More Mystic Photos...

This picture below is from one of the cemeteries we went to... I think it looks really eerie, as if an angel should be coming out the clouds at any moment.

This cider mill was established in the 1800s. We had the best hot apple cider ever there, tasted different kinds of apple wine, and ate apple cider doughnuts. Yum!

Mystic, Connecticut

The day after Thanksgiving, we went on a trip to Mystic, Connecticut, which is on the coast of the Long Island Sound, just a few miles before Rhode Island. It is an adorable little town, which was first settled in the 1600s. While we were there we did some hiking, walked around the harbor and the downtown area (which has a working drawbridge!), ate clam chowder and fried clams and drank hot apple cider from a cider mill, and tried to stay warm (I am still not used to the freezing cold weather and spend a lot of time shivering). I have many pictures, so I will try to post more later on, but here is a start, at least.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Aren't butterflies amazing? I hope they found all of these already dead.

This is a very rare and extinct mammal (on the left).

New York, the weekend before last

This is looking over the river, towards New Jersey, from the bike path that goes along the west side of Manhattan.

This is a little cafe called 'La Lanterna' in Manhattan. It was really chilly out but they had a fire going in the fireplace, and we sipped coffee and ate chocolate cake... very cozy!

On Sunday evening we walked from the West Village to the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola

up by Central Park... so all the way across town,

and over 80 blocks uptown. We went to evening Mass at St. Ignatius, which is a gorgeous church, and then took the train back to New Jersey.

Hiking in New Jersey

The weekend before last, Jason and I went hiking in a forest in New Jersey that was really beautiful. The trees were just starting to change color and fall was definitely in the air.

This small cave and pool of water was strangely sinister - I didn't like it at all. The water looks

deceptively shallow, but it dropped off quickly and was actually quite deep.

October 4th - San Francesco d'Assisi

"How St. Francis Freed Some Doves and Made Nests for Them,"
from The Little Flowers of St. Francis (13th century AD)

A boy of the town of Siena caught a number of turtle doves in a snare, and he was carrying them all alive to the market to sell them. But St. Francis, who was always very kind and wonderfully compassionate, expecially toward gentle animals and little birds, was stirred by love and pity on seeing the doves. And he said to the boy who was carrying the doves: "Good boy, please give me those doves so that such innocent birds, which in Holy Scripture are symbols of pure, humble, and faithful souls, will not fall into the hands of cruel men who will kill them." The boy was inspired by God to give all the doves to St. Francis.

When the kind Father had gathered them to his bosom, he began to talk to them in a very gentle way, saying: "My simple, chaste and innocent Sister Doves, why did you let yourselves be caught? I want to rescue you from death and make nests for you where you can lay your eggs and fulfill the Creator's commandment to multiply. And St. Francis took them with him and made a nest for all of them.

And the doves settled in the nests made by St. Francis, and laid their eggs and reared their young right among the friars, and they increased in numbers. They were so tame and familiar with St. Francis and the other friars that they seemed to be like chickens that had always been raised by the friars, And they did not leave until St. Francis gave them permission, with his blessing.

Goodbye, September...

This is from last weekend, when Jason came down to visit (down, right? Yes... I am still so confused with East Coast geography. I really need to spend some time with a map. Part of it is all of these states everywhere - so unlike California, where you can drive a whole day and still be in the same state. Yesterday I went for a walk and discovered that the Maryland state line is just 6 blocks north of me. I thoroughly enjoyed standing with one foot on either side :-)
Can you believe it is almost October? I am ready for some snow! I wonder how long the excitement and novelty will last for me before I realize how annoying it is not to be able to bike and to freeze as I walk everywhere. I think I am going to be thrilled for quite a while.
Today I went to another booksale, and let's just say that my apartment is rapidly starting to resemble every other space I've ever lived in for more than a few weeks - books everywhere! Which makes me very happy. Books are wonderful.
I have been having so much fun cooking and baking in my cozy little kitchen. Today I made cinnamon rolls and it still smells delicious. I brought some to my landlord, George, and froze the rest (did you know I don't have a freezer? I have a little icebox. It's cute!). I have also been making focaccia every couple of days, and lots of sauteed vegetables. I tried to make falafel last weekend, but it was a miserable failure. Ugh.
Tomorrow I continute my quest to visit every church in the DC area with Mass (Spanish) at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart. If I wake up in time, that is... that 10pm Mass on campus is fantastic to be able to fall back on (well, I sort of have to be there anyway, since I'm the pianist).
Enough of my middle-of-the-night ramblings... and happy last day of September!

My Home

Here are two more pictures to give you a better feel for just how cozy my little home is... Amanda pointed out that it resembles a hallway :-) The one on the left is from just after I moved in; the one on the right is more how it looks now.
It is raining, thundering and lightning outside. I have yet to figure out the weather here. The leaves are starting to fall, though, so autumn is in the air.
I am getting better at riding Matilda, and saving (really!) hours in walking every day. I am so happy to finally have a bike, especially such a cute, lovable one.
This weekend I have two papers to write, so I don't plan on emerging from my laptop and stack of books until Monday afternoon. At least I am writing about things I care about (the International Labour Organization and Human Rights, and Bureaucratic Authoritarianism in Latin America). Hurrah!

Meet Matilda!

I always seem to find myself adding stuff to this blog at very late hours... Amanda, I have taken your advice, as you may have noticed, and am now able to post pictures that are bigger than a postage stamp. I feel rather narcissistic posting all these pictures of myself - sorry! Try to see past me to the surroundings and featured items, such as my brand new (to me, anyway) bike, Matilda Kabuki! Isn't she cute? I am still getting the hang of riding a road bike (no crashes yet).

Sleep!

I've just finished my paper (at last, hurrah!), and can barely keep my eyes open... (it is after 1am). My kids wear me out, too; they're more challenging than grad school :-) I finally have a few pictures of my apartment, though, and I wanted to post them before I fall asleep. Keep in mind, they are from nearly three weeks ago, and my home looks much cuter and homelike. I have art everywhere now (and stacks of books and papers everywhere, too).


Candlelight dinner...

My very cozy kitchen/livingroom/work area/sleeping area!

March on Washington

Yesterday was the first anti-war action I have participated in here in DC, and really the first ever for me on such a large scale (they estimated 100,000 people turned out). It was an interesting experience, good overall, though I do somewhat question the efficacy of it. Sometimes I think it is important to just be out there, though, taking a stand, saying that even though our leaders are completely insane, we know that war is not, and never can be, the answer to any problem.

This is St. Ann's Church (the oldest Catholic church in northwest DC); the Academy where I work in the afternoons is to the right. I just finished my first week with the Third Grade class, and I absolutely love the kids (even though they can be challenging!).
At present I am working on my first graduate paper... I think the writing element of being a grad student is going to be hard at first - neither music, nor bio/chem required substantial writing and I feel that it takes me an incredibly long time to arrive at the point I have in mind. I'm sure I will improve with practice (or die... I just did a quick calculation and between my three classes I will be writing approximately 76 pages over the next three months).
Tomorrow there is going to be a huge anti-war march downtown, starting at the White House and ending at the Capitol (neither of which I've actually been to yet). I am excited to participate in something that will draw so many people from all over the country.
Today I bought 6 art books at the Public Library book sale, and I'm in the process of cutting them all up and sticking them all over my walls, in order to beautify my small home. I never realized how much I like Van Gogh before... but the colors he uses are amazing. I feel sort of guilty ripping up the book, but they look lovely on my wall.
Enough procrastination, back to the paper!

Ramblings...

I am listening to Schumann's Dichterliebe, which I did for my senior recital - was it really only 2 years ago? It is still just as beautiful and moving... That is the wonderful thing about music, it is always there to come back to. Even having not touched a piano since July, I know that I could walk into a practice room on campus any time and leave with a smile and a lighter heart.
Well, I have now officially been a graduate student for about two weeks. I feel as if I am still in a transitional period, but that it is only going to get better from here on (check back with me when I am in the library at 3am doing research in a few weeks!). I am so excited about all of my classes, and I am so certain that I am going to learn far more than I even dreamed. I think I will try to start an internship next semester, though; I really don't want to get too caught up in academics and theory and forget why I undertook a graduate education in the first place - as a tool for real-world struggles. I actually think there are quite a few people who are here for other reasons. The program definitely seems to attract people who want to go into government and private sector positions. I am enjoying not fitting that mold, though... wearing sandals and my "No Human Being Is Illegal" shirt to class :-) Seriously, though, DC women dress so conservatively and properly. I have never seen so many fancy dresses in my life!
On a related note, I still haven't found a laundromat and have now moved on to a more creative system of matching my clothes (who made up those rules, anyway?) i.e. a clean top and clean pants/skirt go together, regardless of pattern/color. Maybe I will start hand-washing tomorrow...

Happy Labor Day!

We went to the U.S. Postal Museum on Saturday morning, the first of the Smithsonian museums I've yet been to. While I can't say it was the most exciting thing I've done in a long time, it was very nice. I am looking forward to exploring some of the others. After that we walked home from downtown to my apartment along beautiful Massachusetts Avenue, also known as Embassy Row, as it is lined with various countries' embassies. The different areas of Washington DC change so quickly and drastically - architecturally, ethnically, and just the overall atmosphere. I am enjoying exploring and discovering! While the Metro makes everything fairly accessible, I am planning on intensifying my search for a bike in the next few days. There are amazing trails throughout the city that will be fun to ride.
My first week of classes was great and I am excited for a challenging and productive semester. Speaking of which, my stacks of books are calling to me... time to buckle down and get some reading done!

Watch my movie!

Okay, I'm not very tech savvy, so you'll have to copy and paste the link to the left. But it's a real movie of Jason and I in New York! I am excited to make a Washington, DC movie next... hey, they can only get better right?

Reflections

It's hard to believe that just two weeks ago I was hiking migrant trails in the middle of the desert, lugging around gallons of water, and searching the ground intently for any sign of footprints... As removed as I am from that now, it still seems very close. I am continually reflecting back on moments, events, people, and places that stand out from the two weeks I spent down there. I don't think a day has gone by that I haven't thought about the man from Honduras who we helped at the aid station in Nogales my last day. He had walked for 15 days and the bottoms of his feet had become giant blisters that had burst and were in the process of peeling. He was just getting ready to start the journey across the U.S./Mexico border. For some reason, I always connect him with Dad in my mind... and it breaks my heart to think of someone I love so much forced into a situation like that. I also think a lot about Kevin, a 12-year-old street kid who was living at the aid station and who was definitely the most affectionate child of his age I've ever met. I wonder if he is still there and if not, who is looking out for him. I think about the time we were circled by a Border Patrol helicopter while hiking the trails, and how we laughed and hoped we were distracting them from the real migrants. It really concretized for me how arbitrary privilege is - that because I happened to have light skin and a U.S. passport I "belonged," and being in the desert wasn't a life and death matter for me. I remember the time we ran into a couple of Border Patrol trucks and the group of migrants they had just apprehended. They turned down our offer of food or water, ("They're in good shape," the agent told us) and even volunteered that they had "been catching a lot of 'em up here lately," (as if we were talking about some kind of animal).

These are just a very few of the memories that come to mind from my border experience... It was a very profound couple of weeks. I feel like it really reaffirmed and perhaps shaped in some ways the direction that I hope to go with my graduate work. We will see!

From My Basement Home

It is so wonderful to finally have a space to call my own and to come home to... I love my cozy little basement! It feels as if I have been scrubbing non-stop since I moved in, and it is starting to feel like I really live here. It is in the most convenient location ever - I can be in the heart of downtown in under 20 minutes, yet the neighborhood is very calm (and beautiful, lots of trees and well-kept gardens). I am also only 3 blocks from Friendship Heights, which is an extremely fancy shopping district (think Neiman Marcus and J. Crew).
Today I did lots of shopping - of the grocery and thrift store variety - as well as went to a Mass downtown at the Cathedral in memorial of the Peruvian earthquake victims. I love the Cathedral, St. Matthew's, and I think it is going to be my parish.
I am so excited to finally begin classes next week! I have already been asked if I was a freshman (by another student on campus, who looked horrified when I told her I was actually a grad student!)... My classes are 'Human Rights in Latin America,' 'Global Political Economy,' and 'The Americas in Comparative Perspective.' Don't they just sound captivating?
Well, I hope to have some pictures of my new habitation to post before long, but for now you will just have to imagine its coziness. You can picture me sitting here, all the way across the country, sipping chamomile tea from my new green thrift shop mug, listening to Bach cello suites and thinking of all of you...

I'm Here!!!

Yes, folks, here I am at last, in our nation's lovely capital - my home for the next two years... I am currently eating saltine crackers and sipping watered-down pink lemonade from the vending machine. This hostel is like 8 stories high and the only people I've heard speaking English so far have thick British or Scottish accents (Kate, think 'Monarch of the Glen'!). Very neat. I was so proud of myself that today I navigated the Metro (with transfers!) across town to this area called Colombia Heights where I am thinking about living. I also failed to find the Cathedral for 5:30 Mass, but we'll just focus on the postives :-)

From the Tucson Airport

*Note* While I wrote this entry at the Tucson Airport yesterday, I didn't have internet access, which is why I am just posting it now.

Well, it has been two weeks already, and the next leg of my journey is about to begin. I am at the Tucson Airport, trying not to think about how sick I feel (I woke up really nauseous, who knows why) and hoping I get an aisle seat on the plane so I don't have to keep climbing over my seatmates to get to the bathroom :-)
I spent the last couple of days at NMD's humanitarian aid station on the Mexico side of the border. It was a lot of waiting around, interspersed by periods of total chaos when buses of deportees were dropped of, needing food, water, medical attention and various other things. I don't know exactly how many people came through each day, but definitely in the hundreds.
It was a pretty emotionally intense experience. One of the things I did was complete human rights abuse documention for folks who had been through some very rough stuff. I also washed feet, handed out food and water, listened to people's stories, and even walked around a bit in Nogales, Mexico.
All in all, it has been an amazing couple of weeks. I have learned a great deal about the reality of the “Borderlands” as they call them and met some very good people. I really came to love the desert, something I never would have forseen happening. It is a beautiful, but deadly place, as the stories of so many people I met attest to. I am planning on posting more of these reflections and stories over the next few weeks...
Love you all!!!

From the Arivaca Library

A very quick greeting from the Arivaca Library, where we have stopped on our way to afternoon patrol. It is over 100 degrees and even the shade is stifling. I met my first migrant out here this week, Jesus, a 20-year-old father of three from Guanajuato, Mexico. He stayed in camp and rested a few days before continuing his journey northward. I also had my first encounter with border patrol agents the day before yesterday. It was not fun... but more about that later... Off to the trails :-)

From the Sonoran Desert

The road to and from camp.

Hello from Camp Arivaca, about 20 miles north of the border in the middle of the Sonoran desert. Actually, I am in Tucson today with Jason and his Dad, and will be heading back to the desert later on today. It has been lovely to have a day to eat ice cream, swim in a swimming pool, take a shower and sit on a real toilet...
All in all, it has been a fantastic week. I have yet to encounter a migrant while on patrol, but that's good because it means people are doing okay and we aren't having to help anyone in really bad shape. The desert is incredibly beautiful; I've never seen so much sky at once that I can remember. There are huge lightning storms almost every day, and since it is monsoon season, lots rain as well.
A typical day out here consists of getting up at 5:30, having breakfast and planning out the patrol routes for the morning, driving a few miles out to our trailhead (with everyone crammed in the back of 'the Roja,' the big red pick-up that is camp's main vehicle) and splitting into groups to walk the different migrant trails, equipped with food packs, medical packs, clean socks, and lots of water which we leave at points along the trails. We get back for lunch, rest a few hours during the hottest part of the day, and then do the same thing again in the afternoon, on different trails. Life in the camp is really fun, everyone pitches in with cleaning, cooking, etc. and there are always great conversations (or card games, as it may be!) going on. Tarantula hunts have been a popular evening pastime, though I have yet to see even one. Among the creatures I have been lucky enough to see are a Gila monster, two rattlesnakes (one huge one I nearly walked into and one baby), ENORMOUS jackrabbits, cottontails, tons of cows (they wander into camp), a scorpion, a dead horned toad, vultures, white-tailed deer, and lots of lizards.

Welcome to my blog!

Hello everyone!
With my two talented blogging sisters as my inspiration, I am going to make an attempt of my own. So, here goes...