The summer wind

Welcome. 

There's lots going on in life and originally I was incredibly against blogging (I agree with Jerry Seinfeld the word 'blog' is quite possibly one of the ugliest in the english language). 

Plus the whole instantaneousness of it all never really did "fly" with me, so far it's taken me about two hours to get this post done mostly because of stopping to watch a video on youtube, chat, or e-mail. But I enjoy keeping a journal and will probably be writing about my experiences as they occur in there then transferring them onto this clever device. 

Hey, but first a little bit about me since I"ll be sharing this with family/friends and not so close friends. 

As of today, I am at Loyola majoring in Spanish and Communications with a minor in International Studies. I have one more year at Loyola before joining the work force and am not excited in the least bit, it's not fear...just frustration because I would still like to do so much in college. Unfortunately, I'm already swimming in a few loans but there's no big rush to pay 'em off. After all, I have the rest of my life to work. When I was fourteen or so visiting my uncle in Chicago I absolutely fell in love with the city, came back a couple of years afterward to attend a summer program at Northwestern, then finally decided to go to Loyola. Unlike some, I have the pleasure of living in my favorite city :)

I grew up in an awfully sunny, stickier than sticky buns, humid Miami, Florida. It wasn't until moving to Chicago that I felt that I was living in the United States because Miami is so much like a city that belongs in Latin America. The people, although very wonderful, got to be repetitive and there was no real sense of community when I compare Miami to Chicago. Perhaps this is the fault of my parents for relocating to such places (I moved around a lot). The fact that you need a car to move around the city was also a drag and the weather! Okay, sun all the time CAN get boring, especially when you've gone nineteen years of your life without seeing snow or experiencing all of the beautiful seasons. But I certainly miss the three or four dozen family members that I left behind. My dad is one of twelve, or is it eleven? and my mom is one of six; growing up was grand especially during Christmas time. 

So my mom is Guatemalan and my dad is Vietnamese. This summer I will have the opportunity to visit both countries and get lost in translation, mostly in Vietnam. 

By the way, if you don't already have frequent flyer miles, do itt...they're paying for my trip to Vietnam!

This is what my travel schedule for the summer of '09 is going to look like:

May11-May 29: Guatemala 
May 29-June 2: Miami with la familia
June 2-July 7: Vietnam 
July 7-July 10: Chicago with la mama 
July 10-July 25: Boston (first couple of days with Yesika, then CHANGE with Oxfam!!)
July 25: Coldplay concert in Chicago suburb
July 25-July 28: Chicago again 
July 29-Aug 11: possibly Nicaragua (crosses fingers) if USFT accepts my application/nomination for coordinating committee 

August 18th- Welcome Week!

I've run into a dilemma of a sort. I recently had a conversation with Mr. K and it sparked something. He had visited a country in Asia and from what I hear enjoys traveling, one of the reasons he mentioned for not going vegetarian was his unwillingness to say "no" to a particular dish when offered. This January and up until a few weeks ago I flirted a bit with veganism and it's been fun but it's the first time I have considered giving it up only for a month. Prior to that it's been around five or six years now that I have been a vegetarian. I really don't know yet, so we'll see what happens...suggestions?