One Way Ticket: Part Two

Still in Worcester! <3 The town it self is kind of so so, but the Clark campus is beautiful!

April 2nd.

Gala was an epic dance/performance that Clark University students put on annually. It was a show of the unique and traditional dance styles of the different countries represented in the student body. I have a program somewhere listing the different countries. I got to witness the New Zealand Maori Haka dance, which was mind blowing! I got gooses bumps, I can understand how that it would be horrify to be attacked by warriors who did this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdMCAV6Yd0Y & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GpTsPNwwms&feature=related

10:36pm

Woke up around 9:45am, and Erin took me to Annie’s, which is a delicious cafe that Clark students are known to frequent. I got a full belly for $5. When we went walking around Worcester and Erin pointed out where the Worcester Art Museum was, I intend on visiting it during my stay here for sure.

~


April 3rd. 2:03 am.

Back from Erin’s cast party, it was an “Anything But Clothing” party, so there was lots of interesting outfits made out of things typically not used for clothing. Such as Zach’s trash bag outfit, and Erin’s saran wrap dress (she layered pretty magazine pictures between the layers). Also, another girl showed up dressed like a gift bag! I thought that one was particular cute.

There was a lot of drinking there and more drama than I’ve seen in a long time. I was told that it was an atypical party here at Clark. But it was also with the theatre group, they’re in the business of drama. Forgive me, I make light of the troubles of other people and while they are experiencing their own lives, I watch from the outside. It makes me feel left out in someways, not that I want to adopt any more issues to deal with... I do have my own share of troubles.

But, let me rewind.

Erin took me to Annies for breakfast and as I said a walk. The Hanover Theater is here in Worcester and we’re going to see if anything is showing there. I also want to check out the massive public library if I can get a chance.

We walked quite a ways and I’ll have to remind Erin to show me on a map where we went. Around noon we headed back to Erin’s. She had a community out reach program to lead so she just gave me the keys and I went on the last block alone. Erin lives in a triple decker right near the college (hah, I’m referring to Clark as “the college”) She participates/leads a program called Rising Stars that helps kids tap into their inner actors, singer, dancer and improvee.

           

As soon as I got upstairs I met one of Erin’s elusive housemates, Liz, who gazed at me worriedly when I let myself in. I quickly introduced myself and she left soon after, it seemed she only had to grab a textbook. I hung out in the warmest room in the house with the cat and attempted to blog. My blogging came to zero fruition, so I drank ginger tea and worked on finances. Unless I figure out a  way to make money on the trip, I’m reduced with how much I can spend I have a loose budget for each section of my trip. It is very helpful to have people willing and hospitable to host my stays! I appreciate it very very much and am doing my best to be an excellent guest. So, all of you at home should note that just because I’m “off adventuring” doesn’t mean I’ve stopped doing the dishes. :P

While Erin was gone, I also met her other house mate,  Tiara,  & Tiara’s boyfriend, Brian. They had groceries and I thought that T. was super chic (which, as I’ve seen her more since then, has held to be true). We conversed while we ate a late lunch (around 3:45pm). It was a good conversation, all about education and travel.

One of the main things I’ve noticed about being on my own for the most part is that I miss the rhythm, however slight, of a family household. The movement and doings of a cohesive group of people and their habits that I automatically bristle against or incorporate into my on daily movements. This is something I already acutely feel the lack. I think I would have a very difficult time living alone, at first. My feeding schedule is already shot to pieces!

After T& B left, I went back to my cat snuggling and watched a surprisingly good movie called Agora. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186830/

Erin got back and then we went out to “Family Dinner” at a friends and I met a bunch of people.  I am horrible at names. “Family Dinner” is something some of the students do here, where a group of friends get together for a sit down... I really enjoyed it, also the homemade pesto sauce was to die for. After dinner Heather, Erin, and myself applied epic makeup and popped out to watch a college group improve show  “Shenanigans” before constructing the girl’s saran wrap dresses for the party.

Also, I met “the face of Clark” New Zealand-er, Zach. He joined us in prepping for the cast party.  He said he’d teach me how to Haka. The reason he’s called “the face of Clark” is because his picture is all over the literature about the college (http://www.clarku.edu/admissions/apply/).  I enjoyed hanging with them, we sang Disney music, something I’ve ever really only done with my sisters.

~


April 3rd 10:42 am. 
In the stickleback fish lab. (pictures can be found on fb!)

Last night the words of a friend encouraged me in my doubting of where I belonged and fit.  “It’s ok not to feel like you fit in,” I was told, “and don’t change your standards or way of life to fit in. Keep the Holy Spirit in front of you.”

Now I’m observing Erin’s as she does testing on stickleback for part of her Animal Behaviours class. They are injecting the different tanks with a control and then different things such a the water from a tank from a trout that’s been feed stickleback and also something that’s actually ground up sickle back. Another girl has a model of a bird that she “flies” over a tank to see how the sickle reacts. They call the whole thing sticklescaring and it looks very tedious to me. They don’t know how the fish recognize the signals from the added things since the water dissipates so quickly.  

1:11pm

Basically, these students scare the patooi out of lil’ fish. It’s There was a conference going on down the hall, so I ganked free food. Woot! I took too much, I think that they were just going to throw it away.  I ate the filling out of the wraps and sandwiches since I’m technically supposed to avoid excessive bread products.

~


April 4th 2:42pm

Yesterday, after lab Erin took me to meet the gals at the school’s info desk where went went through a big box of lost keys! People! Come get yah keys. Flash drives and gift cards... how can people not know about the info desk?! We took a meal swap from a friend and got grilled cheese for noms. (The meal plan here is kind of ridiculous [but maybe all meal plans are], the meals expire at the end of the week, so Lauren told me I could use any left over meals she ha at the end of the week. )

After I laid down for a small nap at 3 I woke around 6pm! I guess I needed the sleep... I found a note telling me where Erin was if I wanted to join her. I did. The Trina Center is one of the neatest buildings on campus, being the art building. I stayed briefly, before catching a ride with Clark Escort to go grocery shopping (water, apples, bananas, V8, oatmeal, shampoo & conditioner, peanut butter.. all for $20).  I feel confident that I can stretch them out for the next ten days of my stay.

~


April 5th 11:02am.

I spent the day in the awesome arts center basement where the photography classes are held. I met a very mature 16 year old who was also looking at Clark. He seemed a bit of a cynic, but we had a miniature adventure going through the free table where we discovered the awesome popup Monet’s garden. I also talked extensively with two teacher/advisors who where hanging out and instructing. “Clark has what you want to take from it.” Is what sums up the advice I was given. I took the opportunity to post my first blog and sign up for a Clark Conversation and Information Session for the following day.

Dinner was spaghetti and tofu turkey sausages (really, you can’t knock them till you try them, and I did not knock them and I’m a MEAT LOVER) and homemade tomato vinaigrette salad. It was so yummy. I’m not staving here!

Erin and I have been friends since we were 11 and 12. Our views and opinions are often very polar opposite, but we’ve been friends for way too long over some of the most influential years of our lives to left something like that get in the way of anything. But, because of our differing viewpoints we have some very excellent conversation. It’s one thing to speak with the people who validate your beliefs and personal choices because they have the same system of living as you do; it’s a completely different thing to talk with someone who is looking at life from a separate point of view. If you don’t have to ability to respect what the other person is saying, if you can’t even pause your own thoughts long enough to hear them out, then you’ll never expand and grow. One of the many things I enjoy about Erin is that we both know that we can’t change each other’s opinions, so we don’t try. But we do talk and it is a lively conversation! Last night, we even solved some of the world’s problems... now, if we could only implement the solutions...

Thursday has slated plans to adventure in Boston! I’m so very excited and kind of nervous. I’ve never taken the subway before. But I’ve been told that Boston is a good city to learn it on. A friend of Erin’s is taking us to the Boston Aquarium, where we’ll see penguins! (I know, I travel all the way to Boston and I’m most excited about the penguins.) Tomorrow, though, I’ve got an official meet ‘n’ greet with a Clark Advisor.  I’ll get to sit in on a class too! I picked the Intermediate Spanish, this will be a test to see how much I recall after not being in Spanish in over three years.