• a rainstorm blows through and all three of your roommates are as enthusiastic about puddle jumping as you are. it leads to tens minutes of the bunny hop through a forty foot puddle.
• killing flies in your apartment becomes a valued technique and turns into a competitive game.
• your refrigerator stops working. someone notices that the cheese is softer than normal and the frozen fruit is dripping all over the freezer. you report it to residential life, and when you come back to class, there's a new refrigerator. how did i know? all the food inside was not where we left it. i have a feeling that appliance repair will never be that easy again.
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in other news, i struck out on my back with my camera bag this afternoon. i wanted to take some pictures around some corn and soy fields around dinner time. i made the mistake of wearing shorts and a tank top with tennis shoes. the instant i hopped off my bike, i was assaulted (no exaggeration) by mosquitoes. i couldn't even focus the camera without feeling the urge to slap or swat. i rode home, put on pants, sleeves and some defunct bugspray, and embarked again on round two (with more success). i consider two scenarios in light of this encounter: (1) the farmers that tend those fields don't spray pesticides or (2) the farmers readily spray pesticides but the mosquitoes have developed resistance to the chemicals. in which case, morris is breeding a super-race of mosquitoes! watch out world!!!
i am taking to my latin america (one in literature and one in film) classes like a bee on pollen (shout out ecology lab!). learning from native speakers is so enjoyable. i love having spanish class everyday, and the content of each of the classes is very complementary. i'm going to learn a lot this semester!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Small Joys
The small joys present in this small town are numerous. Since moving into Apartment G4 on the UMM campus, I have experienced a glorious handful of these moments interspersed between others in which I stop and wonder, "hey, where'd all my friends go?"
Our apartment lays on the east end of the campus. Our bedroom windows face east, and once again, I have the privilege to witness sunrise every morning over the wind turbine. To add to the glory of it all, my desk is right next to the door that leads to our balcony/staircase/fire escape. We have been leaving the door open to facilitate cross-ventilation and also to enjoy the view. So, sitting at my desk, I turn to my left and see my roommate and turn to my right and have a great view of the prairie.
The only downside to the open-door policy on the balcony is that we have managed quite the collection of house flies. There are dozens in our apartment. The four of us had some (morbid?) fun swatting at them with rolled up newspaper. We killed several, but many remain. While working on an essay at my desk, I managed to kill four with my bare hands. I am proudly maintaining a housefly graveyard on my desk to serve as a warning for the ones who remain....
I get an hour plus (!) of Spanish everyday :) A teacher I had for my first ever Spanish class at UMM just returned to teach a course for a professor that's on sabbatical this semester. She remembered me from four years ago when I could hardly pronounce "Me llamo Andrea." We had a good conversation yesterday, and I am looking forward to her class and taking advantage of her office hours to practice speaking!
We went out to Pomme de Terre Park for our ecology lab this morning. Walking around with a field notebook reminded me of academic excursions in Costa Rica. This time around my surroundings are a little less tropical and a little more... prairie :) Margaret walked us around a place we all know too well - the only place in town with bike trails - and we entered a new world. The names of the plants, and the insects that pollinate them. There's so much to know and understand about the dynamics of the ecosystem, the relationships between flowers and their visitors. Everyone in the class was curious and asking questions. It was great. I even snagged myself a pair of good lab partners!
Our apartment is probably the homiest home away from home I ever lived in. One of my roommates brought vases with her for decoration, and we filled them with prairie plants from the park or rather "weed bouquets". They're beautiful :) We also have a couple of antique pieces of furniture that make the generic living room really comfortable. And photos on shelves and on the walls. I've had to adjust to sharing less space with more people again, but the company I have in this apartment is certainly worth the extra effort.
Our apartment lays on the east end of the campus. Our bedroom windows face east, and once again, I have the privilege to witness sunrise every morning over the wind turbine. To add to the glory of it all, my desk is right next to the door that leads to our balcony/staircase/fire escape. We have been leaving the door open to facilitate cross-ventilation and also to enjoy the view. So, sitting at my desk, I turn to my left and see my roommate and turn to my right and have a great view of the prairie.
The only downside to the open-door policy on the balcony is that we have managed quite the collection of house flies. There are dozens in our apartment. The four of us had some (morbid?) fun swatting at them with rolled up newspaper. We killed several, but many remain. While working on an essay at my desk, I managed to kill four with my bare hands. I am proudly maintaining a housefly graveyard on my desk to serve as a warning for the ones who remain....
I get an hour plus (!) of Spanish everyday :) A teacher I had for my first ever Spanish class at UMM just returned to teach a course for a professor that's on sabbatical this semester. She remembered me from four years ago when I could hardly pronounce "Me llamo Andrea." We had a good conversation yesterday, and I am looking forward to her class and taking advantage of her office hours to practice speaking!
We went out to Pomme de Terre Park for our ecology lab this morning. Walking around with a field notebook reminded me of academic excursions in Costa Rica. This time around my surroundings are a little less tropical and a little more... prairie :) Margaret walked us around a place we all know too well - the only place in town with bike trails - and we entered a new world. The names of the plants, and the insects that pollinate them. There's so much to know and understand about the dynamics of the ecosystem, the relationships between flowers and their visitors. Everyone in the class was curious and asking questions. It was great. I even snagged myself a pair of good lab partners!
Our apartment is probably the homiest home away from home I ever lived in. One of my roommates brought vases with her for decoration, and we filled them with prairie plants from the park or rather "weed bouquets". They're beautiful :) We also have a couple of antique pieces of furniture that make the generic living room really comfortable. And photos on shelves and on the walls. I've had to adjust to sharing less space with more people again, but the company I have in this apartment is certainly worth the extra effort.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
mañana me voy
i'm packing up my life again for the third time in less than four months. preparing for my last fall in morris. my last semester of spanish classes. and my first time living with three other people.
costa rica made me more heat-tolerant than i've ever been before, so although i always look forward to autumn, the imminence of winter also looms. i missed the changing leaves and the crisp air that comes in the fall months last year, so i am looking forward to being eased into winter instead of thrown into it. i have come to love the heat and tolerate the humidity of summer. i do not feel anxious for the summer to give way to fall, but i know its time.
i look forward to several things about morris: a life uncomplicated by commutes, motor vehicles and traffic; the ability to bike off into the sunset until my legs tire with only harvesting combines to accompany me; living independently again in a supportive and engaged community; having an hour plus of spanish built into every day of the week; exploring photography.
many more good things await me in morris than i ever thought could at this time a year ago. although i am reluctant to depart from the metropolitan area (after all, i have many dear friends settled here and nearly all my extended family), i am not dreading it. that is a blessing.
bring on the fifth year! i am super-senior!
costa rica made me more heat-tolerant than i've ever been before, so although i always look forward to autumn, the imminence of winter also looms. i missed the changing leaves and the crisp air that comes in the fall months last year, so i am looking forward to being eased into winter instead of thrown into it. i have come to love the heat and tolerate the humidity of summer. i do not feel anxious for the summer to give way to fall, but i know its time.
i look forward to several things about morris: a life uncomplicated by commutes, motor vehicles and traffic; the ability to bike off into the sunset until my legs tire with only harvesting combines to accompany me; living independently again in a supportive and engaged community; having an hour plus of spanish built into every day of the week; exploring photography.
many more good things await me in morris than i ever thought could at this time a year ago. although i am reluctant to depart from the metropolitan area (after all, i have many dear friends settled here and nearly all my extended family), i am not dreading it. that is a blessing.
bring on the fifth year! i am super-senior!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
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