A smidgen of self-recognition...

Check me out - I am famous! Also read about LEEP and how wonderful this organization is!

Medically and Spiritually Cleared?

After a deferral scare, the Peace Corps has decided that I have no medical or mental health problems and that it would be safe for them to send me to a far off land! I am now waiting for them to officially extend an invitation my way for service in the Pacific Islands. WOOT! Apparently the process can still be competitive and someone else may be nominated for the position I was previously nominated for. Fingers are crossed, but I've done all I can. It's out of my hands now.

I've been going through an old movie phase and have watched a lot of Audrey Hepburn movies. I can't decide what my favorite is so far - but I am leaning towards Sabrina. Audrey Hepburn plays the part of Sabrina, a chauffer's daughter. She starts off being in love with a man she doesn't know. She also does not have a lot of confidence in herself at this early point in the film. So she takes the chance to go to culinary school in Paris and falls in love with Paris and becomes more autonomous. When she returns, she finds herself falling for a different man, the brother of guy number 1. This man she gets to know, and is not simply in love with the idea of him, but who he is. Lots of women get so caught up in trying to get a guy to like her (like Audrey Hepburn does with William Holden) that she does not take the time realize she has a choice, and she should not have to wait for a guy to pick her. In the end, she chooses Humphry Bogart. You go girl!! My other Hepburn favorites: Breakfast at Tiffany's (of course!), Roman Holiday, and Funny Face (ahh Fred Astair).

Eat, Pray, Love

So I've just finished reading "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. I found it to be quite good. I know it's a cliche "vagina book" as my friend called it the other day, but that doesn't mean it is bad. I have read plenty of non-vagina books and enjoyed them just as much. This book was recommended to me by my mom, who said it reminded her of me as she was reading it.

I've never been divorced nor have I ever lived in an ashram in India, but I do heart traveling. I would do exactly what she has done given the opportunity. I'm having trouble choosing the 3 countries I would pick to spend a year of life ... I loved Italy, but have never had any connection to it. Although, Cinque Terre was by far one of my top 5 places I saw in Western Europe. I also loved the Bavarian Alps (Home to Neuschwanstein Castle), but never had the desire to learn German. I loved living in Northern Ireland and my visit to the Aran Islands and could live there for a time, doing nothing but tending sheep and knitting woolen sweaters for tourists. Here the set back is that I DISPISE Guiness, with a passion. I could spend the first 4 months of my hypothetical year in Barcelona, Spain. I loved it there - mostly because of Gaudi, the famous architect from Catalan. I could hone up on my Spanish and just enjoy the relaxed culture, good food, and afternoon siestas. Italy is where Elizabeth spent 4 months studying Italian and searching for pleasure in food. Food isn't as important to me and I don't know if Barcelona is where I would find pleasure. I've always felt at home in the tropics, therefore my search for pleasure would have to start there somewhere. Isolated, but happy. Snorkeling.

Her next stop was for spiritual guidance at the Indian ashram. As someone of Jewish faith, I would take the next step in my religous education in Israel. I would enjoy spending some time living on a kibbutz with my family, studying the Hebrew language and some Jewish texts. To me, that is an obvious step. Gilbert does not hold back on the experience she has in India. I am impressed with how she presents her devotion. I thought I would hate reading that section of the book because it would be boring, but it wasn't at all.

Lastly, Gilbert goes to Indonesia to learn balance with a medicine man she had met years previously. I don't exactly know what the search for balance entails, even after reading her book. But the last stop on my tour - I would like to bike ride around the islands of Australia and New Zealand. I could find balance in my mind and health while balancing on 2 wheels. To me, this is one of the parts of my hypothetical year that I would very much like to see actually happen.

That didn't so much as review the book as talk about how my book "Snorkel, Pray, Bike" would pan out. But I was impressed with the book, and think the author did an excellent job of explaining the choices she made and the life she lived over that year. I'll end with my favorite quote from the book.

"There is much about my fate that I cannot control, but other things do fall under my jurisdiction. There are certain lottery tickets I can buy, thereby increasing my odds of finding contentment. I can decide how I spend my time, whom I interact with, whom I share my body and life and money and energy with. I can select what I eat and read and study. I can choose how I'm going to regard unfortunate circumstances in my life - whether I will see them as curses or opportunities (and the occasions when I can't rise to the most optimistic viewpoints, because I'm feeling too damn sorry for myself, I can choose to keep trying to change my outlook). I can choose my words and the tone of voice in which I speak to others. And most of all, I can choose my thoughts."

Jew trapped in a hippie's body ... or the other way around?

Last night was the start of the Jewish High Holiday's. Rosh Hashana is the Jewish New Year and is a time for reflection on your past year. I went to shul (services) today and thought about a lot of things. I've gotten to thinking about my current lifestyle, my future, and what kind of person I wish to be after I finish school.

First - a step back: I have to admit - I've been bitten by the travel bug quite a bit. It's my mother's fault. She has always enjoyed travelling and I can't get enough of it. Before arriving in college I had already been to Spain, Costa Rica, and Israel. I don't say this to brag, but only to show how lucky I feel I am. In college I wasn't happy with the University at which I ended up. So I travelled more - Northern Ireland, western Europe backpacking trip, Caribbean SEA semester, Morehead City field location. If I was allowed to go - I went. I also was single my entire college life. I never connected the two together until I asked a friend why we never dated in college. His response was "I was never surprised that you were single. But not because of your personality. Because you were always talking about travelling."

Now to go in a totally opposite direction - my Jewish faith. I love being Jewish. I've always been proud to be a part of a culture and group of people that have been through and survived so much adversity. My mother did an excellent job of raising me Jewish in a small southern town in which I had to drive over an hour to get to Sunday school. I never had a lot of Jewish friends though, and thus in college I kind of let it go to the wayside. Lately, I've found myself surrounded by some amazing Jewish people, and I've start to become reacquainted with my culture and faith. I love it. I wander around my new Jewish-run household and look at all the things I hope to one day have: sedar plates, kiddish cups, menorahs, shofars, etc. Then I think about my plans for the future - the Peace Corps.

I want desperately to be in the Peace Corps - I want to travel to an exotic locale. I want to emerse myself in another culture to the point where I feel like I have lived there my whole life. I want to be able to use my education to help people who want my help. But how does that get me close to my other dream - being a Jewish wife and mother and having a Jewish home that I can be proud of. Is there no way to have both? Has my love of travel and desire to make myself more cultured, interesting, and to see places some people only read about kept me from meeting a man that could fall in love with me?

As a follow-up to my last post - Wicked was excellent! Highly recommended to all. I hope to see the musical one day - perhaps when it comes to Atlanta in October.

Joy

I recently saw a friend writing down what brings her joy. Then I had a conversation with another about what brings us excitement. It reminded me of a book I once saw that listed 100 or 1000 things that made the author happy. Thats all it was - a list. After I saw that book I had started my own and found it last time I went home. The things I put on it then are quite amusing. I've decided to do an updated list of 10 things that make me smile. I'm not exactly sure what I'll come up with ... so here it goes.

1. Family and friends (seems such an obvious starter); 2. Capturing a good imagine in a photograph; 3. Good long bike ride; 3. Chocolate; 4. Finding things once thought to be lost; 5. Daydreams; 6. Traveling to new places; 7. Making new friends; 8. Coming home after a long day; 9. Suprises; 10. Snorkeling.

Follow the Yellow Bricks ...

This past weekend I payed a visit to Barnes and Nobles - a place which I don't think i've visited in a while. I had forgotten how much I just love to browse. Now I know the library is the same, and more economic and environmental - but there is something about looking through new books that haven't been broken in yet that ... I can't believe I'm using this term ... hypnotizes me. I was in the store for over an hour before I realized it. And still managed to stay another 30 minutes. I also only stayed in the very front of the store. To venture further back could have been dangerous.

I managed to scour the bargain bins and found a few treasures! One - a birthday gift for my landlady. Next - a book on how to learn languages! Not a specific language, but several procedures on the best way to learn a language and how to take advantage of the free time we all have in our daily lives. Excellent read for me if I enter the Peace Corps and am subjected to a 3 month intensive language training course. Lastly I found a manual for my digital camera - MY model of my specific not Nikon not Canon digital camera! Completely unexpected but was my favorite find of the night and it was only 6 dollars! I hope this allows me to get the most out of my dSLR. I also bought a novel called Wicked. It's the story of The Wizard of Oz but from the Wicked Witch's point of view. I've heard excellent things about the show so I thought I'd give the book a chance. The only bad part about this idea is that if I ever DO get to see the show, I am surely to be disappointed because every book I read that I see the movie/show that goes with it, the show almost always disappoints because no interpretation of an excellent book ever does an excellent book justice. But I will review the book when I finish. Which brings me to the idea of suggesting some of my favorite books, with possible reviews if I can find the time. Let's start now.

I was recently discussing this book with a friend and I love it so much I will being my list of suggestions with it. It's called Maiden Voyage, and it's about a young girl who sails around the world on her own. I've loved this book since the moment I started reading it because I would love to be Tania. She makes the choice to sail alone over the safe option of college paid for in full by her father. She completely fucks up in the beginning because she is trying to navigate with a broken sextant and has to rely on hailing nearby ships for her coordinates. Not her proudest moments. BUT - she eventually learns to navigate with out electronics. Having done this as well - it's no easy feat, especially on a tossing and kicking 26 foot sloop (I did it on a slightly more stable 124 ft ship). She meets many people along the way that help her. I can't decide if I think her weak for constantly needing the help of men around her to accomplish her goal or if I am impressed with how she will ask for help when she knows she needs it. An admirable quality. She seems to have an ease with meeting people on her journey and comes out the other side a stronger person. I will always wish to have an experience like hers, which could explain why I've read the book 3 times already.

Looking Science-y

Cultures Bubbling

My dad and I poking our heads through submarine holes.

Trying to crank the propeller of the Hunley.

So my parents will both be happy to know that today marks the completion of a long awaited experiment. No, I don't know what the big hold up was, but I'm glad to finally have accomplished something in my years at grad school. The photos are of my looking all science-y and part of the experimental set-up: Symbiodinium cultures being bubbled with air. In the next week I plan on spending more long days in the lab to analyze the plethora of samples that I collected. Hopefully a pattern emerges. My dad and stepmom were in town this weekend and I had a wonderful visit! We went to see the HL Hunley which I shockingly enjoyed! I am not a huge history buff as I do terribly with remembering dates. But I really enjoyed the story of the sub.On top of that, we ate many great meals and I have discovered my love of tilefish as well as rediscovered the wonders of creme brulee - the best desert in the world. That will be all for now considering I have a movie date to get to. If you havent seen Saved, I suggest you do.