Hiatus

Wow, it seems I have taken a hiatus from blogging lately. I don't even remember the last time I wrote a blog, but I think it was late June or early July. It has been quite a summer since then.

Of course, I am still loving my job at Heifer. I hope I am able to get hired as a regular employee. Since starting in late June, I have stayed busy both at work and at home. That is part of the reason I haven't blogged a whole lot; but at the same time, life is a little more routine now that I am back in the United States... Get up at 6:20 a.m., leave the house around 7 a.m., get to work about 7:45 a.m., leave work about 5 p.m., get home at about 6 p.m. and go to bed around 9:30-10 p.m. That is quite a difference from life when I was in Spain -- going to bed at 2 or 3 a.m. Although, some of my eating schedule habits are about the same. I eat lunch around 2 p.m. and have had dinner as late as 9 p.m.

I haven't spent a lot of time on Facebook either. So I want to take a minute to shout out to all of my friends in Spain (hopefully at least one or two are reading this). I hope all is well there.

So what else have I done? Other than write a completely random blog post at the beginning of August? Unfortunately I have gained back all the weight, plus some that I had lost in Spain. I've been camping and kayaking. I've been to the lake a few times. I even got to go fishing once. I think I have finally found a church to attend regularly in Sheridan -- First Landmark Baptist. Hmmm, life is pretty average right now. I don't expect much excitement for the next several months, although 2013 will be here before I know it.


Uuf, parece que no he escrito un blog hace mucho tiempo. No recuerdo la ultima vez escribi, pero creo que era en el fin de junio o el principio de julio. He tenido un verano lleno desde entonce.

Claro, todavía encanto mi trabajo con Heifer. Espero que pueda trabajar allí como empleado normal. Después de empezar de trabajar con ellos en el fin de junio, he estado muy ocupado, ambos en el trabajo y en casa. Por eso no he escrito mucho. Pero al mismo tiempo la vida no es tan loca ahora, es vida diaria y rutina. Me despierto a las 6:20, salgo de la casa a las 7, llego al trabajo a las 7:45... Salgo del trabajo a las 18h, llego a la casa a las 19h, y me acuesto a las 21:30-22:00h. Es una vida bastante diferente que la vida en España cuando no me acueste hasta las 3. Aunque, algunos hábitos de comer son los mismos. Almuerzo a las 14h y aveces ceno a las 21h.

No he pasado mucho tiempo en Facebook tampoco. Así que quiero pasar unos momentos para decir hola a todos mis amigos en España y Europa (espero que alguien allí esta leyendo esta mensaje). Espero que todo va bien allí.

Bueno, que mas he hecho? Más que escribir un blog completamente al alzar al primer de agosto? Lamentablemente,  he ganado todo el peso de nuevo he había perdido mientras vivía en España, mas algunos pesos mas. Fui de kayak/piragüismo y acampar. He ido al lago para nadar unas veces y también una vez para pescar. Creo que por fin he encontrado una iglesia local aquí en Sheridan, First Landmark Baptist. La vida es mas o menos mediana por ahora y probable sera durante unos meses, aunque 2013 estará aquí pronto.

Hunger Games

I am a little behind on some popular reading, but decided to catch up the other day after continually seeing and hearing about Hunger Games. I found the book online and began reading around 2 p.m. on Wednesday. I read for twelve hours straight, stopping only for a bite to eat. I read about two hours the following day and was finished with the book. After all, I only had about 30 pages left to read.

I didn’t really know what to expect going into the book, just that it was very popular. I approached with an open mind. It captured my attention from the beginning, something fairly difficult to do for me. I will say that some of the ending is predictable, but the events in between were unknown. What would happen next? I had to know. The writing style was almost journal-like as it was in first person. It often annoyed me. It was definitely not Harry Potter. But it was a great read. And throughout the entire read I kept trying to analyze it as if I were back in my high school literature class days. What was being said about our society? Was this an allegory?

I began to think that maybe the Capitol was meant to represent the United States. The districts which were more well off, at least with plenty of food, might be considered Western Europe and possibly other industrialized nations such as Australia and Japan. And further districts were representative of places where, although some people may be surviving without much problem, there are many people starving. Many people were needlessly dying from malnutrition and a lack of money to buy food, medicine and shelter.

I previously interned with an organization, Heifer International, whose mission was to end world hunger and poverty while caring for the earth. I couldn’t help but think about that in this context either. They work to teach communities invaluable skills. Later the community may receive plants or animals to help them become self-sustainable. These gifts begin to change their lives as they are not allowed to eat the gift itself. They can, however, eat the produce from the gifts and sell the rest for extra income. Take a cow for example. They can drink the milk. Or a nanny, which can provide milk for drinking or cheese. Keeping this in mind, I continued reading and then I came across this on page 144.

Owning a nanny goat can change your life in District 12. The animals can live off almost anything, the Meadow’s a perfect feeding place, and they can give four quarts of milk a day. To drink, to make into cheese, to sell.

That brings me to my conclusion. Whether or not this book is meant to be allegorical or not, it has some truth to it. It is no game at all. People around the world fight for their lives every day. Maybe they aren’t set up by the government against each other, with only one person allowed to live, but they have to fight their environment. They have to fight empty stomachs. They have to fight disease. They have to fight for their lives.

But, you and I, we can do something about this. Unlike the sponsors in the book it does not cost us a fortune to send gifts to these people. In fact, through Heifer International we can buy an entire flock of baby chickens for $20. Or, if we don’t want to spend that much, we could pay for a share of a goat for $10. Every little bit counts. Even a Heifer is relatively inexpensive, $500, when compared with the benefits. And these donations aren’t helping just one person, they’re helping many. The first female offspring will be given to another person in need. The gift keeps giving. You can view Heifer’s entire gift catalog online. With Mother’s Day just around the corner this is a great opportunity to help a family in need in her honor.

Names and Respect

A student who calls a teacher by his or her first name in the United States would probably have a quick trip to the principals office after a warning or two. It is considered disrespectful. Instead students refer to their teachers as Mr. or Ms. (last name).

The past three weeks though, I have heard just that. Students call teachers by their first names, no Mr. or Ms. attached to even that. It caught me by surprise at first. As I think about it, I have realized I don't even know a lot of the teacher's last names. The ones I do know are because of email addresses.

Another thing I have noticed is while walking in town people will cut you off or sometimes just stand in large groups blocking the sidewalks. On more than one occasion I have had to walk out into traffic to get around groups of people. Again, in the United States (at least the South) this would be considered rude. But even when getting off a bus, people don't even expect you to let them out, much less stop and tell them go ahead. It sometimes gets funny looks because it is unexpected.

In other news, I really need to get a bus card and figure out the LOCAL bus system. That may be one of my weekend tasks coming up.

Encouragements

I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of my friends, family, teachers and roomate who have encouraged me through this difficult transitioning time. It is really nice to read your facebook messages, emails, and instant messages.

As long as I don't have anything important to do like getting my VISA stuff taken care off I am generally OK now. The Visa still stresses me out but I will put it off until Monday when hopefully I can get some help. In the meantime I have decided that even if something goes wrong with the Visa, if I can afford to stay I will stay for the 90 days I can be here without a Visa. I will have to find new ways to use the language and be around it but hopefully whatever happens I will learn it.

Sophomore Year

Sophomore year I got to do some traveling. My mom had moved to New Jersey with my Stepdad. So after freshman year I went there to visit. I was able to see New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Boston, Trenton, and many other places.

For sophomore year I moved to North Park Quads. It was much nicer than Kays, but building five was a long way to walk to classes. It is also the year I really started enjoying my time at ASU. I volunteered at the BCM with "The Bridge" the ministry for International students. By the time I graduated, more than half of my friends were probably international students.

During the winter we got snow as usual. The power went out and NPQ did not have a generator. So we played chess when we woke up. Classes were canceled; I found that out even though I had to call my Dad in Little Rock to find out.

On Christmas Break I went back to New Jersey. I got to see New York City around Christmastime.

Oddly, I don't remember a whole lot from my sophomore year.