life’s not a paragraph

i don’t know if i have ever mentioned that one of my roommates is a member of the hip hop team here as suffolk, which is called wicked! they had a performance last night, and i went with some of my friends to see it. it was great!! they did such an awesome job.

this morning i went to haymarket. it’s a huge farmer’s market that takes place every saturday behind government center. it goes on all day. there is a huge line of tables of fruits, vegetables, breads and fish. you can get mostly everything you need. and it’s SUPER cheap.

it’s can be a little overwhelming. there are tons of people shuffling in and out of small pathways, bargaining over groceries. the vendors yell about their deals. there’s just a general sense of controlled chaos. once i got over the initial shock of the place, it became kind of like a game. haha you have to pay attention that’s for sure. you have to pay attention to whose walking in front of you nad who’s pushing you from behind, and the same time, you have to keep an eye out for the best prices. i would definitely recommend everyone to try it at least once. unless of course, you are claustrophobic.

scheduling is always stressful. you’re basically planning out the next five months of your life. it’s a little nerve-wracking. right now i am planning on taking the rest of my foundation courses (3D design, drawing 2, design issues and processes, and painting) and a latin american fiction class. however, one of the professors is offering a course in prague in the czech republic that would satisfy my painting requirement!!

one of my friends in spain went to prague and showed me his pictures. it looked absolutely INCREDIBLE! i have wanted to go since then. the program is three weeks long. which is perfect for me because my job starts right when the class is over. so depending on what classes i can get into, and if i can get into the program, i am going to have to change my schedule around. :/

if i end up taking the painting course, i think i am going to pick up an art history class because i still have to take art history two and an art history elective.

ahhhh, it’s just hard to make everything fit in a way that works. but i know it will work out. it has the past three semesters. so i shouldn’t worry, but i still do. hahaha

last night i went to the sean kingston and girl talk concert that was hosted by suffolk. it was at the house of blues (formerly known as the avalon) over by fenway park.

the concert was great!! i had sooooooo much fun!! i went with my roommates and then i met up with a bunch of my friends from spain. we pushed ourselves up to the front (don’t worry we weren’t those obnoxious tall people that push in front of you to stand in your way. i could never actually do that. i’m quite short. haha) sean kingston was really good. he sang some new songs and all the really popular ones. we all got glow sticks when we walked in, so when he told us all to put our hands up it was like an ocean of glow sticks waving back and forth. haha it looked really cool.

girl talk was crazy! the whole place just turned into a huge dance party. girl talk himself was dancing up and down on his dj table at one point. the bass was super intense- you know like when you can feel it in your chest? yea like that. my ears were a little sore when i left, but that;s just because i was right up front for most of the concert. haha bad choice on my part.

i really love dancing, and this concert came at the perfect time actually. i have been a little stressed trying to figure out my schedule for next semester, and the concert just allowed me to escape it all for a little while. ughh well i’ll tell you more about my scheduling problems later!

happy belated halloween!!  (i just had to say that. i love halloween. i hope you all had fun dressing up and eating lots of candy!)

I had a great weekend. on the morning of halloween i went to the boston vegetarian food festival with a few of my friends from my 2D class. if you didn’t know, i am a vegetarian, and so when i hear about the festival, i was really excited to go!

the festival was in one of the gyms at the roxbury community college. they are going to need a bigger venue next year. i was surprised how many people were there! it was packed! we could barely move. we actually lost each other a few times. there were a lot of vendors too! and tons of free food. 🙂

unfortunately, because it was so busy, it kind of took away from the experience. we left a little earlier than i think we would have if it was less crazy, but we still got to see some cool things like vegan marshmallows, veggie empanadas, and lots of yummy vegan* treats!! i got a vegan donut with sprinkles! ah! it was so good. haha and i got a guide to vegetarian restaurants in the boston area that i can’t wait to explore!

it was was really great to go out and do something else. i know there are always cool things going on around boston. i am going to keep an eye out for posters and advertisements so i can do a whole bunch of different things over the course of the year!

*vegans don’t eat any animal by products, including all dairy products.

i don’t know if i have mentioned this before, but i applied to participate in alternative spring break (asb) this year. for those of you that don’t know, alternative spring break is when you spend your spring break in march doing volunteer work rather than go on a regular vacation at home or some where more tropical…

i have always wanted to participate in alternative spring break. actually, i have always really wanted to go on a volunteer trip. i have done a lot of volunteer work, but it has been from the comfort of my hometown. i have never really done anything hands on. since last year i had a fun spring break, i knew that this year was the year to start going on asb.

i applied a few weeks ago. the application just included a short essay, a few questions about myself, and some references. normal stuff. today i had my interview.

at first i was a little confused as to why they wanted to interview asb applicants. but then i realized it actually makes a lot of sense. i am under the impression that asb is free (or almost free) so i guess some kids could use it as an excuse to get away without spending money. this is aggravating because asb is really about helping people, spending your time and giving a part of yourself to complete strangers just because you think it’s right. truth be told, i hardly believe that it’s going to be a vacation. i am sure i will have fun, but it’s going to be a really difficult week, physically and emotionally. i really hope i get accepted. i really really really want to do it. hahaha

if i do get chosen (ah! i really hope i do!), i am going to have a really hard time deciding where to go. they are offering four different trips. one to mississippi for hurricane relief with habitat for humanity. one to denver, co to work with child poverty and with habitat as well (fyi: denver has the fastest growing rate of child poverty in the country! i just found that out today. i was shocked!). an environmental aid trip to san francisco. and a lbgt (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual) aid trip to either san francisco or detroit (they haven’t figured out which yet). all of them are going to be really great trips and we’ll be able to make a great impact in each place. i wish that spring break was four weeks long so i could go on everyone!!

well wish me luck everyone. i should find out next week if i am in or not!! i’ll let you know as soon as i do! 🙂

so i don’t know if you remember that in my last post i talked about my desire for cafe con leche… (refer back to the post before this if you don’t) but i have finally satisfied that craving… well, sort of.

yesterday was monday, so that means it was coffee-with-leidy (my best friend who i only get to see once a week) day. we continued on our weekly cafe voyage and discovered a cute little place called L’Aroma Cafe on newbury st. it’s one of those places that is half-way underground, so you could easily walk right by it. however, its little european-esque patio and bright interior caught our eye (plus, we were searching for cafes, so obviously we found it easily).

the place is really adorable. and it is reasonably priced, which, on newbury st, is a very rare thing. it’s got a cool upper level by the window which would be perfect for studying and a lower level with benches and little round tables.

on to my cafe con leche connection…. if you didn’t pick up on it by the name of the cafe, it is french-inspired. and the french have this thing they call café au lait, which conveniently translates to coffee with milk. i honestly don’t know why i didn’t think of this before. my brain must have been confounded by the whole french v. spanish thing. i don’t know, but i was deciding what to order when i had this little epiphany. perfect timing!!

obviously, it wasn’t the same. milk is processed differently over there. fun fact: milk actually comes in those aseptic packages that products like soy milk come in, so you can store your dairy milk in your cabinet and it won’t go bad. interesting, right? it completely weirded me out at first. but i digress… since the milk is different here, there is no way it can possibly taste the same. however, it was pretty darn close, and paired with a croissant, i was practically in heaven. the experience definitely alleviated some of my madrid-sickness. haha 🙂 good thing leidy and i go out and do this sort of thing every week!!

lately, i’ve been missing madrid a little bit more than usual. i really want a café con leche (coffee with milk. unfortunately, not at all like a latte from dunkin donuts, so don’t even suggest it haha). i had an amazing nepolitana de chocolate (chocolate filled croissant-y thing) in cambridge last week, which didn’t help my madrid sickness either. plus, the past two short films i’ve watched in spanish class were made in spain…. i miss their accents :/ haha so i’m going to share some pictures with you to help me get over it….

inside la alhambra, a moorish for in granada, spain

san sebastian at night, northern spain.

bay of san sebastian

SFR. don’t worry. most people don’t know what this acronym is.

fyi it stands for suffolk free radio… yes, suffolk has a radio station. i didn’t know it had one either until my friends told me about it. they happen to have their own hour on sfr– a little show named “pie and coffee” that goes from 8-9 pm on thursday evenings. my friends christian and ashley both lovelovelove music. it’s funny because in spain (they both went to madrid with me for this past year), they talked about having their own radio show sometime, and now, they do!

unfortunately, i hadn’t been able to listen to it until last night. before last night, the station wouldn’t play on macs (i have a mac), and on top of that, i have a night ethics class on thursdays that goes until 8:10 so would make me a late listener anyways. yesterday, i had my ethics midterm which didn’t take the whole class period. so i decided to take the opportunity to finally listen to the show and go listen to it in person!!

not surprisingly, the music was great. christian and ashley did a really awesome job. christian’s friend jake also has his own little segment called “jake’s love corner” which is great. he gave a shout out to our friend chelsea who is coming down next week to visit!!

so i am going to say that you all should definitely take a little listen to sfr sometime but more specifically, listen to “pie and coffee” on thursday nights!! 🙂 here’s the link below:

http://www.live365.com/stations/suffolkfreeradio

dun.dun.dun….

it’s that stressful time of year again. although not quite as bad as finals, midterms still make students go a little crazy. lots of tests. lots of work. not really a good recipe for a grand old time.

luckily, for me at least, i don’t have a lot of tests this time around. actually, i only have one. 🙂 but it’s pretty big. and it’s tomorrow. and i need to study….. i’m a pretty good student, but when it comes to studying, i’m just horrible. i just have such a hard time sitting down and reading and rereading notes and doing practice questions… ugh. bleck.

i have to say i am really thankful that my studio classes are requiring portfolios. i really like the idea of putting all of my work from the semester in giant folder and getting a grade from that rather than one test that determines my grade. i think the portfolio is a better way for the professor to get a good idea of how i am understanding the concepts how how much effort i am putting into the class. obviously, this method wouldn’t really work for my ethics class. a test is much more appropriate for the way the class is run. still, i would prefer passing in a portfolio of ethics work over a big ethics exam any day!!

i really love the city of boston. it’s really quaint and full of cute little shops and restaurants. i love the european vibe of it, with all the brick sidewalks and short buildings.

however, it’s definitely not perfect. i have a couple of pet peeves.

1. the weather: crazy wether comes with new england. i’ve grown up with it and i’m used to it, but it doesn’t mean i have to like it all the time. yesterday it snowed. yes, snow in october. i saw on the weather that it has happened before, in the 80’s i believe. but still that is extremely out of the ordinary. tomorrow it’s going to be 60. it’s a bit of a rollercoaster. haha

2. street signs: in madrid, every corner has a street sign. they are nice painted plates that are attached to buildings 10 or 11 feet in the air. you need to know what street your on? it’s almost guaranteed you can find a sign at the next intersection. here, however, there are signs maybe every other street. i actually got lost trying to find my apartment the first time because there was no street sign off of the main road. annoying!!

3. the green line: if i am going to compare boston to madrid again, i am going to have to say the T is pitiful. some lines are decent. i’ve never had a problem with the red and blue lines. but the most bostonians will agree that the green line is the worst. it’s technically trolley, not a train so it’s loud and and a bit jerky. it’s also extremely unreliable, because it’s the busiest and the largest line. i, personally, avoid the T. i prefer to walk. it’s better for me and sometimes i think it actually saves time. boston is really a walking city, so that just makes walking a more obvious choice for me!

ok so here are three things i don’t like about boston. BUT in comparison, there are a million reasons why i love boston! i think i can live with these three annoying things.