School Sweet School?

Sorry for the rushed post last time! I was planning on making it longer than that but we were literally walking out the door!

So I’m back in cloudy Washington. My long day of travel wasn’t that bad because our first flight had a good and free movie selection (I watched 2.5). Our layover in NYC wasn’t even that bad. I read every magazine, back of book, and tried out all the massage equipment in Brookstone. Alot of people worked on homework, read, ate both lunch and dinner…airports are very entertaining places! Then the last flight home got in a little early which would have been better if we all hadn’t told our rides to pick us up an hour later. Oh well!

I can share a little more about Trinidad now!

In addition to our swamp tour/bird watching we visited a few Hindu temples. Trinidad has a very heavy Indian influence. This guy was probably about 80 feet tall.

The second temple we went to was called “Temple in the Sea” because the guy who started building it got thrown in prison for trespassing when he originally wanted to build the temple. So when he got out he decided to build it on “no man’s land”- the ocean! Clever guy.

The temples were beautiful but I wish I knew a little more on Hinduism. It was cool to be able to see the Indian influence on Trinidad. Even their billboards and advertisements had Indian models.

Also, on one of our last days I got to have my favorite Trinibagonian delight, Bake N’ Shark! Bake is the bread in T&T and they give you a huge piece of shark that you can but what ever toppings you want on it.
My personal Bake N’Shark: pepper sauce (a little goes a long way!), ketchup, garlic sauce, cucumbers, and cabbage! My mouth is watering writing this.

One night we went to a Mas Camp (short for masquerade). Mas camps make outfits for Carnival and people can go around to the different ones and shop for their outfits which are then custom made for them. There are traditional Carnival costumes (the sailor, Indian, devil, etc) but then other mas camps have themes. The theme for the one we visited this year was “Festivals Around the World”. Each of these skimpy little numbers cost around $500 US. Also, whatever mas camp your costume comes from is the camp you walk in the parade with, which is an all day deal and also a competition. Carnival is a really big deal and it was sad learning about it and not being able to participate! It occurs in the middle of February. Guess I’ll just have to come back…

I think my favorite part of our stay in Trinidad was when a few of us went to visit an orphanage for girls who have been abused or abandoned. The girls were from ages 11 months to 17 years old. Like I said in one of my recent posts, I’m not a big kid person, but I LOVED this orphanage! The girls were so cool and outgoing and we taught each other songs and dances. It was a really short visit but I probably could have stayed there all day.

One day we spent the afternoon in Port of Spain, the capital and largest city in T&T! We did a little shopping and exploring. It was a lot different than any other city we’ve been to. People are more aggressive, there’s alot less “limin” and alot more crime. Whenever we told people in Tobago that we were going to Port of Spain, everyone of them said “Be careful!” I was expecting the worse, but it wasn’t any worse than any big city! This picture is of Port of Spain at sunset.

Our last day we stayed around the guesthouse for most of the day and had our final classes and just reflected on the whole experience. We also had an afternoon tea and our last dinner which was out on the balcony overlooking the rainforest. That night we went to a nearby pan yard that was about twice the size of the ones we saw in Tobago. It was a good way to end our stay, but I even think the girls who were homesick wanted to stay a little longer!

I’m unpacked now and just trying to get my American life in order again. It’s nice to see friends again and catch up with everybody but I got the travel itch, and bad. I’m already thinking of where my next adventure will be. Right now the only thing I can think about is traveling. I know a few of the girls on the trip realized how they don’t like being away from home for too long and have reconsidered their plans of Peace Corps, etc. But for me it’s the opposite. I am more reassured than ever that learning about the world through traveling is what I’m most passionate about.

Bye Island : (

Good morning! I woke up at around 4 am this morning (midnight at school…I wouldn’t even be going to bed yet.) because we sadly have to start our return journey home. I thought I would quick put up some pictures from our time in Trinidad though!

This is from a swamp tour we went on.

I put a slackline at Maracas Bay and not only taught girls from our group how to do it, but also some local Trinis, and travelers from Cananda, Guadalupe, and Brazil! It was fun because many of their native languages was French so I got to speak French with them!

We have a long day ahead of us. 5+ hours to NYC, a 6 hours layover, and a 6+ hour flight to Seattle putting us in around 11:30 pm Pacific time. Oufta. The return journey is never any fun!

A reflection/more detailed post to follow soon! I’ll definitely have time to do it since class doesn’t start for 2 more weeks!

Trinibago

Hello from Trinidad!

We got here last night and are all settled into our new guesthouse Pax, which used to be an old monastry. It’s a very different set up than our home in Tobago because there are other guests here, and they serve us food! So it’s fancier, more formal, and less like we’re actually living here.

Like all of this trip so far, our last week in Tobago flew by! On Monday night we had a dessert night were we all made desserts and invited some of the people we’ve met over to our house. It was fun to have guests over.

I thought living in a house of 19 girls was going to drive me crazy, but it was actually really great. We all got along surprisingly well and there was never any drama or anything. We lucked out!

Tuesday we went to Fort King George on top of Scarborough and learned more about the history of Tobago. There were canons everywhere and it reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies! That night we went to visit some pan yards where steel pan bands practice. Pan is a HUGE deal here and very competitive. It’s comparable to a sport here and everybody has their favorite teams. Bands also can reach up to hundreds of people. It’s very impressive and fun to hear!

Thursday we went into the rainforest! It was a cool hike and the highlight was eating termites out of their nest. Here’s our guide showing us how to do it. Termites are very nutritious and taste like carrots. I’d do it again anytime!

I also honed my skills with a machete…

Here’s the clinic I’ve worked at the past 3 weeks. I’m going to miss it and the people there so much!

This week we also visited some really beautiful waterfalls that we could swim in and climb the rocks and jump off of. It was so beautiful! Some other girls have pictures that I’ll have to get because it was one of those things that you don’t want to take pictures of, you just want to enjoy. And I did! One of my favorite parts of the trip I think!

And now we’re on the other island! We’re about to leave so I have to cut this short. But I will try to post a Trinidad blog before we go home! But everything is good and I’m excited to explore this island which is so intensely different from Tobago! There is so much more to write about but it’ll have to wait!

Shake Yo’ Bumba!

Hello again! Things are good as always here! In case you were concerned Tobago wasn’t affected at all by the recent Caribbean earthquakes; we didn’t even notice a change in the weather or waves or anything!

Recently we’ve spent the day on a catamaran snorkeling. The coast is beautiful and reminds me of the show Lost. It was also fun to be on the boat after having just gotten my sailing license.

Slacklining on palm trees!

This is our guesthouse, Pearl’s Place! Our home and base camp for our many, many adventures.

We spent one day in Charlotteville, a fishing village on the north side of the island. It was extremely laid back and beautiful. Like, I think it might be the prettiest place I’ve ever been. We went sea kayaking here and it was fun because we also got to see the group from PLU that is studying in Trinidad for the semester. They stayed the week in Charlotteville.

Trying my hand at cricket. Although unable to impress the locals with my skill, I at least made them laugh.

And today I went surfing for the first time! I LOVED it! I got up, but still am not good at it. I could have stayed out there all day! I wish I could just practice all the time! If I ever live by a coast (not counting lakes or the Puget Sound) there is no doubt that I will be a surfer! It’s so fun and cool!

My service site has been really good and I’m learning so much! This past week I shadowed one of the counselors and the lab/researcher. It was two very different perspectives that I really enjoyed. I learned so much about HIV/AIDS and what they are doing in search of a cure and how to work with patients who are living with the infection. It’s very inspiring to be working with these doctors who are so passionate about what they do. I can only hope to be able to find a career that I’m just as passionate about!

The biggest cultural shock I’ve experienced so far on the trip occurred when some of us went to lecture on gender and violence. The discussion was with government officials and the general population. It quickly turned into a extremely heated attack on homosexuality and made me realize how homophobic Tobago is. Having homosexual friends, I was defensive and offended by some of their comments, but at the same time I tried to see it from their perspective since they grow up in such a traditional, conservative culture. Cultural values and relativity has been something I’ve been thinking alot about recently.

One day I spent some time with children at an orphanage. The kids ranged from ages 5 months to 18 years. They were NUTS! They were climbing all over and braided my hair and called me Hannah Montana. They really like her here, along with Michael Jackson. It was fun to visit for a few hours and the kids got a kick out of it, but it was overwhelming! I don’t think I would like to work with that many kids everyday. I’ll stick to the sickly!

So that’s a little bit of an update I guess! Of course, a seriously condensed version! We only have 5 more days in Tobago and then we are off to Trinidad! It will be sad to leave the clinic, but I’m excited to see what the other island has to offer!

Do you know Miley Cyrus?!

Hello again! I have a few pictures!

Here’s the place we stayed at the first couple of nights

I’m at the beach or by the pool daily!

Here’s the view from our super huge room. We watch cruise ships go in and out. Super pretty at night!

I’ll take more pictures of our house and my service site and stuff in the future. I need to step up my picture taking! I also have alot of pictures I need to get from other people. So…lots more in the future!

We’ve had a super fun and busy week! My service site at the Health Promotion Clinic has been a really amazing experience so far. We shadow the doctors and counselors as they work with patients. It’s really interesting and I’m lucky I have such a good site placement!

We’ve also been meeting alot of super nice people! Our group is quite popular! We went to a karoke bar one night and will be trying out some more nightlife this weekend. We’re also going snorkeling and taking a surfing lesson!

There’s always something to look forward to! Until next time!

Tobago!

Hi all!

I don’t have much time but I just wanted to quick let everyone know we  got to Tobago safely! It’s been a great first couple days and it’s super hot and sunny! Luckily there are a bounty of beaches and pools at our disposal!

I start my service site at the Health Promotion Clinic on Wednesday. We met with the site coordinator and apparently I might be dealing with patient charts and checking blood pressure! So…I’m keeping an open mind and am ready to learn ALOT!

We got settled into our guesthouse today and explored Scarborough. Even though we’ve only been in the city one day (we spent the first two nights on a different part of the island) I already feel very accquinated with it and am sure I’ll be a pro after 3 weeks here!

Perhaps pictures next post!

Twenty Ten

Happy New Year!

I hope everybody had a good Christmas and New Year’s Eve! Our Christmas was really relaxed. I worked on Christmas Eve and that night we played games and continued the tradition of watching (and reciting every line of) Home Alone 2. For Christmas we opened presents and my cousin came over to have brunch. So it was really nice and chill! We were lucky we didn’t have to travel anywhere in the snow!

Some things I did over break:

- Watch a ton of movies

- Film my Survivor application video. It has now been sent and I patiently await my biggest dream to be realized by the casting folks at CBS! If I’m mysteriously gone for 7 weeks this summer, you’ll know…

- Went sledding! We are all now sufficiently bruised- a result of any good sledding day!

- Saw Up In the Air and A Single Man. Up In the Air < A Single Man, I think, but they were both great films!

-Went to a African Safari Murder Mystery Kwanza Party! It’s exactly like it sounds. This was my first murder mystery party (I was an innocent secretary) and it was really fun! It was super confusing at first, but if you stick with it, it’s worth it! People get into it really quickly.

-Played lots of Scrabble!

For New Years Eve I had a few friends over which was nice because I left early this morning to fly back to Washington for the night. What are your New Year’s resolutions? I don’t have any this year. Boring, I know, I guess.

I didn’t get to see everyone I was hoping, but overall it was a great break! Lots of desperately needed relaxation.

So now I’m spending about 16 hours in Washington at a friend’s house at PLU. Then tomorrow morning I am meeting my group at 4 am at the airport to fly to Atlanta, and then on to Tobago! I can’t believe after all these months it’s finally here!

We don’t know much about what awaits us (some people may find this stressful, but I think it makes it more exciting!). What we do know though is that we will be working about 5 hours a day, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at a service site. As of right now my site will be at an HIV/AIDS clinic, which I think will be a really amazing experience! Tuesday/Thursday will be spent with guest speakers, on excursions, or having group meetings. Then weekends are our own! I won’t have a phone and my internet access will be limited to when I can walk in to town to an internet cafe. But I’ll try to post pictures and a few blogs!

I’m very ready for this adventure and can’t wait to share my experiences with everyone! Here we go!

Dead Week Full of Cheer

Dead week: The week before finals in which you have the most stress placed upon you and you care the least. Honestly, a little more than a week before the end of the semester is not a good time to focus academically. Combined with the almost daily holiday parties, it makes for an interesting time of year.

PLU tries to ease the pre-finals stress by offering relaxing activities like free professional massages, henna, yoga, movies, snacks, chill live music, etc. This year we tried something a little new and brought in an oxygen bar! If you don’t know, oxygen bars consist of machines that look like this:

and you inhale the flavored air through a tube that makes you look like a hospital patient.

The increase of oxygen to the brain is supposed to be really good for you and make you feel more relaxed/happy or something. It was cool to try but I didn’t feel any different so I’m kind of skeptical on how much it actually works.

There was also an opportunity to bake cookies for less fortunate Parkland families during dead week. Being the master procrastinator I am, I attended. It was the largest cookie making operation I’ve ever seen. There were only a few of us there but we made almost a thousand cookies! It was cool because I got to get to know the head baker at PLU, Erica. She was quite the world traveler in her time and also the 2nd person to get married in Antarctica!

Friday marked the first night of Hanukkah which was celebrated with a feast of delicious Jewish foods such as the potato pancakes- latkes, brisket, the sweet noodle dessert- kugel, and the ever popular challah bread.

Yum! We also spent time playing the dreidel game, a classic.

Among the many holiday traditions at PLU, there is Sankta Lucia. You know, the little Swedish girl with the wreath and candles on her head. Well every year it’s a scholarship opportunity to take part in Sankta Lucia- it’s kind of like a pageant. This year the winner was a junior who coincidentally is named Caroline Olsen.
Needless to say I was congratulated several times on winning Sankta Lucia.

It was very cold for about a week, and by very cold I mean in the 20s (ha!). Since the buildings in western Washington aren’t built for below freezing tempertures, there were quite a few problems that week. The pipes in two buildings broke, causing significant flooding. One of the buildings was a residence hall which caused students to have to be replaced in other halls and be reimbursed for the water damage to their personal things. The other building was the arts and communication building. Original student artwork + digital media equipment = ruined. No good!

The NW also has a few of their own Christmas songs. These include “Walking in Seattle’s Latteland” (to the tune of Walking in a Winter Wonderland) and “Christmas in the Northwest” (is a gift wrapped in green).

So finals went pretty well I guess, but mostly I’m glad that this semester is OVER. I’m home now and working real hard on doing nothing! It’s been super nice. I’ve done a little shopping, some catching up with friends, movie watching, baking, I got caught up on Survivor, worked a little…so far it’s been great! For the rest of the time I plan on working on my Survivor application/video, catching up with more friends, and enjoying all the snow we’re expecting!

It’s great because the whole time I’m home I have Tobago to look forward to! More on that next post, I’m sure.

Christmas eve is tomorrow!! I ho,ho, hope everyone travels safe and has a Merry Christmas!

Sleepless and Seasonal

It’s officially the holiday season! I love holidays! Luckily my roommate does as well. You should see our room- it’s a winter wonderland. There is constantly Christmas music playing and we have a gingerbread candle warmer too! The end of the semester is super stressful but with Christmas lurking around the corner I keep finding myself in a chipper mood!

Unlike last year, I stayed on the west coast for Thanksgiving this year. A friend of mine took myself and another friend of ours to her grandma’s house near Portland for the weekend. It was really relaxed and the food was great. It was also fun being around her dog and getting more familiar with the Portland area.

Also over Thanksgiving break we took an all day/overnight trip to Vancouver, B.C.! This was my first time in Canada, so it was a really big deal. Driving in to another country is kind of a weird experience. Crossing the border from the US to Canada was a stressful experience even though we didn’t anything to hide. I can’t imagine how scary of a process it would be if we didn’t speak English or it was under different circumstances.

We drove around the city, spent time at Stanley Park, and enjoyed the…cuisine. It was very rainy and cold the whole time, but that’s to be expected this time of year in the PNW! We stayed in a hostel which was a really great experience! It would be fun to own a hostel. They are so catered to young travelers and you get to meet so many interesting people from around the world!

There were heavy Native and French influences everywhere. Including these popular totem poles at Stanley Park!

They were busy busy getting ready for the Olympics! I really wanted to buy something “Vancouver 2010″, but of course everything having anything to do with the Olympics was ridiculously overpriced.

It was a good experience overall, and now I can say I’ve been to Canada!

Other things I’ve been up to have included:

-Putting on the Tyrone Wells concert. Tyrone Wells is a pretty popular name around here and his songs have been on Grey’s Anatomy and stuff, so he’s getting up there! It was a benefit show for Hunger and Homelessness Week so we collected food and money. It was ALOT of planning, but I was very happy with the outcome.

-Amnesty International had our awareness week for our topic this semester, Immigration. As part of it we blocked off all passages between upper and lower campus and made people recite the pledge of allegiance, name the first 5 presidents, say what year the Declaration of Independence was signed, etc in order to get a “visa” to pass. If people didn’t comply we blew our whistle at them. I felt like a nuisance making people late, but I hope it made people stop and think about the issue a little!

-I saw New Moon at midnight, and I’m not afraid to say it.

-I went snowshoeing! Now, the most dedicated blog readers may remember this time last year when I went on the snowshoeing trip, only to have it turned into a regular hike due to lack of snow. This year we got up to the mountain and there was almost TOO MUCH snow. They have a “gate” you have to go through to get higher on the mountain, and they close it off if it was too dangerous. At first they weren’t going to open it, so we were just going to have to hike again, but at the last minute they did!

It was so much fun and super pretty! I felt like I was in Narina. It’s definitely hard work, and awkward at first to walk (kind of like wearing flippers), but once you do it’s so great! You could go to untouched places that you would normally be up to your waist in snow, but instead only sink down an inch or two! I was in bad need to do something active and outside after a long week of paper writing.

-I don’t know if I already mentioned this, but I’m going to be in a play! I may have written about it last year, since it’s an annual thing called Vagina Monologues! It is a performance that is done every year around the world that raises money and awareness to issues involving women. I’m very excited to be a part of the PLU rendition this year which will take place about 2 weeks after I get back from Tobago. SO….should be interesting!

-It wouldn’t be fair to recount the past 4 weeks without paying attention to the 4 officers that were shot and killed in a coffeeshop about a mile away from campus. It happened when we were coming back from Canada, which made campus a very buzzed atmosphere to come back to. Everyone was talking about it and trying to find out more information. Police officers/cars were around alot and all the residence halls had extra security because at that time they still hadn’t caught the shooter. My main concern that day was for the emotional well-being of my neighbor, who was one of the baristas at the coffeeshop during the shooting. She’s doing surprising well, the shooter himself was killed (which has caused quite a stir as well), and now PLU has just been doing their best to support the community. It’s been amazing to see the things that are being done to support the officer’s families and the Lakewood Police Dept. There have been vigils, cookie baking, benefits, and memorials. It was an incredibly tragic event, but it doesn’t make me feel any less safe at PLU.

-On a lighter note, last night I had the opportunity to visit a Jewish temple/synagogue for a Shabbat! I went with a group of students and we were given a tour by the rabbi beforehand. The service was really cool! It was very musical, the songs were sung in Hebrew and had a sort of Eastern European feel to them. Think Fiddler on the Roof. The books that the service was read out of were mostly in Hebrew, so singing along or reciting verses was sometimes impossible, but enjoyable nonetheless! Oh how I love getting to experience other religions and cultures!

When we returned from the temple I went to play broomball! Outdoor Recreation rented out the indoor ice rink down the road and set up a game. There were a ton of people there and we only had the rink for an hour so I didn’t get to play as much as I like, but it was still so much fun! The Minnesotan in me beamed. It astonishes me how much Washingtonians fall down on the ice. It wasn’t even that slippery! There was definitely some traction there. One kid fell down and slide into me, bringing me down too. So now the whole left side of my thigh is bruised. Amateur. It was fun though, and everybody got really into it. I wish we could make it a weekly thing or something! I might have to look into that…

And now there are only 12 days until break! Which is complete madness. It will be filled with all-nighters and hot chocolate, papers, carols, finals, and Christmas cookies! Not only will I be working on school work, but also getting ready to go straight to Tobago after break! It’s hard to be really excited at this point since there is still so much to do! I look forward to the moment when I’m boarding the airplane home, but until then….no relaxing!

Happy December everyone!

The short verison of a very long few weeks.

Sorry! Sorry as always that I have such lengthy lapses of time in between my posts! You see, I rarely find time to sleep these days, let alone blog.

Besides the whole full course load, 2 jobs, leadership position, service site, and 4 clubs some exciting things have happened! One is that I passed my American Sailing Association certification test so I am now a licensed sailor in the United States of America for the rest of my life! The last time we went sailing we saw got really close to these sea lions! They’re so huge and loud! You don’t even realize at the zoo!

Another is that I went to visit my good friend from high school, Tanner, who lives in Olympia now. It was great to see his new place and meet more people and hang out in Olympia! While I was there I got my eyebrow pierced too!

Now that my mom knows I guess I’m free to tell the world! It’s been something I’ve been thinking of doing for awhile now and the timing was perfect! I love it and it’s not swollen or itchy or anything, so…success!

Halloween weekend was pretty fun. Friday night Dining Services put on a Culinary Adventure Series of bizarre and creepy foods. I like to think I’m an adventurous person but I couldn’t handle some of the foods they had! I did try kangaroo though! It tasted like really salty steak.
That night was my hall’s all-campus event, Pflueger Pfright Night. I was dressed up as Johnny Appleseed and won the pumpkin carving contest. I almost did the pumpkin pie eating contest too but I thought I’d give someone else a chance to win…

On actual Halloween my Minnesota friend Emma had a little afternoon celebration in her room. Then my roommate and I made a jack-o-latern shaped pizza (brilliant Papa Murphy’s, brilliant!) and handed out candy to trick or treaters that came through the dorms. There was a surprising a good amount of them and I decided kids these days just don’t know how to trick or treat anymore. Some didn’t even say “trick or treat”. When I was a wee kid in Iowa we had to WORK to get our candy. And in Minnesota we had to fight blizzards on Halloween! Kids have it so easy these days…
I had to work that night in The Cave from 8 to about 1 am. Luckily there was a dance going on, so it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. I couldn’t be Johnny Appleseed again though because the pot hurt my head to much so I made something up real quick.

“Bunny Foo Foo hopping through Parkland”! Not a slutty bunny though. This is very important to clarify.

The next day MN Club watched the Vikings/Packers game. I’m not a big football fan but I AM a big fan of midwestern food which there is abundance of at any MN Club function. It was a good finish to a weekend of filling myself with sugar and apple cider.

Last week I also got my vaccines for Tobago, making it one step closer to actually going! The typhoid one hurts and yellow fever almost made me faint, but it’s so worth it!

This weekend was spent in Portland at the NACA West (National Association of College Activities) conference, compliments of PLU. I went along with the other event programmers on our student goverenment. The conference was held at the Oregon Convention Center which looks like Space Mountain.

There were a few educational workshops for programmers, but mostly it was 3 days of hundreds of performances from musicans, magicians, comedians, poets, etc. that are on the brink of fame trying to get you to book them at your school. It was pretty intense. I saw SO many different acts and met so many different people. This is the sort of thing that alot of bands do before they get really popular.
When we weren’t eating really good food at the convention center, we stayed/ate with families of the other people I went with. They all did so much to make us feel at home! I’m lucky to get to know such gracious people. It was also nice to spend some time off campus and in a real house with pets.
Some highlights of the trip were:
1. Being personally called up on stage by one of the bands to dance.
2. Going to Voodoo Donuts at 11:30 at night. It’s a Portland thing.
3. Finding this aligator head laying around.

4. Exploring the Saturday Market, a weekend flee market of sorts in Portland. I got a spoon ring and even though it was down pouring in true PNW style, it was really fun. I ate at one of the vendors and I must have looked extraordinary like a cold, wet, hungry college student with my hood up because the kind Thai lady gave me twice the amount of food for half the price! Kind people in Portland! Also, Portland is super duper clean. Like, the recycling capital of the world.

Overall it was a really great experience. I’ve never done anything like it and I learned alot about programming, music business, and networking (I have business cards!). Plus there was swag GALORE.

Other than that I’ve just been trying to catch up with the rest of my life. It’s a futile act, but I try. I think everybody is starting to get really burned out right about now. Myself included. But things never stop and neither will I!