i guess the most exciting development in my life is my acceptance and matriculation as a study abroad student at the university of cape town. for me, this marks a realization of years of preparation and longing. however, after a long and drawn-out application process, i'm finally confirmed to study at uct next semester. i can't even articulate how excited i am. i'll be at africa's top university, in one of its most vibrant cities, in one of the most fascinating countries. for all the culture shock (not to mention gastric shock) that i expect, i am so thrilled to be partaking in this opportunity. as a political science major, i'm looking forward to studying apartheid/post-apartheid policy in the country's legislative capital, as well as international relations throughout sub-saharan africa; as a social creature, though, i'm looking forward to a diverse and beautiul city of 3 ½ million. the day i got my acceptance, i bought several guide books and a street map; i look through them constantly. my friend/classmate/neighbor melissa got into her program in durban, too, so i'm looking forward to visiting her. :)
indeed, this has definitely turned out to be my best semester at gw so far. perhaps this is because i anticipate leaving for south africa in the near future. nonetheless, i'm loving my time here, too: i absolutely love my state & society in developing countries and forensic anthropology classes, and i wish they weren't ending (especially the former... definitely an underrated professor!). my other courses are manageable, though. socially this is my favorite semester as well. i feel, more so than ever, confident in the stability of my core circle of friends. i've spent a lot of time with joe, william, and andy this semester, which was in retrospctive a great move on my part. special shout out to amanda, too, who i've also spent some great time with as a result of our being in political science 2w together (misery loves company). it's going to be extremely difficult to say good bye at the end of the semester.
speaking of which, i continue to vacillate on leaving dc at the end of the semester and not coming back until november/december. i'm very hesitant to do so. i'll miss my friends, i don't have a job in california (unlike here... dsw turned out to be a great gig after all), and i have mobility thanks to the existence of public transportation. on the other hand, spending the 6-7 weeks in california leading up to my departure to south africa would give me time to spend with my family/high school friends (which i feel like i ought to do), attend events involving said family/friends, and save money by not having to pay for rent. there are a lot of complicating factors, such as: i'm not attending (read: wasn't invited to) as many weddings in california as i'd anticipated (dc + 1); i'd need to find another job in dc in order to supplement my income (ca + 1); i'm attending the ihs seminar in north carolina in early june, which requires me to return to the east coast anyway (dc + 1); i renewed my driver's license, so i could in theory borrow jeffrey's car (ca + 1); i hate the heat (dc + 1); i hate the humidity (ca + 1); there's a lot in dc i want to see before i leave for south africa (dc + 1); dc becomes infested with tourists in the summer, which makes going sightseeing unbearable (ca + 1); i was upset last summer with my experience staying in dc (ca + 1), but that was mainly because of boy drama, and now that i've abdicated from that, i'm more confident that i'd enjoy my time in dc (dc + 1). oh, and there's the fact that i have about a week and a half to make a decision so i ought to hurry up.
help. :(
hmm, what else? oh, i went on a blind date. you can read about it here. that's right, i went on the date as a part of the column for the hatchet, and now the entire school knows i'm a total bitch. i definitely enjoyed my 15 minutes of fame, what with gdubbers coming up to me to (a) congratulate me on my honesty and/or (b) ask if they'd printed the truth. they did. i can't say i was a fan of the bloke. oh, and the whole same last name phenomenon? definitely not my cup of tea.
i went to a couple of free seminars on urban planning at virginia tech, as preparation for my later career in the same field. the content itself was extremely interesting and renewed my desire to enter that field, but i really wasn't impressed with tech's northern virginia campus. i think i'd rather go to a real school for my master's degree. of course, i first have to get through my undergrad... it looks like i could graduate as early as summer 2010, but i'm worried i won't be able to get in all the courses i need by then. also, i've grown graduation-phobic due to the absence of available jobs out there. fuck the economy.
i went to a demitri martin show with joe a few weeks ago, which was amazingly funny. in a few weeks, i'm going to a no doubt concert with my mom, which should be fun as well (despite being in bakersfield... fml). i'm also contemplating going to the thermals concert at black cat on my birthday with joanna. speaking of which, i need to finish (or, rather, start) planning my 20th birthday party. i've decided it's going to be 90s-themed, in response to my upset over the hot topic in wheaton placing green day's first album in the "classic rock" section. i definitely died a little on the inside when i saw that.
all in all, life is great. stressful (of course), thanks to finals, and nerveracking (as expected), thanks to my ongoing "should i stay or should i go?" decision, but truth be told i'm feeling pretty good about things. my grades are high. my friends are close. and pablo is leaving for madrid tomorrow, which means i have 11 days of having the beds pushed together to make a faux double bed. :)
that all being said, in preparation for my impending departure from dc (on may 15), here is a list of places i want to visit before leaving (that is, places i haven't been to yet):
- american history museum
- archives
- holocaust museum
- arboretum
- mount vernon
- congressional cemetary
- anacostia museum (at the recommendation of professor bowie)
- fort reno park
- roosevelt island
- baltimore aquarium
- annapolis
what can you add to this list???
that's it for now. hopefully i'll have time for another entry soon. no promises, though. :(
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