it goes on...

Banner day! I rarely write blogs when I'm home, but today is just too good! Firstly, since I've been back I've been working practically non-stop, but also hosting a girl from France who's studying at my school. She's staying with me until she finds a place of her own. Not only is she really cool, but she's lived in India and has the same spiritual vocabulary (for lack of a better term) that I do. THEN, these two Welsh girls wrote to me on couchsurfing.com and asked to stay, so they're here too. We spent a good part of the weekend going to parties, dancing and having a good ol' time. We even did this qi gong healing ceremony in Lithia Park with 100 other people. Yeah, it's a hippy town.
So, today... I got the only non"A" grade I've received here at SOU (a B+ in Sociology of Religion) changed to an "A"!! Not an A minus, mind you, an A. And, what's better is that it was only a matter of looking at my records with my professor. He had mistakenly left off one of my homework assignments and some extra credit that I did. I suppose I shouldn't be so excited about it, but I've never before been a straight A student, and I'm enjoying the hell out of it.

Additionally, I wrote about my summer in French for my French department head, and she's deemed me proficient enough to skip a level! Not only does that mean that I graduate in time, but also I get to learn with students who are better than I am. Yay for that.

My other news: I found a United Nations affiliated graduate school in Costa Rica with an International Peace Studies program. I spoke with someone who went there, and I'm planning to apply. By that time I think I'll be ready to study Spanish again, though my classes would be in English, and I figure there will at least be a few other francophones there to practice French with.

Okay, done tooting my little horn. Just bursting with gratitude today. Trying out 20 units this term, wish me luck!

another Burn

So much to tell. Burningman, as usual, a fantastic blast of mind-blowing art, vast desert and good company. Even the dust storms did not dampen my complete enjoyment of my (almost) two weeks there. It doesn't matter what you have heard or not heard, it is something you must experience for yourself.

I did what is becoming a regular tradition: fly back from Europe, spend one day packing for burningman, leave for burningman. Fortunately this year I arrived a week before instead of the middle of the event. Spent some quality time with my friends, building camp, cruising the playa on our neighbor's mutant vehicle - basically the Mad Max version of a swingset on top of a large pickup truck - and witnessing countless random acts of absurdity, kindness, and freakitude.
It's just so beautiful and peaceful out there in a weird kind of way. Even with the noise, there an underlying vastness everpresent. I did start to feel ragged by the end of the second week, but blissful as well. There were big rigs balanced on top of each other that you could climb, a zoetrope of moving monkey illusions, an oil derrick with flaming metal worshippers, a million places to get a margarita and more music than you could shake that ass to. I saw my first sunrise on the playa, complete with peppermint candies, lovingly distributed by a gaggle of early morning art-car passengers, after dancing - literally - all night. Yeah, burningman: best place to take off the 5 pounds gained in France. That was a first too.
Next year, maybe Laos or Vietnam...
I ran into random friends all over the desert. Serendipity is working my mojo right now. Oh, yeah, and I attended a couchsurfing camp party there. It's really amazing how many people come overseas for it. Great group. There were many more dust storms than last year, but they were just a good excuse to be hanging in camp with friends. Definitely a bonding experience. And fizzball. Yes, fizzball in the duststorm was incomperable.

Strangely, it feels like forever since I was there. I could go on for days, but, alas, too much else to do.

languishing

in the Bay Area for a few days before heading back up to Ashland. Burningman was intense, in a few days when I'm home and rested I'll recount and post some pictures. For now, I'm catching up with my friends and family here. Having a hard time fitting it all in. Picture: me, just off the plane, soooo tired. I dream of sleeping 8 hours in a row again.