...when the livin is easy...

It's officially summer now. I am up in Door County and can't wipe the smile off my face. Boston was amazing, fantastic, wonderful, but it didn't feel like summer to me. It was a vacation, a great vacation, but a vacation. Summer is a lifestyle. It's not summer until I go out to eat with a friend, get the best ice cream ever (especially half-coconut-YUM!) and then go to my friends' place on the lake. Sitting in a hot tub with a Dark and Stormy in hand and falling asleep on a couch watching a movie, that's how my summer started. I love this place. Started work and I love that too. Waitressing is interesting and I always forget that it's kind of tough on the body, but good money, good food, and good people? sounds like a winner. In Madison I forget how many stars there are but up here, you can't miss them. In the beginning of the summer, I tend to be giddy. A little kid in a candy shop. I could be doing nothing and it doesn't get me down or wear me out. Up here it's just one of the many options...doing nothing. Although today I have a double (two shifts) and then I am sure to go out to the bars after. Memorial Day weekend and everyone will be up at JJ's, a local bar. I can't wait.

I am in the midst of writing my final spanish paper of the year. It's about political violence and the commentary the director of La lengua de las mariposas is making. I need to learn so much before going to Chile...

I am getting more excited now. To be honest, I was more scared and anxious about going and everything that I had to do. Now I think about how hard it is going to be and I'm more excited. Which sounds strange. I know that this is probably going to change my life. If nothing else, hopefully I will overcome my tv addication and turn it into a news addiction. I am planning on taking an extremely light load of classes, first of all, because I don't want to take psychology classes in spanish, and secondly because I don't really want this experience to be all about school (shhh, don't tell my parents). I mean, I don't want to not be able to get a cultural experience becuase I have to study for an exam in political science or something. However, I should be studying right now....back to it.

Good Day Sunshine!

Some of my best moods come during finals weeks...especially second semester.

Sometimes when I go running and an AIESEC song comes on my mp3 player, I have to hold myself back from doing the dance right down the street.

It's beautiful out.

Time, is on my side

I'm counting the minutes until my review session. I just need to keep my motivation up this week. I will be fine if I can just do that. I can't wait to move up to Door County, I can't wait to go to Boston and New York...summer...I almost can't wait to start working, I need money and I actually kind of enjoy waitressing. In reality, it's just all about Door County at this point in my mind. I can't wait to get up there. I don't know if other people have places like this, where you just past a certain point while you're driving there and you automatically feel better...relaxed. Hopefully the weather stays like this...I need swimming, laying out by pools and on beaches, kayaking, jet-skiing, boating, biking, hiking, mini-golfing, the best ice cream I've ever had, hot tubbing, barbecues, having time to exercise and hang out with friends...those are my summers...and making money in between...Guess I should remember that I still have 4 finals to go through.

AIESEC banquet tonight: I looked around tonight and didn't want to say goodbye. I don't want to think that I won't see some of these people for 8 months.

I realized something tonight. I am not a multi-tasker. I knew that I wasn't a great natural multi-tasker when it came to cooking and stuff like that but I have since realized that it is part of my personality in most aspects of my life. I like to put all my concentration into one thing. I guess I kind of go to extremes. For example, when I workout, I will workout every day for a week or two, all out, then I will just stop for like two months. Or another example, I will grow my hair out and then just chop it all off...and some people might be thinking "yeah chop off like six inches so you can't tell..." no no no I mean it will be shoulder length, I will get it cut, and be mistaken for a boy...ok I have never been mistaken for a boy but you get the point. I think this goes into my social life as well, which is sad. This is definitely something I need to work on...multi-tasking...

I can't wait for boston and new york, and people to visit me in Door County, and...everything. I really do love you Madison AIESECers and I am sorry I haven't been great this past month or so...I'm just not good at multitasking.

Food and Family

Tomorrow is our AIESEC banquet. My last official AIESEC meeting for about eight months. Wow, that is some crazy stuff. Our banquet is a potluck so I thought that I would bake some dessert since that's kind of what I do...when the sheet came around there were already about 5 people signed up for dessert so I decided to bite the bullet and wrote "entree" down. After scouring my cookbooks at home, I could not find something that was somewhat cheap, somewhat ethnic, and fed a lot of people. The next step was clear: Ruthann...time to pull out the stops and call up the mom.

She emailed two recipes, next to one writing "this is from your own heritage (Greek/Macedonian)". Now, my mom is German Irish, my dad is the one who is half Macedonian, so when I was a little confused about all the Greek talk, I gave him a call. When I questioned Greece and Macedonia being one in the same, he laughed but said "well I wouldn't say that around any Madeconians!" and then continued to talk about Alexander the Great kicking the snot out of the Greeks, etc... Two things occurred to me during this time: 1) I know less about my family history, specifically my dad's side, than I would like to, and 2) I know even less about world history than I would be willing to admit. Then my dad went on to tell me how my great-grandma had this huge table that sat 12 and every time company would come over, she would make spinach, apple, or cheese strudel and spread the dough thinly to cover the entire table. I wish I could have seen that. I also wish I could have gone to Macedonia this past year, especially after reading about it. Plus I have this second cousin still living there who found me over ICQ (an instant message service) when I was in 8th grade. What are the chances!? At the time it freaked me out (I was home alone, on our basement computer with some guy telling me he's my uncle and about my family in obviously broken English) but apparently he's legit and my dad's brother even went to visit him while he was stationed in Germany. It's a small small world.

I think I just realized what my answer is to the question "if you could go anywhere, where would you go?"

The home stretch

The next two weeks will be filled with studying and packing. I've started taking pictures down in preparation for the move from Madison to Door County...my room is starting to look strange without so much up. I never realize how much stuff I have until I have to move it all, which I do at least twice every year. You would think I would have less stuff. I imagine that after Chile I will only have more also, and then living in an apartment by myself should really up the amount of large items I own, although I am contemplating not buying a television even if my lease-mate doesn't have one. That would be a big step for my tv addiction.

Mifflin was very fun but I didn't take as many pictures as I meant to...I'll have some up later though.

It is freezing outside...literally I can see my breath as I walk. Hopefully it will get warm soon.

My mind is spinning around, I should be getting things done right now. Maybe i need to start making lists so i can cross stuff off...I'm afraid that might make me more stressed. Oh well, last ICX meeting as VP tonight...weird.