![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I'm here in Zambia. We've spent the past four and a half days at MCC headquarters, being oriented, getting over jet lag, and preparing to go to our various assignments. A, who's in the city, is being dropped off with her host family as I type, and the rest of us, all heading for Southern Province, leave tomorrow morning. I won't get to Macha until Friday, though, because the other two get dropped off first, so arriving tomorrow isn't feasible, considering travel times and the fact that we'll need to do a certain amount of set-up work in every place.
I mentioned on the other blog that I'll be cooking for myself. Setting up a household requires an incredible amount of stuff.
I have a new phone, too. ( It's the fanciest phone I've ever had, and it's going to drive me crazy. )
Long story short, I'm just really glad that I'll have a computer and access to the internet, and won't need to use my phone all that often.
Things are going pretty well, though.
I mentioned on the other blog that I'll be cooking for myself. Setting up a household requires an incredible amount of stuff.
I have a new phone, too. ( It's the fanciest phone I've ever had, and it's going to drive me crazy. )
Long story short, I'm just really glad that I'll have a computer and access to the internet, and won't need to use my phone all that often.
Things are going pretty well, though.
Moving-in party
25 August 2009 11:31 amI will be arriving at Smith this Sunday, probably between 2:30 and 3:30. I would appreciate help moving in, and will provide food bribessnacks to anyone who helps, as well as carrying boxes for you if you need it. My room this year is in Park Annex (and it's on the second floor, rather than the third!).
In short, I would like to create a roving band of movers armed with yummy foods. Who's with me?
(And yes, I know that many of you won't arrive for a while, but tell me when and I'll help you move in anyway.)
In short, I would like to create a roving band of movers armed with yummy foods. Who's with me?
(And yes, I know that many of you won't arrive for a while, but tell me when and I'll help you move in anyway.)
That's a lie. I won't have anywhere else to stay next week. But after I got back to my room and, for the second night in a row discovered that there was a loud, raucous party going on in the vicinity of my room, I decided that it was an excellent time to take Gwen up on her offer of a spare bed in an open double on Green St. (Much preferable to Wilder House during senior week!)
I think that I will continue to trespass on Gwen's hospitality as long as she lets me/until they kick her out of her room. I should go back to my room this afternoon and get clean clothes and a shower, though.
I think that I will continue to trespass on Gwen's hospitality as long as she lets me/until they kick her out of her room. I should go back to my room this afternoon and get clean clothes and a shower, though.
You know what?
It's hard to go back to fencing.
I'm not just talking about the ache in my legs whenever I stand in en garde, which I expected, but the simple fact that I'm not as good at it as I used to be. I expected that too, but didn't realize how difficult it would be.
I don't need to win to enjoy fencing. I have spent many years of my life not playing on the winning side. But I do need some feeling of - I don't know - basic-level competence. I feel like I'm fencing badly. And worse, I know that I'm fencing badly. The individual skills aren't completely gone; I did surprisingly well in my preliminary lesson with Scott. But when I fence people - I can't complete actions, actions that I do make just don't work, and I can't hit people. My tip control is still there, but it falls to pieces if I put it in a bout situation. Not to mention this really fun thing where I'm close enough to hitting that I can see the lame indent but don't actually make the light go off. Although now that I think about it, I had similar trouble last year, so maybe I can't blame that on Spain.
And it's really not fair to be grumpy at the random UMass fencers just because I'm displeased with my performance.
Interestingly enough, I'm mostly still chipper and cheerful during the day, despite the fact that it hurts to sit down. And to stand up. Or to go from stationary to moving. I've had worse soreness, but this is plenty bad, thanks. I guess I just have a higher pain tolerance than I do a tolerance to feelings of failure.
I have one last swing dancing lesson this afternoon, and then fencing practice tonight, and then we depart bright and early tomorrow morning to fence in Rhode Island. This is going to be all sorts of interesting, in the Miriam-why-do-you-do-this-to-yourself kind of way. At least I get to sleep in until 5:30.
In other news, my room is amazing. I'm even almost unpacked, although there is still stuff strewn all over everything.
Also, it's excellent to see everyone (almost everyone) again.
I should stop sitting in my windowseat wasting time on my computer, since preparation for tomorrow morning should probably be done by 3:00 this afternoon.
Also, I need to write that letter to Renfe. In spanish.
ETA: And I forgot to mention that there's a dead spot in the center of my lame (for those of you who don't fence, the lame is the metallic shirt I wear on top of everything else that is wired up so that the ref knows when people get hit on target. A dead spot means that it isn't working properly, and a dead spot in the middle means that it's likely that my first opponent of the day will make it very obvious that it doesn't work before we even start bouting). And that's the only foil lame that fits me. If we can't find another by tomorrow, I think that badly malfunctioning equipment that you can't fix/replace disqualifies you from competing. And it would really stink to go the competition and sit on the sideline the whole day.
It's hard to go back to fencing.
I'm not just talking about the ache in my legs whenever I stand in en garde, which I expected, but the simple fact that I'm not as good at it as I used to be. I expected that too, but didn't realize how difficult it would be.
I don't need to win to enjoy fencing. I have spent many years of my life not playing on the winning side. But I do need some feeling of - I don't know - basic-level competence. I feel like I'm fencing badly. And worse, I know that I'm fencing badly. The individual skills aren't completely gone; I did surprisingly well in my preliminary lesson with Scott. But when I fence people - I can't complete actions, actions that I do make just don't work, and I can't hit people. My tip control is still there, but it falls to pieces if I put it in a bout situation. Not to mention this really fun thing where I'm close enough to hitting that I can see the lame indent but don't actually make the light go off. Although now that I think about it, I had similar trouble last year, so maybe I can't blame that on Spain.
And it's really not fair to be grumpy at the random UMass fencers just because I'm displeased with my performance.
Interestingly enough, I'm mostly still chipper and cheerful during the day, despite the fact that it hurts to sit down. And to stand up. Or to go from stationary to moving. I've had worse soreness, but this is plenty bad, thanks. I guess I just have a higher pain tolerance than I do a tolerance to feelings of failure.
I have one last swing dancing lesson this afternoon, and then fencing practice tonight, and then we depart bright and early tomorrow morning to fence in Rhode Island. This is going to be all sorts of interesting, in the Miriam-why-do-you-do-this-to-yourself kind of way. At least I get to sleep in until 5:30.
In other news, my room is amazing. I'm even almost unpacked, although there is still stuff strewn all over everything.
Also, it's excellent to see everyone (almost everyone) again.
I should stop sitting in my windowseat wasting time on my computer, since preparation for tomorrow morning should probably be done by 3:00 this afternoon.
Also, I need to write that letter to Renfe. In spanish.
ETA: And I forgot to mention that there's a dead spot in the center of my lame (for those of you who don't fence, the lame is the metallic shirt I wear on top of everything else that is wired up so that the ref knows when people get hit on target. A dead spot means that it isn't working properly, and a dead spot in the middle means that it's likely that my first opponent of the day will make it very obvious that it doesn't work before we even start bouting). And that's the only foil lame that fits me. If we can't find another by tomorrow, I think that badly malfunctioning equipment that you can't fix/replace disqualifies you from competing. And it would really stink to go the competition and sit on the sideline the whole day.
You're invited
12 January 2009 09:34 pm(yes, you!)
This Saturday, the 17th, I will be hosting a moving-in party. There will be boxes. I try not to pack them too heavily. There will be food. The food includes yummy homemade cookies. There will be beverages (probably just water, but hey).
Please come. You don't have to carry boxes, though it would be greatly appreciated. Come even if you can't carry boxes. You can carry pillows, or hold doors, or sit on the bed and look smug and tell me how I have to organize my room. Everyone who shows up will get an equal crack at the snacks.
And for those of you who are far away, I'm sorry you can't come.
Where: My new room in Park. And my dad's car, which will hopefully be parked right outside Park. Also at Ziskind, because I have a bunch of stuff in the trunk room there. If you're trying to meet up with us, you can try calling my cell phone or my new extension (neither of which I will post here, but you can get the one by asking people who know me and look the other up in the directory). Or you can just keep track of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tigerlofu, since she's being wonderful and picking up my keys for me, and I won't be able to get in without her.
When: This is more complicated. We're aiming for 4, but there are a zillion reasons that we might not arrive until 5, and who knows, we might even be early for once.
You can RSVP if you want to, perhaps by replying to this post. If you do, I'll call you or something when I arrive. Also, please tell me if you have a nut allergy or anything so that I can make sure that there are snacks you can eat.
It'll be fun?
This Saturday, the 17th, I will be hosting a moving-in party. There will be boxes. I try not to pack them too heavily. There will be food. The food includes yummy homemade cookies. There will be beverages (probably just water, but hey).
Please come. You don't have to carry boxes, though it would be greatly appreciated. Come even if you can't carry boxes. You can carry pillows, or hold doors, or sit on the bed and look smug and tell me how I have to organize my room. Everyone who shows up will get an equal crack at the snacks.
And for those of you who are far away, I'm sorry you can't come.
Where: My new room in Park. And my dad's car, which will hopefully be parked right outside Park. Also at Ziskind, because I have a bunch of stuff in the trunk room there. If you're trying to meet up with us, you can try calling my cell phone or my new extension (neither of which I will post here, but you can get the one by asking people who know me and look the other up in the directory). Or you can just keep track of
tigerlofu, since she's being wonderful and picking up my keys for me, and I won't be able to get in without her.When: This is more complicated. We're aiming for 4, but there are a zillion reasons that we might not arrive until 5, and who knows, we might even be early for once.
You can RSVP if you want to, perhaps by replying to this post. If you do, I'll call you or something when I arrive. Also, please tell me if you have a nut allergy or anything so that I can make sure that there are snacks you can eat.
It'll be fun?
Betting is now open for when Housing will tell me where I'm living next semester.
The facts:
The housing form (which was sent about the first week of October) was due November 21.
Since they've agreed to let me move back onto campus January 17th, they have to tell me where I'm living before then (right?). Actually, probably the 16th, sincetigerlofu is picking up the keys so that I can move in on a day when the office is closed, and I think that even Housing is aware that I need to have the keys before I can move in.
So - place your bets. If you guess right, you'll get a hug. Or a cookie. Or something like that.
And dragons.
The facts:
The housing form (which was sent about the first week of October) was due November 21.
Since they've agreed to let me move back onto campus January 17th, they have to tell me where I'm living before then (right?). Actually, probably the 16th, since
tigerlofu is picking up the keys so that I can move in on a day when the office is closed, and I think that even Housing is aware that I need to have the keys before I can move in. So - place your bets. If you guess right, you'll get a hug. Or a cookie. Or something like that.
And dragons.
In Good News,
1 October 2008 09:59 amHousing has remembered that I exist (at least so far). And it's earlier than I expected; I definitely expected that it would take them at least another month of dealing with housing crunch and AH-Get-Me-Out-of-Here roommate pairings before they got around to those of us who are abroad.
Of course, I should perhaps actually read the e-mail now.
Edit: Dear Housing, my address is five lines long, not counting my name. You've given me two. And you're limiting me to 40 characters per line? "Facultad de Filosofía y Letras" is 30 characters all by itself.
And I'm under the impression that this is not an unusual length for an international address.
At least you did give me enough space to put in my phone number.
Of course, I should perhaps actually read the e-mail now.
Edit: Dear Housing, my address is five lines long, not counting my name. You've given me two. And you're limiting me to 40 characters per line? "Facultad de Filosofía y Letras" is 30 characters all by itself.
And I'm under the impression that this is not an unusual length for an international address.
At least you did give me enough space to put in my phone number.
I moved (again) today. But it's done, and I'm all unpacked, if not organized, and tomorrow will be free for the Doing of Things, or maybe just sitting around reading - one or the other. I'm way to tired to talk coherently about moving, even if I wanted to, or about church today, which I had some thoughts of doing, so I think that I'm just going to write down my summer reading list.
( Really just for my own notes, but you're welcome to read it )
( Really just for my own notes, but you're welcome to read it )
Miriam, otherwise known as Magpie
20 May 2008 11:33 amI spent several hours yesterday pretending to be a TV technician again. I think that I've come to the conclusion that no, this is not in my job description, and no, they did not train me for it, but on the other hand, I am a perfectly capable youth of the 21st century, and that if I can't make this stuff work it's fairly certain that none of the alums will be able to. And hey, if they want to pay me for walking around campus for four hours in the lovely weather and poking around other people's houses, I won't object.
So. ( Moving. )
So. ( Moving. )
In which Miriam feels like an idiot
18 May 2008 10:39 pmAside from a great number of other things which happened today, I moved out of my Ziskind room. I was so proud of myself. I packed almost everything up yesterday and persuaded a helpful friend and accompanying parental unit to help me move most of it and then just had a load of laundry and a few last bags to move today. I was a whole day ahead of schedule. I ought to have known that moving is never that easy.
The turn of events was as follows:
After making my farewells, I called Emily and packed up. Emily and her summer roommate Gwen (a lovely person who I look forward to becoming better acquainted with) came by and helped with the last-minute minutiae like dusting all surfaces (no mean feat when you have a number of untidy plants and the corner of your room has been leaking plaster dust all year), removing the stubborn sticky from the door, sweeping, and all the little annoying things that always take longer than you think they will. We then moved the last of my stuff into the hall, closed and locked the door, checked and signed the little brown sheet, and hauled the last few bundles over to my new lodging on Green St, stopping by Clark Hall to drop off my Ziskind keys.
We then did enough unpacking to make the room look like I might possibly live in it and went to dinner. Afterwards we headed over to Parsons to watch some of Pride and Prejudice, which Emily had never seen. I got back to my room and was just settling down to send an e-mail to my family telling them that my extension is now different when I realized that I didn't have Miss Eliza. That no one had carried her over from Ziskind. That, in fact, the last time I had seen my computer bag it was hanging on a hook in my closet. That Emily had moved everything out of the closet when she'd swept it, but probably only everything on the floor. And did I mention that I'd already returned my keys? Also that my external hard drive (with a complete backup) was packed in the same bag?
So I called Public Safety and hightailed it over to Ziskind and called Public Safety again and one of the nice lady officers finally showed up and let me in and Miss Eliza was indeed exactly where I thought she was, and she is once again safely in my possession.
In other news, we discovered that while carpet tape is insufficient to hold up my purple dragon hanging, it is perfectly capable of pulling up Ziskind floor tiles.
N.B. I need to write the floor tiles and the shedding ceiling on the work order list.
So, about that e-mail to my family . . .
The turn of events was as follows:
After making my farewells, I called Emily and packed up. Emily and her summer roommate Gwen (a lovely person who I look forward to becoming better acquainted with) came by and helped with the last-minute minutiae like dusting all surfaces (no mean feat when you have a number of untidy plants and the corner of your room has been leaking plaster dust all year), removing the stubborn sticky from the door, sweeping, and all the little annoying things that always take longer than you think they will. We then moved the last of my stuff into the hall, closed and locked the door, checked and signed the little brown sheet, and hauled the last few bundles over to my new lodging on Green St, stopping by Clark Hall to drop off my Ziskind keys.
We then did enough unpacking to make the room look like I might possibly live in it and went to dinner. Afterwards we headed over to Parsons to watch some of Pride and Prejudice, which Emily had never seen. I got back to my room and was just settling down to send an e-mail to my family telling them that my extension is now different when I realized that I didn't have Miss Eliza. That no one had carried her over from Ziskind. That, in fact, the last time I had seen my computer bag it was hanging on a hook in my closet. That Emily had moved everything out of the closet when she'd swept it, but probably only everything on the floor. And did I mention that I'd already returned my keys? Also that my external hard drive (with a complete backup) was packed in the same bag?
So I called Public Safety and hightailed it over to Ziskind and called Public Safety again and one of the nice lady officers finally showed up and let me in and Miss Eliza was indeed exactly where I thought she was, and she is once again safely in my possession.
In other news, we discovered that while carpet tape is insufficient to hold up my purple dragon hanging, it is perfectly capable of pulling up Ziskind floor tiles.
N.B. I need to write the floor tiles and the shedding ceiling on the work order list.
So, about that e-mail to my family . . .
I had to return my SSFFS library keys today.
I always hate giving up keys. It's not so much the keys themselves; I prefer not to lock my door, and I dislike the way keys jingle (that is, I dislike wearing objects that make noise - I don't care if other people's clothing makes noise, within reason). But having keys to locked doors gives me a feeling of power, of having the ability to open those doors. I've heard some people say that they like having keys because it makes them feel important, but that's not it at all. Important is about the way other people look at you. Powerful is a way you feel about yourself. Giving up keys is a voluntary loss of power, a loss of position in that giant game of Hauissh. And I've already had to return my keys to the Ceramics Studio, and while I can still get into the studio via PubSafe, it is not at all the same.
So the inclusion of "return library keys" in my list of morning errands lessened my cheery mood a bit. The fact that I can get them back on Monday is no consolation; I still have to give them up now. The receipt of $10 in exchange is not much consolation either, as I'll have to give the $10 back when I go to reclaim my keys. And when I encounteredrelique and company on their way to the ITT, it was an easy decision to rearrange my plans to swing by Green Street and return library books before keys. Which I did. And then, since I was walking by Clark Hall, and I do need to move by Monday, and I was rather unclear on when any of this was happening -- I stopped by in hopes of answering some of those questions. And I got four new keys! House keys are not as exciting as library keys, in the general run of things, but I'm curious about the house where I'm to be living next, and getting four keys at once is always exciting. I also discovered that I was right and have hypothetically been living in two houses for this past week (the under-minion at the desk was wrong), and so can move into my next room whenever I please.
So - does anyone with a car, or with relatives coming who have a car, want to help me move a large suitcase and some boxes and tubs and a couple of bags and a number of plants over to Green Street at some point? I won't pay anything but gratitude, but it's good quality gratitude.
I always hate giving up keys. It's not so much the keys themselves; I prefer not to lock my door, and I dislike the way keys jingle (that is, I dislike wearing objects that make noise - I don't care if other people's clothing makes noise, within reason). But having keys to locked doors gives me a feeling of power, of having the ability to open those doors. I've heard some people say that they like having keys because it makes them feel important, but that's not it at all. Important is about the way other people look at you. Powerful is a way you feel about yourself. Giving up keys is a voluntary loss of power, a loss of position in that giant game of Hauissh. And I've already had to return my keys to the Ceramics Studio, and while I can still get into the studio via PubSafe, it is not at all the same.
So the inclusion of "return library keys" in my list of morning errands lessened my cheery mood a bit. The fact that I can get them back on Monday is no consolation; I still have to give them up now. The receipt of $10 in exchange is not much consolation either, as I'll have to give the $10 back when I go to reclaim my keys. And when I encountered
relique and company on their way to the ITT, it was an easy decision to rearrange my plans to swing by Green Street and return library books before keys. Which I did. And then, since I was walking by Clark Hall, and I do need to move by Monday, and I was rather unclear on when any of this was happening -- I stopped by in hopes of answering some of those questions. And I got four new keys! House keys are not as exciting as library keys, in the general run of things, but I'm curious about the house where I'm to be living next, and getting four keys at once is always exciting. I also discovered that I was right and have hypothetically been living in two houses for this past week (the under-minion at the desk was wrong), and so can move into my next room whenever I please.So - does anyone with a car, or with relatives coming who have a car, want to help me move a large suitcase and some boxes and tubs and a couple of bags and a number of plants over to Green Street at some point? I won't pay anything but gratitude, but it's good quality gratitude.
There's so much extra space!
21 February 2007 01:09 pmWell, it's happened. Renee has moved out. And wow, does she move fast. Of course, I suppose that helping her move out did make things go faster, as did the fact that she's only moving three doors down the hall. I rather suspect that most of the people in the house don't even know that the room change came through yet, although I might be underestimating the power of gossip. At any rate, I now have an open double, and am trying to figure out exactly what I'm going to do with it. I played around with room layout this morning, and while I'm not at all sure that I like the result, I do think that's it's important that I at least start out with something different, or else I'll never be able to make the whole room properly mine. There is still a feeling of an invisible line running down the side of the room, and while some of my stuff has begun to creep over that line, I don't yet feel that it really belongs. Finding something to put on that big empty wall will certainly help, as will a general re-distribution of my belongings. Eleanor1 suggested getting a tapestry thing, and I'll probably wind up doing that.
M.
M.
