Since SAS?

Just to start off, I did just take a road trip on the west coast and will write about it later this week, but since I've done such an abysmal job at writing every week, I'll just get it out of the way in one really long post. So about the past six months:

Needless to say, coming back to my "real life" was incredibly difficult. I knew it was going to be a rough few weeks when I started to cry in an elevator in Miami. These two suits were chit chattin' about their outrageously stereotypical American plans for the weekend, which is when I realized that not only am I in an elevator where I can understand the conversation and that those people can understand me, but also that I was back in the midst of d-bag Americans who just consume the shit out of everything. I thought that because the itinerary eased us back into western countries - India to Egypt, Turkey, Croatia, Spain (France, but shhh the administration isn't supposed to know that) - I didn't think I would experience such culture shock. But I did. And when I got home I didn't even want to turn on my cell phone because I just couldn't handle talking to my old friends. Not because I didn't miss them (because of course I did), but because I knew that they wouldn't be able to relate, and even if they tried it would probably make it worse because there is no way to relate to SAS. Each voyage in itself is even unique.

Spring semester at Bucknell basically blew. There's just no other way to put it. Forget that I was put on probation from the incident that happened last semester (but honestly, it hasn't really impeded upon my life that much). All of my friends were abroad, which wasn't that bad because I realized that the voyage had changed me in a way that I was no longer compatible with some of those friends, and it was snowing. Like, all the time. So that beautiful tan I had accumulated over the fall and winter on the ship disappeared immediately and was replaced by what T-Bubes would call "The China Doll". I was probably whiter than the snow that was constantly falling outside my room (which was a single, thank god).

Oh wait, let's talk about that single. I'm not going to name names or anything, but the walls in Lari Cot are really just for show. The only purpose they serve is to block your neighbors view of your room. Other than that, they were useless. I could hear EVERYTHING loud and clear that went on in the guy's room next to mine. I never even said two words to that guy, even in passing to go to the bathroom or whatever, and I probably know him better than the slew of girls he brought home to bang. Oh yea, and I heard all that too. And I also heard him ragging on the chick the next morning to his friends. Guys are really awful people!!! Some of the words that came out of my mouth pissed me off so much, that I let my alarm go off for a full five minutes before I turned it off in the morning (during those five minutes I took my time brushing my teeth, doing the whole morning routine, before returning to my room to turn my alarm off). Yes, yes, it was probably really immature of me, but passive aggression won't get me kicked out of school while puncturing the dude's balls probably would. I mean, I'm just guessing.

My GPA certainly faired well, however. Most likely because there weren't many distractions from friends, partying, etc. Stacey and I took BASS head on and really worked hard on establishing a place for Sociology and Anthropology majors to extend their education. I know it comes off as "Nerrrrd", but whatever. Eat me. By the end of the semester I was offered the student co-chair position of the anthro dept. and on top of that, the dept. chair entrusted me and 4 other students in "interviewing" a new possible professor in the anthro dept.

By spring break, I was really missing my SAS friends because they all live on the other side of the country, so I flew out to meet Corti and Doyle in Colorado. Blair and Emmanuel met me there, and then some others flaked. Let me just say, Colorado is awesome and I didn't mind the snow at all. I arrived in Denver and Corti drove me from there to Leadville, during which debauchery did take place. And that's all I'm going to say about that. So Leadville is the highest elevated town at like, 10,000ft or 11,000ft... can't remember. It's really a small town that apparently has a huge high school drop out rate/drug consumption and creation/blah blah blah. We rented a keg for the weekend, and partied in Corti's apt with some of her friends from Copper. Doyle came down with her boyfriend (who is insane, but I guess that actually works for her hahaha), and Tim arrived a little later. Speaking of Tim, Blair and I watched him walk into a car in the middle of the night... you had to be there to understand the hilarity of the situation - but trust me... FUUUUUUUNNNY! The next morning we drove out to Copper Mt. to snowboard, which I was really nervous about because the last time I tried to board, it took my an hour to get down the mountain (and that was in NY). Aside from being inexperienced, I was rather hungover from the party before (oh, and Corti and I brought the keg to the mountain and cracked into that bad boy right before we got our gear on...brilliant I know, you wish you were as hardcore as us). On top of that, the elevation was pretty difficult to deal with and it made it hard for me to get a full breath in. Tim disappeared right away (probably because he was embarrassed at how awful I was) and Blair and Emmanuel peaced out to brush up on their skiing skills (LAME, who skis?). Corti is really an awesome friend and was incredibly patient, standing by my side the whole 3hrs that it took to get down the mountain. No that's not a typo. The trails at Copper are quite substantial compared to the ones in NY, so the lift up was 4x as longer that the one at Catamount. So yea, it took me longer to get down. Don't mock me. I toughed it up and even did another trail....buuuut the safety patrol had to pick me up halfway thru because I was too tired to finish the trail. Probably cause my buzz had worn off? I was pretty tired when we got back to Leadville, but we partied hardcore once again with the the Copper staff. Doyle's bf introduced me to their friend Paul, who was such a sweetheart but I'll probably never see him again. I got to spend a little time in Boulder with Corti and her roommates, and Erika met up with us for some good ol' bar hoppin'. The next day I had dinner with Pete, which was really nice because I got to see him in a totally different environment. Later, I met up with Corti and Erika, along with her roomies who were all guys. We started off the night at this place called the Dark Horse and they have this thing called "Trike Night". Basically, you and a partner do a relay on this crazy tricycle doing shots along the way. It was pretty hard, but Corti and I really did it for the free shots. Erika's roomies were pretty cool..one of them had this drink made after him so we spent a majority of the night drinking "Schwees". The night really had to come to an end when we found Erika passed out in the Denny's bathroom. I think I was still a little belligerent on the flight back to NY, but that's how we do.

Post spring break went by pretty fast. Kenny came one weekend, and then Dante came for 3rd eye blind. House party was alright too.. some SASer was supposed to come out but flaked yet again. I was also trying to find an internship out of the States, because after SAS I just wanted to get back out there. Charleston hooked me up with something in Hong Kong, but it fell thru because of the whole work visa situation. THEN I got this thing in Vietnam, but THAT fell thru. Finally, I got something in Kenya working with a tribe and it was seriously good to go... then stuff starting going sour with the political situation and it seemed that the program was going to be postponed. I was bummed so I just took my job back at the lake. THEN, the other day, I get an email from them asking if I still wanted to come. I'm heartbroken because it's just took short of notice for me to get a plane ticket out there, and I've also made a commitment to the Lake. Additionally, I just got a coaching job in the mornings with HRRA working with Junior Sweeps. I want to go to Kenya so bad, but how awful would I be if I bailed on my commitments last minute? I'm not that type of person, because if I make a promise I'm going to stick to my word.

I was also working on planning the west coast road trip, preparing my housing situation after my mom moves in June, and finishing finals. I stayed up for 3 days straight papering, but I just wanted to get things over with and get outta the Bubble. I was so ready to just get home and fly out to San Diego to meet Jackie for the road trip. More on that later.

There's probably a bunch of things missing, but these are the things that really stuck out for me. Mmmmkay, Bed time!!!!