One Norwegian Alaskan in Madison.



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Why didn't I memorize everything from orgo last quarter? It's all coming back to kick my ass now. But I have a plan to get back on top, and I mean it. But that will have to wait till later, because Chicago's coming to the Paramount downtown and Rena and I have tickets to go with Sophia on Sunday night! I'm crossing my fingers that they'll have the voices to carry it off, because the movie was so very good. Other than that, there is absolutely nothing going on in my life - Rachel has yet to go and come back from Hawai'i before moving in with us, and I have little time to run off like I did this last weekend. My mom came down and stayed in Tacoma with my grandma because my great-grandpa just passed away, so I left Friday night to go stay with them. We had a good time considering the circumstances. With my great-grandma there as well, we had four generations of women from my mom's side together, and how many times does that ever happen? Maybe next time we'll be clever and get a picture of us...


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We've got a good amount of traffic at the apartment, for which I am so relieved. I had this small, lingering doubt that moving off campus would kill most of the convenient friendships we keep up with people by passing in the halls, but it's even crazier than before. The part of me that knows my introverted nature wouldn't help my socializing much is relieved.

We've got a few "traditions" now that are damn cool. Saralita and the Egocentric Bastard started Tea Time Story Hour last quarter with only one criterion: the book read will be a classic. Other than that, it's a free for all. We don't ever cut it off after an hour and whatever you want to drink is fine with me, as long as you give me some. They started out with The Princess Bride then, and last week we picked up To Have And To Hold, which was the E.B.'s pick, surprisingly. It's got this love story thing going on, but she's a heinous bitch and he's a pompous ass, so it's pretty good. That, and there's an evil lord, an Italian doctor, and battles with Indians. I don't know what I want to read next...The Time Machine? Peter Pan? If you have any fabulous ideas, share.

Charlie came over on Wednesday and made dinner with us. Damn, it was good. We made Tomato Basil soup from scratch and added garlic bread and a Merlot to round it out. Gotta get my daily serving of fruit :P Actually, that was the first wine I've tried that I really liked. Anyway, we had so much fun we're making Wednesday our "Damn Good Food" night, and I'm thinking pizza or pasta would be the way to go. Ooh...if we put a grill out on our patio, we could make kebabs...and steaks...and bbq chicken...

Oh yeah, we have a patio of our very own. I love this place :D


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Sup? So I'm back and loving my Seattle again! Since we last talked a few things have happened - it's snowed like Alaska here...we moved into our new apartment...I went to Ghana...it's been a while, hasn't it? Hmm...where to start? Apartment first, Ghana second, and the snow's now gone :-(

It's so wonderful to be in our own place! We have more than enough room for all our stuff and for Rachel when she moves in next month. It's already so beautiful we don't have to do much to make the apartment awesome, and phone service connected this morning! All drunken messages should be left at (206) 621-8907, if you would. Gracias! I have yet to run into Dr. Fontana (the physics prof who lives below us, who almost taught my phys class this quarter...), though we hear opera floating up from down there sometimes. The only other wacky thing about the place is the damn shower curtain rod, which is having gravity issues...

Speaking of showers, I am so glad to be back in the land of indoor plumbing. I never realized how fabulous it really is until I took showers with a bucket and a cup for three weeks. No more icy water on sunburns and wondering if it's a tan or just more dirt. Maybe I'm spoiled... But I miss the roosters that wouldn't shut up after 3 am...and the humidity...and falling asleep at 80 degrees...and the kids that would watch us through the window forever, even when we were trying to sleep. And the manual labor was kind of cool too, as always with Habitat. We spent most of the time hauling bricks to the houses we were building, carrying mortar (or mohtah...they had the crazy brits over there...), and mortaring the walls. Now I'm a expert with the stuff, so just let me know what you need done, yeah?

We did some awesome tourist stuff too, and once I get pictures just let me know if you want any. We stayed in Cape Coast for a few days at the end of the trip and walked around in Elmina Castle, including the dungeons. This was one of the places the Portuguese...and Dutch...and Brits kept the men and women they shipped off as slaves to the US and everywhere. We were taken through the large rooms they were packed into and on down to the little doorway they were forced through to be loaded onto the boats that would take them away. After hundreds of years there's still a smell that lingers, and the tour guides use it to...better help our imaginations along. We got to do a canopy walk in Kakum National Park over a section of rain forest too, and that was awesome. It was like one big tree fort with these 7 bridges connected by platforms ringing the trunks of some huge trees. Sadly, we missed the monkeys in the trees since we didn't come in the morning, but we saw a viper on the side of the trail on our hike back. Points for not touching the poisonous wildlife...unlike Nicole.

We built two and a half houses while we were there and I could see myself going back after a while. It's pretty easy to live over there and most everyone is incredibly friendly compared to here. But our group has decided to make our next building trip to New Zealand, so all I need now is money...hmm...


About me

  • Homebase Madison, Wisconsin
  • I was raised in Alaska, am the shortest person in my family, and I can wiggle my ears.
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