Last Day at AWL

Yesterday was my last day at Alaska Wilderness League. I did work for some of the time but most of it I was working on preparing my going away party (going with my boss to get some drink, and then trying to find limes). We hung out at the office until 7 when we left to go to a pizza place. It was so fun hanging out with the guys, I'm really going to miss them. After we ate it was after 11 so I was super tired. They really didn't want me to go but I just told them that I'd be seeing them soon, especially if I can convince them to let me come for wilderness week in March.

Overall, although I did a lot of data entry at the end, it was a great internship. It made me discover that lobbying and grassroots is what I want to do with my life. It was also a great experience at meeting some of my congressmen and women and lobbying them. Everyone at AWL was really nice also, which made anything I did great.

Now for this weekend, I'm just going to hang out with friends, pack my stuff, finish that research paper, and go to the vietnam wall which is the only site I have yet to go to. Oh and FDR's.

End of Semester

So I leave Washington D.C. in 9 days, 9 DAYS! I gotta say, I'm a little sad. I mean, I hate this University (nothing can compare to Ripon in my mind) and I really haven't learned anything from my professor or program. But I do love my internship, I absolutely loved my trip to Brazil, and I'm now inseperable with my class. And it's because of them, that I kind of don't want to go. I made such good friends over Brazil, and now we only have 9 days left together, it just seems so short. We do talk about getting a reunion set up (one of the guy's has a second house in Hawaii) and I truely think some of us will meet again, but it's just so sad.

However, besides that anxiety, the semester is still going great. I had such a good start on my research paper before leaving for Brazil that I'm not worried about it. I also don't have any finals, and only have one other 'reflection paper.' This semester has definately been the easiest semester I have ever had, and thus the best finals week.

Thanksgiving Break

So I returned from Brazil on Tuesday morning and by then everyone on campus had pretty much left to go home for thanksgiving. I was left here with one friend who also stayed the entire time and then some others that left and returned at different times. I thought the break would be a lot harder than it actually was. I think because I wasn't home it didn't really feel like Thanksgiving, so I wasn't really bothered by missing it all that much. Instead I just got a bunch of things in order (packed a box to send home, sent some packages and postcards out, did laundry, do some touristy shopping for the family) and then just slept, read, and watched some TV. On Thursday I went out to eat at a really nice place with my friend Mike. The only opening we could get was at 8 pm which was alright. The place we went to said we could watch the game so we were happy that it wasn't too coupley and familyish, however it was sooo the opposite. But again it was actually pretty fun, we're pretty close friends so we just talked about a bunch of random stuff. After dinner we went back and hung out with another one of our friends taht had come back early to work on his research paper. Overall it turned out to be a pretty good Thanksgiving.

Now, I'm just having so much fun with all of my friends. I'm excited to go to home and visit Ripon during finals week but yet again, I really like it here. Just hanging out with friends and not having a lot of homework and NO exams. It's so stress free, which is exactly how I like it.

Amazon = Amazing

These are a few excepts from my journal:

Nov. 3, 2007 - I went to the favelas (poor and dangerous community) and danced with the kids there and listened to some stuff about NGOs and took a bunch of pics. it was amazing, definately one of the high points so far. It was soooo unlike the movie, i didnt see any guns or drugs and i felt safe the entire time. they were pretty nice cloths and the buildings were pretty nice. it wasn´t at all as the movie. then yesterday we went to christ the redeamor, a big statue at the top of rio, again pretty cool. after we had free time so i went to one of the beaches with some friends and then did a little shopping on the beach (people sell stuff all over and come up to you on the beach, it get´s a little annoying but you can also get pretty lazy. Last night we went to a samba club and heard live music, it was soooo awesome, i drank and danced and went out on the balcony and just hung out with everyone. Today i did pretty much the same thing. Tonight i might go to a beach soccer game and then my professor is having a dinner on the beach tonight, which sounds really fun.

Nov. 7, 2007 - so i just got back from my boat trip. a lot of the time on the boat i spent reading, tanning, or napping in my hammock. on the trip i: hiked through the amazon where the guide showed us tarantulas and where at one point i had to plug my ears because we were passing an ant nest that the ants would crawl in your ear and lay eggs in your brain, went piranha hunting and unfortunately didn´t catch anything, fed and swam with pink dolphins, visited an indian village, and went crocodile hunting and held a 2 footer in my hands. it was all utterly amazing. tomorrow we leave for 3 days to go to a scientist field station.

Nov. 10, 2007 - I just got back from a biology field station in the middle of the Amazon. We hiked through the Amazon, learned all about different bugs and plants, espeically ants because it was one of the scientists speciality. Some people saw a snake but I had decided that hiking at night was a little too dangerous and turned back already. I also went swimming in what they called a pool but it was really just a blocked off stream. The whole time I was out side, I slept in a hammock with a bug net, no walls in the entire camp except 2 showers and 2 toilets, which got invaded by ants right before we left. It was sooo amazing, I´m thinking about getting information about it and will prolly keep it in my plans for the future.

Nov. 17, 2007 - hey so the last 5-6 days i was at an ecotourism place, it was pretty cool. I stayed at a community for a night and learned everything i possibly could about them. I also got drunk pretty bad 2 nights, which was really fun until the next morning when i was not feeling too hot. Now i´m staying at a really nice hotel. We have a free day today so i´m gonna do some shopping and swimming and just relax. I don´t have time to read all of the info but i will when i get back on tues.

It definately was the best three weeks of my life. At the time I kept on thinking "how does life get any better?"

Brazil Baby!

I left for Brazil on monday and Im having an amazing time, i love it here. its really the time of my life. i climbed a huge mountain today, went to the botancial gardens and then heard a lecture from a professor down here, i just ate (all the restaurants are buffet style and you pay by the weight of your plate) tomorrow i go to the city of god, and im soooo excited. but my friends down here are great, we all hang out together, and its just amazing.

hmmm

Well the Brazilian Embassy was really good. I got to ask questions about my research paper, which I can use as one of my interviews. Wednesday I had my internship. In the morning we dropped off a bunch of constituent stuff to senator offices. I was lucky and went into Feingold's office, and Barack Obama. One of the guys I was doing it with, Michael, said the last time he dropped off something at Obama's office, he was there and got to meet him. I was really hoping to get the opportunity, but I didn't even see anyone interesting. Thursday I had an exam, it was very very easy but the questions were very confusing because thats just how my professor is. We also had a speaker from conservation international. The guy was sooo interesting, he's been all over Africa helping to save rhinos, monkeys, goriallas. It was amazing, he's lived so much and I want to be able to say that i've done things like that too. Last night I hung out with some friends at an apartment in Maryland. It was on the 16th floor and they had a balcony. The view was amazing, you could see the Washington Monument way out in the distance. Tonight I think I'm going out for Halloween but I'm not one hundred percent sure.

Fashion Show!

Last week the main lobbyist at my internship asked me if I wante to help out at her sister in law's fashion show. I of course, said yes. It was last night, and it was a lot different than i expected. I though it would be hectic, stressful, and really crazy. Instead it was actually kind of boring. Myself and 2 friends were told it started at 6, so be there at 5. Well we stood about until 7, when it finally started. Once it did start, we just helped dress our designated model. It would have been pretty busy but all of the models that we weren't helping didn't have anyone to dress, so we were dressing our own models and then also helping out the others. I was really afraid that I was going to get yelled at by the models and everyon else for going too slow or messing something up, but it was actually really fun. All of the models were really appreciative and nice. Some even gave us hugged before they left. It was a great expensive, and I was very lucky; it was truly a 'wno you know' opportunity. And then of course we got paid, which was nice considering we stood around for most of the time.

Today, I'm going to the Brazilian Embassy, I'm so excited!