Italian was alright. Definitely funny. Enlgish was horrendously slow. So we (me, a friend in the class, and a friend of my friend) all decided to skip out on the last half. I asked the teacher if he was going to give a test, which he didn’t give a real response to (so I’m pretty sure he gave a test) but handed me the homework and let me leave. I didn’t even give an excuse. I just said I had to go. Then, since we had nothing better to do, we all drove (my friend [who’s 17 but has no license or even permit] drove me, and the other girl drove herself) over to the other girls friends house. Which was really weird because the other friends friend was home sick with some form of the plague (the flu) so I don’t know why we were over there. My friend and I left within 15 minutes of being there. When board games and COLORING were offered as forms of entertainment, we knew we needed to leave. She didn’t have much gas though, so we stopped for gas, and then she took me home. I was home about the same time as I would’ve been, but I got out of over an hour of mind numbing English. I think if I had a car, I would end up doing that more often, lol.

I finally broke down and got myself a myspace account. I won’t be posting it on here though, because I only got it for Farmville. My neighbor J has been playing it for over a year, so I figured it must be fun. I’m already a level seven, but can’t expand my farm any further because I don’t have enough friends. Which is really annoying.

Tomorrow I’m going to do four hours of community service. Yay! I’m not really looking forward to it. Especially since I’ve got to wake up earlier than I do for school to go. ugh! AND my sister is bringing two of her friends (didn’t I mention that this is a family event, as in my mother and sister are coming too?) so I’m going to be suicidal/homicidal within a few hours of starting.

Alright, well I need to get my rest for tomorrow. Wish me luck!

*Bishkek raises hands*

We did get a lawyer (a senior law student at AUCA), the previous tenant finally got back from a jaunt around Tajikistan (ugh…) and he seems willing to cooperate with the investigation (something about the phrase “you’ll get charged with this if you don’t give us the names of your shady friends” must have gotten to him). But, I’m less and less convinced at this point that there’s any chance of getting our stuff back, so I’m focusing my attention to getting back to life, sans-camera.

Like, catching up with our new BFFs, a documentary filmcrew that crashed my Anthropology class last Thursday (pre-burglary). I got so excited that an opportunity to talk with people running a media-based NGO had fallen into my lap that I called Farrell, told him to get dressed and run to school, skipped my other two classes for the day and followed them as they navigated around Bishkek for meetings and a mission to find second-hand clothes.

First, who were these people? A Swede, a Brit, and an American. They’re traveling around Asia (and eventually North Africa) researching and filming camels.

Yeah…uh. I was a bit confused at first too. But these guys are really passionate about camels, and more importantly, camel cheese. They’re documenting camels and how they fit in to various nomadic cultures. It’s actually really interesting, I swear.

But, my words don’t do them justice. They have amazing footage from Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan available on their Kickstarter page and info about their other projects on their main website for the What Took You So Long Foundation.

This is the tough part. I was literally hopping with excitement after we said goodbye to them, but to put the day into words doesn’t sound too out of the ordinary. I ambushed the group after their presentation at AUCA to talk about “OMG, I’m totally starting an NGO too!”, then we jumped in a cab and went to Dordoi Bazaar, one of Bishkek’s biggest outdoor markets. The three filmmakers were only in Bishkek for a one more day and planned to head to Naryn early next morning. Clad only in flip-flops and light sweaters, they had just received news that it was snowing and hoped to get a good deal on warmer clothing at the bazaar.

Farrell and I hadn’t been to any of the markets yet; it was a bustling, frantic mess of shipping containers flung open to reveal any sort of merchandise you could possibly want. Shopkeepers pushed carts overloaded with goods over muddy, pot-holed paths. If you didn’t move fast enough (like me) you’d suddenly have an angry Kyrgyz shouting “DYEVOOSHKA! LADY!” behind you. The filmmakers met up with a Kyrgyz guy they met the day before who helped find a lovely pair of knock-off Uggs and bargain down the price to something more reasonable for the starving artists.

This guy, Mirlan (pronounced like Milan with an “r” stuck in there), is apparently a total baller in Bishkek. He owns a car wash with a bar attached to it. While driving us to a cafe, he lamented that his other car, a Lexus, is sooo much better than his Jetta. At lunch, although we all insisted that we just wanted coffee and tea (one of the filmmakers, the one that he fancied, even threatened that she would be grumpy if he ordered food), Mirlan bought us all shashlik, pizza, and beer anyway (which we all very much enjoyed!). He let it slip during conversation that when he studied in London, he lived in a very nice part of town. He may have mentioned several times that in a couple years, he expects to sell his car wash/bar for at least $1 million.

AKA, we inadvertently had lunch with a Bishkek VIP. We listened to his thoughts on being a businessman, how many kids he wants (and general views on family size in Kyrgyzstan; more = better), and how a picture of him as an 11-year-old was somehow being used without his permission for a billboard of a political party that he hates.

Random.

After leaving the cafe and Mirlan, Farrell and I continued to leech on the filmmakers’ day and followed them to a meeting with CBT, Community Based Tourism, a Kyrgyz organization that coordinates with people all over the country to offer homestays and various activities for tourists.

On the agenda: camels, of course.

The man we met with made several phone calls, pointing out on a map to each branch he was calling, breaking the news to the group: “Maybe there are two or three camels here *points to Issyk Kul* but they are tourist camels,” “We think there might be a camel here, but the roads will be bad,” “There is likely a herd of camels here, but it impossible to get there this weekend *points near the Chinese border*.” Apparently the border with China isn’t quite so clearly agreed upon, so there’s a 100km “no man’s land” into the Kyrgyz side where special visas and forms are needed for anybody to visit, Chinese, Kyrgyz, Swedes, etc. Plus the journey is difficult and would take several days. Basically, this CBT representative had little hope for these three random guests to find the herds of milking camels that they were seeking in Kyrgyzstan.

They were positive, nonetheless. If they didn’t find camels in Naryn they planned to continue on the route to Osh, perhaps stop in some small villages rumored to have a camel, and ultimately cross into Uzbekistan.

Gutsy plan. Less gutsy than the original plan to travel overland through Tajikistan and into northern Afghanistan (ouf!), but still impressively badass.

And what do you know, they found a camel in Naryn after all.

So the day went as such:
- class canceled
- frantic trip to one of Bishkek’s biggest outdoor bazaars
- haggling for long underwear and knock-off Ugg boots
- lunch with a Bishkek VIP
- a meeting dedicated to pinpointing camels in Kyrgyzstan
- saying goodbye to an amazing, inspiring group of people
- and, well, I’ve said enough about the story from there

So, what do you say? Be the Cheese! Support our new friends’ worldwide quest for camel cheese, won’t you?

My face when I read the entire email and realized LaFeber’s lecture is the exact same time as my environmental science class:

So I was faced with an ethical dilemma: go to class or attend this once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity-to-see-the-most-coveted-author-of-IB-history-readings. Easy choice. Hopefully my environmental science professor will understand.

Walter LaFeber is one of the most distinguished historians on U.S. history. He’s written many, many books on American foreign policy and American expansionism. In my junior-year history class, we read excerpts from several of his works…and literally every single Inglemoor IB student became a fan of Walter LaFeber on facebook. I’m already bragging to all of my high school friends that I’m going to hear him speak in person – they are all very jealous :P

He is speaking Thursday, September 9 at the University of Montana on “Reconsidering the Roots of the American Empire” and will later present “The American Century: Its Beginnings – and End?”

_________________

A/N: I have a million photos to upload, but this is a busy week/weekend…they will magically appear online sometime soon, I promise :)

It’s the start of a new semester at my university and I find myself left with mixed feelings. Part of me is glad to be done with the tediousness of 20 page plus college research papers and exams. Nevertheless the day before classes this semester  started I was in the area and part of me felt kinda missing my university. I can honestly say that I found myself left out of the commotion of a new school year. Part of me began missing the feeling of walking through campus to class, meeting friends at random times, and even the free gym membership included where I spent a majority of my time the last 2 years. Facebook is not the same anymore when you’re not in college and logging in and hearing about how friends I left are trudging along worried about pending exams or the horrible parking situation is definitely bittersweet. Still there are some things I will forever remember from my days in college. Enjoying a Stromboli with my best friend during lunch only to later rush into the gym a half an hour later with a feeling of guilt and determination. Student appreciation day we went all over campus collecting free stuff and goofing around. Of the countless days on campus there were times when we would waste away an hour or two just talking and people watching; sometimes foolishly because we knew we had a test that was just around the corner or some dumb paper to scramble at the last-minute. Skipping class became a hobby for me and some of my friends. Although we weren’t religious about it like some other classmate, we did pride ourselves in finding the perfect days to skip and these sometimes included going out to BDubs for Thursday 40 cent boneless wings! Overall, the college experience led me to new friends and new  experiences that I will always remember. Everyone experience that one or multiple bad days where papers wouldnt’ print, presentations failed along with the computers, parking tickets emerged on windshields, and even the occasional missed exam. Okay, so maybe not that extreme but looking back we can laugh at the misery that befell us at the most inopportune moments. On graduation day last May, the exhilaration of finally graduation overshadowed any  sadness or regret that we would be leaving campus, our friends, and classmates; but we will keep the memories throught to us close to our hearts. 

P.S. – I love Finn!

Best regards,
Shannon

—– Yes, I did send this to my actual teacher. Yes, he rescheduled no problem. —–

……….I skipped class today.

Let me explain!

Woke up at 6:50am to get ready for the day.

Registered for classes at 7am. 45 minutes pass and I still haven’t found a class that fits my study chemistry schedule.

8am: Go take my sports nutrition test

8:50: finish test and decide to go back to my room and continue trying to make my schedule before more classes fill up

9:15: decide there isn’t a point to go to my next class. We got a new teacher because our other one is having her baby and all the new teacher is doing is reading the powerpoint off the wall. I have my own copy and I end up teaching myself this class anyway.

Finally at 10:13 I have figured out and completed my schedule for next years classes!

I decided instead of taking 17 hours and spending my whole day everyday in class, I would take the normal 15. You might ask why I didn’t just take 15 to begin with, but see I have a Chemistry class that is 5 credit hours and all the other classes are 3, so I’d have to take 17 hours because I can’t take 14 because my scholarship needs 15 hours.

So I am taking one class that is just an hour long, has nothing to do with my major but will at least be easy. I thought about it and since some of my semesters in the future don’t even have 15 hours, that I could slack and take a class not for my major.

So here’s the schedule:

Introduction to Microcomputer Applications
Jogging/Walking for Fitness
General Chemistry recitation
General Chemistry lab
General Chemistry class
Selection and Preparation of Foods
Nutrition I

Can you tell which one is my slack off class?

Jogging/walking for fitness. I’m taking it at 9am. I wonder if I can run instead of “jog/walk” haha!

……moving on

 Last night’s dinner

cheese tots and chicken noodle soup

Really good. I wasn’t really THAT hungry yesterday.

….until later that night when I had another meal.

Snacks

Had a banana with amazing Barney Butter Almond Butter. I am IN LOVE! <3 Then of course string cheese.

You may remember my  first time trying almond butter. Maranatha’s to be exact. I am so glad Barney Butter sent me two packets to try because it is amazing. Truly.

That didn’t even fill me up!!! So I ate again!

Second Dinner

Mac N Cheese baby!! YUM NOMNOMNOM!

Studying

Throughout this time I was spent looking like this

Going over notes and powerpoints for my Sports Nutrition test that I took today. Hopefully I did well. I had a lot of A’s altogether and that makes me nervous when there’s a lot of the same answer in a row.

Then I took a break and painted my nails!

Don’t you love this color? Don’t you hate how it’s already chipped?! hahah

Have a great day today!!

I’m going to blog again. Regularly, most likely. But I think it will be different. More honest, with more serious entries sprinkled in. I hope you guys still like me after this. Really, I do. Because I like yooooou. (Corn over porn! That was stupid.)
PS. Sorry this was so long.
PPS. I love you guys, really, all of you. Just for reading this. Thank you.

Yes, as you can tell, I am slightly under the weather (I do not get sick this is a natural monthly occurrence) and have decided to let myself skip all my classes. Now before someone who knows my father reads this, let me just say I do not do this often, only when I literally can’t get out of bed, and all my work for the next few days is done. I haven’t missed any yet this semester either and only skipped once last semester, so I figure I’m allowed.

So here I am, rubbing my eyes in a leisurely fashion, trying to type a few more pages of Damn Brits and maybe write a little of Rescue Me. I also want to put a dent in Sophie Kinsella’s Twenties Girl so I can have something to review for the paper next week. Which reminds me, I haven’t watched Dear John yet, must look up it it popped up on Hulu yet. There my goals for the day. Sorry for the rambling. Will let you know if I reach said goals … after a nap.

On a different note, I’ve been listening to a certain album non-stop for the past month and a bit. It’s a masterpiece: Cobra Starship’s While The City Sleeps, We Rule The Streets. It’s a pretty amazing view into pop-punk and synth pop put together from the past. Here’s a breakdown I did…

album art

1. Being From Jersey Means Never Having To Say You’re Sorry – 3/10 – Interesting intro to their debut album. It’s an extremely slow start and doesn’t exactly set us up for the tone of the rest of the album, but it’s a pretty interesting sound.
2. Send My Love To The Dance Floor, I’ll See You In Hell (Hey Mr. DJ) – 10/10 – Everything about this song is amazing: the opening pulse synths; guitar intro; lyrics; Gabe’s vocals; drumming. Excellent song! It really is a Cobra classic. I find it sad they don’t play this song live anymore…
3. The Church Of Hot Addiction – 9/10 – A perfect Cobra Starship anthem. It was the song that hooked me into their material. Addictive guitar riffs and the breakdown is prime. Excellent song for partying it up, with lyrics like ” G-A-B-E gonna get you high. My light is electric!” and the back up “hey, hey, hey”‘s.
4. The Kids Are All Fucked Up – 10/10 – One of my all time favourite songs. It’s a memorable song, bringing up memories of doing stupid shit with good friends. It’s definitely a special song. I find that I often picture this song with an aqua aura type vibe. It’s so smooth and it’s a perfect relaxing tune.
5. It’s Warmer In The Basement – 7/10 – This is one fucking interesting song. To be honest, I HATED this song when I first heard the album. Though, it does remind me of classic ’00′s pop-punk. It consists of fast-tongued vox, with an insanely catchy beat.
6. Keep It Simple – 7/10 – This song used to be a favourite to me, but it seems the meaning has washed away. Another slower chillen song that you play when you’re thinking and enjoying life. It does hold amazing lyrics like “I’m down if you don’t expect anymore from me” and “keep it simple now”. Definitely a keeper of a song. Reminds me of a mix of Cute Is What We Aim For and old school Midtown tunes.
7. It’s Amateur Night At The Apollo Creed! - 10/10 – I had not heard this song until way after I had this album. I guess I missed downloading it… Anywho! I LOVELOVELOVE this song. SO catchy, amazing cool riffs, with perfect execution of synth/drums/guitar combo. The introduction break-beat drumming is like pure drugs. Gabe’s vocals are a bit awkward but the context of the lyrics make up for it. My favourite song right now. “STEP, STEP, YOU’RE TOO SLOW! SPEED IT UP.” This track also has an interlude connected on the end. It’s a quick chant following the last vocals. It’s pretty much a rap/chant excerpt from the following song…
8. Bring It (Snakes On A Plane) – 8/10 – This was the lead single for While The City Sleeps, and boosted Cobra Starship onto the map. I’ve been in love with the epic opening sequence, creating a fast and different scene. I find this song an average tune for Cobra, and shouldn’t be missed. Here’s a little bit of knowledge: the band has NEVER not played this song live. They often do a different breakdown (usually Hollaback Boy), instead of the rapping. Also the amazing beginning to Cobra’s trademark “fangs up” symbol.
9. The Ballad Of Big Poppa And Diamond Girl – 7/10 – A slow, synthy break to the album. Basically the downhill side of the album. It’s a pretty average tune, with a catchy as hell chorus, but it gets old fast. The lyrics are good, but not the best.
10. Pop-Punk Is Sooooo ’05 – 6/10 – Another classic look at pop-punk. Lovely to see the mix of Gabe’s beginnings. LOVE it. It’s a fast quick-sung song. It seems almost too short of a song. Interesting switch from other songs on the album.
11. You Can’t Be Missed If You Never Go Away – 8/10 – Amazing closer. Slow, catchy, meaningful… it has everything a band needs to close a show. “We’re too young, I’d hate to love you.” lyrics create urban chaos in my mind. I love the synth riffs integrated in the song. Just closes it into a “FUCK YES, THAT WAS A PERFECT ALBUM” mood and just makes you want to listen to it on repeat.

ANYWAYS… haha. My life gets a bit boring… so I breakdown albums!

Interesting thought, what did I do today? Fuck all. I didn’t got to class until after lunch… I wasn’t prepared for early wake-up, so I put on Crash Love by AFI and dozed in and out of consciousness. It was a shitty day weather-wise… and made me feel even worse. Damn rain… Then I went I packed a nice bowl with oil and such and went back to burn it uuuuup.

what my morning consisted of

Went to Dylan’s for lunch and just tripped all afternoon in class. Hurray. Now I’s sitting here munching on chocolate-chip cookies and writing about my uneventful life. Truly, every day is exactly the same… “Same shit, different day.”

After attempting to log onto a computer and successfully wasting ten minutes, I got onto the one I am currently occupying, and it worked.

I had every intention of going to all my classes today.
I swear I did.

However I woke up at 12:30pm when my first class was at 2 and I had to catch the 1:10 bus to get there on time, and I was just too tired.

I got the bus at 3:10, got to my conversation class, played scattergories in french, and then met friends for supper.

It was at this supper I made the decision to skip my 5:30 french class.

Of course by the time I checked the bus schedule and realised I’d just missed my bus, I really didn’t want to go into class late, so I came here.

The library.

Normally I would have sat at the bus stop for half an hour listening to music and people watching, but I decided for a change of scenery.

My university is fairly large. It has about 25 buildings that are frequently used by the students, and I only ever use about 5.

I find that whenever I venture to a new part of the university I see a lot of new people, and sometimes I will be introduced to new friends, or just see people I haven’t seen in a long time.

I’m currently in the Queen Elizabeth II Library. The QE2. Almost every time I make a visit here I see someone I haven’t seen in years, or I people watch to my hearts content and see some fascinating characters.

The University Centre is a place I love to be really early in the morning, or really late at night. In the middle of the day I don’t like to be there without friends because it is so over populated at the lunchtime hours. In the morning and nights are the only times I like to be left alone there, and that doesn’t happen often.

French class is twenty minutes in, now, and once I finish this post I’ll bum around the internet for a while before catching a bus home half an hour earlier than I’d usually get home.

When I get home I’ll probably google some recipes, play some games, or read.

It’s a usual evening for me, and I want it to stay this way- but without the guilt of skipping class.

Perhaps I’ll look up my courses for next year now, but It was nice to just write for a little while.

Emma.

Enjoy,
Jill <3