oh how things change

Exactly one week ago, if you had asked me my summer plans, I would have told you that they involved spending an extended time in Kyrgyzstan (the small central Asian country just west of China), speaking Russian and hanging out with Kyrgyz peeps while Trav did his internship. Alas, due to 1 very stubborn UVU bureaucrat (and the slightly unstable political situation in Kyrgyzstan- they just had a coup a few weeks ago), his application for approval from UVU was denied, leaving him without an internship and us without plans for most of the summer.

My, how quickly thing can change.

So now what do we do for the next 3 months?

the new girl

With a ring in her very straight and well-shaped nose and her long, straight, black hair, she reminds me of a gypsy. She defies the world with her body language and smoldering gaze (in an angry not seductive way). And as of today she's my newest student.

I've seen her around campus a few times and always given her a wide berth. You don't want to get in the way of that kind of attitude! Today our conversations went something like this:

Me: Welcome to class. What's your name?
her: (mumbles as she glares at me)
Me: One more time, please?
her: ****! (her name, not a curse word. but it kind of sounds like one)
Me: Here's your syllabus. Please read it (as I flee back to my table)
after class:
her: Is it always going to be like that?
me: Like what? About Native American tribes?
her: (nods sharply, says nothing, arms folded defiantly)
me: No, just some days. So if you're bored by Indians, don't worry. We'll do other things.
her: (nods again)
me: (thinking I detect a glimmer of a smile, I smile back. What little smile there may have been suddenly disappears, and she stalks out of class).

Suffice it to say, this girl is far from warm and fuzzy. And even if she's not as bad as she seems upon first impression, she's still a bit...intimidating. I'm hoping we can bond over her being Middle Eastern and me loving everything about Arabs, but I'm skeptical. We'll see how things develop.

glorious sleep

I had a 5 day reprieve from school last week. Our original plans involved driving to some exotic location and lounging on the beach, but due to other possible future travel developments and the need to save our pennies, we opted to stay home. It was actually quite pleasant; we did a whole lot a nothin'. Most of our time was spent reading, lounging, watching movies (I recommend Goodbye Lenin and Bulletproof Monk-it really is as awesome as it sounds), interspersed with eating and a bit of gardening.

Oh, and sleeping, did I mention that? I discovered that when I have no reason to get up, my body will naturally wake itself up after exactly 7 hours and 50 minutes of sleep. At first I thought it was just because of the sun shining in my window, but then the sun went away for 3 days and I still woke up right on schedule. And I felt absolutely great. I guess I hadn't noticed how tired I had been getting from skipping sleep. Who knew your body actually does need 8 hours!

Alas, after such a great discovery, I'm back in school, and with it comes fewer and fewer restful hours during the night. I suppose that gives me one reason to be grateful my church doesn't start until 1:00- at least I'll have Sundays.