(MUST BE READ IN THE SING-SONGIEST OF VOICES): I'M BAAAACK!

after what felt like the longest summer ever (that being said with neither a negative nor positive undertone, just a downright fact ;), and the whizziest whirlwind of a half-a-semester ever, i feel like life has slowly found its groove again, and i've finally got things i want to write about and time to write them.

hence! this blog post!

last night i stayed up way too late having way too much fun reading back through the blog posts, journal, and notebook i kept during my semester in mexico. i think about my trip almost daily, but reading back through my journals reminded me of so many little details and stories i had already forgotten. at the time i felt like i was constantly posting and documenting things, but looking back i was surprised at how few posts i had actually written. it made me think of all of the little interactions, memories, conversations, adventures, thoughts, and emotions i experienced while in merida that have been left unspoken and are simply memories floating around in my (often jumbled mess of a) brain. having been back for a few months now has allowed me the time to step back and really reflect on those experiences and the simple lessons they taught my about life and myself that i will be forever grateful for. fortunately for me many of these memories are still clear as day - almost as if they happened yesterday - so i'm going to take advantage of that and spend some time sharing more stories and talk more in-depth about my journey and some of the other aspects that went along with it. i want to remember these things fo-ev-AH! you know? i hope you join me in this nostalgic virtual walk down memory lane.

and i'm sure i'll throw in some random footnotes about college life and cute fluffy animals and the challenges of being left-handed and 5'2" in such a big world dominated by right-handed people, cuz it wouldn't be rachbug's ramblings without it. ;)

have a good weekend, friends! this week flew by, but i'm definitely ready for some down time to relax, get caught up on cleaning/homework, and watching you've got mail on repeat.

adiós muchachos!

HOLY GUACAMOLE :: A SALUTE TO MY MEXICAN HERITAGE

i made guacamole!
and it didn't suck!!

therefore i'm putting on my top-chef-food-blogger-wannabe hat so i can brag about it for a sec.

i'm what some would call a "guacamole snob."

pre-mexican life adventure rachel would not go near "guacamole" (and we use this phrase lightly because let's be honest the stuff that comes from americanized mexican restaurants or from squirt packets in grocery store cooler sections is not the stuff) because, for one, this was before avocados were all the rage and frankly, the thought of consuming this bright green substance of such a pasty consistency just made her a bit queasy.
while in mexico, i was originally a little skeptical of the guacamole and held back at first, but after some time and a few margaritas (kidding!), i threw in the towel, did as the mexicans do, and enjoyed me some guacamole. and shoooot it was gooood! i tried lots of different variations, all yummy in their own way, and i fell in love.

pause! this just popped in my head and now i can't focus on anything else! is an avocado a fruit or a vegetable? because it has a seed/pit which gives me a peachy fruity vibe, but yet it's green? which means nothing, but it's eaten on salads and junk, so in my head i classified it as a veggie and moved on but i began to wonder if there's maybe more to it than that? i've taken it upon myself to consult google and wiki.answers is trying to convince me that an avocado is not only a fruit but, according to botanical definitions, is *more specifically* a berry, since it developed from a single ovary and such. so like, duh, obviously. i feel much better after clearing that up, we can resume!

i've been craving authentic guacamole like crazy post-mexico, and decided i'd try to make it myself after i found this recipe.
i did make a few minor adjustments simply due to personal preference. i only made half a batch (since the rest of my family is convinced they despise guacamole), which turned out to be plenty for this test-run of sorts. upon purchasing the supplies, my mom insisted that "nothing good comes from low-fat sour cream," so instead i used full blown fatty fat regular sour cream, completely defeating the purpose of this low-fat guacamole. i mean it definitely didn't hinder the taste or anything. ;) if i'm feeling rather daredevil-ish next time, i'll probably throw in some minced onion +/or a bit of salsa or chilis, just to give it a little kick! and some...definition? (this is me grasping at straws for a prettier word than "chunks").

which reminds me! i forgot to salt + pepper to taste. according to sources, guac (i feel weird when people call it "guac") is allllll about the salt? looks like i have an excuse to go snack on it some more.

happy friday! i hope your weekend is filled with sunshine, laughter, and good guacamole. ole!

TO THE CENTRO WE GO

hola mis amigos! my family made it in safely last evening, and we spent the night walking the streets near our hotel, giggling, catching up on four month's worth of gossip and juicy story-swapping, foot rubs and back rubs, and gorging ourselves on sweet bread, caramel + cheddar popcorn, poptarts, cheez-its, and chex mix - all of my favorite snacks from home! we're off today to explore the centro, the central house, the mall, mega, and all of my frequently-visited local joints.

i'm so excited and feel so blessed to be able to introduce my best friends to the city that will forever be my home away from home.

adios!

ISLA MUJERES

which translates to: women island.

the significance of this i do not know.

but if i were to guess, i'd say it's probably because the island is drop. dead. gorgeous.

{shoot, i'm smooth. wink.}

five friends and i planned a mini-vacation to isla mujeres, four hours from merida and just off the coast of cancun, for our last weekend together abroad. it was the loveliest island - tourist-friendly but still inhabited by locals, decorated simply with little ma & pop shops, bright colors, lots of palm trees, with the slightest cool breeze coming off the water, and family-owned fish joints on every corner... simply perfect. each of us mentioned on multiple occasions it would make the perfect honeymoon/anniversary vacation spot and that we knew we'd be returning some day. the boys even discussed {each one at least once at separate times} how "romantic" the island was {while us girls on the other hand were more like, eh, yeah, i mean, it's pretty and all...}. ha! men.

 the island is only about five miles long and less than half a mile wide {at one point i was standing on one beach and could see through the little town, across the island to the other coast}, so we rented a golf cart for a couple hours friday morning and went for a drive.

zip-lining over the water with cancun off in the distance

 besides renting a golf cart, eating, and shopping, there really wasn't much else  anything else to do, so we spent a good chunk of our weekend lounging on the beach, napping, reading, and playing in the crystal clear water, which was perfectly fine by me.

the backyard of the hostel we stayed at

we stayed at a hostel, which initially made me nervous and unsure. it ended up exceeding my expectations and was very clean and safe, and although it was packed with extremely hairy world-traveling hippies (and we definitely looked and felt like the oddballs out) we saved money, were in a great location, and met some very unique people and heard some amazing stories. we had roommates from finland and israel, and met and talked to people from denmark, australia, england, spain... you name it. we were in accent heaven. it was drool-worthy.

i could not get enough of the fresh fish -- for lunch on friday we ate at a restaurant on the water, in the sand, with plastic seating, mis-matched dining ware and two men so old they couldn't hold their eyes open playing the bell set as complimentary entertainment. the food was outstanding and we ended up back there again for lunch on saturday. 

i could not have imagined a better "final fling" for my time in mexico. i already anticipate returning to isla mujeres someday.

ONIONS AND ORCHIDS WEDNESDAY

a real life orchid! in a real life orchid garden!

onions

- i got fried last weekend (i'm sure no one's surprised by this) and i'm suffering through the itchy/burny/blistery stage. it's the worst on my back waistline, which has made wearing pants fun! ;) (just to clarify, i am still wearing pants)
- it hit me that this week is full of lots of "lasts." one last trip to progreso. one last wednesday starbucks date. one last "burger king session." one last trip to altabrisa for fro-yo. one last mega run. one last adventure to the centro... and it's sad. i don't think i'm quite ready to say goodbye.

orchids

- i'm beginning to not completely hate the air-dried version of my hair. sometimes it even looks slightly cute.
- today is may! may day! hello, sweet sweet month of may, i welcome your arrival with open arms and sloppy kisses. and this kicks off the 20th birthday countdown... only 28 days remain! gah i'm old.
- iron man 3 is already out in mexico! take that, united states! i think this calls for one last trip to the movie theater to gobble up caramel popcorn and 2 hours with of robert downey jr.
- 3 more days! THREE! need i even say until what?
- i found out i'm going to be an RA next year in the exact same room i was in last semester. year two of an all freshman floor. i can't wait to meet them all and morph them into my little college-dominating minions! muahaha.
- while i was odering at starbucks today, the man next to me looked over and just about peed his pants in excitement as he squeal-asked me in english if i was from the united states. and while i almost peed my pants in surprise at someone approaching me in english, i was a little offended. how could he tell?? is it that obvious? after four months have i still not been accepted as a local!?! this is ludicrous! fun fact: the locals can even tell when other mexicans aren't from the area. how,  you ask? their legs are covered in mosquito bites. :)

what would you give onions and orchids to from your week? have a lovely wednesday!

AND THEN IT WAS SUMMER

a photo from my weekend in isla mujeres -- taken on the coast of cancun while waiting to board the ferry

there's something very anti-climactic about the commencement of this summer.

i'm not sure if it's being abroad, with only a few other students experiencing the same sort of schedule, or being away from the changing seasons [which means i feel as though i've been trapped in summer for, oh, ever. fine, since january! it's been established the heat makes me a bit dramatic], not being on campus for the buzz of the end of classes and finals week [and tulip time], or the fact that my semester was significantly shorter and ended even earlier than normal [it just dawned on me that my summer started in... april? win. win win], but it just hasn't quite hit me that it's summer. summer! four whole months of freedom! four whole months to check items off of my summer bucket list! four whole months to replenish my dwindling bank account after one-too-many runs to starbucks! [my host brother did however help me justify my many-a-trip to the coffee shop yesterday at lunch. i said: yeah, it's tough to fight the urge when starbucks is close to my school. and he said: close!? it's right next to your school! plus, their pastries are muy rico. and i said in my head, you are so right host brother. they are muy rico. and the buildings' closeness draws me in like a magnet. and now back up and picture this entire conversation taking place en espanol. impressive, no? except my sentence formation resembled more of a two-year-old spanish speaker than the sophisticated, thesaurus-loving english-is-my-native-language blogger that i am. ;) le sigh. but you can still pretend to be impressed, no?]

when i finished my final final, i tossed my pencil aside, flung back my chair, darted around the room in circles with my hands in the air, waving them back and forth, exhorting cheers and nonsense words. can you picture it?

i'm free! free at last!

after i stepped foot out of the school i had this strange feeling kick in. now that i finally wasn't on a power-walking mission home to complete homework, all of these possibilities of no-good time spenders began flooding into my head.

should i...
...cram-watch all of the mexican telenovelas on netflix?
...read the 100+ blogs from weeks past i've yet to get through? [my version of the morning paper, you see?]
...write the 100+ blog posts i've been wanting to get from my head onto paper? [onto internet?]
...read my novel? [i'm currently on this one]
...skype everyone on my contact list and chat for hours?
...eat one last celebratory starbucks panini?
...paint my nails?
...just lay on my bed and stare at the ceiling fan and not feel guilty about it?
...go for a walk?

the world is my oyster!

update: i just about did a combination of all of the above and then some.
ah. it feels wonderful. happy first day of summer!

BREAKING RULES + FUZZY iPOD PHOTOS

this is what finals + 4 months abroad does to a girl. just look at those monster bangs! consider yourselves lucky i spared you an aerial photo of my roots... ha ha.

i'm longing to blog, but until tomorrow afternoon i have a final presentation and exam tugging at my guilt strings, reminding me i need to prepare and focus on them rather than my little home on the interweb [+ facebook, + twitter, + instagram, + my e-mail, + counting my freckles (which have multiplied thanks to my weekend at the beach:) + watching paint dry, etc. a.k.a. pretty much anything and everything else that is even slightly more appealing]. by tomorrow afternoon you can expect posts on posts on posts about my weekend at isla mujeres, my time volunteering in cholul, aaand a bunch of other random stuff hiding up my sleeve. the anticipation, i know! try and contain your excitement, please! 

i hope your weekend + monday was a pleasant one and i will be back to blogging tomorrow! 

[i'm so, so good at cutting myself off from blogging to focus on my studies but finding reasons to blog, like writing a post about why i haven't been posting. as annoying as that is, i give myself a few claps for creativity and rule-bending. clap clap!]

A WEDNESDAY FOR ONIONS & ORCHIDS

A few of us on "girls night." we're "white-girling it." obvi totes.

onions

- last night i walked into the kitchen to make a sandwich for dinner, flipped on the light, and saw this ugly, furry, squeaky little mouse scurry out of the bread box. it ran behind the cereal containers and out of sight, along with my appetite.

- today is my last day volunteering at an after-school english program here in merida. a program in which i have told you nothing about! [soon, soon. all good things come in time] they're throwing us a going away party, complete with food and all. i don't think i'm prepared for all of the upcoming goodbyes i have to give in the next 2 weeks.

- i've officially given up on blow drying my hair. i think my hair looks so flat and scraggly when it air dries, but the hotter it gets the sillier blasting my head with fake hot air seems. so i'm embracing the flat and string-ys!

orchids

- the majority of the girls in our abroad program got all spiffy and went out for girls' night on saturday. it was simple and relaxed, the perfect night after a stressful finals week. it started pouring during our dinner, and after about 40 minutes of waiting it out, we decided to invest in some free garbage bags and go for it! we ran through the flooded streets, getting absolutely soaked. well, all but our torsos! ;) it was one of the funnest, most memorable nights i've had in merida.

- i am slowly but surely checking finals week assignments off of my to-do list, my stress level shifting down a notch with every swift slash of my pen through those little boxed bullet points! it's such a wonderful feeling.

- ONE POINT FIVE WEEKS UNTIL MERIDA IS TAKEN OVER BY MI FAMILIA.

- rachbug's ramblings got a face lift! or more like a complete facial transplant? what do you think?? i got the itch to start experimenting with html and customization, and once i started scratching i just couldn't stop. like a dang mosquito bite, i tell you!

- my grandma figured out how to make skype calls and called me for the first time last week. it was the sweetest surprise and the perfect study break. i can't wait to see that lady in person!

- tomorrow i'm leaving for a "weekend getaway" to an island on the caribbean. is this real life? it sounds like i'm quoting something from the bachelorette. now if only my very own jef with one f holm and or roberto martinez and or jp rosenbaum would show up and sweep me off my feet. i'll be waiting.

which moments from your week deserve onions & orchids? happy giving!

TWAS THE WEEKEND BEFORE FINALS

this is where i bombard you with random & irrelevant photos from my sping break trip that has yet to be blogged about.
did it even really happen if it hasn't been recorded in a blog?
life's deepest questions.
also, isn't merida just the prettiest?

this past weekend was of the kind where you cram and cram and cram and push and push and push to get all of those big semester's worth projects done at {not totally} the last minute, spending eons and eternities behind the computer and suddenly it's sunday evening and you feel as though you have nothing to show from your weekend (besides two lovely, shining, poetically crafted {okay, not really, they were scientific... the ugliest of sorts} papers :) except tired eyes and gas station receipts that serve as proof that your weekend meal plan consisted of ramen noodles and pre-packaged "ham sandwiches."

oh and i did see a movie or two {BRAIN BREAKS ARE VITAL FOR PRODUCTIVE PAPER WRITING! we convinced ourselves. AND SO IS POPCORN! i added} so i wasn't a complete hermit.

except in the end i probably would have preferred to be drowning in scientific journals about plants and fish over going to the theater {i take that back because the theater has AC but hear me out} because i saw:

+ life of pi which left me saying "that was the lamest movie ev. er." until my friend told me that apparently there is this whole other uber-deep meaning and it twists your brains all up and leaves you searching for answers? and i didn't pick up on that? per usual? i like closure, people. and straightforwardness. and a good love triangle. so this is why i don't watch award-winning films, like life of pi.

+ oblivion with tom cruise. it had no plot. and it was tom cruise. that's enough.

i powered through the weekend and come monday morning the stress, frustration, exhaustion, and heat caught up with me. i became more overwhelmed the more i allowed myself to think about it, and suddenly, while trying to put my hair up in the bathroom at school, i got downright weepy. because i couldn't get my hair up. i went through the rest of the day feeling crummy, just going through the motions, counting down the hours until i could go home, swing in my hammock, and skype my mom, where i again broke down in tears because my hair looked horrible that day. 

and then i shook my fist at the skies and yelled "CURSETH WOMANHOOD!" got some sleep, and started today off fresh and focused on only the positives. because negatives are time-wasters, i tell you. and also because i get super weirded-out when i feel like i'm pmsing but i'm actually not? isn't that the freakiest? snaps me out of a funk real quick-like.

i'm not proud of how yesterday went down, and it's times like those that make me long for the ease of a "do-over" button. however, i do believe it's days like my day yesterday that bring me back to the bigger picture in life, reminding me not to dwell on the little things, and instead focus on what's most important and truly makes me happy.

BLOGGER MILESTONES

proud blogger moment.
i haz discovered ze wonderful world uv picasa.

my photo went from zis:

to zis:

  

and zis one:

 to zis:

i'm practically a real photographer now.

maybe i should start my own business?

my trusty iPod camera & i.

kidding!

brings me back to 2011 when i debuted my tweenior picture photography business, rachbug's photography.

you'd hire me, right? and aren't my sisters practically the next gisele budchens?

why must i stumble upon these time-suckers (photo editing + pinterest + netflix + you name it) right before/during the busiest times of the semester? 

and it's always, always at bedtime.

(note: currently 11:54 p.m.)

it makes me wonder if these sites are actually that cool or if i'm just really good at procrastinating and seeking out distractions?

it's probably the latter.

and i couldn't care less.

ANATOMY OF A BIORESERVE

on sunday afternoon we arrived back into merida from kaxil kiuic hot, sweaty, pooped to the max, and covered in nature. after getting back home (and mega-showering! and shaving! i went two days this time, people, breaking records over here) i turned right around and worked like a mad woman on the three papers i had due monday. before i could resume breathing at a normal pace i remembered i had an exam tuesday over material i hadn't studied or understood. i switched back into panic mode and studied, studied, studied after the majority of our class voted "no" when our professor kindly asked if we'd like to drop the exam since it'd been such a hectic weekend (i voted a big, solid YES because, um, why would anyone choose to take a test? this i will never understand (and will forever be extremely bitter about;)). that stinker of a test is now over with and the weekend is finally here and i'm just now finding the time to tell you about last weekend! so let's hop to it!

as i mentioned in my last post written approximately 395.3 months ago (or so it seems...), kaxil kiuic (pronounced something like kashee kee-week) is a bioreserve in the yucatan. we slept in hammocks in dorms located on the reserve and spent lots of time bonding with nature. the specifics:

- i saw a toucan, parrots, scorpion, whip scorpion (which actually looks exactly like a monstrous spider and nothing like a scorpion whatsoever!), orioles, woodpeckers, wood creepers, armadillo (the cutest, squat-iest thing. remind me to show you my armadillo impersonation sometime), boa constrictor, falcon, trogon, blue-crowned motmot (look at me! whipping out all this bird terminology).
- i got up at 5:30 am to go "birding" (never thought i'd hear those words escape my lips)
- i was nominated "designated bug killer" of our dorm, and excelled at my killing-ular duties when i got out of the shower to kill a bug for my roommates. to their defense, they recognized it as the one our professor had just lectured us about. apparently in chile (but not at the bioreserve, or so our guide said) it carries an inflammatory disease and it numbs your skin and sucks your blood with out you knowing and you eventually die? or something? one of those things that's horrifying at the time but since i survived i'm proud and braggy about it? rachel - 1. deathly bug - 0. and i was in a towel. HA. so picture that! bonus point.
- all morning while bird watching my professor stressed our goal for the day: find a pygmy owl. i had never really heard of one and didn't know what to expect or look for, but we all grabbed our binoculars and said yes ma'am! pygmy owl it is! we could hear one's call all morning, but they're very difficult to spot because of their size and camouflage. mid-walk, our host and guide, james (sigh, james) stopped us in the middle of a clearing and said, "pose for the camera! pretend you've spotted something!" so i flung up my binoculars (accompanied by a slight eye roll because there was just something about the james + heat combo that made me a bit dramatic), set them in front of my eyes, and stared through them blankly while james snapped away. my eyes began to focus after a minute and i realized i was zoomed in on more than just a dead tree branch. i perked up and interrupted the photo shoot by saying, "oo, oo! paulina! is that a..?! i think i'm staring at a..!!" she ran to my side bouncing and searching, saying, "where?! WHERE!" i responded with, "i don't know! i can't lower my binoculars because i have no idea where i'm looking!" everyone eventually found little pygmy and we admired it until it flew away. and i got lots of fist bumps for having the (accidental) "find of the day." it was the cutest little ball of fluff if i ever did see one. now, everyone! admire little pygmy owl!

IT'S SO FLUFFY I COULD DIE!

via

- i hiked for a solid 10 hours on saturday. this included, but was not limited to, bird watching, a 5 hour hike through the dead forest (dry season does sad things to vegetation) where we stopped to admire different piles of concrete, a swamp (or "watering hole" for the animals, in james's terms) and a satellite tower, a night walk. etc. etc. etc. 

- we learned about all the different sorts of medicinal plants found in the forest. in mayan. "ya" means water. remember that.

- the food rocked.

- i spent a lot of time dangling my feet in the "cool pool." 

- we climbed a tower overlooking the canopy.

- i developed my own research project in which i have to write a 5-10 page hardcore research article on. for monday. rats.

and i told everyone i was starting it now but i'm blogging. 

i lied. 

forgive me. 

i'd better get back to researching anthurium schlechtendalii. 

doesn't that just sound like a snooze?

in sum, overall it was adventurous weekend and a nice way to end our semester's planned excursions. it was quite memorable and definitely nudged me out of my comfort zone on more than one occasion, which i will be forever grateful for.

happy thursday!

- - -

photo of tropical animals not in their natural habitat during spring break

also from spring break, which i have yet to blog about. sigh. 

due to yet another (another! and the last! can you believe it?) excursion, i'll be MIA for the rest of the weekend.

we're going to a bioreserve in kaxil kiuic (neither the locals or google map have heard of or know where this is... concerning, no?) where we'll spend the weekend hiking, observing tropical animals in their natural habitat, sunset ooh-ing and aah-ing, bird watching (this is optional, but i'm going to because i know it's something my grandma would love and i want to be able to tell her about it. hi, grandma!) and conducting our very own research project so that we can return and research our subject some more and morph all of this new knowledge it into a beautifully crafted (and completely half... efforted..) 5-10 page paper.

groan.

:)

okay, en serio, it'll be a good weekend. and after an overwhelming week of tests+homework+hectic schedules+taking a spin on the emotional rollercoaster a time or two, a weekend away may be just what i need. 

well, buggaroos, i'm off to smear vaseline all over my face and hope it takes my makeup off because i was too lazy to walk to the supermarket and buy more makeup remover pads after i ran out. 

i've heard this works wonders?

if my eyes are all goobered shut in my photos from this weekend, you'll know why. 

ew. sorry. bad images.

okay g'night chickadees.

(aren't i so good at pet names?)

CHIAPAS

our trip to chiapas is officially in the books! we had been told all week, chiapas! we're going to chiapas! but when we got there, to ...chiapas? or wherever we were? it was suddenly being called... palenque? there were a few days of silent wondering um, what exactly is chiapas? on my part, and after my friend quietly shared her mutual concern one night when she asked, "so, i'm confused, where are we and what is chiapas?"  we investigated [subtly, as to not embarrass ourselves, because the state of confusion we were in was em.barr.assing.], and turns out we were in the city of palenque, in the state of chiapas, in the country of mexico.

well, phew, glad we got that cleared up!

we stayed in palenque but spent the majority of the time traveling to different archaeological sites and ended the trip with a beautiful waterfall. the first site we went to was palenque [cleverly named!]. we stopped there as soon as we arrived into town, hence my appearance. the other two were bonampak and yaxchilan, along with the misol ha waterfall [where i consumed the hands-down greatest breaded fish fillet of my entire fish fillet sampling career].
i'm gonna let the pictures speak for themselves. i wish words could describe how truly stunning chiapas is.

ruins of palenque

so.. much.. climbing
*wipes sweat from brow*

bonampak

just hanging out next to guatemala

climbed these, too!

misol ha

we climbed through a cave with a waterfall

AS OF LATE

i'm here to pathetically blame my lack of blogging on this: 

homework on homework on homework.

and maybe some food & gossip sessions in between. ;)

it's the only way to get things done around here.

it seems as though every important assignment/test/paper on my to-do list this semester is due on the same day.

when it rains, it pours!

and suddenly it's april, finals are right around the corner, and those due dates are next week. (what!?)

so i'm in frazzled panic remaining cool, calm, and collected and checking things off my list, one sloth paper at a time.

but i'll see you back here tomorrow! and that's a promise. or else i'll start going through blogging withdrawals.

oh, the horror!

NOW I'M SLOTHIN' ON THE COLD HARD GROUND

oh! oh!
trouble.
trouble.
trouble.

is this stuck in your head now? good. feel my pain! misery loves company! [MUAHAHA!]

connection: my sister once retweeted a sloth twitter account [...i know. don't ask questions.] that said "now i'm slothin' on the cold hard ground!" and it happened to be right after i learned that sloths only grace the ground with their presence once every two or so weeks to do their erm, yanno, "business," so i shared the fact with little j and she was less than impressed. i think it ruined the sloth meets t-swift mash-up for her.
giggle.

so anyways.

this lovely april 5-7 weekend of mine has been dedicated to sloths. the cugliest creature known to man.

[cute + ugly = "cugly"]

because sometimes there's just no other way to describe things?

i'm writing a research paper about sloths for my tropical ecology class, and while i'm typically anti-research papers [i mean they're not too difficult but time consuming and boooring as all get out, let's be real!], i have to admit, i'm diggin' this sloth topic. the slow little dudes are actually quite fascinating! and hideously adorable to look at.

i may have taken a break or two to go see a couple movies [jack and the giant slayer - verdict: bogus. but i got caramel popcorn so i was satisfied. + g.i. joe: retaliation - verdict: i couldn't tell you anything about the plot because i was too wrapped up in the DROOL-WORTHY CAST ehem dwayne johnson + bruce willis + channing tatum + that new hottie kid who no one has ever heard of before. so i'll give it two point five stars? out of four, of course] and consume my body weight in pasta, paninis, and a mocha oreo frappe [just soak that one in for a minute. mocha. oreo. frappe. to die for.] 

we "sprung [sprang? no bother.] forward" an hour this morning and merida and iowa are finally frolicking through time together as a synchronized pair of love and happiness, and my skype dates and texting times are back to normal, at last! i never would have imagined one little hour could be such a pain. thank goodness i'm not in spain! but now i have an extra hour's worth of sloth researching/facebook stalking/blog reading to make up for. it's back to work i go.

while i'm out, enjoy this cugly sloth video my sister introduced me to.

she's weirdly obsessed with sloths?

thirteen thoughts for thursday

1. i pass by this vehicle every day on my way home for lunch - such a nice little reminder that seems to find me when i need it the most. and in spanish! how fun is that?
2. my family arrives in merida one month from today! one month. 30 days. 4 weeks. no matter how you put it, it's sounding pretty darn good right about now. {i also worry that this may be the longest 1 month/30 days/4 weeks of my life?}
3. there was a couple camped outside of starbucks this morning {and i know this because the central house is (oh so inconveniently) located right next to starbucks, not because i made a pit stop there this morning for breakfast. i mean... ;)} in a giant VW van. literally camped. as in every window and ventilation mechanism was propped open, resembling a large pop-up camper, and i observed the pair roll out of bed (vehicle?), straighten their clothes, fix their hair in the window reflection, and be on their way. classy.
4. the temperatures are peaking to about 100 degrees on a daily basis, and therefore i will have spent my thursday at two different coffee shops before the day is done, because i learned the hard way that once it hits about 92 degrees i turn into a big worthless lump of all sorts of dysfunctional.
5. i went on a 12 mile bike ride last night and holymamajama i am s o r e.
6. with the recent news that i have been rehired as an RA for the 2013-2014 school year {and in my building of choice - double squeal} my brain has shifted into full-on dorm room/hall theme/program idea mode. decorations! team bonding! i live for this stuff!
7. negative energy is exhausting. i'm learning that intentionally surrounding myself with those that only and always make me smile is important.
8. i often find myself day dreaming about my future. about mommyhood and wifehood and jobhood. and how, while i'm anxious to arrive in those "hoods," i know i need to cherish the here and now. it's tricky sometimes.
9. have i mentioned that i found my wedding dress here in merida? ;) yes, yes, it's simply propped in the window of a dress shop in my neighborhood, calling out to me in a desperate, you-know-i'm-your-soul-dress-just-stop-in-and-take-a-gander! sort of tune. but i can't. i mustn't! because i know i'll fall in love! and i figure i should prooobably find myself a groom to fall in love with, first... maybe just slightly important? hrmph. details shmetails. but that dress is mine.
10. my toes need a-sprucin'. mani-pedi party, anyone?
11. pencils, batteries, shampoo & conditioner {they ran out at the same time this time! this never happens! i am thrilled!} -- today's shopping list.
12. i may or may not be double-posting today. depends on how big of a procrastinator i turn into. :) ...and in that case, knowing me, you could probably expect like 4 or 5. but i'll spare you!
13. i can't help but smile every time i look at this picture:

that face! i die! one more month until i can attack that furball with cuddles and kisses.

methods to getting through THAT class

you know the one.

it's the most drab of topics, at the most inconvenient of times, and it takes all your might and then some to refrain from passing out and drooling all over the place and/or throwing up your notebooks + pencils + papers in dramatic despair and marching out. 

fortunately i've found a few methods over the years to cope with the heinousness of it all. ;) those being:

+ make checklists. shopping lists, homework to-dos, souvenir lists, places i still want to visit, you name it, it's checklist make-able.

+ sleep with my eyes open.

+ day dream about ice cream/paradise/names of my future babies.

+ write blog posts.

+ make note that the majority of the dudes in class are clean shaven and baby-faced. count them. it's 9/10 to be exact.

+ apply chapstick. *spongebob voice* five minutes later. reapply chapstick.

+ doodle.

+ pick off recently-applied nail polish.

+ blink, blink, blink because my contacts are dryin' up.

+ realize there are still 20 minutes of class left and repeat the process.

how do you survive that class?

bits and pieces of a holiday weekend

my easter sunday looked like this: 

after watching church streamed online from back home, i made my way next door to the trusty, always open, always tasty, starbucks. i set up camp and made progress on some homework as i feasted (easter dinner-style) on a panini clásico and a java chip frappuccino. i had just skyped with my family and grandma who were finishing up with our traditional easter dinner and egg hunt, and while skyping is normally the highlight of my day, it left me feeling a little lonely and glum on this particular holiday.. more-so than i had anticipated. it forced me to face the reality of a painfully true emotion whose presence i've been ignoring and tossing on the back burner in a feeble attempt to pretend like it doesn't exist: i miss my family. a lot. and knowing they were all together, eating, laughing, carrying on tradition without me was hard to hear and think about, especially when i was alone, eating an over-priced sandwich at a starbucks in a foreign country. on easter to boot! a tear or two may have been shed and an "i wish i were home..." was grumbled (but not in starbucks! this was taken care of and cleaned up before i stepped into the public eye! i wasn't that pathetic!)

and then

shoot, God works in the most mysterious of ways, you know? he has carefully placed some of the greatest people - greater than i ever could have imagined or hoped for - in my life at this time to experience this journey abroad with me. and a couple of those really rad people called me up, "interrupting" my lame attempt at studying and finding company in an empty restaurant, and drug (and by drug i mean mentioned the words "burger king" and "ice cream" i was packed up and on my way in a flash) me to burger king for ice cream, fries, and our weekly "bk session," as they've come to be called. they're the ones where you go in for ice cream and come out three hours later with a head full of new gossip, a goofy, satisfied grin on your face, and a heart exploding with happiness and pure joy, because, yum, you just had ice cream and wow, you have cool friends. it's where we giggle and have heart-to-hearts and get away from it all. this little afternoon outing made me quickly realize that even thousands of miles away from my family, friends, and home, i am always surrounded by people who love and care for me as if they were my family, and i will never truly be alone. ever.

this realization is a comforting one. 

and i'm so grateful for these people.

and for those of you wondering (you weren't, i just want a reason to brag) my family will be here in four weeks! four! eep!

how was your easter? did you follow through on long-lived traditions? or make any new ones? i'd love to hear how you celebrate.

-- rachel