More Rambling on Home

Gee, can you tell I'm bored? I'd have to be, for three posts in one day :)

So I'm sitting here in my apartment, on a Friday afternoon around 4, waiting for everyone to come home from work. Since I got off at 1, I've already made myself a grilled cheese sandwich, done all the dishes, washed two new shirts in a bin in the sink, reorganized the food that I've had in containers all year (and salvaged the melting chocolate by putting it in the fridge), gone on Facebook, and posted twice to my blog. I'm lucky/unlucky enough to be working only three and a half days a week this summer, which means I have a lot of free time to sit around and relax, doing things like learning new songs on the piano, reading, and catching up on chores. Of course, I read at one of my jobs too. But it also means I get bored a lot. Of course, when I'm not bored, I'm hanging out with the many friends who are also here for the summer, sitting around in our living rooms, playing sports in the sun or in the rain, or running around Philly. I'm glad I get to spend this time with them, especially since most of us are going abroad next year.

I also find myself missing home. By home, I mean Needham home, my family, my dog, my high school friends. I don't think I've seen Neelima since winter break, and I haven't seen anyone else since March. Although I'm having a blast and I'm so glad I stayed here this summer, part of me is glad I'm going home at the end of June, because I miss it so much. I miss little things, like the foods we eat, which I have so accessible when I'm home but would have to spend extra money on or put effort into finding here. There are always bagels on my counter at home, but so far we've been too lazy to go to Bruegger's to get some. It's a summer tradition for my family to sit outside on the patio eating boiled artichokes with mustard/mayo sauce, one leaf at a time, an artichoke each; here, my roommates either don't like artichokes or have no particular desire to make them. I crave kugel, but no one here knows what that is. I want steak, which my dad makes so well, but decent steak costs a lot and I don't trust myself to grill it right and Gabi doesn't eat red meat anyway. I miss my dog like no other, which is weird because although I usually miss her, it's usually not this much. I miss driving around in my town. It's just been too long since I've seen my friends.

And yet last summer, when I was at home, I took all of these things for granted. I felt trapped, separated from Haverford by a six-hour drive and 300 miles, with so many days, weeks, months until Customs started. I counted down the days until I could visit, and I relished the one overnight I had here, making Josh walk upcampus with me so that I could see Founders and Magill. I missed it so much, and 90 days was too long to be away.

When I'm there, I miss here. I'm here, and I miss there. No matter which place I am, I ache for the other one. Of course, the ironic solution is that I'm running away to South America for five months instead of being in either place, and I'll get to miss both. Maybe afterwards, I'll miss Mendoza.

I don't think it's that I'm in between homes. I think it's that I have two homes, and I can never have both at once, but I love each one when I'm there while simultaneously missing the one where I'm not.

Apartment Photos

I realized I haven't posted photos of the finished apartment yet, for those of you who aren't at the 'ford this summer. Here they are!

 What you see when you walk in the door

The kitchen

One side of the living room

The other side (note the curtains :D)

Gabi's side of our room

My side

One more shot of our bedroom

Overall, I really like how it turned out. It feels homey. There's room for us to hang out and eat or have people over in the living room (and Matt's living there now), and our room is decorated to an extent that tends to surprise people. I guess since it's summer, people don't decorate? Anyway, there's plenty of natural light, and it's pretty roomy for three (now four) people. Yay for being a grown-up and HCA Summer!

Things My Mother Taught Me

Apartment living has made me realize just how much my parents, and especially my mom, have taught me about daily living. I've only ever lived at home, at camp, or in a dorm on the meal plan, so I'm learning a lot about myself by living in an apartment with two friends for a month and a half. I'm so incredibly grateful to have such amazing parents who have taught me so many things (and yes, I have told them this recently!). It's the little things I do on my own here, without parental prompting, that make me realize that no, I don't have to be reminded three times of everything, and yes, I have internalized a lot of what they've taught me, despite what they'd like to think. Such things, however simple and seemingly intuitive they may be (i.e., leave water in the dishes if you don't have time to wash them right away), have saved me a lot of time and effort. Plus, now that I've settled in, I'm actually eating healthily - including vegetables! And I'm drinking my milk.

Basically, even when I bitch about them, I love my parents. Hey Mom and Dad, look at me now! :)

CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE

Being An Adult: You're Doing It Wrong

Here's an example of how not to be a grown-up this summer (or ever):

Luckily, it wasn't my wine, nor was it my fault. But still, kind of funny.

Reason #4

I hung curtains. In our living room. Like a grown-up.

Okay, so they made a mess - strings and lint everywhere - and they're actually not wide enough for the window. To be fair though, I didn't pick them out. I would've measured. Well, maybe not actually. Eh, I might've.

Update: I ate a vegetable!

I'm totally getting there.

Reasons Why I'm a Grown-Up This Summer

For context, see this comic.

First off, I want to say that I have a ton of respect for people who graduate high school and start their real lives. I finally have a kitchen in HCA and I still can't remember the last time I ate a green vegetable. It's kind of been just carbs and cheese, and occasionally some chicken mixed in. Like, I usually resent my mother for calling me and asking me if I'm eating my vegetables, but I kind of wish she would do that right now, so that maybe I'd feel so guilty I'd go make a salad.

Despite this lack of nutrition, there are actually many reasons why I'm being a grown-up this summer, and Emily B. gave me the awesome suggestion to blog about it. So without further ado:

Reason Why I'm a Grown-Up This Summer #1:
I'm paying rent, with the money I make from my job.

Reason Why I'm a Grown-Up This Summer #2:
I do my own grocery shopping, with the money I make from my job.

In fact, my two roommates and I bought so many groceries it was ridiculous. Here I am with the receipt last night after we got back (notice how it's almost taller than I am):

Reason Why I'm a Grown-Up This Summer #3:
I'm no longer a teenager. So now I do things like work and pay rent and buy my own groceries. It makes sense.

Happy Summer!

Smile, You Are Beautiful!

Jessi game me this award - Thanks, Jessi! <3

Here are the rules:

1. Smile!

2. Write three things you like about your looks

3. Write three things you like about your personality

4. Write about something you find beautiful in other people (looks, personality, whatever)

5. Award as many other people as you'd like and let them know!

Okay, here goes...

1. :D (I smiled in real life too, I promise)

2. Despite the fact that I often bitch about it, I really do like my hair. I love the color, which you can't really get from dying your hair, and I love how I can wear it curly or wavy or straightened.

I also love my eyes. I know hair and eyes are the most common things to say, but it's true. I love that they're green, cause not many people have truly green eyes.

My hands. It might be weird to say, but I just really like them. They're nicely proportioned. :P

3. I like that I'm honest, and that I'm almost never fake around people. I like that, as Jessi always says, I'm level-headed - I can keep calm in tense situations, and I give thoughtful and rational advice. I'm also funny, or at least I think so, since I don't seem to have much trouble making my friends smile :)

4. In other people, I find a good heart to be the most attractive thing. People who are moral, and kind, who love instead of hate, who do nice things for other people and who aren't completely selfish. I know it's really cheesy, but if you don't have a good heart, we're probably not going to be friends.

5. I award the Smile, You Are Beautiful Award to:

• Kelley
• María
• Aubree
• Lizzy (even though you can't technically repost this on your blog)
• Charly
• Neelima
• Edit on 6/10: I'm awarding Alexandra too, in case she stalks my blog this far down :)

I hope everyone is enjoying the sunny weather! :D

Sun!

For the past hour, it's been beautiful outside. Yes, it's going to start raining again at any moment, but right now I'm appreciating the sun. For one of my jobs I can do work wherever I want, so I'm currently sitting under a tree on Gummere Green, taking in the nice weather and trying not to get sunburned. Here's my view:

NOW it's summer :)

The Summer List

Despite the fact that it's been raining all week and will continue to do so, IT'S SUMMER!!!

This is not what the sun is doing right now...

Here is my summer to do list (in progress):

• Go into Philly, a lot
• Eat gelato, a lot
• Shop in Media
  
• Go to King of Prussia
• Get Coldstone
• Road trip to Fairleigh's grandparents' beach house in Ocean City
• Go to the beach, in general
• Hit up Minella's at three in the morning at least once
• Learn to cook
• Make $$$$$ (or at least $)
• Learn to be a grown-up who has a job, pays rent, and cooks for herself
• Turn 20
• See Inception, Manic, and Whip It
  
• Watch Glee
• Make friendship bracelets
• Make beaded bracelets 
• See my home friends and my family, eventually...
• Go to the 4th of July flea market
• Get my wisdom teeth out
• Do absolutely nothing for three weeks and enjoy it thoroughly (well, except the wisdom teeth recovery part)
• Become un-addicted to caffeine
• Effectively pack my life into a suitcase and a backpack...and maybe another suitcase, and a carry-on duffel...
• GO TO ARGENTINA!!!

Also, my reading list (in no particular order, and not like I'll get through even half of these anyway):
Edit: I've asterisked the ones I really want to read

• The Help by Kathryn Stockett*
• Once Minutos by Paulo Coelho*
• Beachcombers by Nancy Thayer
• Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock
• A Woman Among Warlords by Malalai Joya
• You Know Who You Are by Ben Dolnick
• Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gately
• The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith*
• La Sombra del Viento by Carlos Luis Zafón
• Once in a Blue Moon by Eileen Goudge
• The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls*
• Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult*
• Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult*
• Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz*
• Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
• Sula by Toni Morrison*
• Beloved by Toni Morrison

Comment with things I should add! :)

Extension to my Ramble on Home

This post is an extension of an earlier post, in which I talked about where "home" is for me, and how it's changing. I think I wrote it a little after spring break, when I went "home" to Needham and was realizing the ways in which my Needham home and my Haverford home are or aren't really "home."

So now it's HCA Summer, meaning everyone has moved out of their yearlong housing and will soon be moving into the Haverford College Apartments. This will be awesome: I'll be with my friends, we'll have a kitchen so we can cook for ourselves, and HCA just has a chill, social atmosphere. I can easily make our apartment, and HCA, home for the summer.

But right now it's what I refer to as "Gummere week," when we all live in Gummere singles for the first week while they clean out HCA. Now that I've discovered that people hang out in the common room of 1/1, it's a little less lonely, but I'm coming to think of Gummere week as a lonely time. I have Josh and Janela living on my hall, which is awesome, but it's just weird to be on a hall with a bunch of people I don't know, in singles, living away from my friends. Gummere by nature is a bit isolating, since all of the rooms are singles, but I'm used to living here on Freshman halls where everyone at least knows each other if they're not all friends. But this week, I feel like Gummere is way more isolating that usual. I want to come home after work and sit in a living room and cook dinner with my friends, you know? It's not as fun to come back to a deserted hallway where everyone is in their rooms, and I have to start madly texting everyone to see where they are and what they're doing for dinner.

So how does this pertain to home? I guess just that I really appreciate having one. I like having a home base, that's somewhat more permanent than a week, and that's actually homey. Right now I feel like I'm in between homes, and I don't like it. And that's just on-campus homes. I haven't been MA-home since March, and while everyone else has emptied out and gone home to their families and, for the most part, to the places where they grew up, I'll be here until July. And when I do go home to Needham, it will only be for three weeks, to get my wisdom teeth out (ouch!), and attempt to pack my life into two suitcases and a backpack, and then fly off to somewhere else that, yet again, will have to become home.

I think that Argentina can become home, though. It will take some adjustment, some - as everyone keeps stressing - "Culture Shock." But I think I can do it. As long as I have a room that's my own, and hoepfully a nice family, I'll be fine. I'll be there for five months, so I'll develop a sense of "home" as well as a routine. It'll be cool for Mendoza to become home, at least temporarily. I've never formed a daily routine in another country, at least not for more than a week, so this will be a really cool experience for me.

Anyway, time to eat breakfast (alone in my room :'( ) and then go to work...later today I'll post my Summer List!

Other Blogs

Not that I don't love you, but I'm currently participating in two other blogs:

http://24hoursnowhere.tumblr.com/ (which is only for this 24-hour period)

and

http://urmybestfriend.tumblr.com/ (which is for the rest of the summer)

Enjoy! :)

My New Favorite Thing Ever

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.


This is so incredible I can't even handle it.

Ramble on Bin Laden Being Dead

Obviously, it's everywhere. It's all over the news, all over facebook, all over the emails my mom sent me this morning. Osama bin Laden is dead. We killed him. Celebrate!

I'm glad that someone filled with so much hate, who had so much power, can no longer use that power for the purposes of hate and violence and terror. I'm glad that people whose lives were affected by September 11th and the war that followed now have some solace. I'm glad that the twelve-year mystery as to where he is has been solved. I'm glad that some sort of punishment has happened against someone who's killed thousands of people in terror attacks, and that people who needed vengeance got it.

I remember one time in middle school, my friend was like "I don't hate anyone." And we were like "No one? Not even Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden?" They were always the example we used for the worst people in the world, because the were evil and our country hated them.

But here's the thing. I don't want to celebrate this. Because first of all, I have an inherent problem with celebrating a death. I also have a problem with calling a person "evil." Yes, I know he's done unspeakably horrible, evil things. But I just have trouble saying "Hoorah, he's dead!", no matter who it's about.

Secondly, terrorism isn't over. I know everyone knows this. But this man was just a symbol, and he's been in hiding for twelve years, and I'm sure that the rest of Al Qaeda can and will go right ahead scheming. There is so much hate in this world. It's not about this one dude, and whether we found him and shot him, maybe without ever even trying to capture him alive. Children are instilled with hate every day, by Al Qaeda and other organizations and in their daily life and in their homes, in the Middle East and Asia and Europe and Africa and the U.S. and all over the world. Hate is the problem, and we didn't get rid of that with the bullet that killed Osama bin Laden yesterday.

Don't Be Afraid to Be Yourself

Reblog and bold what applies to you.

• I’m loud.
• I’m sarcastic.
• I cry easily.
• I have a bad temper.
• I’m easy to get along with.
• I have more enemies than friends.
• I’ve smoked.
• I drink coffee.
• I clean my room daily.

My appearance:

• I wear makeup.
• I wear a piece of jewelry at all times.
• I wear contacts
• I have braces
• I have glasses
• I change my hair color often.
• I have a piercing.
• I have small feet

Relationships:

• I’m in a relationship now.
• I’m single.
• I’m crushin’.
• I’ve missed an ex before.
• I’m always scared of being hurt.
• I’ve told someone I loved them when I didn’t.
• I’ve told someone I didn’t love them when I did.
• I’ve been in love more than two times.
• I believe in love at first sight.

Friendships:

• I have a best friend.
• I have at least ten REAL friends.
• I’ve gotten a phone call in the last 48 hours from a friend.
• I’ve beaten up a friend.
• I’ve been in a serious fight with a friend.
• I can trust at least five people with my life. 

Experiences:

• I’ve been on a plane.
• I’ve taken a taxi.
• I’ve taken a city bus.
• I’ve taken a school bus.
• I’ve made a speech.
• I’ve been in some sort of school club.
• I’ve spent 24 hours on the computer straight.

Music:

• I listen to R&B.
• I listen to pop.
• I listen to techno.
• I listen to rock.
• I’m one of those people who plays songs repeatedly until I hate it.
• I download music.
• I buy CD’s.

Family Life:

• I get along with both of my parents for the most part.
• My biological parents are still together.
• I have at least one brother.
• I have at least one sister.
• I’ve been kicked out of the house.
• I’ve ran away from my home.
• I’ve sworn at my parents.
• I’ve made my parents cry
• I’ve lied to my parents…
• I’ve lied to my parents about where I am.
• I’ve lied to my parents about what I’m doing.
• I’ve lied to my parents so I’d be allowed out.

Hair:

• I’ve been brown
• I’ve had streaks.
• I’ve cut my hair in the past year.
• I’ve dyed my hair in the past year.
• I’ve been blonde.
• I’ve had black.
• I’ve been red.
• I’ve been light brown.
• I use conditioner.
• I’ve curled my hair.
• I’ve straightened my hair.