Londonisms

**For more pictures, recheck this one tomorrow and I'll add them! I just have to get to sleep because I have to be up and in the lobby by 8am for our day trip.**


One of my favorite things here is some of the signs. I'll talk about my day in a sec but here are some of my favorite cultural differences in the form of signs!

I love the little pictures they have.

Shorter lines of course =]
If you ask where the subway is they will direct you to the nearest Subway sandwich shop.This one is my favorite. There is not an exit sign, just the way out ones, but there are signs that say "emergency exit." It's like how they have chips and spiral fries.

Culture shock! It was a different menu.Day 2 in London went like this: breakfast at 6:45 (fruit and pain aux chocolat and of course, hot tea), walked to the ATM and around the block a little with a classmate, went to my class at 10, went to lunch with my class and our teacher around noon (took over an hour to get our food), then went to the National Gallery, then the hotel where I (unintentionally) fell asleep for about 4 hours. Woke up around 9pm, went out to some stores (gift shopping) with my roomie, got some McD's, went back to the hotel, went to the craziest bar I've ever been to (okay, so I haven't been to a lot of bars, but it was pretty weird and pretty cool) , got home at 2am, finally fell asleep at 5am after trying for a long time, and that leads to....

Day 3: We had class again at 10am. Afterward, Mariah (roomie) and I went to get half price tickets and we got some for Grease. Then we went to lunch at the place from yesterday (only took about 35 mins this time) and then went to the British Museum. From there we went shopping and then we went to the hotel to get ready for the theatre. We went to dinner at this cute Italian place next to the theatre and it was very good and very fast service. We went to the show (which was amazing!) and then back here. When we were on our way to take the tube (the underground, the subway, etc.) back to the hotel I saw one of the actors run past. We followed him to the platform and got his autograph on our programs. After we got back here we went to the corner store and got some Cadbury and some Irish pear cider. When we got home I skyped mommy and daddy and I skyped Morgan and told her Happy Birthday! Now I am posting and I'll post again tomorrow.

**For more pictures, recheck this one tomorrow and I'll add them! I just have to get to sleep because I have to be up and in the lobby by 8am for our day trip.**

Airport Tour of the World

Well, at least it felt that way the last few days. We were delayed about four hours in the Cincinnati airport to get to Chicago (Saturday) which made us miss our Aer Lingus connection to Dublin by 40 minutes or so. The next flight out was the same time next day (Sunday) so the organization got us some hotel rooms in Chicago over night. We checked out at noon and sat at the airport a little while and our professors talked with us a little in our groups (there are three classes). We finally got on the flight to Dublin around 6:50 (Sunday) and then caught a connection flight to London Heathrow (Monday morning). We finally got to London as a group and took a bit of a bus (coach) tour. Most of us were sooo tired (I still have not slept since I woke up in Chicago at the hotel) that half the people took short naps on the coach. I passed out for maybe 5 mins but that was all. We got back here and finally did our orientation. Thankfully that was short! And then I had time to shower before dinner at 7. After dinner most of us went to a pub down the road and talked for a bit and now I am going to bed! I have class meeting in the morning at 10 am and it is currently 23:52 here. I will try my best to attach some pictures here.

Yay! It worked. This is out my window over Dublin/Ireland in general.
The lights here go red to yellow to green. Yellow to red too, but you can see the red fading to the yellow here.

One of the many pics I took on the bus tour. One of the few that turned out well.
Streets of London
The Cock and the Lion restaurant and bar.

Good night!

Happy Pumpkin Pie Day!!!

Well, you all know about Thanksgiving and sometimes people call it Turkey Day... all we made today was some pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes. Tomorrow night (Friday) we are going to Doris's house to have a full Thanksgiving dinner with her family and a few other strays like us. Today we also went hiking in Berea. There is a dog we see there quite often and today she took a little hike with us. Here are some pictures! =]

This is Shea with Tillie:
Her dog tag:
I was tired so I took a rest and some pictures looking up:
Shea rolling out the pie crust! (Gluten free, of course)
My sweet potatoes with brown sugar and such. Not the most healthy desert, but tasty.
Tomorrow morning Daddy comes home from the hospital but he's not coming with us to dinner. He sounds like he's doing better, but I think the recovery is going to be pretty painful. I got my scope done Tuesday but the biopsies take some time to get processed, so I guess we'll see. The doctor gave me another medicine that might help, but I took it twice today and not only did it not seem too helpful, it also make me tired and nauseous. I guess I could still have celiac, even with a negative blood test. Mom doesn't think so, but I hope it's not just about stress because I can't really stop doing things in my life just because they're stressful. Anyway... not to bum everyone out, I really am doing pretty well otherwise. I really enjoyed spending the day with Shea and Mom. I hope everyone else has had a delicious Thanksgiving!
Oh, and I had a lot of fun Skyping with miss Pritam tonight! We made funny faces while the grown-ups talked and she showed me her socks and her new pj's.

Ronald McDonald House

So... I did go to the hands alive event, and I had a pretty good time. I was kept busy the whole time though, so I didn't get any pictures. I do, however, have pictures from Saturday when Mom and I went to Cincinnati and went to the Ronald McDonald house for a tour and to see what we could do for them from here (that is A∆π's national philanthropy). They were decorating for Christmas so they had a super cool little village with a train going around it. After the tour we went shopping and then drove home. We had a lot of fun, especially because we didn't really get to see each other a lot these past few weeks. On Tuesday I get to go have a scope done of my insides because they still don't know what's up, so I guess I'll keep everyone updated with that. And tonight at our sorority meeting we had elections for positions and I will be the new recording secretary (which means I call role and take notes at meetings), one of three assistants to the main person who does stuff for fall recruitment (mostly because I helped out with it this year), and music chair because I know some songs that the girls here don't know from my other chapter. I don't actually have to sing the songs, just know the words! So... here are the pictures.








There was beautiful artwork all over and we happened to catch them in action working on a mosaic! Hope you enjoy the pics. =]

Can't sleep

Been having insomnia a lot this week, so I might as well post something! Tonight I went with a bunch of my sisters to see New Moon. We had a lot of fun. One the girls, Leah, her boyfriend's dad owns a movie theatre and he was having a free showing at 7, so a lot of us went to see it together!
And tomorrow I am going to a sort of school carnival thing for KSD (Kentucky School for the Deaf). I am volunteering and I'm really excited about it! I will bring my camera and we'll see what I get. =] In the mean time, here are some pics from the movies.

Spring Semester!

Yep, it's that time if year again. I am all signed up for my spring classes and very happy that I got everything I wanted to! =] And weirdly enough (not on purpose) all but one of them are in the same classroom. Something I did do on purpose was take different teachers for every class so I can get to know more of the teachers in the program. I think only one of my teachers is someone I've taken class with before.

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays:

11:15-12:05 - Process skills for interpreter (ITP 220)
12:20-1:10 - ASL 202
1:25-2:15 - Heritage and culture of the deaf (ITP 115)
-Wednesdays only: 3:35-4:25 - ASL 202 lab

Tuesdays and Thursdays:
11:00-12:15 - Prof Ethics and issues in interpreting (ITP 215)
12:30-1:45 - Appl of fingerspelling and number systems (ITP 210)


Yep, all major class. It's going to be a busy semester! But I'm glad that most of my gen ed is done and I don't have to take any next semester. There is a test I have to take in Feb. (one of the factors of getting in to the ITP program) and then interviews are in March and we find out sometime in April, I think.

October

Wow... It's been a lonnnnnnnng time. October has been very busy. How has this semester gone by so fast? More than halfway done already! Now it's starting to get cold, and the leaves are falling and I'm missing the Phoenix heat a little. I have been doing lots of homework and going to deaf events and running around and just been super busy. I suspect November will be about the same, but thankfully it doesn't look too bad yet.

So last weekend (Saturday night) I babysat two little girls who are 8 (Lucy) and 6 (Cora). On Saturday Cora just had a stuffy nose but around 11 she threw up and felt really bad. She slept through most of the night after that, but Monday they took her to the doctor and she tested positive for H1N1. Thankfully, I don't appear to have gotten it myself. I did have very swollen tonsils on Wednesday so my theory is that I was exposed to it, but my body fought it off valiantly. I'm really glad I didn't get it, above all because I was looking through my planner saying "nope, no place in my schedule for swine flu to fit in until about Thanksgiving time."

In the past month or so I've gone to the doctor for stomach aches, for ringworm (almost gone), for them to take my blood (twice, because the first round of tests didn't include a few that the GI doctor wanted) and again to see if they thought I should take Tamiflu to prevent Swine flu. I was taking Cipro for 10 days for the thing on my leg that looked like ringworm, which can't be taken with things like antacids and I'm taking Prilosec now for my stomach (I have reflux but that doesn't seem to be the main issue) and they can't be taken within a certain number of hours of each other. To make it more complicated, Cipro has to be taken with food because it is hard on the stomach (like I don't have enough problems with that) and the Prilosec on an empty stomach. I also have been putting an anti-fungal on the ringworm rash itself (they say 4-6 weeks even if it is getting better).

I've also been running around doing sorority stuff like homecoming dinner for the Alum and initiation for our new girls and philanthropy events for the other sororities and the fraternities. I am also finally getting a roommate some time this week (her roommate in the hall she was in before dropped out so she wants to move in with the sorority). Not much else going on, just homework. I have the second half of a lab report due Tuesday and a short paper due tomorrow (mostly finished). Oh, and laundry. It seems like I'm always running out of clean clothes, but it's actually about every two weeks or so. I guess that's all for now. If I think of something else I'll post again.

Hm... what to write about?

Well I had to work this morning from 5-9 and then sleep from 9:30-1:15 but I did get a (very rough) draft of an essay done that isn't actually due until December. It seems like I am very ahead, but really I've just been doing the easy stuff first. I still have a few other papers due long before that and I haven't even thought about some of them.
It's absolutely beautiful weather here right now. The fall leaves are falling and the air is nice and cool for a lot of the day. I forget, having lived in Arizona so long, how much I really love the season of fall. We didn't have much in the way of fall in Phoenix. It's actually still 100 degrees there according to the internet. I think this would be a great weekend to go hiking. =]
Hm... don't know what else to write, just bored between classes. My first class got out early so I don't really know what to do with myself for 20 or 30 extra minutes. I should probably eat something though and get myself ready for sign language lab.

Much delayed pics!

So I should be going to bed right now but there is a cockroach and it's scary and my big brother isn't here to get rid of it for me... So I'm going to post my pictures.

This is my bed. I have since "unbunked" it because I kept hitting my head and I still don't have a roommate.




My desk by the window.


My drawers... they don't really match but that's okay.


All of the windows in the building have the greek letters on them.


And this is the view from my window. That building to the right is the greek tower for the fraternities.


My classes are going well. I don't feel like things are too crazy or stressful or anything. I'm trying to stay a little bit ahead so that when it does get busy (because I know it will) I won't have as much to do. I haven't been working lately because I gave away most of my shifts (the person doing scheduling didn't do such a good job). I've mostly been hanging out at home a lot and going to classes and that's about it. Anyway, I should probably get up the courage to get the cockroach out of my room so that I can sleep. Good night.

EKU!

So this week has been super insane and it's not even over yet! I have two classes tomorrow and then it's the weekend! Unfortunately this weekend is sorority recruitment so I'll still be a little busy, but no classes or work so I can sleep! I'm a night desk worker in my hall so I've been running around and sleeping crazy hours and getting used to my classes and this week has seemed like two. I think I'm pretty happy with everything I'm taking this semester. I think I have a different perspective on classes and everything now that I've been doing this for a while and I'm doing more classes that are in my field of interest. I'm really excited about my sign language (although learning an entire language fluently still seems a bit intimidating at times). I thought that my introduction to special ed would be boring (so I was told) but I'm finding it actually very interesting and helpful for a general understanding of schools and special education. I have a three hour biology lecture on Monday nights but I really like the teacher and I didn't get bored or spaced out for the whole three hours, which I thought was very impressive. My last class is anthropology and although I'm not fascinated with the history of evolution and wars and mankind, I think that class will be okay too. I like the teacher and it's not too bad really (and I'm told that knowing about such things is important somehow).

I've been crazy busy but I think I'm off to a good start. All the girls in the sorority here and really really nice and accepting. I will probably have a roommate sometime next week when we get our new girls. I have some pictures of my dorm room and stuff but I have to go to a meeting now so I will post them soon!

Restless

I couldn't sleep very well last night so I got up around 7am and took some pictures while the sun was rising. I took about 90 but these are my favorites.




I had some fun with the shadows.

A leaf that was suspended in a spider web. (It was against the house so I couldn't see the screen... this one took many test shots to frame.)



A neighborhood tabby, not Tigger. I call him Thing 1 because there are two orange tabbies that hang around besides Tigger.

Sunlight on the front lawn. I love watching the sun rise.
Later I took a shower and went down to the post office to order my passport for my trip. After that I joined mom at work and went over to Student Services to sort out some stuff for housing, parking, and financial aid. I also walked around campus and found all the buildings where my classes will be and bought the books I need for the fall. I was very productive today and now I am very tired. I am, however, well prepared for the fall! Now the question is, What to do with the rest of my summer?

Land Art and Hiking

So on Sunday we did a land art project which was a lot of fun. It was a path and a circle decorated with things that people brought and that were found from the earth. Later, we went hiking in Berea.

Here is the path and the circle:

The kids worked on the path.


And the the circle was divided up for the grown-ups.

It turned out pretty cool.


And then we went hiking, but it was fairly humid and it felt very warm. The first part was tiring, but on the way back down it wasn't so bad and Shea and I had a lot of fun running along the path and climbing and jumping over roots.

Taking a little break.

A view from the top.

Climbing the rock.


Silhouette (on the rock)


Shea running/jumping down the hill.

Fall Schedule

I have my class list for the fall and it is finally all worked out and official! I'm only taking 13 credits this semester, but I have enough already that I can do that. Here it is:

ASL 201
American Sign Language III
MWF
10:10am-11:00am

American Sign Language III Lab
Thursday
3:30pm-4:20pm

ANT 200
Anthropology of Human Society
MWF
1:25pm-2:15pm

BIO 121
Principles of Biology
Monday
6:00pm-9:00pm

Principles of Biology Lab
Tuesday
6:00pm-7:55pm

SED 104
Special Education Introduction
Tuesday/Thursday
2:00pm-3:15pm

The biology and the anthropology classes I am taking with Shea and they are my last 2/3 general education classed (I will still need oral communications, something I didn't need at NAU) and then the rest are for my major.

I'm also probably going to be taking another three credits over the winter break on a study abroad trip to London and Dublin from the 26th of December to the 8th of January. It's a lot to fit into 2 weeks, but I am excited. I will be taking a history class over the course of the trip. I assume there will some sort of project or paper due after the trip itself.

I also finally got my dorm situation worked out after much chaos. I will be living in Todd hall with my sorority on the 10th floor. High, but at least there's an elevator! I'm moving on the 21st and my classes start on the 24th. Not really a whole lot to do before that time.
I will have a job this semester. I decided it would be okay considering my lighter course load this semester. I have training on the 18th and that's about all I have planned for the next week and a half.

I'm cursed

Got up nice and early to go get stuff done before my dentist appointment. We went to the place to get my a KY driver's license, then to the library, then EKU to get a picture for my ID card, and then to the library again and then headed out to Lexington. And after all those places, nothing got done!
First, the place with the licenses had their computers down, then the library wasn't open until noon. After that we went to Eastern to get a picture for my ID that they sent in the mail but they had a virus on their computers. We went back to the library to get a card and their system was down too.
So then we just went to Lexington and had lunch at Fazoli's before my appointment... and someone... okay maybe it was me.... someone locked the keys in the car. We were only 5 mins late for the dentist though. And the day keeps going like that from there...
As you can guess I'm very tired. But I can't really sleep because I'm not used to the humidity here and I feel all gross and hot. I should probably try to though because I have my orientation tomorrow, which might just be useless because I already have my registration number and I'm not confused about housing or my major or anything like that.
So... good night.

Just hanging out...

Just been watching movies and hanging out. Went to a Taylor Swift concert with Morgan last night and and now I'm back at Vickey's just relaxing again. Not much else to say, because that's really all I've done... I am flying home on Monday, so I'll be back in Kentucky then. Hope everyone is enjoying the summer time.

Mission Trip!

Just got back today... And I don't have the cord with me to download pics plus I don't yet have the pictures other people took... so... I will post again this week when I get that taken care of. =] It was amazing though. I went with a group from the Newman Center to Whiteriver, AZ, an Apache reservation. We did some work around the church for a few days and then had a retreat. We stayed in a house next to the church and it was really nice. We took turns cooking meals that were all delicious! And cleaning up, which was okay. I thought of a lot of things that I want daddy to cook for me when I come home that I really miss. =] Anyway... it was fun. I'll update again soon.

End of the year

Almost done! One more final tomorrow and then we're out of here!... Well, out of here on Friday. And all my boxes have been shipped off to KY. And... yeah. So I'm almost done with my freshman year. =] I made it! Now I just have to survive the next three. So... not really in the mood to post pics, but here are some misc pictures from the end of the semester:

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