perfect morning

There were twelve people sleeping in our house last night. This morning we woke up and ate breakfast and coffee together. Bethany and Ryan came home from Africa last night after having been gone for a month. We pushed mine and Bethany's bed together and the three of us cuddled all night. This morning I am laying with four or five people in this huge bed listening to music, looking at Africa pictures and listening to music.

coffee and literature

This morning the soft coastal breeze is filling my room. The air is cool and smells like salt and it is one of the things I like most about our home. When we open the windows on both sides of the house the breeze whips through and out the other side. It cools our rooms and leaves the greatest salty ocean smell.

Authors I am choosing to study next semester for my Latin American Lit class:

Cristina Garcia -Cuban novelist
Pablo Neruda -Chilean poet
Gabriel Garcia Marquez -Colombian novel
Carlos Fuentes -Panamanian novel
Gabriela Mistral -Chilean poet
Rosario Ferre -Puerto Rican novelist
Jorge Luis Borges - Argentine poet
Claribel Alegria- comtemp. El Salvadoran poet

I am almost done with the syllabus. Which feels good, I am nervous though, that because I haven't ever studied these authors before that I may make a mistake in choosing one of them, or not choosing another.

today we conquered

"Ready when you are man" were the words that started this epic day of gardening. For days now we have been in preparation for this day. All the pieces are finally coming together. Perry and I rented a rototiller from Home Depot, well worth the cost of four hours. We also got a new weeding tool today and works like spoon works with ice cream. While Per skillfully handled the till I was hard at work moving the massive weed pile left from the last time we did a major weeding in there. I also helped keep the dirt wet and picked up the many weeds that were being tousled out of the soil. It was hard work. I must say that I came home after four hours pretty exhausted and knocked out on the living room floor for a while.

Things I've Learned From the Garden #1- Weeds are easy to take care of when they are small. Just a little time and effort and they come out almost effortlessly. I think its like a lot of problems in life. When you deal with them when they are small, problems can be quickly taken care of. Often these small dilemmas can be resolved with little effect to the rest of the community. I think it's why God tells us to "settle our arguments quickly", because when we do the least amount of damage is done. Little baby weeds however, can often be overlooked, because they are just that. Little. However if they aren't taken care of soon they become more deeply rooted and cause more pain and effort to get them out. Take care of the little weeds, while they are easy to manage.

homesick

A picture of me.

I recently told a friend that I think, in Oxford, I was able to be the truest me that there is. Aesthetically, I was surrounded by beauty constantly, and was able to capture it in art and poetry and writing. I met people who poured into me like I had never experienced before, and allowed me to be fully myself and loved just the same. So much of me is wrapped up in my academic work, and in Oxford I was pushed to my limit. There was success. I got to drink tea and coffee with the ones I love everyday. We talked, discovered each other and ourselves. I shared my love of art with people who actually wanted to learn from me. Everything I owned was in a backpack. I discovered my heritage there, walked in my passions there and explored cities by myself there.

I can not put into words what it feels like to stand alone in the national gallery and take in Monet with everything you own on your back.

The choir at St. Paul's still reverberates off the walls and through me.

I can walk cobblestone streets in Oxford, and smell the books written hundreds of years ago- still.

In this picture, I am wearing all of my own clothes. Something that rarely happens in Southern California as I share a house with four other girls who are the same size as I. In this picture I am taking pictures, something I have a passion for. In this picture I am wearing a p-coat that was given to me by my mom when I was 16 and I'm sure in the pocket is stone from her mother's grave. There was not a moment here that I was not truly happy. Tired, yes; stressed, sure; but always so content with every moment.