102 and Ben

Yesterday was up there with greatest days of all time. First amazing thing that happened was that I got the highest grade on my international relations midterm (a 102%) and my professor announced it in class and I got to stand up and I was thrilled! Then, when I got home there was a letter from Ben Frandsen on my doorstep and it was a nice little note with a very cute picture. The roomies and I decorated our apartment for our huge Halloween party we're throwing tomorrow night which should turn out fairly good. None of us ever throw parties so it's a new experience but we've put a lot of time and effort into it so it should be good. After decorating, we went to Wal-mart to get materials for my costume (I'm Poison Ivy, complete with green glittery make-up) and then Becca and I got back at around 2:30 and I crashed.

One laptop per child

I read this in the NYT a few weeks ago and thought it was interesting. It's a company that created a laptop that is low-maintenance with only necessary software, durable, etc. and for $399 you can buy one for a child in a developing nation and one for yourself. I want just because it looks so neat. But honestly, how many of us actually use all of the features on our computers? I'd be happy with internet, Word, and Powerpoint.
Check it out: http://www.xogiving.org/index.html

I could possibly be the most fickle person you'll ever meet.

So, today as I was sitting at work contemplating my up and coming summer (even though it's only October), I decided that maybe I do not want to go to India after all. I would love love LOVE to go there, but I really want to be marketable in International development issues in Africa, so I'm thinking I need to spend the summer volunteering with an NGO in Tanzania or Kenya really working on my Swahili language skills. Since I'm taking the class in the winter, I think it'd be awesome to actually go over there and study it. So, I started looking around the internet and I found a reputable organization that'll send you there for two months for 1200 bucks plus the plane ticket. So, basically I could spend the good part of May working still at Platinum making the big bucks and then stay there for June and July and get a month at home to spend with my family AND get to Mexico for the International AIDS conference at the beginning of August. If I went to India, I'd miss that and I would be there 3 and a half months with no clear project as of yet. AND, when I was looking at journal entries from formal participants, 2 of the 10 that I read mentioned missionaries and the ward. So I'm thinking a lot of Mormon kids do this, though it's based in New Zealand and not affiliated with the Church. If you want to check out the page, it's volunteer.org.nz/kenya(or tanzania).

Meanwhile, after ward I'm heading to the art gallery for some short films done by some locals. I think it should be pretty good not to mention some of my favorite people will be there. Then, tomorrow night it's IC night for a delightful showing of "Offsides" an Iranian film about women who dress up like boys to get into a soccer stadium after they are banned. Should be excellent. Not to mention Netflix delivered Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring and I will be watching that this weekend with Katy and Cecilia.

Per the usual, life is good. and will be better when my exhausting ORCA grant proposal goes through.

Econ=rock solid pure joy.

I just wanted to devote a post to my love of economics. It just makes sense in my head and I enjoy doing it. I made an A on my first Econ 110 Kearl exam and not only am I dang proud of that fact, I took it an hour before the testing center closed after having not studied a lick. Though I would never want to devote my life's ambitions to the subject, it still has earned a place in my heart. Meanwhile, if there is still decent economics non-fiction to be read, I will read it and like it and feel like a complete nerd.

In other news, I am officially applied for a $1500 ORCA grant. Let's hope I get it!

I am utterly exhausted and have concluded it's a result of too much sleep (aka, 6 hours a night). I really should cut back.

Vegetarianism and India

Let's see. Where to begin after five crazy and ridiculous months. Well first of all, I went to South Africa this summer to do research on mother-to-child transmission of HIV and what the public hospitals and NGOs are doing to prevent infections of children. Although it was amazing, it was one of the most frustrating and difficult experiences of my life. I met so many neat people that have experienced more in their life than I ever will, and I think it's made me a whole different person. Coming home was strange at best. Culture shock definitely set in when I got home rather than when I was in South Africa. I miss the people, the culture, and the food. I think I'm the only person to go to Africa and gain ten pounds. When I got home, I frequently heard "No wonder there are starving kids in Africa, you ate all their food!" But in reality, it was not the quantity of food I ate but the quality; virtually no vegetables but plenty of starch. Bleached, heavy, fattening starch. But ohhhh, it tasted so comforting.

So, now that I'm home, I'm experimenting with this whole new idea of vegetarianism. Not because I want to save the animals or any PETA stuff like that... but if you think about it, being a vegetarian is a much more efficient way of getting nutrients. As a primary consumer, you bypass the unnecessary waste and energy expended in raising cattle or swine for human consumption. More pollution is produced per year by the meat industry than transportation by 17%! And if you don't believe it, I have sources. Not to mention, there are great meat alternatives available and it is a much healthier lifestyle. I've been consuming so many vegetables and whole grains, tofu and Meat of Wheat. All quite tasty and my body likes it too. I also have rediscovered good juice. I missed my Odwalla and Green Goddess when I was in South Africa. They had juice but it was always loaded with artificial sweetener and they drank it so strong!

School is picking up in awesomeness every day. I absolutely love my classes every since I changed my major to Political Science this semester. And it's FINAL. NO MORE CHANGING! Mostly because BYU looked at my transcript and forebade me from ever entering an advisement office ever again. I think they programmed my ID card to set off some kind of alarm. Seriously. But that is alright with me because I'm thriving in my classes. I'm taking an international relations class with one of the amazing women I have ever met and I tore up the test yesterday. Not to mention I LOVE studying for them because I'm learning so much. For 20% of the test, we have to memorize where every country in the world is and shade in the 10 she gives us. We got Belarus, Syria, Armenia, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Japan, France, Cuba, and Zimbabwe. Pull out a map and try to identify those. There is this awesome website called Ilike2learn.com (how fitting!) and it has these little quizzes you can do. I recommend it.

What else, what else? I'm working full-time at a home security system company called Platinum Protection. In fact, I'm here right now working oh so hard. I really am not minding the hours or the work because it's fairly easy and for about half the time I'm here I get homework done or watch movies. Speaking of movies, I am so into foreign films right now. Amelie, a French film with Audrey Tautou, has pretty much changed my life and by the end, I was swept away. Moreover, a Danish film called After the Wedding had me and two of my roommates bawling by the end. Also quite a moving film-- they just do not produce such great cinema in the US! I think my old friends and my family think I'm the biggest freak loner nowadays because I would rather be tucked away in my room with one other foreign-film lover (my roommate Katy is my new favorite) and watch a quality film and then discuss the amazing implications.

I am going to India next summer too. Living in a village. Sleeping on a mat. Showering with a bin. Sheer lovelyness.