just repeat old fables until they feel brand new

Junip -- Off Point
Junip's pretty sweet, José González is the lead.

IRENE

So this is fun, I was just at the beach for a couple of days and we came back yesterday night to a house that looked like it had been ransacked due to the 5.8 earthquake that everyone was talking about in Mineral, VA.  An entire shelf in my room had basically fallen down with everything flung all over the stuff that I had set aside to pack.  Also, all of the medications in our mirror cabinet in the bathroom had fallen into the sink. I'll post a pic it was pretty funny. But also very disconcerting. I'm glad I was in Delaware. And now my flight to India on Sunday is canceled because of Hurricane Irene and it looks like there isn't another flight available until NEXT Sunday which is crazy and it's impossible to change flights right now because everyone is trying to and I'm just not really sure when I will actually get to India/if I will make it to any part of orientation. But I guess the bright side is I have more time to relax/prepare? Trying to finish up my essays tonight in case we lose power tomorrow! Stay safe buds.

Life just passing, flash right through me

So I'm heading off to India in approximately one week, and at this point I'm oscillating between being pumped with adrenaline and incredibly excited and then being pretty terrified to leave.  I feel like the past week has just flown by at rocket speed, and I'm sure this next week will pass equally quickly. I still have so much to do (packing, writing essays, finishing memorizing the alphabet, last minute errands...), so what do I do? Bake cookies. GOOD. Also, I seem to be getting sick in anticipation of leaving (similar to before I went to China), making it more difficult to motivate myself to accomplish things. I think I've had five large cups of green tea today and multiple glasses of orange juice.  Trying to overdose on the antioxidants and vitamin C.

All I can say is that it's a good thing I wasn't planning on bringing many clothes because I realized I have so many other things I need to bring. I just always forget how much stuff is required for four months in a foreign country.  I have at least three different methods of water purification, including a miniature water boiler, iodine tablets, and a steripen, plus a backpack of medications, bugspray, and hand sanitizer.  Debating whether to bring a mosquito net. One day I would like to be able to travel in a faraway place with only a backpack.  There are also sooo many books I'm supposed to bring! I broke down and bought a kindle even though I really don't like the idea of reading from a screen.  There's something about having an actual book and being able to feel the pages and touch the writing--screens seem so impersonal and less concrete to me.  But this way I don't have to lug around a lonely planet guide and will probably be able to buy some of my required reading on it (and I won't feel guilty about bringing books to read for fun...).

Also, before I leave I need to take photographs of all of my artwork (at least the stuff I have at home which unfortunately is not everything) and put them on a flash drive in case I decide to do an ISP working with an Indian artist (which would be awesome). Currently trying to create a playlist for the 14-hour plane ride so my music ADD doesn't kill my ipod before I get there.  Suggestions appreciated.

I just decided I really don't like sneezing.

There was some CRAZY hail yesterday. It was pouring rain (I should probably get used to it..) while I was driving and then I got inside and hail the size of marbles started pouring down along with the rain for a good 20 minutes! So glad I wasn't driving, but it was really intense and cool to watch/hear. I'm actually happy it's been raining a little because I love summer thunderstorms and we haven't really had a whole lot of rain this summer.  A couple of weeks ago we had a short downpour, and I had just gotten back from the pool so I was still in my swimsuit and I just went outside and stood in the rain--a natural outdoor shower! It was great. Sometimes I'm just in awe of how much power rain has.

We dropped Kula off at my grandma's house in Leesburg the other day since we are planning on getting to the beach for a couple of days this week. I kept imagining that I heard her panting during the thunderstorm today! I'm going to miss her so much in India. I notice a big difference in my level of happiness when I don't have a dog around. I already miss her so much when I'm at school, and I'll be away for a month longer than usual, so this will be hard. Also, I've heard that there are a lot of stray dogs in India and I think that will be difficult for me to see.

Visited VZ in Berkeley this past weekend and we went to Outside Lands music festival! It was amazing. We listened to so much music and spent so much time outside. Everyone we saw was great, but I particularly enjoyed Shins, Clap Your Hands, STRFKR and Arcade Fire. But seriously everything was so good. Got goosebumps during new slang. I'm just really glad I got to see my seeeeester before leaving the country.

Time for more tea and essays yay.

Outside Lands, San Francisco, CA

Arcade Fire playing in Golden Gate Park