Life as Usual

The French verb naître means "to be born," and naissance means "birth."

So why, oh why, would I not realize that re-naissance on my quiz last week meant "re-birth," and not the period that followed the middle ages if the entire quiz focused on religion and not historical eras?


Life has been stiflingly slow as I am suffering one of my worst bouts of homework-writer's block. While I am still interested in all my subjects, and have faithfully been following my coursework, my motivation to not procrastinate and to finish all my work has almost completely disappeared. So, I remain locked in my room until my homework muse shows up.

Saturday night, while waiting for my muse, I faintly heard fireworks crackling outside. So I ran up to the roof to search the skyline. Unfortunately, there was a building perfectly blocking my view, so I watched the second half and finale of the show through the reflection of several windows of the apartment building across from mine. Not the most spectacular view, but still, it was a unique way of enjoying the fireworks.

For the past week, a brown finch-like little bird has been landing on my window sill and keeping me company. Sometimes he helps me to wake me up in the mornings. Other times, he just sits and primps himself while I read. Heidi says that it's like I am Cinderella, but as of yet, I have not seen any singing mice, and do not feel particularly inclined to make tiny hats and shirts for my new friend. I am very glad that he is so small and sweet, because my window has no screen, and he isn't afraid to sit right on the open frame. I don't want imagine my reaction if I were to wake up and see one of those evil-looking pigeons from Rome chilling just a few feet away.

Rain, Rain!

Monday was a beautiful sunny day. I didn't even have to wear a scarf to walk to class! Tuesday was just as beautiful, but it snowed the whole day. From Wednesday until the end of the week, it rained. The rain came pouring down as if it were Winnie the Pooh's blustery day. As I sat at my window, watching the little creek's water level rise, I wished that the storm would wash away the assignments written on my class syllabus the way it washed away the letters in his book. But, I was not so lucky as Pooh Bear, and I still had three papers to write.

Mid midterms season, most of my time is spent locked away in my room, writing and reading. Although I love both of those things, I don't think my head's come back right after my Italy trip. Bitten by the travel bug, school works is becoming increasingly more and more difficult to focus on. At least the two papers I have left to write are on my own topic choices, so it is definitely more motivating when I'm interested. Still, I am tired of my corner. See, my wireless card is only able to receive internet at the far corner of my room (luckily by the bed) and facing a certain angle at the kitchen table. The kitchen provides too many distractions, and I end up eating more than studying. So, I've barricaded myself in my cozy little corner, unable to move without losing all internet connection, typing away about the strange cases of both Jekyll and Hyde and The Yellow Wallpaper.

This evening, I went to Circus Nock, a charming 1-ring circus under a great big red and white striped tent. There were tigers, zebras, horses and llamas all ready to perform for Heidi's first circus. Like every good circus, there were too many jugglers, cotton candy by the pound, and the acrobats fell just enough to give you a scare. My favorite act was, as always, the tightrope walker, who could unicycle and toe-shoe across the highwire. Although the show was aimed for kids and there wasn't anything earth-shatteringly original, it was an enchanting distraction from homework for just a few hours, and was able to rival Wednesday's sunset thunder and lightning storm for the best part of my week.

I've Really Been There!

It has been brought to my attention that because most of my blog pictures are not of anybody, one could doubt that I actually visited any of these places I've been talking about. I don't deny that I would make up stories to tell you all, but in this case, everything so far has been true, and I have the proof! Enjoy this vain display of my travels!

At the Foro Romano

In windy Lyon

After climbing Giotto's Tower in Florence

Riding a giant seahorse in Vevey

The Traveling Gnomes at St. Peter's Square

Italian Holiday

It's funny the way things are never exactly the picture you paint in your imagination. I think a lot of people view seeing the differences between their imagined version and the real thing as disappointment, but I love it. I love making those comparisons and learning about what the world is really like. Sometimes I maintain that my imagined version is better than the real thing, but this was most definitely not the case with Rome. Granted, I had it in my mind that there would be less people in Italy, but I guess traveling during Spring Break isn't the most original idea. Still, it was amazing to be there in Florence and Rome, actually using the Italian I've learned, eating pizza, and browsing street vendor shops.

My favorite place in Rome was definitely Trevi Fountain, although the Spanish steps were magnificent at night! I loved the way you had to search for the fountain, as it was hidden down these little streets filled with tourist shops and gelaterias, then boum! The whole fountain is just spread out between the buildings with all of its waterfalls and lights and pure white statues. Although it was overcrowded with tourists,the fountain was beautiful enough to actually help me block out the other people. The Spanish steps were even harder to find, but we could see a beautiful night skyline of Rome from the top, and were entertained by a group of Italian high-school age kids with two guitars, stumbling their way through Red Hot Chile Peppers songs. The way the city has so much history woven through it, thousand-year old pillars just chillin' next to the metro line fascinated me. Plus, Heidi and I were only the 2nd people to enter the Colosseum, so it was actually much more haunting and impacting being there without the innumerable tour groups. Also, the week after Easter is free to enter almost all museums and attractions, so that was an unexpected and fantastic surprise.

Florence was quaint and intimate, much less polluted by cars and tourists than Rome, but I have to honestly say that I enjoyed myself in Rome a little bit more. I think my opinion might be a bit biased, though, because my welcome to the city was at all the image of Italy I had, and it was not the version I preferred. While searching for an ATM, there was a flash of lightening that filled the piazza with the most intense white light from lightening I've ever seen, and the thunder followed so quickly after and so loudly I thought for a moment that the small plaza was being bombed. So, as those WWII elementary school videos instructed me, I ducked, covered, and kissed my butt goodbye. Fortunately, there had not been a bombing and my duck and cover greatly entertained two homeless men. Then, the rain started, which was not a problem until I realized that Italian streets are prone to puddles, and my shoes were not waterproof. Then the rain turned into snow, and the snow into hail- all within the ten minutes it took me to get to the ATM and back. So, as much as the architecture and art and people of Firenze were lovely, I had cold, wet feet for the rest of my time there, despite my efforts of protecting my feet by stealing the hostel's trash bags and wrapping my feet in them.

So I returned home to Lausanne, ecstatic to be in my own bed, eating food other than bread, cheese and apples, and away from those consistently late Italian trains. Waiting for me in my email box was a message instructing me to call Cal Sate Long Beach Housing. I did, and learned that I was offered the position of Resident Coordinator back in the Halls! Yay! To explain the job, I will be staying at Long Beach one extra year to supervise, train, evaluate, determine, develop, assist, check in/out, and coordinate residents, Resident Assistants, and Student Assistants. There are a bunch of other verbs I could yank from the Coord. application to try to describe it, but roughly, it's a promotion in which I will be able to be an RA for the RA's and have more responsibilities.

So after this amazing week, it felt like there could be nothing wrong at all in the world. Then I realized that classes were starting back up, and I had an essay to write. So, at this very moment, I am not a traveler nor a coordinator in Long Beach. I am just an American student in Switzerland with a whole lot of homework to do.