Long time...

no talk.

It's been mad long. Like... wowsers. The next post (when I have time to actually sit and devote time to it) will be an update.

In the meantime I leave you with this: http://vimeo.com/12838603

Make my day.

LT4

"Doubt the first/Cry the second/Love the third/Live the fourth"

That is exactly what I did this past weekend.

My school has a retreat called Kairos that you have to enter a lottery to attend. Don't ask me about the selection process cuz I honestly couldn't tell you; word on the street is that you get chosen when it's your time, when you need it most in your life. Well it took me three years to get called (I actually forgot I had signed up freshman year) and it was worth every second of waiting.

There is a cloud of secrecy surrounding the event - there is no guarantee that you'll get chosen to go, you're not always aware of who is attending/has attended, and those that you know went won't discuss what goes on. It's not even like they make you swear to keep silent or anything; all participant just reach a mutual, unspoken understanding that to discuss it would be to utterly ruin it for future participants.

Although this is my personal blog, you never know who can stumble across such things on the world wide web and I would hate to be the person who denies future generations the joy I felt, the lessons that I learned. And I guess it could be said that if I wasn't gonna go into detail then why write it, but once again it's my blog and that's my prerogative at the moment (shout out to Bobby Brown).

All I will say is that this past weekend was one of the most powerful weekends of my life. I learned to look deep within myself and bring what's always been there to the surface.

The one secret I can tell you is that you're loved. Each and every one of us has impacted a life, whether we're aware of it or not. You may think a simple hi is nothing, but to someone else it's everything.

You are loved.

And that makes the world of difference.

I doubted the first day of the retreat. I cried the second. I loved the third. And for here on out, I'll be living everyday as if it were the fourth.

Neglect

Since I've been back things have been... interesting.

My friendships have remained strong, I am still on top of my work, I have an internship at a PR firm and an on-campus job... everything is going as well as I would hope.

However, content is not the word I would use to describe my mentality the moment.

There's no tangible thing that irks me, just a feeling that I don't fit into the spaces that have been opened for me, a feeling that I'm a square trying to fit into a space meant for a circle.

People change. Things change.

What do you do when you're not too sure where the change happened or when? When the consequences and meaning of these changes have yet to manifest themselves?

I'm not content and I strongly dislike this.

Womp.

It be's like that sometimes.

Random musings

- currently getting sick. I'm supposed to take these homeopathic pills - 2 every 15 minutes for 2 hours and then 1 every hour until my symptoms go away - ... too bad I forget the 15 minute thing

- moved into my new dorm. Almost set off the fire alarm cooking. No big deal. Not only did I have to adjust to my stove at home, I have to adjust to this one at school too. Damnations. I'm still not used to how fast American stoves cook food BUT I didn't burn my food. My salmon, mixed veggies, and rice was wonderful.

- STILL waiting on my package with my clothing. It needs to get here TODAY cuz I have nothing else to wear. Uh oh.

- Have to finish my Jersey Shore marathon.

- Have to start my Entourage: Season One marathon.

- Don't you love when a song comes up on your iPod that you never really gave a chance, and when you finally sit down to listen it's thebomb.com? It's either good cuz you found a new gem or bad because you've been missing out all this time.

- I hope that the UN and everyone who CAN do something for Haiti does.

- Campus is semi-dead. I kinda like it. Can't wait to be abroad this year again aka anti-social.

- My sister cried before I left. She's never done that before. Needless to say that made me cry too. I hope she'll be alright, but she's a trooper so I'm not too worried.

- Last night I watched this video on Illuminati and how it's prevalent in the music industry. I don't believe it cuz I actively don't believe that stuff (ghosts, demons, etc.) HOWEVER, if it is true, wowsers. If it's not, the person who made the video/connections has a FABULOUS imagination.

The end.

No direction

So yeah. There is really nothing in specific that I need to touch on, but so much I need to get out so let's begin shall we?

- I'm home. It's not as weird as I thought it would be, but it's noticeably different. Borderline painfully so.

- As soon as I walked through the front door I cried. Then I sucked it up because I hate seeing my mom cry and we usually set each other off.

- Love Jones is a fabulous movie. The soundtrack is equally official.

- The Young Money album is better than I thought it would be, as is Lil Wayne's rock album. Please note that I said better than I thought. They will need some time getting used to.

- While I speak about music, if you have not done so, please get familiar with Robin Thicke. He is amazing.

- My hair turned brown. I dunno how, but it did. I kinda like it.

- Even though I miss the people I just spent the last three months with, I'm horrible at keeping in touch. I really need to work on that.

- It's cold. That means it's cuddling season. Ha.

- If you have to ask the question, then the answer is most likely no.

- Just because you know the above doesn't mean that you'll be completely satisfied, so go ahead and ask it. Once you get the answer, act accordingly.

- I sometimes get breathe/breath, loose/lose confused. For the latter I just think of baseball.

- Sometimes laughter truly is the best medicine. If that doesn't work, there's always hot cocoa or peppermint tea.

- 2009 is almost over. What have you done with your year? If you're not thoroughly pleased, no worries; there are 14 days left. Get busy.

- I don't believe in letting a calender determine who I am. If I see something that needs to be adjusted, I try my best to do it when it's brought to my attention. In other words, I don't believe in resolutions.

- Tiger Woods was named athlete of the decade with 56 of 142 votes. This makes me extremely happy. Congrats homie. Considering that you single handedly changed a sport, you deserve it. Keep your head up and your pants zipped. And to those fools with their sob stories: Silly rabbit, of course you weren't the only one! If he cheated WITH you of course he cheated ON you.

... ok. I think I' all random-ed out. Hope you have a splendiferous day.

The end

As I sit in my room and look around, I see three suitcases in the corner, ready to be dragged down the stairs.

How the goodness did this semester end so quickly?

I've done so much and have so much more to experience

I've gone through so many things, but have yet to even cross the threshold

At 6:45 AM I will be boarding a plane back to the States and leaving a piece of me behind

Como triste...

3 continents down, 4 to go

This past weekend I went to Egypt.

Holy crap that sounds so obnoxious, but in my defense I had Tuesday off and it's only three hours away from my current location.

...

Nope. Still obnoxious.

But I'm so glad I did it.

Hands down one of the coolest things I'll ever do.

Highlights of the trip include the Great Pyramid and King Tut's tomb/treasures.

Fun fact: They had hinges back in the day. Yurp. We're not that cool.

I'm on a boat. On the Nile River.

Yurp.

This looks photoshopped. I love it.

Wonder of the ancient world. Awe inspiring.

The standard camel ride. It was quite pleasant.

The Sphinx

Mosque of Muhammad Ali

Egyptian Museum. Sadly I couldn't take photos inside, but wowsers. Amazing.

Yeah they have KFC. And it delivers. I had to capture it, cuz I wouldn't even believe me.

Kodak moments

I guess I should throw up a couple of those pics huh. Well seeing as I've taken nearly a thousand thus far (I wish I was kidding), I'd be damned if I sat here uploading them all, so here are a couple that truly highlight the experience.

The American College of Thessaloniki. One of the two buildings that makes up the campus. The other is the library. No chance of getting lost in this bad boy.

It was Halloween. I'm in Greece. So clearly I had to whip out the toga. Don't act like you wouldn't do the same.

Group shot. Yay.

This place is so fricken beautiful it's disgusting.

Chillin on top of an active volcano. Twas an explosive experience.

Sunset in Santorini. This is the stuff postcards are made of.

Went to a professional football (soccer) game this past weekend. The crowd was really wild and reckless. I'm talking about fireworks before the team even scored.

And when they score in overtime? Whew. The place goes wild.

During my fall break I went to Crete and took a tour of the Peloponnese. This is the ancient Amphitheater in Ancient Messene. Twas quite large.

The boardwalk in Thessaloniki. It's really cute and gets awfully live in the evenings.

I get to look at this every night before the sandman comes and takes me away. Pretty schweet.

So now that pics are there, I guess I should add some words in addition to the captions huh? Well... let's see. Greece is awesome. I've been here for about a month and a half now and I have 6 weeks left. Holy goodness. Where does time go?

This experience is shaping out to be exactly what I wanted it to be and so much more. Even though I received some earth shattering news within a week or two of my arrival, I'm glad I decided to stay and see it to the end.

I have midterms coming up soon which means I have to put the 'study' part back into this trip, but eh, we'll see.

Um... what else?

I'm making it my goal to update at least once a week. We'll see how that goes.