I talked to Richard today and finally agreed to his longtime advice to do a semester of Directed Reading before formally enrolling in the Senior Essay course in the spring.  It takes a lot of stress off me - I can research both the Gallinazo and the Huari collection (the latter of which would be easier to integrate into a UCLA M.A. topic...) for a few weeks, then spend a few weeks really getting to know the collections before delving into the actual writing next semester.  It sure sounded like a better way to really do it justice.  He recommended that I submit the term paper for Complex Societies to grad schools as a writing sample instead, since it is a grad course and they don't want a 40-page sample anyway.  He also suggested I apply to 2 or 3 schools instead of 6 or 7, and discouraged me from Stanford.  We kind of landed on UCLA, UCSB, and Harvard as the best options.  He is very high on UCSB, which is great to hear, as much as I love UCLA.  So I'm a little less stressed now, feeling equally busy but much less rushed.  The challenge now is to neatly correct my schedule which I already impulsively finalized. I'm not worried.

 I'm still not getting a real job; I just don't want to deal with that right now.

There's a FOOT reunion tonight where we all meet with our groups for ice cream.  I kind of want to go to see all the senior and junior FOOT leaders one more time, but I kind of don't. I don't have a group.  It will make me sad.  I also have a UU small group service to lead right beforehand and might be late.  Hm.  

 My week and a half of super-healthy lifestyle or whatever you want to call it went kaput when I suddenly realized how time-consuming and distracting it was.  Brownies for lunch, yay!

I watched the English dub of Bleach Episode 1.  Um, it's not a complete disaster.  That's all I'll say on this subject.

I found I could upload audio onto this blog!  Unfortunately the song I am in love with ("Staralfur" by Sigur Ros) is too big for tripod to handle.  This is terrible, because everyone needs to hear this song.  So here is my other new discovery, by Polly Paulusma.  It is made of love. 

She Moves in Secret Ways

Posted by Trailhobbit at 2:07 PM EDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Mood:  accident prone

Okay, it's settled.  I'm taking Complex Societies, and I'm excited about it. I got into my history seminar.  So my official schedule is thus:

Monday: nothing;  work on senior project

Tuesday: Early Complex Societies (2h)

Wednesday:  Land, Homelands and American Indian Histories (2h)

Thursday: Archaeologies of Empire (2h)

Friday: nothing; work on senior project 

Yes, that's right.  4-day "weekends." 

However, I might get a real job this semester, as if I didn't have enough on my plate already.  From my initial assessment, the Stanford grad school application is much friendlier than the UCLA one, but the process is still intimidating.  

Today I actually utilized the basement gym for the first time since living here, which prompted the following tribute.

Top 10 Reasons Ellipticals are Awesome:

10.  They don't hurt your feet, your knees or your lower back.

9.  Your iPod doesn't freeze from bouncing up and down.

8. They tell you how many calories you've burned even if it's a total lie.

7. They're indoors.  This is a big deal in January.

6. Let's face it, it's just easier than running.

5. You can do your seminar reading while working out!

4. Living in D'port, your room is right upstairs.

And the top three reasons ellipticals are awesome:

3. You won't get hit by a car.

2. You won't get mugged, even if it's midnight.

1. You won't fall down and bleed all over your running socks.

Can you tell who ate concrete while running yesterday?  I swear, every semester, new scars on my knees.  >_<  It's like a tradition or something. 

Posted by Trailhobbit at 3:07 PM EDT

Updated: Sunday, September 10, 2006 6:57 PM EDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Archaeologies of Empire rocks my world.  I must say it's a bit pretentious to call it "Archaeologies of Empire" rather than "Archaeology of Empires," but no matter.  I'm glad I like it because I basically have to take it.  Actually, I've really enjoyed everything I've shopped, which poses a problem.  I'm pretty confident I'll get into my Native American history seminar, though I have yet to hear anything definitive which is driving me crazy.  Assuming I do, then I have two seminars and my senior project, and need one more class.  I really, really like Ethnohistory and Archaeology, which is a small-table non-seminar with the new big guy on the council, Rod McIntosh, who's delightful.  The class seems relatively easy - a take-home final paper based on field trips and a debate are our major grades - especially compared to the alternative.  Said alternative is a grad seminar on Complex Societies cross-culturally, team-taught by Richard Burger and McIntosh.  This doesn't meet until Tuesday, so I have to wait forever to check it out.  So here are the pros and cons of these classes.

In favor of Ethnohistory and Archaeology

1. Not a seminar = slightly more relaxed.  I will have major papers due in History and in Empires, thesis not withstanding.  >_<

2. Really cool syllabus and field trips (!)

3. It would preseve my afternoon-classes-only schedule of love.

4. Thematically unlike anything I've taken here while still being relevant.  By contrast, CompSoc seems perhaps too similar to Richard's spring seminar I plan to take on the Origins of Peruvian Complex Society, which I would prefer to take because of its immediate relevance.

In favor of Complex Societies

1. Taking a grad seminar is hardcore. 

2. Especially one, in the fall, that's being taught by the man who's getting you into grad school.

3.  It would mean no class on Monday or Friday.

*cue Jeopardy theme* 

Also, my friend and I collectively lost 2 library books last semester, which will cost $110 apiece.  And I swear it was not my fault, but since I was foolish enough to check them out and lend them out, I deserve to pay my share. 

Have I mentioned that Frappuccino Light is the best thing since sliced bread? Actually, it's better than sliced bread.  I can cut my own bread; I can't concoct a 110-calorie caffeinated milkshake.

And does eating Splenda by itself constitute an eating disorder?  Because, well...yeah.  Then again, last year I was eating instant coffee by itself, which must be worse, though I'm not sure why.  Ah, college. 

I love Yale.  I really, really love Yale.  I just wish the weather were this nice all year.  But then it would be Stanford.  With personality. 

Posted by Trailhobbit at 8:13 PM EDT

Updated: Thursday, September 7, 2006 8:37 PM EDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

So I got my poto handed to me by the Spanish placement test, along with nearly everyone else who took it.  Which simply means I won't be taking Spanish, because I'm not sitting through Intermediate five days a week in my senior year and whizzing by everyone at high speed: www.notworthmytime.com.

 As a result, I have some tantalizing class options at my fingertips.  Much depends on whether I get into my history seminar, which I hope to find out tomorrow.

 In the meantime, chocolate fondue awaits.

Posted by Trailhobbit at 7:23 PM EDT

Updated: Tuesday, September 5, 2006 7:29 PM EDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Yesterday I took the Spanish placement exam and am not too optimistic about passing out of Intermediate.  Alas.  But UCLA loves me, so it's okay.

I started decorating my bedroom today.  I have so much wall space all to myself and I really want to make it cute, but my old posters are a little ratty and I'm too cheap to buy new ones.  We'll see how it comes out.  I also ordered a class ring so that I'll never forget I went to Yale.  This whole 2007 thing scares me.  Everywhere I go, there are flocks of freshmen, and they're all my brother's age.  They look it, too.  I feel old.  

 Having my own room is truly, truly beautiful.  I feel so peaceful when I'm there.  

 Labor Day is the worst-timed holiday ever.

 I wish I felt like writing.  Tomorrow is registration, and we might have a fondue party.  Mmm...

I might go to some College Dems meetings this fall.  I don't want to take too much time away from my work, but this is an election year after all.  And there are actually signs of hope. 

Posted by Trailhobbit at 3:48 PM EDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

I'm back at Yale, practically moved in, and glad to have a room of my own.  I also won my UCLA interview.  For real.  That means I probably only have 3 more coast-to-coast commutes to go in my career as a student. *knock on wood*

D'PORT '07!! 

Posted by Trailhobbit at 12:50 AM EDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

The dynamic duo Stewart and Colbert won the Emmys.  Watch the joyness here.

Speaking of funny, Little Miss Sunshine is quite good.  Steve Carell does his Daily Show heritage proud, and the rest of the cast is pretty perfect as well.

I will say it one more time: Janelle kicks ass. 

Posted by Trailhobbit at 8:00 PM EDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

It might seem strange to tell a story about how I left the small town of Huari before I talk much about how I got there, but the story is fairly representative of how transportation operates there.  

It was my last day in Huari before returning alone to Lima.  I had bought a bus ticket for 4 pm on Sunday, though everyone but me seemed to know we had a party planned for Sunday afternoon.  The director's parents, assorted townies who seemed to know the family, and the Italian crew of a nearby project poured into the house to help cooke the Pachamanca, a traditional meal which means "food cooked in the ground."  This included not only the rabbits and guinea pigs that had been living in the loft above our house, but also chicken, goat, pork, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and beans.  They made a big oven by building a fire beneath hot stones, then threw the potatoes on the rocks and covered them with a layer of plants.  Then came the meat, which was wrapped in paper, and more plants.  Then they shoveled dirt over the whole thing,  made a big mound to seal in all the heat, and let it cook for an hour.  I was extremely sketched out while we were doing this, and was happy when I heard lunch wouldn't be ready until 3:40.  Surely I'd have to be on my way to the bus station by then.  However. Bebel's family insisted I eat before I left, and as soon as the meat was unwrapped they loaded the very first plate for me with choice cuts while everyone else stood in a line and watched me chow down.  Despite my initial unease, the meat ended up being some of the best-tasting I'd had in a long time.  Who knew.

 However, I did have a bus to catch, and by the time I had said my goodbyes to my team I barely had 5 minutes 'til departure time.  I ran, with my 50-lb. backpack and awkward duffel, up the steep path leading to town.  The ensuing burning in my lungs was the closest thing to the aftermath of an 800-meter relay I had experienced in years.  When I did get to the station at 4:02, the bus was still there.  It was still there at 4:18, when I had been sitting in my own sweat, breathing heavily and looking ridiculous, for over 15 minutes.  This is called Peruvian time.

 Eventually the bus left the station.  The first few hours were gorgeous,  moving through cultivated valleys of green and gold, and I kicked myself for leaving my camera with my luggage.  I had plenty of legroom, having chosen a seat in the first row.  Once the sun went down, though, it was time for the en route entertainment, otherwise known as my own personal hell.  There was a tiny TV playing a DVD of what could only be described as music videos, though they were unlike any I hope to be subjected to again.  They consisted of women in pseudo-traditional Andean dress belting out pop ballads with pseudo-traditional melodies and rhythms, and lyrics about beer and being single.  The closest analogy I could think of was our country western music, just in terms of the folksy-cheesy-abrasive combination.  It didn't help that the DVD was 5 hours long or that the volume was piercing.  At first I could tune it out, but eventually it became unbearable.  I was tempted to get up and call for a vote as to who really wanted this music to keep playing, but I didn't want to be that weird gringo girl who was culturally insensitive.  Instead I opted for subtler methods, trying to shatter the screen with my Glare Of Doom™.  Failing in that, I tried to sleep, which proved equally futile. 

Around midnight the torture seemed to have come to an end.  I finally let myself settle in for sleep, and was about to drift off when, after 5 minutes of silence, I heard "MOOOOOOO!" from the direction of the TV.  It turned out the DVD had not ended, but had simply stopped working temporarily and skipped to some later part which included farm animals.  The music resumed for about 5 minutes, then stopped again, and the pattern continued for at least an hour more. 

 Finally, it ended.  I slept fitfully in my seat for the remainder of the 12-hour journey.  I arrived in Lima, groggily grabbed a taxi, and tried to find the project house  where I was planning to spend the next two days.  It turned out to be in a horrible, distant part of town on a street that mysteriously disappears and then reappears, and the poor driver was going berserk until we ran into a woman on the street who knew the family and gave us directions. 

 I was so relieved to find that house.  What I didn't know was that the next day I would end up locked in the house all morning with no e-mail, food, or escape of any kind.  But that is another story altogether.

Posted by Trailhobbit at 11:59 PM EDT

Updated: Saturday, August 26, 2006 11:19 AM EDT

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink