Mini-vacations

SO after my major vacation to Hawaii, I recently had 2 "mini vacations." It's tough living back in my hometown with my parents, so it's nice to occasionally get out of Gainesville! I love my hometown, but after a few months, it's a little dull.

My first vacation was to Jacksonville for the Florida/Georgia football game. Living in Gainesville, college football is life. And one of the biggest games of the year is always the Florida/Georgia game. It's held in Jacksonville, at a neutral site, and there are always tons of people tailgating and drinking and having a great time. We went over to Jacksonville for the game and stayed for 2 days with family friends. It was pretty funny, because their fun is also an Ivy League graduate, and we were joking about how its been so long since we hung out with other Ivy Leaguers. The gators didn't win, but it was a fun game to go to!

My second trip was again with my family, and it was to go to Saint Augustine, where my sister and her boyfriend were visiting his family. I had met his parents several times, but it was the first time that I got to meet his sister, her husband, and their baby. Me and Tanner (the baby) became best friends. It was good to see my sister, since it had been a while and will be a while before I see her again. Probably won't be until Christmas that I get to see her again! It was a little chilly out at the beach, but it was a lot of fun for a short, one night trip.

On the Peace Corps front, I found great polo shirts on sale on oldnavy.com and bought several. I'm still waiting for them to arrive to see how they fit, but I am feeling pretty good about it. I've gotten shirts from Old Navy before, and they usually fit me fairly well! I've also slowly been discovering more people going to Honduras - I think online I've met about 4-5 now, so there's a bit of a group forming! I can't wait until I start getting more real information about staging!

That's all for now - will update whenever I have anything interesting to talk about!

Hawaii!

This post is a bit overdue, but in October I headed to Hawaii for a little relaxation trip. One of my best friends, Amanda, lives out there for grad school, and she and her fiance were so accommodating and put me up for a whole week. Without the cost of a hotel, the trip was able to be really affordable.

I was able to do some really awesome things while out there. One of the number one things would be that I was able to go Scuba Diving! It's been a while since I had been able to go diving, and it was so cool to go. It was my first time diving out in the ocean rather than a spring or lake, so ti was a whole different feel. I saw about 15 sea turtles, an eagle ray, several eels, and tons of tropical fish and coral! I had a great time, and it was great that one of my dives was led by an amazing divemaster, Amanda!

We also did a really cool hike in O'ahu called Koko Head. The hike was about an hour long, and it was RIDICULOUS. Imagine an hour on a stairmaster in the heat and sun. THe views were totally worth it though. Plus the breeze at the top was really nice. I was so glad I did it, even though my thighs definitely weren't the next day!
Of course, since I was in Honolulu, I had to visit Pearl Harbor and the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. It was really sad, but also really powerful. I think sometimes the war in the Pacific is overshadowed by the war in Europe, so it was really interesting to learn more about what happened leading up to and after Pearl Harbor was attacked.

We did several other fun things. We went boogie boarding, which was really awesome! The waves were huge! I visited the International Market, which reminded me a lot of shopping in Ghana, which was pretty funny. We did a drive around the city, where we checked out the Blowhole, the Byodo-In temple, a shrimp shack (yum!), and Sunset Beach, where we watched a beautiful sunset. And we spent a fun night dancing at an underground rave.

All in all it was an amazing trip, and it was so nice to get away for a while. I think I really needed a break!

Surprise Trip - NYC!

I just took one of the craziest trips of my life! Basically, my work has been really slow and for the week September 26-30, I was originally supposed to have 4 days of work, but it got cut back to 1 day, only Friday. Obviously, I was rather disappointed and down in the dumps, considering I am getting really bored and frustrated with living in Gainesville. Well, I decided on a whim to look at plane ticket costs to go to NYC for the weekend. It was my sister's birthday on Saturday and I really just needed to get away from Gainesville. After checking a few airlines and different days, I found a direct flight from Jacksonville for only $270, which is super cheap last minute (the same flight is about $200 booked in advance). After clearing it with my family, I booked it!

It was a really lovely trip. My sister was completely surprised - she had NO idea I was going to come up for her birthday, and since it was so last minute, no time for anyone to give it away to her! We cooked all day for her party that night, which was a huge success. Tons of people came! After that I headed up to Columbia to visit my friend Kal and have a drink. it was o strange being back at the old bars from college not as a student!

Sunday was mostly cleaning and relaxing. I introduced my sister and Nate to Doctor Who, a british sci-fi show I have recently become addicted to.

Monday was a really great day in NYC, and it reminded me of why I love the city so much. I woke up early and went to get breakfast up by Columbia with Nate at my favorite bagel place in the city, Nussbaum and Wu. The guys that work there even remembered me! After being a regular for 4 years, I guess they still recognize me. I then wandered around Columbia's campus. I took some pictures with my new camera, working on focusing and framing. I definitely need some work, but it's fun to mess around with. Also stopped by the Citibank up there and canceled my account. No need for a bank account in NYC when I don't live there! After I finished up around Columbia, I headed down to Madison Square Park to relax in the park for about an hour. Sadly, the lawn wasn't open, but It was nice to just sit and relax in the park. I left around 11:30 to head over to Google, where I met my friend Meghna for lunch! I hadn't seen her in about 4 months, so it was so nice to get to catch up in person! I only wish it could have been longer. Afterwards, I met my sister for some light shopping. I didn't do much, considering I don't have much money! Took a short nap that afternoon, grabbed dinner with Dana and Nate, and then went over to the east side to meet up with a few friends from college: Lili, Megan, and Melissa! Had another small bite to eat, grabbed some frozen yogurt, and just caught up with everything. It was so nice to see my college friends - I've been missing them so much while here in Gainesville!

Sadly, the cheap flight I found had a return on Tuesday, so I couldn't stay longer, even though I don't have work until Friday. I'm just so happy I got to get up there and see some people. I want to see as many people as often as I can before I leave for Honduras. I will for sure be returning to NYC once or twice more before I leave, but it was nice to have a weekend up in the city!

Coming next: Hawaii in 10 days!!!

New Hobby - Ukulele!

In anticipation of Peace Corps, as well as simply because I have wanted to for a while, I have purchased a ukulele! I have been wanting to learn a new instrument for a while. For some time I considered guitar, but I decided that ukulele would be a better beginning instrument for many reasons. One, it's cheaper than a guitar and more affordable for me. Two, it's smaller. That allows me to travel with it easier (i.e. Peace Corps) as well as easier to learn on with my tiny hands. Three, it's just super adorable! I may sound like a stupid little girl, but my uke is seriously adorable. Four, it only has four stings rather than 6 and that makes it easier to start learning.

I got myself a concert ukulele. I decided on that size because it is small enough to travel with easily, but large enough that I don't feel my fingers are overly cramped or that it is too high pitched. I think it's a great size to learn on, though I would love to play around on a soprano or a tenor sometime. Maybe once I actually know how to play... haha!

I now have a lot of respect for people that play string instruments. My left hand fingers seriously HURT. I am working on trying to build those calluses up on my fingers, but until then, ouch! You have to press so hard with your left hand to make the notes sound right, and its a bit painful after playing for a while. Then there is the whole strumming and changing chords. My first day of playing around, I was HORRIBLE. I'm still not great, but I'm getting a bit more comfortable with changing chords and strumming the right rhythm. I've got a few books on the way of songs and techniques to try and teach myself. I'm super excited!

And then there is trying to sing as well. Oh lord. Now THAT is funny with me! I try to sing and my strumming goes all crazy and i speed up and slow down all over the place. Let's just say that's a work in progress.

I have only been playing for a grand total of 10 days, and I haven't played every day of those 10, so I'm not too frustrated. Hopefully by the time I head to Honduras, I'll know lots of little songs on my uke and I can use it for cultural exchange with people in my community! They do say that music is a universal language!

Car Crash

I had a pretty scary day last Monday - I got into a car crash.

I was on my way to the gym after getting off work early, and I was stopped just past a light - there was some traffic or something, I'm not exactly sure what, but when the car in front of me is stopped, I try to do the same. I was stopped for a good 5-10 seconds, and a car came through the light, didn't realize we were stopped, and hit me going somewhere between 35 and 40 mph. The momentum pushed me into the car in front of me, and when it was all done, my car was at least 40 feet away from the car that hit me. As many of you know who read this blog, I don't technically have my own car - I borrow my mom's and my grandma's cars, depending on who needs theirs any given day. That day I had my mom's car, a 2005 Honda Accord.

The important part is that everyone was okay. I was freaking out big time after the crash - I couldn't find my phone, as it flew somewhere in the car when I was hit. My dad works in radio and had just gotten on the air about 5 minutes before the accident, and my mom was in a staff meeting and not answering her phone. Furthermore, I was supposed to pick my mom up in a few hours since I had her car.

It all worked out in the end - I got through to my mom on the man I was hit into's cell phone, eventually found my phone in the car, and my mom got a ride out to the crash from a coworker. She managed to get a message delivered to my dad so that he knew what was going on and to find out where he wanted the car towed to (it wasn't drivable). The man my car was hit into stayed and ended up driving me and my mom home since we had no car. It's wonderful how nice people can be in a time of need.

So the bad news - I got mild whiplash from the accident. I had to take 2 of my 3 days of work off last week because of my stiff neck. With all the driving I do, if my neck is bothering me and I am unable to turn it properly, I am putting the work car in danger as well as myself. I also was only scheduled for one day this week - Friday in Gainesville - because I wasn't sure of my speed of recovery. The person who hit me's car is likely totaled, and we just found out today that my car wasn't totaled, but the repairs are going to be quite high - thank god for insurance! was completely totaled (insurance changed their mind). We should be getting a check shortly for the value of the car and have to go shopping for a new one.

Other than that all is well. I've watched lots of Doctor Who, done some major cleaning of my room, and slept in, a luxury I don't have with work. I am just glad everyone was okay! I drove again for the first time today - neck still a bit stiff when turning it, but I wasn't too bad. May have had a mild panic attack every time a car came up behind me when I was stopped at a light, but that will pass. Just want to heal on up so I can get back to work!