Summer is upon us.....I shall never have straight hair again........

With me having a slight summer vacation in May before my summer semester hit, right after Mom and Amanda came down to visit me, I headed up to Calgary for a week to see friends and family up that way as I am not sure when I will be making my way back (although now it appears at the end of July if the school schedule remains the same).  And, as per usual, I can never have a boring flight......this time I decided to fly out of Baltimore as tickets are way cheaper than flying out of Reagan and I got to ride a train for the first time ever and I loved it!!!! I would train it anywhere (I have a notion to just to go the train station, look at all the trains leaving and jump on one for an adventure).  They are so roomy and nice and cool and just watching the scenery is very relaxing.  This person is definitely a fan of trains.  I am still on a hunt for a good flight path as I am trying to avoid La Guardia at all costs, so this time, I flew down to Dallas and up to Calgary (the scenic route but only 1 layover).  I do not know if that will be my flight path again as I learnt that Dallas is pretty good for delayed flights.  Once in Dallas, my flight was delayed about an hour and then the flight up to Calgary was pretty rough - we had turbulence the entire way, and I am not talking about your slight pitching or bumpiness, I am talking about jarring and pitching enough that a couple overhead bins came open and luggage started falling out.  There were a couple of times when I looked out the window I couldn't see anything moving so I thought we had just stopped midair and was waiting for the turbulence to pass or something like that.  And then there were a couple of times that the show would quiet down to let the captain speak overtop but all you heard was this voice saying 'hello, hello; is anyone there? Can anyone hear this?' and I thought to myself 'holy fuck, even a tower can't read us right now'.  I thought for sure this was going to be one of those flights that the air masks were going to drop.  And out of it all, while people were panicking and the stress level in that plane was super high, the lady sitting next to me (who was born in 1937 fyi) did not speak any English whatsoever had this smile on her face the entire time as she had no clue what was happening hahaha.  I thought that if we were going to crash, she was going to crash with a smile on her face.  When the pilot finally came on to tell us that we were going to start the descent into Calgary, normally this takes about 20-30 minutes to do from the time he announces to the time we pull up to our gate. Not this time...no siree......he announced, I watched clouds go whipping by us out of the window and then bam!!! bounce!!!  a little skid!!! we were hitting the runway and hard.  People actually screamed a little and clutched the seat in front of them for dear life.  I normally am not a panicky flyer, but I was quite happy to be off of a plane and safely onto Canadian soil. 

 

Amie was picking me up from the Airport (and a trooper she was because of the delays and the fact that I had no voice between the humidity I left in Washington and the allergies flaring up when I touched down in Calgary) and from there we went to Ranchmans.  We are still trying to figure out whose harebrained idea that was as I didn't land until after 11pm so we didn't even get to Ranchmans until midnight, but it was a blast.  We both realized that we are 1) too old and 2) too out of shape to be dancing like we used to do (the first polka we did completely did a number on us).  We ended up closing the bar though (go hard or go home) and then crashed for the night.  We ended up meeting these two guys that loved to dance so it worked out perfectly for us.  And they were so nice and escorted us to McDonalds afterwards (I was so hungry from not eating and all the panicking from that last flight).  It was a wonderful welcome back into Calgary and I told Amie that it would be hard for her to top that welcoming so it may now just be a tradition of ours.  Later on in the week I met up with Amie and Hailey for a zoo trip and that was so much fun!!! I can't believe how much Hailey has grown (funny how time does that) and just listening to her talk and how smart she is...you have a wonderful girl there Amie!!!  It was a wonderful time seeing her and I can't wait for when she comes out to Washington. 

 

While in Calgary I got to visit with Aly and work peoples and go see Court and discuss all the wedding details with her since I was going to miss her wedding.  I even commissioned Court already to be my wedding planner if I ever need one as that girl was on the ball for everything and did everything herself.  Very crafty that cousin of mine is.  One thing I had to do while in Calgary was get a TB test done for my practicum site - I have never had one of these done before so I didn't know what to expect and I pitied the nurse that got me.  She was telling me that if my skin around the needle mark started to puff up/bubble, it meant that I was having a reaction, which isn't a good thing.  So, me being panicked already, as soon as she inserted whatever was in the needle, my skin puffs up and I start panicking 'oh my god, I have TB!!!!!'  She calmly told me that everybody has an initial reaction to it and it will go down in a couple of hours and then I need to watch my skin to see if there is a reaction.  I was to go back in 2 days for them to check out the test and see if I had a reaction and for those 2 days, I checked out my arm a million times a day to make sure there was no reaction.  Oys.  I panicked for nothing as I am TB free!!!!  Woohoo. 

 

The flight back to Washington was, thankfully, not as turbulent but still had some delays in Dallas.  Flew in no problem, and then got settled in at my gate for when my flight was going to leave.  Start up the laptop to do some emailing and whatnot as I had over three hours to kill and suddenly an announcement comes on that our gate has been changed.  Okey doke.  So pack up my stuff and start heading to the new gate (which was, thankfully, in the same terminal but at the other end of it).  Get down to the new gate, get settled in to wait, start up the laptop again.  Do some stuff.  Then an announcement comes on - our gate has been changed again.  So, pack up everything, start walking to the new gate (which was a couple of gates down from the original gate).  Get to the new gate and this time I am start enough to not bring out my laptop - I just pulled my book out, hunkered down and started reading.  I got to a really good part and an announcement comes on.  They are changing our gate once again.  Grumble grumble, pack things up, head to new gate.  Finally, after 3 gate changes and an hour delay, we are ready to board the plane.  And, lucky me, there are military men on this flight.  Hot military men.  Maybe this flight just got a bit better.  But, as I have no luck, I was not seated next to one or anywhere near one - they sat either in first class or right near the plane and I was near the back.  I couldn't even look at them.  No luck for this chick.  Land in Baltimore and whoosh - got hit with a wave of humidity.  Right.  I forgot about that.  I was so happy in Calgary with the coolness and the rain that I declimatized myself from DC weather.  Not a good thing to do. 

 

Summer semester has started up again and the two classes I am taking are Group Processes and Forensic Diversity.  Thankfully the prof seems to be pretty easy going and not too much into the whole teaching part of school so he is going to shake things up with having classes outside and being more hands on and stuff like that.  One of the assignments is to write a paper on my culture/heritage so I have been plaguing my family with questions about where we came from, how did we get to where we are, stuff like that and it has been interesting and wonderful all the responses I have been getting back.  I am learning so much about my family that I never knew and now am seeing how I came to be the person I am today through and from my family.  It will be a fun paper once it is all said and done and my family has helped tremendously for it.  I also got a job on campus - before, the jobs were only available for those students who had federal student loans but now they took away the student loans part as a requirement so it is open to us international folk - very happy news.  Originally we thought that I could work while I was getting my Social Security Number and they would just back pay/retro pay me but sadly, they could not do it. 

So I "worked" one day and then had to go down to the Social Security office to submit my application for a number.  While at work (just on campus as the receptionist) the freaking cops show up - how the hell did they know I was working illegally!!!?? Hahaha.  Someone accidentally called 911 and then hung up so the cops had to come and just make sure everything was kosher.  I laughed pretty hard when they left though.  Great timing.  My application is in for a SSN and it should take 7 - 10 days from last Thursday to get here and then I can start working, again.  I kind of feel bad though because I will only be able to work for July as August I plan on coming home as I won't have as much of a break at Christmas time than I did last year.  But I could also stick around here and make some money.  Oh a conundrum. 

 

For all of those reading this in Southern Alberta, know that my thoughts and prayers are with you guys.  That flood did massive damage and I hope that everyone is safe and secure.  I keep thinking that if I was still in Calgary, my place would be absolutely gone and I would have lost anything that I wasn't smart enough to pack with me, which makes me wonder what I would have been smart enough to pack with me.  I don't know if I even would have had the time.  I am one of those people that once I sit in my chair, have my cross stitch and movies playing, I am oblivious to what is happening outside and around me.  I may not have even noticed what was happening until I saw water come through my windows and probably by that time it would have been too late for me to meander around my place, trying to figure out what was important enough to take then and what could be left behind.  It makes me panic about the people that have lost everything in this flood and how sad I am for them to basically start everything all over again.  It also puts things into perspective for me a little bit - here I am complaining about the hotness and humidity, but it isn't like that is taking me away from my home and me losing my valuables and possessions.  I really have no right to complain about the heat (I still will complain by the way hahaha).  I have been in contact with basically everyone that I know in Calgary and they are said that they were safe and secure, so that is a blessing. 

 

So here was an update for you folks on what I have been doing (the pictures are from the Botannical Gardens and some hodgepodge ones).  Basically with the heat, it has been a pretty lazy lifestyle.  I finally went out and did some touristy things so I will write about that soon but just figured I should catch you up on my trip (for those checking track - don't go through LaGuardia ever because they lose luggage, security sucks and the airport is not user friendly and if you go through Dallas, be prepared to be delayed) and the start of the school semester.  On a good note, I am actually tanning which is amazing so that is something new and different for me hahaha.  I miss and love you all!!! Take care!!!!

Things I never thought I would say: Oh Mom is Googling that right now on her phone......

So every year, we are trying to do a Girls Weekend in that my mom and two sisters and I will get together and catch up on life, smile, obtain memories and have some good laughs.  This year, my mom and one sister (other one is training for an ironman competition, or at least I think it is an ironman competition) came down to Washington to see *my* city and catch up since school was over and I found myself in a break before summer semester hits.  The plan - they fly in Thursday night, leave Tuesday morning and the rest is for me to fill up the time with wonderfulness.  So, let me walk you through our days and what we did and everything my mother and sister experienced with me while here.  There is nothing really to comment about the travelling days (Thursday and Tuesday) so I will just skip those and go straight to the funness!!!

 

Friday

Friday was my mother's birthday so for her birthday gift, we went on a Lunch Potomac Riverboat Cruise and it was a glorious day for that.  The sun was shining, the were hardly no clouds in the sky, perfect.  The food was so yummy and the entertainment was hilarious (watching Ma learn how to Wobble was priceless!!!!) and going up on the top deck to look around at everything and pointing things out to my sister and mother made it feel like it was *my* city.  We saw some wonderful things like where Obama keeps his helicopter (why this is public knowledge is beyond me), the only working drawbridge on the Potomac (sadly it didn't raise up when we were there) and the Titanic monument.   From the cruise, we walked to the monuments to see them all, which is something I haven't really done yet since living here.  We started at Jefferson (which was my sister's favorite), saw all of Roosevelt Memorial, hit Martin Luther King, then Korean Memorial, Lincoln and the reflecting pool, off to Vietnam, saw the Constitution Gardens and the area where they gave tribute to the signers of the Constitution and then to the WWII Memorial (which is my favorite). 

We were able to sit and put our feet in the water and just look around at everything, Lincoln behind us, Washington in front of us, the peacefulness and tranquility of the fountains.  We walked around the Washington Monument to hit the metro station and then it was off for supper at La Rosa Mexicano, which was amazing for Ma's birthday dinner.   After becoming absolutely stuffed and uncomfortably full, we made our way back home and basically just passed out from all the events and exciteness from our first day. 

Total walking miles: 6.2 
Food ethnicity:  Mexican 
Theme of the day:  Mom's birthday and monuments!!!

 

Saturday

Saturday was hard to figure out as the weather was potentially rainy but is why we have umbrellas.  It was a slower start to our morning but a leisurely paced one.  We got down to the Capitol and walked around the Capitol Reflecting Pool to the Botanical Gardens.  There was this dressed up fairy who was walking around; I think she was my favorite part of the Gardens hahaha.  All of the flowers and plants were amazing and so pretty.  Then we went outside to see the Rose Garden and it was like heaven in there.  The roses were so big and colorful and in bloom and just a wonderful little piece of heaven.  From there we walked around to the other side of the Capitol, walked past the Library of Congress and Supreme Court (which I never knew was that building), walked down to the Senate Reflecting Pool and fountain (where I had the surreal moment of realizing where I was living) and back to the metro station for food.  From there, we went and saw Freedom Plaza and walked to the Whitehouse.  There was a protest for Guantanamo Bay so we did not stick around too long in front of there, and the weather started turning a little sour so then we decided to head to supper at Founding Farmers.  Had another wonderful meal there, ate too much, made it back home and had some wine, cheese and watched Ma and Amanda do the wobble (which I also taped so I have such wonderful blackmailing material hahaha).

Total walking miles: 6.1 (excluding the walking in the Botanical Gardens)   
Food ethnicity:  Home grown American 
Theme of the day:  Government

 

Sunday

 Sunday was a clichéd day as we hit both the Basilica and National Cathedral.  First up was the Basilica, which is a short walk from my place.  See all the little chapels and mosaics there is just absolutely gorgeous and peaceful.  I really don't know what to say about this place as it is just an amazing place that is breathtaking and words can't really describe it.  From there we went to the National Cathedral, which was poorly planned on my part as I did not realize it was Pentecostal Sunday so they had a mass going on when we were there so we didn't have enough time to properly look and admire all the stained glass windows and go down to the crypts to see everything there.  But we did head out to the Bishop's Garden, which was beautiful and in bloom.  I kind of wish we had more time to look at everything there but oh well - at least they got to see it and can now appreciate how old and amazing it looks (in the picture, those two really really tiny people are Amanda and Ma standing in front of the doors).  I still need to go there and take a picture of all the gargoyles hahaha.  After the Cathedral we went for some sushi, which was again, delicious and made our way home where we played some cards, drank some wine, had some cheese.  Note to people:  when playing cards with Amanda, it is best to sit directly to her left as you may be able to take advantage of that spot hahaha. 

Total walking miles:  5.1 (excluding the walking in the Basilica and the Cathedral)
Food ethnicity: Japanese
Theme of the day:  Life and Gorgeousness

 

Monday

Ma decided that she wanted to see the Holocaust Museum as it is something that she will probably never have the opportunity to see so off to there was our first stop.  Going through a second time was good as it allowed me to read things I missed the first time and talk about some of the issues that happened, what started the war, things like that.  From there, we went for some foods and then decided for a impromptu trip to Arlington Cemetery, another place that I haven't been to yet.  On our way there, something that was bound to happen during the trip finally did happen - we lost our Mother.  When exiting off the metro station, she went one way that didn't really have an exit, took an elevator to who knows where and we told her to stay where she was and we would find her.  Amanda and I went down to the metro guard, asked him where the elevator went to and he said to street level, so we quickly went up there and saw Ma walking down the street, thankfully not too panicked looking hahaha.  The cemetery is beyond words - all the tombstones in lines and going on for miles and miles.  We walked up to see JFK's eternal flame and Robert Kennedy's grave site and then off to see the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 
Now, the weather had indicated that it was supposed to be the day of rain and cloudiness and whatnot - nope, no, no it wasn't.  It was hot and humid and wet and hot.  Thankfully we had our umbrellas with us for shade but it was still too bloody hot out there for me, so after seeing the Changing of the Guard, we decided to go back into DC and head for some foods.  What was kind of crazy was walking back to the entrance, we passed a tombstone with my name on it and there sat a Blue jay.  So, naturally, I had to google what the symbolism of a blue jay means and what is one of the words that describes a blue jay - fearless (if you do not understand the connection, that is what I have tattooed down my spine).  It was kind of spooky how that had happened.  I had to take them to Fado for the potato quesdaillas so that was our last food stop.  And man, those things will never not be good.  I
could eat them all the time.  Fado is one of my favorite pubs so I am glad I was able to show them the place and I think they enjoyed it as well.   After Fado, we went and did the Monument walk at night as seeing Lincoln and Jefferson all lit up is a sight to be seen.  Just sitting on the steps of Lincoln with Amanda and Ma was a wonderful feeling. 
Total walking miles:  9.6 (excluding walking in the Holocaust Museum) 
Food ethnicity: Irish 
Theme of the day: Death 

I am probably forgetting some things that we did or experienced and some funny things I wanted to say about our trip, but at the moment, nothing is coming to mind.  So, Ma and Amanda, feel free to add to this with your comments about the trip, what you enjoyed, etc etc.  You guys came down at the right time as I was in need of some family and love; I enjoyed our time together and doing everything with you guys and glad you had a wonderful time and didn't mind all the walking hahaha.  So many more things to do and see next time you guys come!!!!!  Love you lots!!!

Sadly the migrating patterns of dinosaurs are not in my repetoire of knowledge......

School is out!!! Woot woot!!!  Such a nice feeling to not have to go to school and sit through boring classes anymore (well at least until June).  I think it was the practicum stress that just made this last semester so much more stressful than the other semester.  But, it is done, that is all that matters.  Annnnnnnnnd, drumroll please, I have managed to keep my 4.0 GPA so lets knock on wood as I would love to keep that up.  This past semester was pretty funny in a way for the way things happened.  For example, this was the evolution of our research question for research methods (our topic was Exploring the Psychological Experience of Mass Killings on Communities:  A Phenomenological Research):
 

1. Within the past 15 years, how have perceptions about mental health changed in communities directly affected by mass killings and how does it vary amongst different countries?
2. What are the perceptions of mental health policies in communities affected by mass killings? 
3. What are the cultural perceptions of the causality between mental illness and gun
   violence in communities affected by mass killings?
4. What are the perceptions of mass killings in communities affected by them?
5. What are the perceptions in communities affected by mass killings?

In our objective methods class, we got to administer the MMPI-2 and the MCMI-III assessments on ourselves to understand how the assessment works and if it correct, things like that.  According to the MMPI-2, my two highest clinical scales were Psychopathic Deviate and Schizophrenic, with elevations on Psychasthenia, Depression, Hysteria and Mania.  According to the MCMI-III, I have the presence of the following personality traits:  Dependent, Major Depression, Bipolar and Thought Disorder.  I have the persistence of the following personality traits:  Avoidant, Depressive, Antisocial, Anxiety and Dysthymia.  What both assessments also indicated was that I tend to think negatively of myself and paint myself in a worse light than is actually happening (but not to the extent that I am trying to come across as "abnormal"). 

 

Once school was done, people started dispersing - Riya, Steph and Brittni all went home, leaving me, Christina, Meg, Colleen and Kalyn kicking around.  I did not want people to just be sitting at home, bored out of their mind, being on summer break and all, so I had planned a "week" of festivities for us; it worked out for the most part, but the weather threw a wrench into things when it said it was going to be something but then it didn't do what it was supposed to do *shakes fist at weather*.  First up on our list was the Museum of Natural History as I (nor Meg I think) haven't been there.  I tell you what - now I remember why I do not go to the museums on the week days - kids everywhere!!  They were crawling around like ants everywhere - I disliked it hahaha.  But we plodded on and saw everything. The dinosaurs were pretty cool, the sciency stuff was really boring.  We went to see the butterflies and I made a little child cry with my panickness of the butterflies hahaha.  One of my finer moments.  The museum was pretty interesting but I do not think it is one of my favorites as it is almost information overload and a lot of science-based information.  Here are some fun facts though that I think I remembered - the collarbone is the last bone to grow (usually stops around 25 years old) and Kalyn is shorter than a back leg bone of an elephant hahaha. 

Our second outing was supposed to be a picnic down by the Capitol Reflecting Pool, hit the Botanical Gardens and then go for supper.  Well the weather had said that it was supposed to be cool and rainy all day so we nixed the picnic and adjusted the plans accordingly.  We were wrong to believe the weather - it was sunny and gorgeous and hot.  I was not a happy camper, but we made do.  We went to the Library of Congress and got people their library cards and then went into the actual library - holy smokes those rooms are gorgeous.  The European Reading Room is absolutely amazing - the colors and the roof and the theme of the elements are just amazing.  Then the actual Reading Room, the one you see in movies, is so astounding, but very, very quiet.  One time I will want to go there and study and work on papers, but I think it is too quiet for me.  And it is so serious.  So unlike me hahaha.  From there we went to the Botanical Gardens and those are quite beautiful.  When we went to the rose garden, all I could think of was Painting the Roses Red from Alice in Wonderful (what can I say - I am a classy lady hahaha).  For supper we went to Ben's Chili Bowl and it was scrumptious - one of those spots that is known around the city so we had to check it off the food list. 

I had signed up for a Scary DC Ghost Tour where it walks about the Capitol and you hear about all the stories of sightings of dead presidents and all that fun jazz but due to metro complications, I had completely missed it.  But, silver lining in most things, I took the time to walk around the Capitol at night and see what is all there and I found my little slice of heaven at the Bartholdi Park near the Botanical Gardens.   There was also this little building that had seats and water fountains in it but it also had kind of a natural bird bath - I stood there for at least 10 minutes just watching all the birds fly to and from this area, playing in the water and singing away.  It was my own little Secret Garden moment.  The night was so clear and peaceful that it was the perfect time to just walk around and see Washington in the dusky sky.  Was I sad to miss the tour - of course - but I was also happy that I was able to take that moment and just find some peace and quietness and find myself. 

Since it is playoff hockey right now, and Washington was in the first round, a couple of us decided to head downtown to go watch Game 7 at a pub near the Verizon Center.  Washington lost - got killed actually but Boston won - woohoo!!!  What was really memorable though that night was we decided we wanted some potato quesadillas from Fado so we went there after the game and it was packed.  I guess it was Police Week and that place was full of very very good looking police men hahaha.  What was awesome though was the fact that the Chicago Police Department Piping Band was there and was playing some songs.  It was just good timing and wonderful to hear.  A very good way to end the night.  Who doesn't like a little Amazing Grace bagpipes style??!! Hauntingly beautiful

Well, as I right this, my sister and mother are packing up their stuff to head home.  They flew in last Thursday and flying out today and it was such a wonderful, awesome, amazing, lovely time with them.  I think I overdosed them on Washington sightseeing but not comatose style.  That all being said, my family blog will be going up soon.  On Thursday, I am actually heading to Calgary to get some visiting in so this month has been pretty busy for me.  Love and miss you all!!

Why are we running? Cause this is a marathon!!! It isn't a marathon, it's a race!

Summer is here - I am burnt already, tulips are up and blooming, grass and trees are super green and the heat is too hot.  This is going to be an interesting summer, but hopefully, and for once, I can actually get a tan and not be all pasty white and blind people.....

The Cherry Blossom festival was the first week in April and it was nice, but disappointing.  April 6th was supposed to be prime day for cherry blossom blooming but alas, since we had some "cool" weather before the weekend (and I use the term "cool" loosely) the blossoms were not bloomyfull.  There were two trees that people were congregating around to take pictures and it was pretty funny (reminded me of being at the zoo and everybody running to see the animal move).  The two trees were quite beautiful, but sadly, I wasn't able to head down to the Tidal Basin when they were all out in full bloom, so next year I will have to try and take more in.  So part of the Cherry Blossom festivities was paddleboating in the Tidal Basin and then catching the fireworks at night.  Paddleboating was quite fun - it was Kalyn's first time and luckily/unluckily she got stuck with paddling with me hahaha.  I have never been in a paddleboat that didn't have the ring for a steering wheel so I didn't even attempt to steer, and Kalyn tried to, but sadly, we couldn't figure it out.  Steph, oh captain my captain, was sitting in the backseat and did some steering for us.  She was the epitome of backseat driving hahaha.  For a bit there, we actually paddled backwards so that Steph could steer and not hit people.  When we were coming back to the dock, we had to pull some Mario Andretti moves as there was a traffic jam of paddleboats.  It was pretty fun overall.  Just sitting in the middle of the Tidal Basin and talking with the girls, gently floating and looking around at everything was so relaxing and serene and something we all needed.  After the paddleboating, it was food adventure.  I think we spent over an hour in line for pizza hahaha.  There were people everywhere and in each line and it was nuts.  It was reminiscent to Inauguration Day so I had a small PTSD moment hahaha. After foods, it was fireworks and they were amazing.  I love fireworks, and seeing them over the water was just beautiful.   A wonderful day overall with such wonderful company. 

Last weekend, and the weekend that gave me my sunburn, was the DC Challenge.  It is Amazing Race style - we got 12 clues (only had to do 11 of them) and figure out the fastest way to get to each clue and back.  For 6 people who have never lived in DC before, we found our way around pretty good (thank god for google maps hahaha).  The days leading up to the challenge we were talking about how we were going to run the whole thing, who was going to be on map duty, googling duty, etc etc and our plans worked out, for the most part - we did not run the entire thing suffice it to say.  There were over 415 teams there, so no clue on how many people were there in total and we placed 184th with a time of 2:42:53.  Our team's name was Reservoir-dire Dogs (yours truly was Ms. Blonde).  In the very beginning, we decided to run to the places where we had to do the clues, but after running to the first spot, we talked the rest of the way hahaha.  However, we did not take the metro once, except to get back to the finish line, so we were quite proud of ourselves when doing that.  When we were at one of the clues, there was a girl who wanted to take our picture.  Not sure if it was because she understood our theme or just wanted to take a picture of some crazy people.  Some of the clues/tasks were as follows:

• Find the bright red sculpture beside Cubi XXVI and pose like the sculpture in the photo (I think this was our most creative picture)
• Take a photo with anyone with a badge and convince them to act out Charlies Angels with our whole team
• find Lincoln's 1868 statute and act out a scene from his life
• hula hoop at the Capitol Reflecting Pool (FYI - I don't ever remember actually hula hooping when I was younger so I did not do well at this task - Meghan was freaking awesome at it!!!)
• snap a photo of team in a pirate battle (for some reason, I was the one getting attacked)
• find the wall of geyers
• take a picture with either a clown (no dice), a traditional barber pole, a person wearing overalls, a duck boat or a cast of triceratops' head (this is the one we did)

There were so many teams in costumes that were awesome - zombie presidents, minions, Disney princesses, superheros, gladiators.  I wonder what people thought around the city, seeing all of us taking silly pictures and in costumes.  I think we are going to make it a yearly thing and maybe as the years go on, we will get better as we will know where things are/how to get there faster. 

Life in DC has not been boring whatsoever - between the whitehouse getting taped off due to "water main break" (they need to come up with a different story) after the Boston bombing, a twitter hacking advising that Obama has been injured, bomb/drug sniffing dogs at the metro stations, a shooting at the metro station I get off at and an unattended item at the station this morning.  I love the excitement of living here, but kind of miss the safety of Canada hahaha.  Although, I almost went "American" on some chick as I went to Catholic U to work on my paper for school and some chick spilt her coffee on my laptop and fried it - the keyboard needed to be replaced and now apparently the

motherboard as well.  I was too busy trying to soak up the liquid to not yell at her, especially after all she did was pick up her coffee and walked away.  This is not a good time to be laptopless especially with all my papers and presentations and finals and trying to plan a Calgary trip and post blogs.....so suffice it to say, I have been living at the school to use their computers.  I can tell you this though - living with no laptop is both super relaxing and uber stressful - I have been able to have super long baths (the kind where you refill the tub with hot water), getting some books read, worked on my scrapbook, things like that.  It is pretty funny though that I have not touched my cross stitch this entire time being laptopless.  I am really hoping that I get my laptop back this week sometime, preferably tomorrow as I have two "take home" exams due Thursday.  However, this Thursday is the last day of classes for this semester and then it is all done!!  I have about a month off in May before my summer semester starts and it will be a busy month - my mom and sister are coming down here to view *my* city and then I am heading up to Calgary for a week to see friends and family as well.  I have been here for too long and need to get up home to get some Canadianness back into me, especially since some of my family members have been saying that I am starting to sound American.....not good.....not good at all hahaha. 

I have secured a practicum placement as well!!!!  It is at the Department of Corrections, which should be interesting.  I want to work with the prison population, but being there scared the living bejesus outta me hahaha.  I am going to have to change my entire demeanour when working there.  I will never forget my interview though as I went up to reception and said "Hi, I'm here to see Guy" "Who?" "Guy" "What guy?" "His name is Guy" "What is his name?" I was about to break out in a Who's on First or A Meewho and an Exactlywhat skit, but didn't think they would find the humour in that hahaha.  Thankfully I have a placement for September so that stress has been lifted woohoo!!!  Now hopefully the quiet, white Canadian can toughen up to work with the prison population hahaha. It is both exciting and scary all at the same time so I guess I will see what happens come September.  It isn't with the population that I initially wanted to work with, but it is a placement nonetheless and I will take what I can get, especially since I was running into walls being Canadian and having some sites tell me that I was not eligible because I wasn't American. 

 

Anywho, I should probably get to studying for the 3 exams I have this week.  I am in that end-of-the-semester-slump where I don't feel like doing anything anymore but just need to push through 3 more things and then this semester from hell can be over.  I miss and love you all!!

Nothing says Easter than watching girls beat each other and riding the metro to go pick up keys from a stripper......

Oh boy.....I can't remember what I have been doing these past couple of weeks so bare with me on this. Time seems to be going in both a blur and in slow motion, and it doesn't help to have a memory like mine.  And to make matters worse, my phone, even though it says to keep my appointments forever, every so often will delete my past calendar entries.... All I can say is this:  I have not done as much touristy stuff as I should/want to be, and that will not be changing in the near future as I am getting down to the grindstone for school which means I am going to turn into a stressful recluse.  However, we warned as this is fairly long posting as even though I haven't done any touristy things lately, the past week and Easter have been eventful. 

So, Riya being a sports lover like me, albeit soccer, she wonderfully told me that the LA Kings and LA Galaxy were making their appearance at the White House, so the the plan was set in motion - we would camp out at the front lawn a couple of hours before the whole shindig started to get a glimpse of them entering the White House.  However, there are two lawns - the North and South Lawn so we had a 50-50 chance of being at the right law.  Sadly, I think we picked the wrong lawn to wait at as eventually we had to double time it to the South lawn (the White House is pretty big so to get to the South lawn was about 4 - 5 blocks away hahaha).   We were able to get up to the gate though and get some pretty good pictures.  It was pretty funny though as every time we thought we saw a bus coming down the road, or heard a siren/escort, Riya would start to get all excited, thus making my excitement level escalated.  I mean, I was going to see some Canadian hockey players.....I was going to hold myself back somehow if we were going to be in arm's distance from them hahaha.  It was a pretty fun morning/afternoon though camping out.  I did learn that if the guard in front of the West Wing has white gloves on, it means that either the President or Vice President is in there.  But then we got to thinking - this doesn't make sense for public knowledge as it increases the potential risk for an attempt on the President or Vice President......so maybe it is just a ploy for people to think.  I also think that my conspiracy mind has increased as they give us way too much knowledge about where the President is, etc etc. 

As a stress relief from school, we have decided to start heading to trivia nights on Tuesday night after class.  It is reminiscent of me playing Name that Tune, Kalyn playing trivia and Stephanie having her book club - basically something that we can do weekly to get us out of school mode and have fun one night.  We have gone two times now (the start of something wonderful) and the nights were total opposites hahaha.  The first night, we learnt that we should not go when it is Easter as we know nothing about Easter (sadly I have repressed everything I learnt in elementary classes for religion), do not go when it is March Madness as none of us are basketball fans and that The Canadian (ie Me) is needed for the odd Canadian question.  The Canadian question you ask - what is the official sport of Canada.  Most everyone said hockey - silly Americans.....hahaha.  The second night we go, we learnt that we need to brush up on popular culture as one theme was Game of Thrones, which we don't watch, and of course, The Final Four for March Madness.  And a potential Canadian question did not bode well for me as I could not remember (and I apologize to Madame Fraser and Madame Venance) for not remembering what the accent is called to soften the 'c'.  We epically failed the second night we went, but it was still fun. 

Easter just passed and us people who didn't have a home to go to decided to head over to Meg's for supper as she offered to cook us some dinner.  First, before Meg's, Kalyn and I decided to go check out some Rollerderby, cause nothing says Easter than girls beating the crap outta each other......It was pretty fun and exciting once we were able to see the scoreboard and actually watch the game (the people in front of us were enthusiastic fans).  We have decided that we want to try out next year, so first off we will need to find some roller skates as I have only ever rollerbladed.  Secondly, we need to find people who are willing to dress up like the Marshmallow Man who will try to stop us from passing them.  Thirdly, we will then skate around the Tidal Basin, trying to dodge the random passerbyers and not fall in......sounds infallible our plans.  Oh, finally, and in the process of all of this, we need to pick out epic names.  My role model's name is Stabigail Adams....how awesome is that!!!!  And then there is Vicious Von Doom, Ivana Tripabitch, the names are awesome.  We are definitely going back to watch more games. 

 

So now enter Easter Sunday.  Firstly, I decided to head to Sunday Mass as I figured I should keep up my tradition of Christmas and Easter mass and holy crow, it was an amazing experience.  Mass was at noon and I figured I would get there around 11:15 to get a good pew and whatnot, but sadly, there was a mass at 10:30 so I didn't get in right away.  It was like the running of the bulls when Mass was let out - people trying to get into the Basilica, people trying to get out, people taking pictures - mayhem at its finest.  Thankfully I was able to sneak in and find a good spot for the event; people were standing basically everywhere and packed in there.  The choir was amazing to listen to as they were singing in Latin (I thought I was in something like the Angels & Demons/DaVinci Code score as it was just awe inspiring to listen to) and the music was so powerful with the organs and french horns, trumpets, the whole works.  The Cardinal/Archbishop of Washington was there as well to give the homily.  I wonder what Christmas would be like as this was crazy insane and very powerful.  Leaving the Basilica, they had the bells going and I just stood outside, listening to them, thankful that I had the opportunity to experience something like this.  My pictures are a little blurry/fuzzy as I took them with my phone as I didn't think it would be appropriate to take pictures while there for a Mass.....apparently I was a minority in this thinking as lots of people had their cameras and were taking pictures through Mass hahaha. 

So now enter Easter Sunday supper at Meg's.  This is how it went down - I left my house for the 50ish minute metro ride.  I get a stop or two away from her stop and I get a text from her, saying to not leave the platform as we (Meg, Colleen and I) will be heading back to downtown.  I ask why.  This was the text I got (never prepared myself for this):  Get Colleen's keys from the male stripper.  Now you know the rest of the evening is going to be fun....hahaha.  At this time, I am getting close to starving as well as a headache from the metro ride.  So we go downtown, Colleen gets the keys from the stripper, and we wait for the next metro to arrive (20 minutes).  Now I am starving, Colleen is starving and Meg is feeling like death.  As it is Easter Sunday, the food court is closed, MacDonald's is closed, everything is closed.  And we have another 45 minuteish metro ride back to Meg's place.  So we get there and Kalyn shows up.  The ham is done, so that is course 1.  The herby buns are done, so that is course 2.  The brownies are done next, that is course 3.  Then the brussel sprouts shortly follow, that is course 4.  Then we have about an hour and 20 minutes wait for the potatoes to be done so we use that time to decorate the eggs....time well used.  We got to see Dewey (Colleen's dog) and Lars (Meg's hedgehog) meet each other.  It was a wonderfully, eventful Easter Sunday. 

So with the end of school arriving, means the panic of the teachers getting everything in and done.  On top of all of that, we have the practicum stress.  I am waiting to hear back on three places that I had an interview at (one of them I don't think will be good as the public transportation to get out to the site is the same bus that the inmates take.....sounds fun and not sketchy......right....) And at the other interview, that I am pretty sure I bombed, one of the round of questions was about scenario type of questions, which I hate, but one of them was:  if a client started masturbating in front of you, what would you do? Seriously.....what kind of question is that.  I would hope that with experience and training I would be able to answer that question but not when I have never been in contact with people in a psychological setting.  It feels like we are set up to fail right from the get go.  I dislike it all.  As it stands - I am interviewless, waiting to hear back from 3, and not having a positive, bright future with it all.  Things are looking swell hahaha.  But I keep thinking positive and wishing/hoping/knowing that I will be getting an offer from a placement before the next semester.  So lets hope that will be the case. 

 

Oh, one last thing - I started a grass league for volleyball this past Wednesday and I have learnt a couple of things: 1) don't try to put contacts in when it is windy; 2) don't dive on a grassy, hilly, rocky ground and 3) be prepared to get weird looks when I am the only person in a tank top when everybody else is in hoodies and jackets. It will be a fun league though so that will be good to curb the stressfulness of school. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter with family and friends!!!  Regardless of the school piled up and stress mounting, I hope to get some touristy things in.  This weekend is the Cherry Blossom Festival so that should be fun and exciting.  I miss and love you all!!!!!

Why does the White House make me think like a terrorist? (I am not saying I am one.....please don't deport me Government if you are reading this.....)

Spring break has come and gone.  St. Paddy's Day has come and gone.  Easter is just around the corner.  Time sure is flying.  I can't believe I have been here for 7 months.  I am not looking forward to summer here as when I moved last August, I was super grumpy because it was so flipping hot (with the humidity we were up in the 40s Celsius - I refuse to convert to Fahrenheit hahaha).  I am at a cross roads for my touristy things as many things I want to see outside but right now, there are no leaves on the trees and I want to wait until the cherry blossoms are out in full bloom, but if I wait until then, then it will be too hot for me to want to be outside and will want to do all the museums as they are air conditioned, but then I will not see all the outside things.  Oh such a conundrum I am facing.  The cherry blossoms are starting to bloom though, and the National Cherry Blossom Festival is about to start, so that must mean that spring is around the corner. 

I have to admit that this city is slightly ridiculous when it comes to the weather - we were supposed to get "one of the worst snow storms in the history of Washington", so of course everyone panics - grocery stores are bought out, people are getting into their bomb shelters, etc etc.  The day of the impending doom storm, schools are shut down, government offices are closed and the metro is on stand by for the weather.  What ends up happening?  In my area, I get maybe a centimeter of snow, if that.  It wasn't cold enough to stick so when it came down, it stayed for a couple of minutes and then started melting.  The next day?  Nothing was on the ground and it was gorgeous and sunny out.  I do not think that the weather people know what they are doing around here.  Here is a picture of the snow when it was coming down - the flakes were pretty huge so I was pretty excited that we might actually get something, but I was let down by the weather gods *shakes fist - damn you weather gods*

I had this wonderful plan of trying to get done a lot of touristy things during spring break, but I think my mind decided to take its own spring break and just not work and be uber lazy.  I have a paper due tomorrow (Tuesday) and I still have to finish it.  I wanted to get a lot of my cross stitching done but I hardly touched it.  Yet, I have no clue what I did this past week that took up all of my time hahaha.  One thing that I did end up doing was to go see Lincoln at night - I have not even seen him during the day, but at night, he is quite a sight.  We passed the WWII Memorial but since the fountains were not working, I did not want to stop and look at it - I would like the full effect.  Kind of demanding that way, I know.  Walking alongside the Reflecting Pool when the sun was setting was so gorgeous and serene and peaceful.  Get up to Lincoln and he is magnificent.  One one side is his ever-so-famous "Four score and seven years ago" speech and on the other side is his Emancipation Proclamation speech.  Such an eloquent fella he was.  After, we just sat on the steps, overlooking the Pool and seeing the Capitol and the Washington Monument - it was an unreal feeling to be sitting there, knowing that Martin Luther King did his I Have A Dream speech right there, that Forrest Gump was filmed right there, being able to see first hand the things we see in pictures and movies.  That is when we came up with a wonderful idea - as I am slightly paranoid of doing things that may cause me to be deported, but yet I still think of doing some times, I want to drink with Lincoln, but getting an open alcohol/public intoxication ticket does not really appeal to me if it will cause me getting deported, so we decided that on the day of our graduation, we are going to get all dolled up and fancy and go drink with Lincoln to celebrate our graduation.  And be one of the best photo op's in the history of TCSPP. 

 

When I first moved here, okay not exactly "first", but at some point in time, I was looking into getting a tour of the White House, but on the Canadian Embassy webpage, it said that there were no tours allowed for Canadians/Immigrants/Internationals/Hosers/whatever we are called.  So, I do some googling to see how else I can circumvent this little speed bump and get into the White House legally.  Apparently due to budgetary costs, they are not offering White House Tours to anyone.  But probably by this time, if those snipers on the roof have high frequency earpieces and can hear the tourists below, my face is plastered somewhere saying to not let me in.  I do not know what it is about that place that turns my mind into diabolical thinking.  Steph and I went to go sit by the White House while on route to supper one evening and sitting there, I was watching the security police patrol the grounds.  Then started wondering where the snipers were positioned.  Also wondering if the windows to the White House were bulletproof as there were no people pacing the windows.  I also thought it would have been uber cool of Obama to just step outside and give the fellow Americans a wave or too, but sadly he did not.  I do not even think they live there.  The White House is probably just a decoy or something like that and they live in some other place.  It made me wonder though if people took pictures of the Prime Ministers house or if people even know/care where he lives.  But, from far away, the security guards looked pretty hot. 

 

One thing on my to-do list for spring break that come hell or high water I was going to do was to get my Library of Congress Library Card - this was one of the top things on my to-do list when I first moved here and so, 7 months later, I can finally strike that off!!!  I got a little sidetracked along the way though - it was the Rock N'Roll Marathon that day and one of my fellow classmates, Kalyn, was running in it.  Now, admittedly, the thought never crossed my mind, but when I unintentionally found myself along the marathon route, I decided to do a good deed and cheer on Kalyn when she would pass me.  Problem with this nice thought was that I didn't know when she started, what she was wearing, how fast she runs, etc etc.  So then came my wonderful powers of deduction, stemming from what I knew about her - she is short, so any tall people I didn't have to look at.  There would have been a 75% chance that she wore sunglasses as she is that type of person and perhaps a hat.  Her hair would probably be in a bun or something like that (not loose) and probably not decked out in a ridiculous costume that some people were wearing.  Knowing all of that, it should have made it easy to spot her......not at all.  I stood there for 2 hours trying to spot her and I don't know if I ever did.  What I ended up doing was that when there were large groups coming up, and I knew I probably would have missed her face when scanning them, I just started yelling out "Go Kalyn!! You Rock Kalyn!!!!! just for the hope that she was in that group and could hear me.  This was my first marathon I have ever actually stood and watched and I felt in awe of them.  I think it was a half marathon (no clue what that really means) and for a slight moment I decided that I wanted to do one, but then I found myself in an internal fit of laughter as I hate running and that was probably one of the most foolish notions I have ever had.  Maybe if I could roller blade it I would think about it.  It was kind of inspiring to watch though. 

 

Only a month and a couple of weeks left in this semester.  Again, time is flying.  Which also means that school is going to start getting crazy hectic, along with all the practicum stuff that is going down, tea is going to be my best friend to get me through everything.  Oohh so in tribute of St. Paddy's Day, and my love for the Muppets, I will leave you with this youtube clip that my mom sent me.  It gave me good laughs so I hope it does the same for you.  Take care all!!! Happy St. Paddy's Day!!!!