The Tombs

Yet once again I have neglected my blog posts Every time I think I get my studies under control they flare up like a madman! Finally, got someone to cover for me at work at least one night a week. Looks like Wednesdays are my day off, yay! This means, I can go for runs in the afternoon and study all evening without having to be up so late. Since this is my first evening off I thought it would be appropriate to come celebrate at Tombs. Monday - Friday from 3PM to 5 PM they have study snacks, which consists of selected menu items at half price from normal times. I love the Tombs, especially their burgers. SO yummy!

 Also love the fact that they have free wireless down here.

 

Oh yeah, that's another thing, Tombs is a basement restaurant.

 I'll be posting some pictures of it, I'm definitely going to miss this place as well. I mean Tombs is a Georgetown Tradition, so much goes on down here and a lot of students visit it as well. I usually come eat here about once a week, maybe twice. They always have games on the TVs and Chimes night is coming up soon. Can't wait to finally be down here past 9PM to hear Chimes. Chimes is our all male a cappella group, amazing voices! 

Martin's Tavern

Thought maybe it would be a good idea to write a bit about Martin's Tavern. Martin's is and will probably be a Georgetown establishment. Founded in 1933 its survived the Great Depression and all wars up to now. Its well known for all the presidential visits its had, from Harry Truman to George W. Bush. Martin's is also the place where JFK proposed to his wife, Jacquey O, not to mention she also attended Georgetown. : ) I even think that Martin's is up with 1789 and Tombs with the Georgetown students. I mean when we went Islam, our waiter, didn't ID anyone; which was a first because I always get ID'ed and questioned. Martin's is also the bar/restaurant to go if your part of Philodemic, which is why the majority of the waiters: a) know how to spot a Georgetown student or b) know you on a first name basis. 

Enjoy the pictures. : )

Ramadan

So I did it! Thought I wouldn't be able to go through an entire day without eating or drinking water, but I did it. I felt very proud of myself for doing this. It was for a good cause. I felt tempted throughout the day to eat, but I decided against it. I mean you just can't eat when you've made a commitment to someone to do something. Fasting was an interesting experience, very spiritual and also very humbling.

Last night, Ash, Cynthia, Amelia and I went to Martin's for dinner and drinks. Carol then joined us later on. It was a good night. Sat around for about 3 hours talking and having a good time together. I love the burgers at Martin's. I still don't know which one is better: Tombs burger or Martin's. I also have a pomegranate mimosa, which was good! Must say it was a good combination of champagne and orange juice, or rather pomegranate. Needless to say I didn't get much work done last night. I felt tired and incapable of staying up to read. Its a good thing I had completed my major linguistics assignment Tuesday night and had also done most of the reading for my CPS course. Well, I'm off, still at work on my lunch. :)

As they say in Espanahh

Hasta luego!

Half way done

So its roughly 1PM and now I am at the halfway point of fasting for the day. I am overtaken by the immense hunger in my body. Its an odd feeling, because it comes in waves. One minute I'll feel so hungry that I'm tempted to go and grab a snack, but then I remember that I must do this because I signed a pledge saying I would. This is a big eye opener for me. Not for this being my first time fasting, but rather it makes me aware of how hard it must be for all those people who don't have anything to eat. They must deal with this feeling in the pit of their stomach for days at a time, or whatever time period they must go on without food. It really makes a difference to understand the thoughts and emotions those must go through because of the lack of food. Maybe this is what Ramadan is all about; about finding yourself at a different place in your life and connect with God and those around you. I still have six more hours to go to fast. I'm sure they'll be tough and I'll be tempted to eat something, but I know that I must not give in to temptation. I'm almost done, I mean you just dont' give up once your halfway done, now do you?

Solidarity

Today I start my first day of fasting, it will only last one day. In order to show solidarity with Muslim students on campus many of us have chosen to fast for the day; meaning no food or drink from sunrise to sundown. I've got 12 hours to go before I can eat. You must ask yourself, why I would fast? It is the ninth month in the Islamic calender, therefore Ramadan. According to Wikipedia: "The fast is intended to be an exacting act of deep personal worship in which Muslims seek a raised level of closeness to God. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan). So I here go for a day of fasting I'm hoping I can do this. I seem to find it almost like fasting is a type of meditation for the soul. 

Today, I will try to post short blurbs of blogs to see if I can finally put up more blogs in an efficient and timely matter.

El Grito de Dolores

Yeah, I did it again...once again, my mind is stuck on European elevator mode. Meaning that once again I have pressed Floor 1, instead of FLoor 2. When I really want to go to the 2nd floor, this just happens because in Europe floor 1 is really our floor 2. I cant seem to shake this habit off, but it happens every now and then. Of course I feel silly for doing this. Now I'm being extra cautious as I hit the buttons on the elevators. :)

A quick recap of this week's activities are due, since I've gotten behind on my blogs yet again!

Monday, September 15th

This was the day of Mexican Independence day or rather the reading of El Grito. For those of you who might not know what El Grito is, I'll explain. El Grito is the proclamation read out every 15th of September at midnight to proclaim war and initiate a revolt against the Spanish. As we all know the rest is history. : ) Yes very cliched, but I mean this is probably one of the few instances that I'll be able to use cliches. Hehe. On campus MEChA had the annual get together of Latino students to read El Grito and celebrate this battle. Lots of fun. Got to see a lot of new freshman on campus. One of which is from El Monte and graduated from MVHS this past spring. I'm glad and excited to be seeing more students from the El Monte area studying at Georgetown. Georgetown definitely needs more Latino students representing on campus.

Tuesday, September 16th

Not much going on, except the usual: class, work, class, more work.

Wednesday, September 17th

Long day as usual, class, class, class, work. Although I did grab some coffee after work with Ashley. We caught up a bit and just semi relaxed before continuing on with our studying/reading. Then I went to the MEChA meeting at 9. I'm determined to be a bit more involved this year since it is my last year. I figure what the heck, I really don't need sleep now do I? Hehe.

I must go off and finish my CPS reading and my literature reading. Hopefully study a bit for linguistics too.

Au revoir!

Asignaturas

After much thought on my fall classes I've come to realize a few things.

1. My portuguese professor is scatterbrained and doesn't know how to organize the class. Organization is such an important aspect of a language course. I really don't even care if she is a native speaker, not much help when half of the time I'm lost.

2. Latin American Short Story is actually pretty interesting and the graduate student teaching it ACTUALLY knows what she's doing. Pretty laid back, just read about 6 short stories a week and discuss. No final, just a final paper 5pages long. 

3. Survery Literature II: Century 19th & 20th, now this course is rather dull and mind numbing. Just like a course I took back in Salamanca this past school year. She doesn't tell me anything new and neither do the critics that we read in that class. Upside: I've read 90% of the assigned readings, downside: stuck in a class with people who can barely speak Spanish, much less comprehend it. 

{Oh yeah, so far these three are requirements for me to graduate and receive my degree.}

4. International Relations (IR) the professor is a hottie and makes class very pleasant and makes you want to be there. Might have something to do with the fact that he's a hottie. : ) Material is interesting, I'm really enjoying IR.

5. Comparative Political Systems (CPS) Professor King is a good professor, can be a cynic at times, but nonetheless he knows his material really well. Class is about 200 students in a huge lecture hall, mind you that is one of two big lecture halls on campus. Discussion section is okay, just kinda crowded. My TA is from Peru which is really cool to have an outsiders perspective on US & world politics.

6. Introduction to Spanish Linguistics is RATHER BORING! Now this class I'm forced to sit through 3.5 hours a week of linguistics. I've already taken almost 2 years of linguistics, phonetics and phonology. MOst of the courses I've taken have been in Spain, where they are hardcore about these subjects. So because our graduate student requires us to attend class I sit utterly bored in class. Also he's horrible at teaching the content, I think I could do a better job, not to mention that half the time he doesn't even know if he has it right or not. I mean come on now, if you teach the class please come prepared to lecture properly.

Yeah, I know a blog full of whiny/complaining remarks, but I just feel for being my senior year I feel rather bored with the majority of my courses, except of course my government ones. I definitely will be spending lots of long nights in the library this semester, big bummer! Lots of reading, not enough time to delve into everything as I would like to. Well I gotta run, have class in 10. Yay for a boring literature course! :P

Saturday Night @ the Opera

Last night was a fun night out with the girls at the Opera. Target and the Nationals Baseball park were hosting a free showing of the opening night Opera at the Washington Opera House. We watched La Traviata, a very heartwarming tragedy of love in Paris. It was the first opera I had ever seen and I truly enjoyed it. Now I'm looking into potentially another opera in the near future. I had such a great time with Cynthia and Ashley. I'm so glad we all get along so great. It feels almost as if I have known these girls for my entire life, we just click so well together. Now we are planning on going to Atlantic City at the end of the month. That should be lots of fun. Senior year continues to be a blast although full of lots of school work. I can't wait to see how the semester progresses and see what other fun activities we'll be doing. well I'll write another blog in the next few days. Meanwhile, enjoy a few pictures from the Opera. Also I had my first taste of Ben's Chilli on Saturday night, but now my next goal is to visit this DC establishment that is soo well known for its chilli. There's this hilarious sign I saw at the stadium, I hope you find it just as funny as I did. : )

Ciao!

Third Week

Today is a lovely day. It really is gorgeous. For once its not humid nor too hot, rather its warm, sunny and cool. Here I am sitting in Dalhgren Quad over by the Chapel and it's a soothing effect produce on the soul. Finally, I've gotten around to writing my first blog about my senior year. Its been chaotic these past two first weeks of school. So I'll try to post a blog every week or every 2-3 days. Senior year started off a bit rocky, because I didn't have all of my luggage with me and we had bad news to everyone on campus. A fello Hoya, Terrance Davis, was missing in South African waters for about a week. The authorities presumed him dead, but it wasn't confirmed until about 2 days ago. Its very heart renchign because I knew him, although I wasn't close to him, his presence on campus will be greatly missed. He was always a happy, positive and flamboyant boy. I'm truly blessed to have survived a year abroad with no serious mishaps to me. I still cant believe that he passed away and that our campus will be with one less Hoya. I ask for you and others to keep him and his family in your prayers. I would like the same done for myself if I was in his situation. I guess the only thing now is that he is resting in peace and probably continuing his happy ways up in Heaven.

Senior year is going by fast and hectic. This fall I'm taking six courses about 18 units which is a lot but I keep telling myself that it isn't so bad because most of my courses are lower division. This is what happens when you spend a year abroad and still have requirements to fulfill. My literature courses are easy, slightly boring but nonetheless I love them. I'm really happy that I went to USAL to study literature, I mean you cant beat a place like that in the first place. Yesterday was the study abroad fair and I went and helped for a bit, it was amazing talking about my experience to otehrs who wish to do the same. I personally believe that studying abroad is a living changing event and very good for your soul. I think I'd be the same if I hadn't gone aborad. I learned life skills that I would've never picked up in the States. I really do miss Spain and my Spanish life. Especially mis cafes con leches. The coffee culture there is so much better than here. Its also hard just being thrown into a stressful school environment again, especially after having a year of reading and learning at my own pace. I would love to go back to USAL to get my MA in literature but I think I'm ready to find the place to truly call my home and stay there for a while. I also want to be the kid who gets to move in and have her parents help her. I mean don't get me wrong DC is amazing and I love it, but I would love to have some help too. Well I'll talk about my study abroad experience in another blog .For now I'll stick to the start of senior year.

Last week on Friday was the start of Senior week, or more commonly known on campus as "Senior Dis-Orientation". I went to the keg party thrown by the school with Ashley and Cynthia. This was my first college keg party and it was okay. Not much but stand around and drink awful beer. I knew for what we pay to attend Georgetown youd think that we could at least get some decent beeer. Oh well, can' t complain about free alcohol though. I did have lots of fun with my friends, need to mention that the torrential downpour made it even better! : ) At the end of the night, even though we were wet, sweaty and hot it was worth it. Nothing is best like finishing off the night with a great slice of pizza from Phillys!