Things standing in the way of me and SWAZILAND

Here is a list I compiled on Wednesday of things I need to take care of before JUNE 26, 2012!! If it's been x-ed out, it means I've done it already. Alas, the list is still long.

(updated 5.26.12)
X passport photos
X Send passport app
X yellow fever vaccine
X figure out readings course
X Mideast research proposal due
X Econ Decentralization presentation (4.10)
X Food Justice conference observation paper (4.10)
X Mideast class presentation on Syria (4.11)
X Stats asn 3 (4.12)
X Final report on Poli Sci 2012 assessments
X Food Justice exit paper (4.17)
X Mideast reflection 2 (4.25)
X Food Justice final paper (4.29)
X Stats asn 4 (5.7)
X Mideast final paper (5.9)
X Econ final
X grade papers for Modern Political Theory (5.10)
X capstone topics
X find capstone adviser
• Final grant (5.29)
• Summer Econ final (5.31)
• business cards
• prescription sunglasses
• USP reunion

P.S. Today was a beautiful day! Took these on the quad at ISU.

Bumps in the road: vaccines and capstone options

So I decided to be proactive (haven't sent off my Peace Corps passport details yet, oops!), and figure out where I can get my yellow fever vaccine for around the price Peace Corps will cover for it. Peace Corps covers up to $150, but the local Travel Clinic will cost around $300-350. So it seems like I may have to head out to Peoria for the vaccine. Only problems there is a.) I have to find a way to Peoria which is an hour away when I don't have a car, and b.) they don't want to do the vaccine because their documents say Swaziland is not at risk of yellow fever. So tomorrow I'll be faxing them the Peace Corps documents to them in hopes that they would change their mind and do the shot for me. *breath*

The other issue is my capstone. It's turning into very much the chicken and egg process.
1.) It's hard to pick a capstone topic before I find out what I'm doing in the Peace Corps if I'm meant to relate the topic to my assignment. It's hard to find out my assignment before I go through Peace Corps training. It's hard to do preliminary research on my topic while in the Peace Corps.
2.) I'm encouraged to pick a faculty who I feel will fit my capstone topic to be my advisor. Refer to (problem 1).
3.) Doing youth development, I will most likely need to do an IRB review for my capstone project. It will be hard to do this in the Peace Corps. If I had a professor to be my advisor, they would be able to help me through the IRB process. Refer to (problem 2).
*sigh*

"Go slow! You're not in New York, anymore!"

"Go slow." Something that was called to me often during my week long stay on the beach paradise in Caye Caulker, Belize. It was the perfect beginning to my winter break Central America trip, because I'm not the kind of person who's good at going slow. I like walking fast, and I'm always in a hurry to get somewhere, never really taking in my surroundings and enjoying the moment. Learning to go allowed me to stay a few extra days in a town I liked.

And then I came back from winter break this semester, and back into the thick of things. Everything moves so fast. It feels like time has absolutely FLOWN since August when I first became a grad student, and am now just waiting to finish up classes and start my Peace Corps in just three months!

It's funny that here in Normal everyone else moves so fast that my friends here think I actually walk pretty slow, talk pretty slow, move pretty slow. But I've been taking it all the wrong way. As if these qualities I've been striving for the past couple years I've now become embarrassed of. While I used to practice talking slower and clearer, and moving slower and more calm, these are things I've once again come to take for granted in the United States.

Well it's not the way for me. In Swaziland, I'm sure things will be a lot slower, and so I wanna start here and now. Focus on stressing less about school, which after the exam this morning, and paper I've turned in this afternoon, I've officially hit the halfway mark. Just a little bit left to go, and it's really not that important in the scope of what's ahead. The next exciting chapter in my life, a new continent to conquer. I just need to concentrate and get it out of the way, and then back to "going slow" for me. =)

Sawubona! (hello)

It's official! I got SWAZILAND!!! Now... time to work on my siSwati. =D

The invitation arrived on Thursday when I was in Chicago, and Greg texted me to tell me it arrived at the house. I told him not to open it, but then Buj went to look at it and said that you can see the invitation without even opening it, and it said Swaziland... So yeah, no surprise for me....

The roommate wall of Peace Corps invitation packaging for Buj, Greg, and me.

Invite......? Am I DREAMING?

So my placement officer said this'd be in the mail mid to late April, but....


SQUEEEEEE!!!!!!!! REALLY??? OMG, I CAN'T WAIT! I won't be back til Friday night.


In other news, I'm in Seattle right now visiting Jamie, a neighbor from Korea.

Finally!!!?

Katie, Kate, and I were sitting in the beautiful library 4th floor nook (they have a nice comfy nook with big windows on the four corners of 4th floor) when my phone suddenly rang. I picked it up to see who the 202 number was, and ran to the fire escape as if the place had been set ablaze. It was my placement officer, calling to give me my final interview and see where I'd be going to in the Peace Corps. Originally, he said I'd be good for Southeast Asia or Eastern Europe, but I was secretly hoping neither of those. He was pretty lenient and said he'd let me choose from my options, and unless he called me back chances were that I'd be going to the region I chose. I told him I'd been hoping for something south of the equator, and would take anything there.

"Well, you said you'd be willing to leave after June 30. Are you willing to bump it up 5 days?"
"It depends..........."
"Well I have one in Sub-Saharan Africa that leaves 5 days before."
"/calm/ Really? /calm/"
"Yes."
"Sure!"

So.... here things are. I had no idea where I'd be going only that I knew it'd be Sub-Saharan Africa at the end of June. Oh, and he told me I should receive my invitation either the second or third week of April. Right after we got off the phone, Katie and Kate received the same call. I was so excited for the both of them! Katie is either looking at Eastern Europe or the Carribean. Kate is looking at Sub-Saharan Africa as well (excited!!) but not leaving til September, so not the same place.

After I got out of the class I TA for, I got a call from Lauren saying that she was told her and I are going to the same country! She got some extra details such as it's an Anglophone country, and I'd be doing Youth Development while she's doing Health. YAY! Lauren and I are together!

So I looked online at the Peace Corps Wiki (the Peace Corps equivalent of Wikipedia) to look at their timeline, and the 3 countries around that date are Benin, The Gambia, and Swaziland. Now I'm really hoping it's not the first two, because I don't want to go to West Africa. But I'm SUPER excited about Swaziland, AND it's the only country that has both programs we've been assigned for.

Now... Lauren and I have pretty much accepted that we are going there, googling everything in the world about it and prepping ourselves to learn siSwati. We've also been reading a chunk of Peace Corps blogs about Swaziland. I promised I wouldn't get too excited til I got my invitation in April, but it's hard not to get excited. Both of my roommates (Greg and Ambuj) have now received theirs. They're both doing economic development in the Dominican Republic!! It's awesome that they'll be together like Lauren and me.

Here's what I know so far about Swaziland:
Capital: Lobamba (royal and legislative) and Mbabane (administrative and largest city). The international airport is in Manzini, always important information.
Area of the country: 6,704 sq mi
Population: 1,185,000. Roughly half of whom are married to or sired from the king....... JOKES!! (or is it?)
Official languages: English and siSwati
King with absolute power: King Mswati III (with 14 wives and 26 kids)
It used to be a British colony until 1968 when it gained independence.



Disclaimer: Nothing is set in stone until I get my invitation hopefully by the 3rd week of April. *fingers crossed*

Since blogging about the Peace Corps seems so popular... (my timeline)

I have decided to start this blog up again to talk about where I am in my own Peace Corps application process...

So here is my Peace Corps timeline. It's been a LONG ride.

October 1, 2010: Received the application packet from Peace Corps.

November 9, 2010: Peace Corps received my application packet.

November 15, 2010: First interview with regional Peace Corps coordinator.

November 30, 2010: Application withdrawn pending acceptance to a Masters International program since I do not intend to go to Peace Corps until I do the MI.

April 5, 2011: Wait-listed for the Illinois State University's Masters International program.

April 25, 2011: Accepted to Illinois State University's Masters International program.

April 26, 2011: Nominated for Peace Corps.

May 5, 2011: Date my medical kit was mailed to me.

August 18, 2011: Started Masters International graduate program at Illinois State University.

October 25, 2011: Peace Corps received my medical and dental.

November 18, 2011: Rejected from the Peace Corps on the basis of my supposed lack of health.

November 28, 2011: Put together an appeal for my medical.

December 7, 2011: Peace Corps ACCEPTED my appeal for my medical status. =D

December 28, 2011: Peace Corps sent me another email asking me to send more transcripts and details.

January 19, 2012: Was informed by the Peace Corps that my application is in final review now.

February 2, 2012: Contacted by my placement officer with a questionnaire of the kinds of conditions I can handle in the Peace Corps. Submitted answers same day.

That's where I'm at right now... I put June 30 as my soonest available leaving date, but would definitely be willing to leave early if it meant I could go to Tanzania on the June 11 departure. That would be a dream come true.

Kansas City

Day 28 (Jan 16) St. Louis - Kansas City
I got my stuff together by 1pm, and Willy gave me a ride to the train to get back to the main station. The bus ride to Kansas City lasted 5 hours, and I was completely dead by then. Hailey picked me up from the bus station, and took me back to her place. She goes to University of Missouri Kansas City, and lives by campus. Her place was very cute, and her roommates were really nice.


Day 29 (Jan 17) Kansas City, MO - Kansas City, KS - Kansas City, MO
Hailey was working all day, so she couldn't really hang out. I decided to go to Kansas City, Kansas for a few hours to see what was there. I missed my connecting bus, so I decided to go to walk because I figured it wouldn't be too far. BIG MISTAKE! I completely forgot about the Kansas River, and that I would have to find some way to cross it, meaning I would need to find a bridge that allows pedestrian crossing.
It took a while walking through some dingy warehouse district. Some guys I passed along the way were warning me to be careful that I wasn't in the nicest neighborhood. I wasn't really worried, and nothing happened to me. I got safely to the other side, looked around for a while, then took the bus back to the Missouri side.
Everyone I asked about what there was to see mentioned the National World War I Museum. I knew quite a bit about World War II, but not too much about the first one, so I figured it'd be interesting to go there and learn what I could. The museum was well worth it. There were a lot of great exhibits, videos, and some interactive areas as well. There was a tower to go to the top and get a view of Kansas City, but the elevator was broken, so I never got up there.
When I got back to Hailey's, Quinn came to pick me up from her place. Quinn's a guy I went to school with in Tokyo, and we never hung out too much there, but he was in Geeta's architecture class, so I saw him a lot there when I was in her office working. He took me to Gate's, a pretty famous BBQ place in Kansas City. KC is famous for their BBQ, especially their burnt ends, which I never got a chance to try because the serving size was huge. I just ordered what Quinn did, beef on a bun, which is sliced pieces of beef in BBQ sauce on a bun. It looked kind of like a sloppy joe, and it didn't look that appetizing. After I took my first bite, I totally changed my mind! I now know why KC is famous for this stuff, because a day later I could still taste the BBQ flavor in my mouth. It was absolutely delicious, and I wish there was somewhere else I could try this stuff again because I doubt I'll ever be back to KC.


Day 30 (Jan 18) Kansas City - Philadelphia
Last day of my Midwest adventure… Pretty much running out of money, and tired. I just stayed at Hailey's packing my stuff so that it would look small enough to pass as a carry on, and watching some movies. My flight was at 4:35pm, and I got to Philly at 10pm. If you take into account the time difference, that was only 4 1/2 hours total with flights and layover in Memphis! Not bad at all. Tomorrow is a chill day at home running some errands, then on to New York and Boston on Wednesday!!

Wow, 30 DAYS!! Can't believe it.... Such an adventure.

The overall impression I got about Missouri is that all the people here are super friendly and super helpful. I got warned by quite a few people about being by myself in bad areas, which I had to cross a few times, but I never met anyone along the way that looked like they would harm me. People always smile when you walk past them, unlike Philly where no one ever makes eye contact. I love the accents here for sure. I had a lot of random black guys asking me for my number, and my telling them that I was leaving the state and never coming back didn't seem to deter them. They just shrugged and asked if they could get my number again. I guess that's just a quirk of Missouri. I had some other girls tell me that they've experienced that as well.

I got my flight details for Korea finally! I will arrive on February 6th at 4:50pm at Incheon International Airport. This will be my first time flying Korean Air. I've heard nothing but good things about that airline, their service, and their meals. I can't wait for that. Also, my friend works at the airport for that airline, so I hope he's working the day I get in.

At this point, the plan is to go to Seoul on Saturday, stay at Bina's house, run some errands Sunday, then get to Jochiwon (조치원) on Sunday night where my orientation is. Seoul To Do list: cellphone in Dongdaemun, piercings in Hongdae (maybe), banjo in Nakwon (maybe).

St. LOUIS!!

Day 24 (Jan 12) Madison
Don't really remember what I did…. Except for GOMERoke again! Went with Alex and Mo.


Day 25 (Jan 13) Madison - Chicago - St. Louis
I was so tired all of that day because my bus from Madison to Chicago was at 3:30am. We arrived in Chicago at 6am. They had wireless on the Megabus, which I loved, but they didn't have any outlets so the laptop didn't survive the whole journey. I hung out in Union Station in Chicago for a bit, then took my next bus to St. Louis. I arrived in St. Louis around 2:30, and took the train to Yvonne's house, where I was couchsurfing.

There were a lot of people living there, 7 adults, 4 kids, and some pets too. I thought some Frenchman who commented that their place wasn't really ideal for couchsurfing was just being too stuffy about it, but I had to agree when I got there. The people themselves were great, but the place was a bit more than I could handle. I spent my first evening there getting to know the people who lived there, and just chilling to music.


Day 26 (Jan 14) St. Louis
I woke up bright and early as I usually do, not wanting to miss an opportunity to see all I could before it got dark. I walked all around Forest Park, where the St. Louis World Fair was held in 1904 (?). I then walked from the park to the Gateway Arch, stopping a few other places to see along the way. Google it, it's a fair distance. In all, I walked about 6 hours nonstop that day.

I was going to go to Soulard, which is supposed to be a nice little French area a'la the French Quarter in New Orleans, but I was too tired at the thought of walking a single minute more. I went back to Yvonne's, and hung out for the rest of the evening. I watched a movie with one of their friends, Willy, who always hangs out at the house.

Day 27 (Jan 15) St. Louis - Collinsville, IL - St. Louis
On my list of places I've always wanted to go was the Cahokia Mounds Site in Collinsville, Illinois. It's actually listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, one of the few in the US. The mounds were part of the Mississipean culture that surrounded the Mississippi River area, and disappeared shortly before the Europeans began exploring that area.

It would have definitely been better if I'd been able to go there during the summer to see the mounds in their full greenery, but I made do. The interpretive center at the mound site was really interesting, and I spent some time there learning about the Mississipeans.

After that, I went back to St. Louis, and decided to walk around Soulard for a bit before returning to the house. My feet were COMPLETELY dead afterwards.

At night, there was a party at the house because a couple people were celebrating their birthdays. Yvonne's boyfriend's birthday was that day, and he's a DJ, so he played some great music. Some of the other people who live there and hang out there play music, so we all had a great time. I got to bed around 7 or 8am.

A banjo...... ?

This blog update has been consistently happening every other day for a while now... I guess I'm only gonna be counting the days of the Midwest trip, and not the whole thing, so after this, I'd be back to just saying what's up and what I've been doing. But it's pretty good that I'm getting my words out there, cause in the past I've always been too lazy to write. So this time, I'm just gonna meld days 22 and 23 together because they're pretty much leading up to a big decision I may have just made because I'm sitting here on Craigslist right now thinking that I'll be getting a settling amount of 300,000W ($265) when I arrive, and I wouldn't mind spending that on Craigslist crap for things I'd need/want for my apartment!! I really hope I don't get stuck in the middle of nowhere where I have to do a homestay. I super want my own place just because I've never had one before.

These past two days have been really good for me. Yesterday (Jan 10) morning I just hung out around the house til the afternoon. Then Becky gave me a ride to the Madison free zoo where I walked around in the freezing cold by myself for an hour. The reason for this was mostly because I was going to a Couchsurfing potluck just a few blocks away. The only problem was that I went to the zoo at 4pm (cause it closed at 5), and the potluck didn't start til at least 6.

Not a lot of people showed up because there was some confusion over changes in dates and an interference with an important Packers game. It was just the host Crystaline, her friend from work, Moe, this guy John Ray from Texas, and I. At some point in the night, John busted out his BANJO and played two folk songs, "Plastic Jesus" and "It Blow'd Away". I'd always wanted to pick up another instrument again since I'd quit keyboard before I even reached middle school. I've always liked the sound of banjos, but last night it just called out to me and said it really wanted me to play.

Today I ran a bunch of errands with Becky during the day, but just couldn't get those songs out of my head. I played a bunch of banjo music on youtube throughout the day.

In the evening, I went with Becky and the kids to see Becky's friend Mary. She's one of her "fab 5" that I hadn't met yet. I'd heard a lot about her and her great personality, and she really was! She was such a great, easy going person to talk to. She was half-Korean, but didn't know much about Korea at all. She told me all about her family history on her mother's side and it was really fascinating. I told her that she should really come visit me when I got back to Korea.

I got home and was talking to Jess. I just happened to mention to her that I really wanted a banjo. She told me to look on Craigslist. I found this perfect banjo, and the seller was just a few towns down from me! I thought it was fate. I really wanted that banjo so badly. Unfortunately he just emailed me back a few minutes ago, saying he'd already sold it. I'm heartbroken. I wonder if this is a sign of "that's a bad purchase idea" or "you'll find a better deal". We'll see!

Another good piece of news from last night, I got an email back about my graduation and orientation in Korea. Both happen to fall on the same day, and I was really gutted about that because I'd promised my parents I would go to graduation, and was looking forward to seeing some friends who were gonna graduate with me. So TaLK let me come to orientation late, and I get to leave the US on February 5th or 6th. Also, I was placed in my province of choice, Gangwon-do (강원도). They didn't say the city/town yet, but I'm really hoping for Sokcho (속초) cause that's what I requested.

Finally got to House on the Rock!

I GOT THE JOB WITH TaLK!!! Just like to put that out there. I'll be leaving for South Korea again in February.

First of all.... before my updates, I'd like to mention one interesting person and one disturbing person I discovered yesterday while surfing the web.

First is the interesting one, but you may find this less than interesting. Ariana Page Russell has a skin condition which makes her skin very sensitive to contact. It becomes red and raised very easily. Instead of this being a crutch, she uses this to make artwork out of her body. I think she's a big inspiration and her art is very beautiful.

Next is the disturbing one, Hang Mioku. This woman is a plastic surgery addict who went a few steps too far. After running out of silicone to do injections into her face, she started using cooking oil. I'm so against plastic surgery, and really fear for people who make it a habit. I hope you don't.

Day 20 (Jan 8) - Madison
Well... second day in a row I was supposed to go to Minneapolis that it didn't happen... It had stopped snowing in Madison, but it was still snowing in Milwaukee where my rideshare was coming from, so she wasn't going. Some weird coincidence happened though... This girl I messaged on couchsurfing for a place to stay messaged me back saying she was my rideshare! How wild is that. She was the girl I wanted to stay with most because she seemed like a really cool girl, and she was born in Kishinev like my mom and was Jewish. Not that I prefer a person for that reason alone, but I always love meeting people from my background just to hear their stories of how their families got to the US. So when I called her in the morning to see if she was gonna go to Minneapolis, she asked me if I saw her couchsurfing message to me, and I said yes, and we ended up talking on the phone for about an hour. Even though we never got to meet, I hope our paths cross again.

The kids had some kinda performance at school, so Becky and I walked over to school to watch them. We had to watch the same performances over and over for each her kids' classes, because this is their gym class' unit on modern dance and the parents are invited to watch. After school, the girls both had friends sleeping over, so it was five kids running and screaming around the house all night. Fun fun fun.

Day 21 (Jan 9) - Madison - Spring Green - Mt. Horeb - Madison
I woke up in a really bad mood. I really wanted to give Becky's husband a piece of my mind, but didn't for her sake cause she's been great. He was really rude, trying to smoke me out of the family room from 8am because they bought a Wii the night before, and were waiting for me to wake up and install it. From 8am, he started blasting the radio really loud, which is right next to the room where I was sleeping. He also let the kids run around like crazy, screaming. The youngest kid kept coming in the room, checking if I was awake yet, and reporting back to his dad. I was about to get out of there, and even started searching for new couches in town, but eventually just gave up and called Moe to hang out.

Moe showed up a bit later, and we went to House on the Rock because I convinced him last time I saw him to take me there this weekend. It's a place I'd been wanting to go to since I first heard of it a couple months ago. This was long before I knew I'd end up in Wisconsin, and when I found out I'd be staying only 45 minutes away for it, I was determined to make the trip out there before I left. House on the Rock is a gorgeous huge house done in Japanese style on top of a large rock, filled with collections of various oddities the home owner has collected throughout the years. It's not far from Taliesin by Frank Lloyd Wright, which costs 3 times as much to visit, but I'm sure isn't remotely as interesting. It also houses the largest carousel in the world!!

After that, we went to have dinner in Mt. Horeb, which is known for its trolls. Unfortunately, it was dark by then so we couldn't go hunting trolls. We went to the Grumpy Troll to have dinner. After that, he took me back to Becky's so that I could rest up.

Map of 2010 updated.

SNOW SNOW SNOW

Day 18 (Jan 6) - Madison
Yesterday all I really did was watch a movie with Becky during the day, then watched the kids as she went to go run some errands. I also painted the first layer of gloss on the dresser.

Day 19 (Jan 7) - Madison
I was supposed to get out of Madison, but do to a HUGE PILE OF SNOW EVERYWHERE, I was stuck. It was ok though, because Becky was busy in town and would need me to watch the kids in the afternoon. Her husband ended up coming home an hour after he left saying the roads were bad and he'd work from him. Because of that, I asked for Becky a ride downtown.

I texted Moe who I met Tuesday at dinner and karaoke because I wanted to check out University of Wisconsin, and he worked on campus. We met up for lunch. Then I went to Lake Mendota, one of two lakes on the isthmus of Madison. There's a really good view of it from campus in the Union building. I walked out onto the lake, and it was my first time standing on a frozen lake! It was pretty cool. I wish I could have seen down, but I suppose if I could do that, it wouldn't have been safe for me to walk on.

After that I met Moe again at his office, because he said I could crash his coworker's retirement party. It was pretty chill, but I felt a bit weird since I didn't belong there. After that, I took the bus back to Becky's place.

KARAOKE TIME~

Day 16 (Jan 4) - Madison
Monday was another slow day. The kids are back at school, her husband was at work, and Becky has a lot of research to do for her upcoming trip to UK, so she's busy as well. Midday, we started working on kid #3's new dresser. I was sanding it while Becky went out to buy paints for it. When she got back we did the primer for it.

A couple days ago, someone mentioned a musical genre that was new to me, dubstep. I found some songs on youtube such as stuff from Mt Eden Dubstep and Snoop Dogg Millionaire. Officially loving the sound of this stuff!


Day 17 (Jan 5) - Madison
Same deal as the day before. Becky had to work and the kids were at school. Becky went to the mall to take care of some stuff, so I went to pick up the kids from school when they were done. Their school was small and friendly. It's been so long before I'd been in an elementary school before. They wanted to show me off to their teachers and stuff. It's so cute when they introduce me to people "This is our couchsurfer!". I love that.

At night, Becky and I went to a Couchsurfing meetup at the restaurant Africana. Only two other guys showed up, Jason and Mo, but that was fine. They were cool guys. At some point during dinner, I must have had an allergic reaction to the sauce my chicken was in, because my throat started closing up. It wasn't that bad, but I was still worried because we were going to karaoke afterwards, and I was really excited to get up and sing my song.

We got to GOMERoke right around 9pm, and I signed up for my song "Baby Got Back". The girl at the sign up table told me to ask them if they could do it because it wasn't on the band's songlist. So I went up to the keyboardist, who's quite literally insane, of the Gomers, and asked him if it was cool. He said it was fine, and they'd add some riffs to my rapping. The band is really great, but from what I saw last time, the keyboardist is definitely my favorite. He's so funny on stage, and knows how to give a really great show.

I was up 4th. I was really excited to go because "Baby Got Back" is a song I know like the back of my hand and I could kill it. The only thing was that I was performing in front of the rock and country crowd, and there isn't a single hip hop song on their entire playlist. As soon as I started, people began coming to the dancefloor and it pumped me up even more. After I finished, I came down and got my free drink ticket because everyone who sings got a free drink. A bunch of people shook my hand, and one girl even gave me a hug. I felt great!

Also, I started my 2010 travels map. A little bare now, but I'm still only one week into January! Here's 2010. Save it to follow along with my travels =) Oh, and here's 2009 for those who wonder what I was up to then.

Frigid cold January

Day 14 (Jan 2) - Madison
Yesterday was frigid and cold. Perfectly fine if we were sitting inside, but we weren't. Becky's husband and the kids went to visit his family, so we saw this as a perfect opportunity to see some of downtown Madison. We didn't realize it was SIX DEGREES OUT! Anyways, we went to the Capitol building, which is modeled after the Washington DC Capitol. It was beautiful inside, and there was even a liberty bell inside. This was my first time inside any state capitol building even though I've been in 25 states now.

After that, we went to see Lake Monona. It was frozen, but quiet on the water. Becky told me usually people are ice skating or fishing or ice boating on the lake, but I guess everyone was still recovering from New Years Eve because the lake was empty.

At night, we went to the Club Tavern in Middleton to see Pat McCurdy. I heard his name tossed around a few times since I got her, and I heard he's a bit of a legend in the Midwest, so I was excited to see his show. He does mostly comedy songs, including Irish songs, Country, camp fire songs, and other people's music done in different genres. There was a section of his show where he was asking people what were their names and hometowns, and sang a song about them. I was chosen, and he made a little pass at the Phillies for losing the World Series, then continued on about how I hooked up with most of the star athletes in Philadelphia.

Towards the end he did a few of his popular songs that have dances along with them. A lot of the people in the crowds seemed to be regular, because most people did the moves as he sang. A bunch of girls got up on stage to dance to this one song, and the moves seemed simple enough, so I jumped up there too. I had so much fun at the show. I tried to convince Becky to get up there too, but it wasn't her thing.

Day 15 (Jan 3) - Madison
The day was pretty lazy. We slept in late, and in the afternoon we took down the Christmas tree. The family came home around noon, and the kids played with their new toys they got from their grandma. It was pretty quiet until they arrived, so my ears were not accustomed to the noise at that point. Eventually they left to go buy a new beta fish, and I finished watching my movie.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Day 12 (Dec 31) - Chicago
Becky and the kids were heading back to Madison, so we went to have brunch at Pauline's, a small diner with a real nice feel to it. The kids and I already had breakfast, but Becky and her sister hadn't yet so they were calling it breakfast. Everyone ordered breakfast food except for me. I got a burger, and the oldest kid asked me "Danni, why are you eating a hamburger for breakfast?" and I responded because it's 2pm and we've already eaten breakfast.

After that, I went to Jessie's place, and sat around waiting for her to get ready for her art showing at First Friday the next day. While I waited, I worked on a collage bookmark. We rounded up her stuff, and went back to the Flat Iron to see what she had to work with and how she would display her stuff.

Jessie was not feeling well, and decided not to do anything for New Years. This suddenly meant that I had nothing to do and nowhere to sleep for NYE. I sent out an SOS on Couchsurfing to this woman Lorie who was organizing a get together for Couchsurfers at a bar walking distance from the Flat Iron and she mentioned her surfer was snowed-in in Fargo. 15 MINUTES LATER.... Lorie texted me and said it would be fine, to just come down to the bar and we'd figure out sleeping arangements.

So Jessie dropped me off at Danny's Bar, promising that if she was feeling better she'd come down for a bit close to midnight. I had lots of fun there, dancing to great music with the Chicago CSers, and a bunch of out-of-towners who also wanted to spend NYE there. Lorie was on the dance floor all night long, constantly pulling us back if we stopped. I was really happy when Jessie finally called back around 11:30 saying she was coming. She showed up a few minutes before midnight, and we rang in the New Year together dancing. Overall, NYE set a good tone for how I'd like the rest of the year to be.

Around 2am, we finally got back to Lorie's place. Another Couchsurfer, Susan, was staying there as well. I spent the entire ride home trying to convince them to do the plunge with me the next morning.


Day 13 (Jan 1) - Chicago - Madison
Woke up bright and early and put my bathing suit on. Why, you ask? Because I was on my way to Lake Michigan in 13 degree weather to do the POLAR BEAR PLUNGE!! Lorie, Susan, and I got to the beach at 11am so that we could get a good parking spot. Luckily the parking was free for the day. When we got to the beach, Susan decided she was going to plunge as well! In total, there was about 15 Couchsurfers who showed up, and about 9 jumpers I think...

When I first plunged, all the air rushed out of me, and I thought I would pass out. I kept running to a place I felt comfortable to dunk my head in. There was no such thing as acclimating, because my body was already frozen at that point. When I got out, we all noticed that our legs were bleeding because of the chunks of ice all over the place. Luckily, we didn't feel it yet at that point. Jessie showed up a few minutes after I'd plunged, and because one of the other CSer's friends showed up to do it, Jessie agreed to plunge with this girl Julie.

Afterwards, Julie, her CS friend Joellen, and I went to lunch at R.J. Grunt's. A bunch of others were supposed to come, but couldn't find parking and just went home. I had a hot bowl of chili and they had the buffet. I then realized that my phone was dying, and I didn't have my charger, so Joellen offered to give me a ride all the way back to Lorie's house to get it. Joellen was really inspiring to talk to, and gave me some inspiration for how I should go about 2010. When I got to Lorie's, I put my phone on the charger, and Lorie let me take a hot shower.

I met Jessie at the Flat Iron for First Friday, and watched her set up a bit until Lorie showed up. We walked around a bit, and then my other friend Rae Jang, from the study abroad I did at Korea University in 2007, came up with her boyfriend. We all walked around for about an hour and saw the various galleries from the artists at the Flat Iron.

I said my goodbyes, and took the 8:30pm bus back to Madison from Union Station in Chicago. Becky met me at the bus, and took me back to her place.

Today we are probably going to see downtown Madison.

leading up to the new year....

Day 11 (Dec 30) - Chicago
Becky, the kids (+ cousins), Becky's mom, and I went to Chinatown to check it out. It looks kind of like the one in Philly except it's got more pagodas and cooler architecture. Our arch is better though! We walked around buying little knick-knacks for the kids, then went to this restaurant that is popular in the area. You could tell, because the line was out the door. It took a bit to get seated since there was 8 of us, but lunch was really good.

On the way back to Becky's mom's place, I got a message from Jessie to come to Granville station which was only two stops past Becky's on the red line. She told me to meet her at Metropolis Cafe, which is supposed to be one of the best in Chicago. After some tea, we went to do some more house hunting!

__House#5: A and her roommate live in a place similar to the girls from the previous day, except this house was sort of perfect. Exactly what Jessie's been looking for, except a little out of her price range. A is a grad student, and does art in her free time. She converted the basement into a studio for art, and there's also a laundry in the house so she wouldn't have to run around trying to find one. Alas, they also wanted someone for January 1, which is too early for her.
__House#6: J's place was pretty cool, but seemed more like a chill pad, and not a live pad. They had 4 rooms and 2 living rooms, so it gave the illusion of having more room than it did. It was all guys who lived there, and the place didn't seem like it was being taken care of at all. The bathroom was filthy, and the toilet seat was even split in two. As we walked out, a rat ran past us on the street, and we knew this place was no good.

Afterwards, we returned to the Flat Iron for a little bit, and went to eat dinner at Earwax. They asked us if we wanted a booth or to sit under the monkey, so of course we chose under the monkey. Dinner was really delicious. On our way out, one of the waiters stopped us, and said "We have something for you", and handed us a container. Inside was the cutest cupcake ever! We went Myopic, a cool bookstore across the street and ate our cupcake while reading books.

CRAZY FUN

Day 10
Yesterday, Tuesday, was tons of fun!

I got up bright and early myself, and went down to Hyde Park around the University of Chicago. I saw Obama's Chicago residence, or at least the tiny bit of it not covered by tall trees. There was security as well, so I couldn't get close to it. I went to the Oriental Institute Museum, which has an amazing collection of stuff from the ancient Near East (Babylonians, Persians, Nubians, Egyptians, etc..). Afterwards, I was just walking around campus and the parks around it when my friend Jessie called me back. I stayed with her last time I was in Chicago, and we had tons of fun, so I knew no matter what we did, it would be tons of fun again.

I took the train to where she lived, then we took her car to apartment hunting. She got these people off Craigslist, and was hoping to get something around Logan Square. All the houses we went to see were pretty "interesting" in their own ways.
__House #1: We went to see T first who was a single (not otherwise relevent, except he kept mentioning it in email to Jessie) man in his 30s, who had a super nice apartment that he designed himself. He was a bit intense and neurotic, and his laugh was ....... interesting. Jessie decided that she probably couldn't share a living space with someone like that, and we moved on to the next house.
__House #2: Next house was inhabited by P and T, two guys who promised that if they had a girl living with them, their place would be more clean. Both of them were stoners. The place was very bare, and the guys were more someone you'd want to party with than live with. The verdict was in: NO WAY.]
__House #3: This house gave out lots of bad vibes before we even went inside. Jessie's phone died, there was no free parking on the street, and there was a gate on the front that had no door bell so we had to scream hoping they would hear us. Somehow luckily, they did and came down and let us in. T and M were two girls who were still in college, but didn't want to live in dorms. Their place was very cute, and they seemed like two girls, but that place just called out NO to us for some reason. We moved on....
__House #4: This house had a SUPER CHEAP ROOM. It was very close to Logan Square. In fact, we were at a gas station charging our cellphones when they called Jessie, and we were ONLY A BLOCK AWAY. It was the first good sign. It was also very close to Jessie's friend's house, which was sign #2. The inside was a definite fixer upper, but for $215 a month before utilities, I would totally take that then go wild at Ikea if it were me. Before house #3, we went to this cafe on Logan Square, New Wave Coffee, and one of the roommates at house #4 was in one of the photos from the exhibit at the cafe. I asked if it was her, and she said yes! Sign #3 that it was good. They also had a roommate named "Release" who was Mexican as we were told, and lived in a space behind the fridge that was covered by some wood panels and a big lock on it. Everything we heard about this guy from the other roommates was pretty legendary. Seems they had 5 people living there, and 2 were moving out, so they needed 2 more. Basically, the only bad things were that the roommates seemed a little too dirty (not them personally, their living space), the place seemed a bit shady with the law, and she didn't know if she could trust her valuables there. Anyways, if it were me, I'd wanna live there for a few months, just for the experience!

After all that, we went to the exhibit opening at this one Japanese restaurant for an artist Jessie was interning for. We got some free sushi and free drinks, then after a few hours went back to their place. They live in this building that's full of art studios, and some people just rent studios and others live there. Jessie's friend was working on something in one of the other studios, so we visited him for a few hours. Jessie painted a bit, and I mixed her paints for her. I got back to Becky's parents' around 1:15am.

A GOOD DAY! Can't wait to see Jessie again today.

BACK IN CHICAGO!!

Day 8
Sunday morning, we woke up bright and early, but we weren't packed and out of the house til about 1pm. It's a little difficult with the kids too. So Becky, the kids, and I set off for Chicago via Milwaukee.

In Milwaukee we stopped at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The building (click here) itself is stunning, and has wings that open and close at various times of the day. We went there to see the Warhol exhibit, where they were showcasing his non-commercial stuff. I really loved his stuff, and rest of the museum had great pieces as well.

After that, we continued on and arrived in Highland Park, IL around 6pm. Every year, Becky and her family go to Fuddruckers in Highland Park for dinner. It was a bit awkward at first, but I'd met a lot of the family members before, so it was ok. After dinner, we went to her sister's in law's place for some refreshments, and got into Chicago around 11pm. We were staying at her parents' house in the Edgewater section of Chicago. Oddly enough, I RECOGNIZED THIS PLACE. I drive right past their house to get on the highway to leave Chicago back in October. What a coincidence! And crazy that I even noticed.

Day 9
Today morning, I went with Becky's mom to the Salvation Army where she donated a bunch of stuff. I bought a bathing suit that I will need later in the week (^_^). We spent most of the day waiting for Becky's sister to come down with her family. When we got there, we took the L down to Macy's downtown that is famous for its Walnut Room that has a huge tree. We went there for dessert, then back to her parents'. Becky went out with her sister, and I just stayed in with the kids.

Post Christmas

Friday we played the kids' board games all day. Pikturika is lots of fun!

Saturday, Becky and I went to the local mall and just hung out for a bit. Afterwards, went back to the big steep hill for some more sledding. My butt is all bruised up now. Ouch! At night, Becky, Alex (neighbor's godson), and I went bar hopping for a bit.

Today........................ MILWAUKEE THEN CHICAGO!!! Can't wait =D

Day 4
On Wednesday, we were supposed to go to a museum in Milwaukee to see the Warhol exhibit there, but got snowed in. Spent the day with the kids instead. We watched YouTube videos for hours. The kids' friend came over for a sleepover and we made some peanut butter cookies.

Day 5
We were baking Christmas sugar cookies for Santa. In the oven, some sugar cookies fell off the pan, onto the coils, and started a small fire. We managed to put it out with baking soda, then finished the cookies. Afterwards, we decorated them into all cool designs. The kids got a bit carried away, and some of them looked really awesome! We also shoved a 3D snowman in there, but he melted. L'sad.

We went to Becky's friend's (Naomi) house. She's an awesome cook as I had been hearing for the past week. We hung out there for a few hours for some linner (lunch-dinner), then came back. The family went to church, and when they got back, Brett's brother came over and the family we went sledding with Monday morning. We had some drinks and then went to bed.

Day 6
CHRISTMAS MORNING!! The kids got tons of awesome gifts. I didn't expect to get anything, but I got a gift card from Becky and Brett. Also got a take-apart-eraser, which is meant to be said as one fast word. The kids love those things, and already have at least 30 of them! Now I do too!