Colorful

So it seems that I've been involved in numerous campus activities lately, never having a moment to breathe, and maybe that's why I'm four weeks in with a virus-related chest-head-congestion-cold disease :D!  The health center here finally decided I was sick enough to deserve a prescription for medicine, and it's an inhaler that had a $40 co-pay, despite insurance.  Agh!  Living amongst people is great, but I'm realizing that once you're sick you stay sick.  I think ultimately I need to sleep more.  Which won't happen.  There's too much life to live, agreed?

Last Friday I performed in a talent show called Kaleidoscope, which promoted cultural performances and many of the International Students' backgrounds.  There was a fantastic array of talents, and I was in the finale performance with the ASIA (Asian Students Intercultural Association) Club for a Bollywood dance!!  We've spent at least five weeks practicing to the song "Discowale Khisko", and we wore traditional Indian clothing and all!  Unfortunately the only photos/videos of the performance are on my Facebook, but here's a video from the song we used.  (The dance moves were self-choreographed, however) Huzzah for cultural diversity!

Immediately after posting this I am going to bed because A) sleep is good B) sleep might alleviate my sickness *cue the cough and C) I need to be up at 4 AM to go hike Azure Mountain and watch the sunrise and write poetry.  Yup, that's the type of random excursions different theme houses on campus organize, and I can't pass it up!

Friday, at 6:15, fifty-five of us students are hopping on a bus funded by a Mellon Grant and the Environmental Action Organization, and riding down to Washington D.C. for a climate action conference called The Powershift, which is a project of the Energy Action Coalition.  The link to the website is much more exciting than my explanation, but essentially thousands of youth from across the country are spending this weekend in workshops learning how to push for green energy jobs, bills, development, etc., we're lobbying for environmental change to our state Congressmen (New Yawk), we're rallying and marching and seeing a bunch of super-awesome speakers such as Al Gore, Bill McKibben and more.  That's for the entire weekend, and I think it's going to be epic.  Watch out in the news, it may be there for the immensity of the movement.  I can't wait to learn how to take action!

The madness does not cease! (Though I wouldn't want it any other way)

Enjoy your week and almost-weekend, friends!!!

I'm Walking on Sunshine

Once in a while when you least expect it, you make a friend.

Walking is nice.
It's low-impact, casual and non-committal.  It's also introspective, relaxing and conducive to good conversation.  I spent a good portion of last night walking for the cause of fighting cancer at my school's first American Cancer Society Relay for Life.  My fundraising was a bit haphazard because I signed up on Thursday, but the overall turnout was impressive.  We had 27 teams, 268 people and over $11,000 in donations raised.  The Relay for Life normally occurs for 24 hours, but ours was a 12 hour event and we walked/danced/skipped/played frisbee/partied and camped out in the field house with the indoor track.  My hamstrings are not thanking me today, but I had solid bonding time with my friends and team (the First Year Council) and it was a powerful experience.
My grandmother passed in 2007 because of the rapid onset of cancer, and my dad has skin cancer.  I'm sure we all are, or know someone, that is impacted by cancer.  My several hours of walking on a track was nothing to the struggle that cancer patients experience, though as the sun was rising we headed back to our dorms at 6:30 am, I couldn't help but think that perhaps we are that much closer to ending the battle.

So Toms 'One Day Without Shoes' day on Tuesday was insanity.  I have never been so thankful for shoes with in my life, which I presume is the point!  It was freezing and hailing, but myself and probably 30-40 others braved it out.  I think it probably wouldn't have hurt as much if I had callouses, but it was also a mind over matter deal and once I relaxed and didn't focus on the pain, everything was good.  We all definitely brought some awareness about children without shoes, too!

Also, good news: It finally resembles spring outside.

 View from my dorm window.  There were Adirondack chairs there yesterday, I think... somebody must have moved them last night.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone :)

It's April, Fool!

I was doing soooo well with posting-- and then I just lost it!  Shoot, March is over.  I need all of this to slow down, I'm having too good of a time to leave in a month..!

This is going to brief as well because I have some reading to do before class this afternoon, but today, the shoe company Toms is holding an event called One Day Without Shoes.  As you know, many children all over the world have to walk miles everyday without shoes in order to attend school, have medicine, or food and water.  At Toms, for every pair of shoes that is sold, a another pair is donated to a child in a developing country.  The Environmental Action Organization at my school is co-sponsoring awareness for these children today, and I think I'm going to give it a shot!  It's quite dreary and muddy out... and I actually have a lot of qualms about foot hygiene (I don't like being barefoot in locker rooms, for example)... but I'm going to go without shoes today and hope that I do not contract an orthopedic disease or step on something terrible.

I'm so exhausted from the weekend.  I try to go to bed at a reasonable hour, but I become so engaged in writing or homework that it's never early-- and then I'm up again once the sun rises in my window.  I've been sick for nearly two weeks now, but I'll keep wheezing and hacking on through by eating well and running (albeit, slowly).  On a fun note, the dining hall had sushi last night!  It's not spectacular but a tasty surprise nonetheless.

Do you like sushi? :)
Happy Tuesday, everyone!