Unique New York

I have fallen in love with upstate New York. Its helped that the temperatures have been hot enough that the lake feels refreshing rather then freezing. In case you are wondering why I am enjoying a vacation on the East Coast, its because I have traveled across the US with two children in tow. I am a traveling nanny, apparently. I am with a 5 year old girl and a 7 year old boy, whose parents are expecting another child in the next several weeks which made travel a little risky and uncomfortable to say the least. We landed in Burlington, Vermont where the kid's grandmother met us. We then drove three hours to the cabin, which included a 20 minute ferry ride. This was the super cool kind of ferry that mostly transports cars. I'll include a couple of pictures. The ride wasn't too bad, and the kids behaved themselves really well considering that their day had started around 6 a.m. and 12 hours later they had gone through two plane rides, a layover, a car ride, grocery stop, another car ride, a ferry ride, and then two and a half hours more of car travel. I was pretty tired and cranky myself, and I consider myself a well-seasoned traveler.

We arrived Saturday, and today, (Sunday) we went to a woodsmen festival. Out of the several hundreds of people, I saw FOUR (4!!!) that were not white, an Asian family. This was incredibly shocking to me. I know that I should have gotten used to small town America by now, but somehow my brain cannot comprehend the lack of diversity. Once again, this is why I love Minneapolis. And the schools that I have been too. I can walk down the street, bike to the lake, take the bus, or zoom down the light rail, and I will see people that look like me, and people that look far different. Thank you immigration!

Back to vacationing/nannying. The festival was filled with outdoor activities, like horse pulling, and grease pole climb, and lots and lots of machines that cut up logs. There was a chainsaw sculpting contest, and a kids watermelon eating competition where they were not allowed to use their hands. It was hot, hot, hot, and after only a few hours, we were all ready to head back to the cabin where a nice cool lake awaited us. We swam, played in the sand, and sat back on the beach or dock for most of the afternoon. Perfect afternoon. The sun is setting over the island on the lake, and behind the island I can see mountains that are reaching up into the sky. Its is beautiful here. I have until next Sunday here, so I am going to make the most of it, such as learning how to fly fish in the morning. Hope that everyones summer has been going well, and that hopefully y'all are not working as much as me (4 jobs) and are enjoying the summer to the fullest. I will write soon!

(By the way, its been a year since I have left for Wales. I miss it quite a bit)

The carving competition using chainsaws

The Lake


Flag on the ferry
Ferry Ride!

Ferry entrance

Home _____ Home

I was a bit worried about coming home and rejoining the life that I had before I traveled all over the place, and before I became accustomed to dorm life and independence. I have been home for a month now and surprisingly, its been almost too easy to meld myself back into the role of a daughter who has responsibilities that do not include writing a ten page paper two days before its due. I have chores that I am more then willing to do, and I feel rewarded to have access to a car (lazy mobility), even though it increases the responsibility that I have.

This past month has been wonderful and relaxing. I have just about a million part time jobs that are doing their best to keep me busy, and thankfully are also doing a decent job of refilling my almost empty bank account. I caught the tail end of the rugby season and had a wonderful time playing the game and getting to know my new companions. It was a definite change to be playing with a women's team vs. a high school team. In my opinion, it was much better. I even earned the nick-name of "Spanky". But how I earned that name can be left for another time..... Hee hee. Nothing too scandalous I assure you, and at the time I did not even realize that it was note-worthy.

Its been great getting to see my friends and family. I went to prom a second time. It was fun, but nothing spectacular. The best part might have been afterwards when some of my friends got together and hung out. While other people who attended prom were partying at hotels and such, me and my friends just sat and talked and shared how the past year has been.

I do miss the dorms and the people, but I will be back soon enough. Its hard to believe that it has already been a month since I came home. I want to appreciate every little bit of my break as much as I can, and then return to school rejuvenated and prepared to tackle my new classes and my role as an RA. Relaxing will come a bit easier if the weather was a bit better, I must say. At least the forecast for next week looks quite a bit better.

No promises, but I do want to write more frequently. I have been following a few blogs recently and it has given me an incentive to write more. Until then, have a great day in the rain!




P.S. I highly recommend making whipped cream out of coconut milk/cream. Its delicious, especially with pancakes and fresh fruit. Thanks Nora.

Guatemala

And I just realized that I never commented on how Guatemala was. In short, wonderful and WARM. Went to two of my cousins combined wedding, saw lots of family, and took lots of pictures. Will let the picture do the talking.

End o' the year

Wow. Time surely has flown. I have already had my spring break and been home, and am currently in the final stretch of the year. This weekend it is RA (resident adviser) selections. I have applied, so now there is just the interactive stuff, one minute talent, and then hopefully an interview. Wish me luck!

Classes are going well, even if I am a bit annoyed by a grade in one class. Apparently, the teacher and I do not see eye to eye with my paper. Oh well, its one class out of five. I have been lucky to be in two very small classes, one with 4 students and the other with 5. Of course, both classes are focused on obscure topics; Ukrainian Literature and Film, and Ukrainian Short Story. I am still dead set on getting an Eastern European major, and a Native studies minor. Something new is that I plan on doing a semester exchange to Australia (to get more minor credits) but do a three week summer session in St. Petersburg. This would allow me to travel more while in school and both programs allow me to work toward my major and minor. With the way things are going, I should be able to graduate a semester early.

I am very ready to go home. When I was at home for spring break, I was able to ride my bike a couple of times. I have forgotten how enjoyable it is. I cannot wait to travel the city by bike and explore parts that I haven't seen much of, like SE and maybe N. And there is a boyfriend that I have been missing very much. I will be home soon at least! The current plan is for me to arrive home on April 14th, just about a month away. Its hard to believe that I am almost done with my first year of college already.

This summer is going to be a busy one. I am going to be working at the same place that my mom does for catering. I worked a bit there last summer and really enjoyed it. The boss has asked my mom often about when I can get back and work. The mansion where the catering is hosted has been under some major construction which is unfinished and I think that there is some panicking going on since there is a wedding planned there on May 1st and there is so much to do to get the mansion ready. At least I can expect to be working lots of hours....

I am also going to be doing as much babysitting as I can. So parents out there, send your kids my way. I may also pick up a part time job at a coffee shop or something (standard summer job of teens) but that depends on how much available time I have. I don't want to spend my entire summer working; just most of it.

One thing I do plan on doing is playing rugby! I played a bit for the team that gave me my college scholarship last summer, and I plan to return to playing for them as soooooon as I get home. This past semester there has been a distinct lack of exercise. Oops. So even if my mother will not be completely pleased about it, I am looking forward to it.

Another nice thing about this summer is that my Welsh aunt and uncle + cousins are coming for a visit this summer! Last summer I was able to write about my adventures while staying at their house, and now it will be nice to see them after having spent so long in their company. I am so glad I did that trip last summer (and if you are not aware of what I am talking about, check out the first like 30 blog posts) because it let me really connect with some family that I never really go to spend much time with. They do their best to visit every other year, but its hard to get to know people when you only see them for three weeks every couple of years. Hopefully I can do a repeat visit. I have a feeling that that is going to have to wait a while though.

Well, I will see most of you guys soon. If not, I should remember to post every once in a while to let y'all know about my not so exciting adventures.

Oh, and I got to go to my friends house and farm again. Here are some pictures of the horses at play in winter.