I am lucky that I am friends with many people I met 3 years ago, and even longer ago. I don't always make friends quickly, but the friends I have are close. Thanks to the wonders of Facebook and Social Media, I have reconnected with childhood friends. Not sure whose friendship I miss the most, though. I miss the friends from Peace Corps. We still keep in touch but don't see each other very often.

It's been a long time since my last update. I am just now getting back online after not having internet at home for about 10 days. And the tech who was supposed to be here between 8 and 11 didn't come til about 1:00 today. I was not a happy camper. Time Warner is giving me a $20 refund. Better than nothing at all, but still.

I have a new job which I LOVE and I have cable now (on a brand new cool TV) which I also love. This is the first time I've ever actually paid for cable, and I kinda like it ;) I've had it at other places, but always included.

Just a quick update. I'm tired and hungry (but of course I want nothing in my house) and enjoying watching TV ;)

Will be hopefully updating more frequently as I get settled. But the connections I've made are awesome, and everyone has been nothing but helpful.

During high school, there was a group of 4 of us who were tight-knit. Others came and went out of our circle, but the 4 of us always were, and have remained, close. We went through a period where we gave each other nicknames of Winnie the Pooh characters, but those didn't stick for too long. But the other nicknames have. Wendi was Duck, because she always said everything was just ducky; Kelly was Bubbles because she tended to be a bit flighty. Those are the two that have stuck and they've embraced them I guess (probably because they had no other choice!). We nicknamed Jason "Drew" for some reason--I think it had something to do with the Drew Carey Show, but I don't remember now, and that didn't stick much beyond high school either. Mine haven't stuck. My Pooh nickname was Piglet; some people still call me that, but not too often.

Today was a rough day. I woke up in a bad mood and couldn't shake it. I kind of got into a "fight" of sorts over Gmail chat because I allowed my bad mood to read too much into the IM session, and then she felt the need to explain herself, probably to make me feel better, but it just made me feel like an &*^ for misinterpreting it. But I just got to video chat with some friends from PC, which made me feel tons better. Now I have eaten, am watching old episodes of Grey's, and keep stuffing my face with sugar (which I have been craving super hard core the past couple days, so I'm thinking that coupled with my mood swings are indicators of something else).

Tomorrow starts Spring Break. And Friday I head to Columbus to get Zack (one of my dearest friends from PC), eat pupusas, and continue on to Pittsburgh to meet up with some other RPCV friends. We are decking out my car to look like a Salvi bus and going to "hillbilly watch" at a truck stop between Columbus and Pittsburgh. Zack is a ball of energy and it is sure to be a great trip. Now I just need to make it til then, because I still have to work 2 days this week.

Overall, I must say that today was a really good day. I edited and pared down my policy paper for today from just over 9 pages to 7.5 pages (only 1/2 a page over the maximum length). I went to the allergist this morning, who was kind of condescending and didn't really believe me, but then quickly changed his tune after examining me. I walked out with 3 new meds, came home and immediately took the ones I could--and felt immediate relief. Class went fairly well, we got out early, and then I convinced 3 other friends to join me at IHOP for free pancakes!!!

Now that I am finally able to breathe and feel much less congested, and the weather seems to be sucking less, I am a much happier person. Spring break is just around the corner, so time to catch up on work and the neglected apartment and, the best part, to Columbus for pupusas and onto Pittsburgh for a mini PCES reunion. Only drawback is it will only be a couple of days with people I haven't seen in a year or more. But better than nothing and the timing could not have been better.

Off to watch an episode of Grey's before bed, and hope my good mood and productivity continue into tomorrow.

So the past couple weeks have been crazy. I was in bed all weekend 2 weeks ago fighting respiratory issues and this past weekend I had a conference here in BG, which meant I got really behind on work. I had a proposal due Monday that I really couldn't start until Sunday afternoon, and that was a bit stressful because I had trouble narrowing down my research topic. Now I can breathe again (as long as I don't really exert myself, which kind of defeats the purpose, but at least I can do daily things without getting winded), but my body must think it's Spring because my sinuses have been killing me, and nothing is really working (including 3 rounds of different antibiotics, 2 of which are sinus-infection specific). I'm seeing an allergist next week, and hopefully he will give me some answers. I need to get healthy so I can be more productive.

So the conference I mentioned earlier was the Ohio Latin Americanist Conference (OLAC), and was held on the BG campus. Since my thesis is on migrants, a couple professors suggested that I present. So I did, and it went fairly well. I got a few comments about more directions I could go in (but, really, a 20 minute presentation doesn't have much room for more than "my research in a nustshell"). A few of my professors were there, including my committee chair, and today one of the other grad students told me that same prof was talking about my presentation and said she was impressed! Yay! It's coming along slowly but surely, and I have learned a lot since my last conference in October. And the thesis conveniently aligns with classes I'm taking this semester, so I don't have to reinvent the wheel and can use my data for those papers!

We (my partner for my assistanship) got a surprise e-mail yesterday from one of the professors who works with us, and wants us to make 52 packets for Monday. Of course, we cannot print on site, and BGSU now charges for printing, and we don't have enough supplies for all 52 packets. So we had to e-mail another professor, notoriously lax on e-mail, and figure this out. Finally figured out where we can print, but now we need to get one final thing from the first professor so we can just print everything at once. Hopefully it all works out.

Tomorrow is a presentation on Peace Corps and how it's lead me to grad school and where I am now. Should be fun. I LOVE talking about PC and El Sal. And I get to give a snapshot of my research.

Spring Break is in just over a week and I am so looking forward to it. I have a paper due this Monday, but met with my professor and now have direction. And, for the first time in a long time, I have plans to go meet up with friends! A good friend from Peace Corps lives in Columbus, and he's lured me with the prospect of eating pupusas and speaking Spanish. Then, we'll continue on to PA to visit some other PCVs from his group. I haven't seen Zach in over a year, and it's been about 2 years since I've seen the other PCVs. So I'm super excited!

Ok this has turned into a longer post than anticipated. But for the handful of people who actually read this, thanks for bearing with me :) Oh, and as a completely random side note, I have been trying to figure out where Off the Map is supposed to take place, and am pretty sure that it's Ecuador. One of the characters said "chuta madre" which is very Ecuadorean. But, at the very least, it's set in the Andes (but filmed on the set of Lost...).

Not sure about most of the rest of the country, but BG is officially snowed in. Even the video store is closed. It's a mix of snow and ice, and there are apparently bad drifts. Campus is still open (of course), but area schools are all closed for the second day in a row. We are apparently under a Level 2 snow emergency, and the surrounding counties under a Level 3. It's treacherous, even to walk. Roads are bad (although I do hear plows) and sidewalks are just as bad because there is only about one shovel per mile in BG I've decided. I mean, seriously--it's OHIO, not the South. We get bad weather. Be prepared people. Ok, I'm done ranting. I think :)

I'm going to stay in, try to get ahead on some class work for next week, and catch up on the TV shows I've missed. Speaking of, the 2 websites I used to use to watch TV live online have been shut down. Sad...guess I'll have to wait til they come on Hulu.

Stay warm out there!

Last week was a pretty horrible week. I got a bad infection, and because ever since PC I don't handle antibiotics well (and over the summer developed allergies to 2 different kinds of antibiotics), I didn't get much relief. Then, I ended up having complications from the antibiotics (but after a 2 hour ordeal at the health center and a wonder drug, it's gone away) and on top of that I'm fighting a virus probably because I had a low-grade fever (sure didn't feel low-grade to me...). It hasn't turned into anything much, yet. I have a stuffy nose and I'm still feeling a bit run down and under the weather, and still have to be careful what I do, but emotionally today I was great. I think it's going to be a great weekend. I have my lit review to work on, which is going to suck, but I have til Monday. Originally it was supposed to be due tomorrow, but I e-mailed my advisor and told her I may need a few extra days because I was so sick all week. Plus emotionally things were rough, too. But I think things are going to be ok, and this weekend I don't have to be anywhere. I have to go to campus at some point to print articles for class and grab some books, but I have an open schedule, which is nice. Next week is going to be busy as well, and I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed, but just taking things as they come.

Tonight I had some friends over for an "anti-thesis" meeting. We had dinner and talked about our theses and other life things in general. We're making it a weekly thing, and I look forward to them. It's an excuse to get out and be social, and since we're all in the same boat, we can relate to one another.

Well, that's all for now. I'm beat from cleaning and cooking all day, so I think I'm going to curl up in bed and watch a DVD or something.

I can't fall asleep so I suppose I'll blog. That's been happening a few times this week, but when I take the laptop to bed to watch TV online, I suppose I'm asking for it. I should just go to bed when I'm tired.

Today was spent doing errands and not thesis. I spent the morning doing nothing because, true to form, I wasn't feeling great. I had an appointment with the doctor this afternoon anyway in an attempt to get new (cheaper) asthma meds, because mine weren't really working. I got new meds, but nothing cheaper. And more antibiotics. It was enough to make the person who checked me out make a comment on how many drugs I was walking away with. And the pharmacist knows me by name and remembers my history. Wonder if he's available? :)

So if all goes well, tomorrow I hope to keep cracking at the thesis, but plan to venture to the library where I can sit at a table and not be distracted by checking the internet all the time. We'll see.

I am supposed to give my advisor a date for when I'll get her my next chapter. She e-mailed last week and I have yet to respond with a date or touch that chapter. But, my independent study with her is linked to my progress so I need to get a move on.

I watched Shaun of the Dead tonight with a friend, and actually found it quite humorous. Note to self, avoid getting bit by zombies.

I think I'm getting back on track emotionally, slowly but surely. Fingers crossed. People are starting to notice my "dark" side coming out. 7 more months of this...!

Well, I guess I should try to sleep again. I don't have to be up at any certain time tomorrow, but I also don't like lying awake for long. Sigh.

Two posts in one day! This one is going to be super short, though. It's been a long day, and I'm beat.

But this past week, I met with two people to talk about my experiences in Peace Corps. One is leaving in a couple months, and another is thinking about applying. Plus, the video that went around on Facebook earlier in the week made me laugh and rethink my PC experiences. I realize that I just LOVE talking about PC :)


Good night all!

This semester has been one of extreme highs and lows. I am still having trouble getting back into a routine (yes, I do realize it's only the first week of classes, but deadlines are quickly approaching and I'm feeling the pressure). I've also been experiencing high highs and low lows. Not sure what's causing this--maybe I am more of a social creature than I realize. I've found that if I make myself leave my apartment and go to campus to the GA office, usually there's someone there, and just having that human interaction makes me feel better. Messaging on Facebook or Skype just isn't the same.

Last night, I went out to karaoke with a group of friends. I found out about it kinda last-minute, and was kind of upset that I was left out (turns out it was an oversight and I should've been invited in the first place). Then, when I was ready to go, I texted my friend to see if they were there yet, and they weren't. So I asked her to text me when they got there, and after about half an hour, I texted her again to see when they were leaving, and they'd already gotten there. I was annoyed again that she didn't text me to tell me they were there. I had a blast, but at some points I did feel rather left out. I hate feeling like an outsider! Again, I was in one of my moods, and I realize it was not a big deal. But, as the night went on and more people came, I loosened up and ended up staying out much later than normal and having more fun than I have in a long time.

Today, I'm off to visit a friend who served in El Salvador with me, and I'm in a good mood, so I will enjoy it while it lasts! Tomorrow is an MLK day of service all day (with all meals included even!) and Tuesday it's back to normal. I think knowing that I am doing something each day helps my mood significantly, gives me something to look forward to. But I still am not keen on BG. I am trying to make more of an effort to be social and take the initiative on social things, so we'll see.