

This morning, I went on a lovely run in the lovely 64 degree February Auburn weather.  The run was awesome.  Slow and steady with a 15 minute walk at the end.  I get back to my house, ice my knee, join roomie Anna in a round of The Michael Jackson Experience, help roomie Grace flip some pancakes, when all of a sudden the roomies make a realization…. I have bird poop in my hair!!!

That’s right, when I was enjoying my “lovely” morning run, a bird had the audacity to poop on my locks.  I remember feeling something small hit my head on the run, but thought it was just a raindrop or a leaf or something.  Never ever would I have expected it to be bird poop.  But the Lord had other plans.  It WAS bird poop.

What happened next, you ask?  I screamed like a girl in the Parent Trap, ran to the bathroom, and took a shower.  Now I’m bird poop free and sitting outside studying.  Keeping my eyes out for those sneaky little birds, naturally.

I also feel like it’s important to add that the pancakes we ate this morning were oatmeal pumpkin craisin white chocolate chip flavored.  Try that on for size.

Yesterday and today

Yesterday:

The high was 73 degrees.  On January 25th.  Didn’t even need to wear tights!  But I did anyway because I wasn’t expecting such spring-like weather.  So, after teaching and office hours, I stayed outside most of the rest of the day, played with a puppy, read Latin American theatre, went on a walk, ate lunch, fixed a string of lights on the patio with the roommates, ate popcorn, and searched for holes where squirrels might be entering in the attic or walls. (no luck).  It was full of welcomed distractions and beautiful sunshine that will hopefully last me until March when it comes back for real (I hope!).

 

Today:

Sean McConnell is great studying music.  And by great studying music, I mean I am enjoying his tunes more than actually studying.  So maybe it’s not great for being productive, he’s got great music, lyrics, and that voice full of soul.   And there are three double letters in his last name, which makes me happy.

Some good lyrics:

“Maybe I’m not the one that you hoped for, and you’re right, maybe I’ll never change.  And maybe there’s not much here to love, but maybe you can love me anyway.”

“I’m a saint’s heart in a sinner’s skin… I never know which one’s gonna win.  Father, forgive me, I know exactly what I do.  And I keep doing it right in front of you…”

So, happy Thursday!  Highlight of the day: Lunch at CHIPOTLE with amigos and CANDY LAND with the Morans.  Coming up in 1 hour and 15 minutes!

 

Night Callers/Crawlers

A few rare happenings took place this past weekend in the Magnolia House:

1. A phone call from Mario/JaMario (no one knows) from the Madison County Jail which led to a ten-minute three-way “conversation” between Mario and his brother DeAndre that was hardly decipherable except for a few phrases like “Come on man, just give me SOMEone’s numba- your girl, your grandma, a guy, come ON,” “the cop smelled weed” and “I need someone to cosign!”  Cap so diligently helped out this fella who had been thrown in the jailhouse and even accepted the $10 fee.  But talk about a weird phone call to receive at 11:30 pm… “Madison County Jail” flashing up on the caller ID.  We hope Mario and DeAndre found their way out of this one.

2.  A mysterious night crawler (squirrel? rat? mouse?) that has been traveling among the walls and ceilings of our house for the past few nights and gnawing or scratching on the inside of the walls loud enough to wake us up at 3/4 am.  He is in the process of being sequestered by the homeowner, we hope!

3.  Wii games: Michael Jackson – the Experience.  Just Dance 3.  Hours on end. No explanations necessary.

4.  An unfortunate lack of studying (this is not so rare…oops).

So now it’s back to the books/internet/papeles!  Hasta el próximo…

 

 

Howdy

Hello, friends.  I think it’s time for an explanation.  I’ve jumped around so much between blogs here, blogs there, and blogs everywhere.  But now I’ve decided to return to my first love: WordPress.  Tumblr was interesting, and I learned a lot from my experience there, but WordPress just makes more sense to me.  I find it more straightforward, and I don’t have to worry about accidentally creating a new blog every time I write a post (an actual previous problem due to my lack of technology skillz).

So here I am, once again, at spaghetticarbonara.wordpress.com.  I am not sure what’s going to come out of my mind and onto this webpage, but stay tuned if you’re at all interested in what musings might wander out of my always scattered brain.  Happy Friday to all.   I sure am glad it’s the weekend.

the rainforest

Hola todos!

I have arrived in the land of milk and honey and monkeys, aka COSTA RICAAA! Today was our first full day here in this land, and already I have seen a cane toad (huge), 4 monkeys (cute but apparently mean and poop on people’s heads), leaf-cutting ants (they form lines and carry bits of leaves that they cut), lots o’ other bugs, Costa Ricans, banana trees, guava trees (guavas are good and smell good too!), a snake (blehhhhhaaa), many butterflies (tour guide/GTA says that there are hundreds of species of ‘em just in this part of the Monteverde Cloud Forest), and stray dogs.

I will try to update my nature sightings daily, because I mean, I’m in a rainforest, people! How often does that happen?! A group of us went on a hike this afternoon on a trail called the Camino Real, and we decided that we felt like we were in a combination of Forrest Gump (when he is in Vietnam) and Honey I Shrunk the Kids (when they are small in the grass and the sprinklers are getting them). I came up with the Honey I Shrunk the Kids analogy, and I’m pretty proud of it. Also, there is a ride/playground that has to do with that movie at Disney World, which ALSO houses the Rainforest Cafe, which is the first thing that came to mind when I walked into this world yesterday, naturally. It was a full circle moment.

Umm, what else? There is awesome food here, obviously. They put out this hot chocolate each night whose milk comes from the cows that live on this plot of land owned by UGA. There are about 150-something acres of land, with about 3 miles of trails, an organic farm which makes some of the food that is served here, and more. It’s so cool and I could write a whole long post about it but I don’t really want to right now.

I’m just so amazed and thankful that I am here right now, and if there are bugs everywhere (there are), it hasn’t bothered me, because they are costa rican bugs, and everything is new and exciting. Hopefully this feeling will last regarding the little buggies.

One not surprising moment of the day: While walking in downtown Santa Elena (a quaint but touristy mountain village), Grace alerted me that i had a huge bump in my hair due to not paying very much attention when getting ready this morning (typical). So, I decided to keep walking and fix my hair at the same time… you know, multitask! (bad decision #1). Well I guess Costa Ricans are generally a good bit shorter or maybe just more coordinated than me, because before I knew it, I had rammed into a metal box containing who knows what, and came away with a little bit of a gash on the arm that was fixing my hair. There was a good bit of blood, but my trusty teacher and GTA had some first aid supplies on them, so it was taken care of in no time. Now I’m just letting the wound breathe in the Costa Rican air so it can heal on up. I say wound, but it is really just a minor cut. No worries, Mom.

Other than that, I have been seeing some amazing views all over the mountains, attending the first class session, and meeting some really interesting people. Tomorrow I’m going to go milk a cow in the morning! I kind of feel bad for the cow in advance but I guess he’s pretty used to newcomers by now.

Well I’m going to start uploading pics tomorrow hopefully, so stay tuned if you want to see some jungle scenes or maybe even a picture of Grace’s first Costa Rican bug bites…you probably don’t want to miss this.

caffeine and facebook and not studying for finals

sometimes after i drink caffeine (coffee) i get really excited and write on lots of peoples facebook walls. it’s fun.

i remember when i first got facebook, my friends and i asked ourselves if we thought we would keep it even after college. i remember thinking back then, no way – i will be so mature after college, i won’t even give facebook a second thought.  but lo and behold, while i’m still semi-in college, i am not semi-removed from facebook. i feel like it will stay for a while, because sometimes it’s the best and easiest way to keep in touch with multiple friends who seem to keep scattering all over the world.  and having one (somewhat) nice little website to communicate with basically all of them is QUITE handy, i must say.

well that’s my 2 cents for tonight.

maybe i’ll have 2 more tomorrow!!!!!!

Welp, I just agreed to this.

I hereby acknowledge my awareness that my participation in the UGA Costa Rica Study Abroad Program may expose me to risk of property damage and bodily or personal injury, including injury that may prove fatal. I understand that the risks that I may encounter include but are not limited to airplane crashes, ferry, boat, trailer, train, car, bus, pedestrian and bicycle accidents, horseback riding and hiking accidents, political unrest, terrorist incidents, sicknesses (including but not limited to hepatitis A & B, typhoid, rabies, filariasis, leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis, American trypanosomiasis (Chagas’ disease), leptospirosis, malaria, dengue fever, traveler’s diarrhea and insect-borne diseases, animal bites, and drowning) criminal acts, as well as other risks that may not be foreseeable. I acknowledge that participation in horseback riding is hazardous and involves a risk of injury. I understand the potential dangers that could incur in mounting, riding, walking, feeding said horse, including, but not limited to interactions with other horses. I hereby assume any and all such risks. Furthermore, I acknowledge that I have received access to the link and read the Consular Information Sheet for the country of Costa Rica by the United States Department of State, located at http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1093.html.

-yikes.

also,

i will be in costa rica in 65 days.

This good Saturday

Involves:

- baking banana nut muffins

- Alison Krauss’ melancholy melodies

- a family networking party (laptops, ipads, etc.)

- cozying up in old comfy chairs

- all 3 sisters and 2 parents in one room

- processing all the teaching crammed into my brain from David Platt’s “Secret Church” last night, and recovering from the latest I’ve gone to bed in about 4 months (2 am)

- watching the blue birds fly in and out of their home on the back porch

- a yummy mug of “dark chocolatey memories” (that’s what it actually says on the box… it’s really just dark hot chocolate)

- just being. not worrying about anything, but resting in the truth of the Gospel.

- writing emails to friends in foreign countries whom i love and miss

- brainstorming ways to exercise my creative genes!

found on etsy.com, entitled "i am alice"

Welcome to my brain

Hello!  Today it is Friday Write Day.  I am currently writing some fabulous and extremely interesting (note the sarcasm… note it) research papers, hoping to finish them today slash in the next two hours because I have big plans for tonight. That’s right folks, on the menu is a certain cilantro-lime pizza that is sure to delight tastebuds of all who dare to eat it.

So until then, I press on.  Second cup of coffee by my side, cranking out the analysis of Spanish literary fables and Medieval poems that I KNOW are living somewhere in the crevices of my brain.  They just have to come out of hiding and onto my computer screen.  So come on little words and ideas, coooome on now.

And if anyone is reading this, say a little prayer for me!  And then we will be together forever and you’ll stay in my heart and I will love you!