Guess what? Sunday was St. Patrick's Day. It was fantastic! I went with Laura to the Irish Center pub and it was packed full! We left for town around 11:30 AM and it was fantastic! So many Irish and wannabe Irish people waving their flags and watching the parade. Let me just say, these people really know how to celebrate! There were so many people in the pub I had to shove people out of my way to squeeze through. Also, someone decided to squeeze my butt while I was squeezing past them. Squeeze. Say it five times fast. It doesn't sound real anymore.
Famous dude!
This is what too much fun looks like!
Anyway, after that butt-squeeze encounter, I met this dude named Geoff Horsfield
who is
apparently a famous football (soccer) player here.
Naturally, I made friends with him and took pictures with him.That's just how I roll. Laura and I went home around 8:30 PM because by then we were completely tuckered out.
Side note: On the way back, like an idiot, I took off my shoes and then my feet died a slow painful death. Cold pavement+rocks+standing in heels 9 straight hours before=serious ouch. And that was my St. Paddy's (edited version).
Also, last weekend, one of my very best friends, Brittany Jonas, performed in her second professional opera show. Go Brit! Sorry I had to miss it! Another thing I missed was my other great friend Ethan Menke's 21st birthday! No!!! Why do I miss so many great things? AND as if that wasn't bad enough, I also missed Pancho's 21st birthday! UGH. This is crap. Just crap.
Brittany (Opera-Star) Jonas
Pancho (I-like-to-embarrass-Rusty for-fun) Fields
Ethan (What? Do I have something on my face?) Menke
I contacted the boys to let them know I was thinking about them, but I can't help feeling a little sad I couldn't be with them. Although, to be fair, it is Spring break at home and I probably wouldn't have seen them anyway. Boo. Shout out to you three wonderful people though. Except Pancho. Pancho made these pictures of me. -__-
Little does he know, I just bought an economy size box from the store.
That is not even me. He must have found this in a cataloge and just cut it out.
Laura Morrissey is taking over my life slowly with Ed, Edd, and Eddy and Courage the Cowardly Dog nights after the gym. We even watched the Haunting in Connecticut sequel last night. I barely made it through. But with Ghosts of Bedlam (the play) coming up this week, we rehearse and run lines together constantly. Hold on. Laura is literally here. (2 hour writing break) She just left. We had tea and watched YouTube videos. Totes didn't rehearse... Oops.
Laura and me. She is coming to Kansas Newman next semester!
Today in my Modern Drama lecture, we learned about Artaud and his 'Theatre of Cruelty' and then we put it into practice. Keep in mind this guys aim is to shock the audience, not entertain them. This dude's work paved the way for the horror genre. Without him, horror movies wouldn't exist. When my group did our performance, I made a girl cry. If you're reading this Liz, I'm really sorry! And I feel extra bad because although I felt kinda bad, it was also thrilling. You know the way people in TV shows talk about the power and evil and how it is addicting and feels good? Yeah. Like that. No one knew I was in the performance so I situated myself into the middle of the group while the two other blokes harassed the audience by forcing them into a corner with the lights off and whispering "Follow the yellow brick road" which was foreshadowing for what happened next. Everyone went silent for a solid 30 seconds and then without any warning I let out my most hideous, bloodcurdling shriek from the midst of the audience. The girl in front of me started crying immediately and other people in the audience screamed too, in shock. Moohahaha. If you want to learn more about 'Theatre of Cruelty,' watch below. I warn you, it's weird as heck.
This was in the package from home.
To be honest, that's all I have for today except to mention I received another package from home and a letter from Grandma Cici. It's nice getting mail. It makes me feel good. Unfortunately, on another note, Grandma Laura's sister died today so I gave her a call to send my condolences. It was nice to talk to her, but I could tell she was hurting. She's taken care of though. Aunt Sami printed off my past blogs and sent them to her to read. They haven't arrived yet, but I'm sure they will soon.
It's almost 1 AM. Time to write a post. -__- At least that's the way it always seems. March 10th was Mother's Day! I have no idea why their Mother's Day isn't in May like ours, but whatever. Since I found out so short notice, I didn't have time to send anything home, so I resorted to creativity. Please browse the photos and enjoy the fruit of my labors. Click to enlarge.
Also, get over the group picture that won't stay in line. I just spent two solid hours trying to get the pictures to line up. THEY WONT FREAKING LINE UP. My OCD mind is dying a slow and very painful death. Leave me alone. This is as good as it gets.
Aren't we adorable? If you say no, you are wrong.
It is a scientific fact.
Later on Sunday, I had the pleasure of introducing Laura, a Drama student coming to Newman Kansas next semester to my lovely friends Pancho, Ethan, and Blake. While Skyping, they asked her to say many things, admiring her accent, and somehow it came out in conversation that people here thought it strange I eat peanut butter with apples. The boys assumed this meant Laura needed educating and took it upon themselves to explain every type of peanut butter. This is their analysis:
JIF Smooth Original- The safe choice. The best choice. You can't go wrong with Smooth Original. It is the god of peanut butters.
JIF Crunchy- This one is a bit risky. It's kinda like kissing that random guy you just met at the club.
JIF Extra Crunchy- VERY risky. This is only for the brave of heart. Back away. Slowly.
Peter Pan Original- JIF's gay cousin. Always living in JIF's shadow. This can be taken literally as JIF jars are typically larger and can cast a sizable shadow over the puny-in-comparison Peter Pan jar.
Rusty's choice of peanut butter- Also known as Organic Almond Butter. It is a fake. It's not even made with peanuts. Pathetic. May also go by the name "Grandma Food".
Ritz Peanut Butter Snack Crackers- For those with a peanut butter craving on the go. Satisfying the craving and adding the deliciousness of a salty Ritz cracker.
Peanuts- The raw product of peanut butter goodness. Eat with salt. Eat alot.
Right before they busted out the peanut butter.
Did I mention they had jars of each kind? And a massive jar of peanuts? They did. They had at least 5 jars of peanut butter. I have literally NO idea what possessed them to buy 5 different kinds of peanut butter. I don't even try to understand their logic anymore. I did, however, notice there was a lack of almond butter representation.
This video chat lasted until 7 AM. Ethan played damage control and tried to apologize to Laura for the boys' behavior. Haha. She'll see way more of that next semester. After the boys hung up, Laura and I were ready to hit the hay and then... Brittany got online. We chatted until 9 AM. Laura left around 8 AM and that's around the time Chris Hansen joined the Skype call. I don't even remember all that we talked about because I was so exhausted, but it was great talking to them. We were all in different time zones! Kinda cool.
My loves. I want them to sit next to me so I can
put ice cubes down the back of their shirts.
Skip to Thursday. Today in Modern Drama, Pancho told me via chat he and Brit were in the same room ready to Skype. This NEVER happens so I left class and talked with them until Panch had to go to a meeting. I didn't miss much in the class.. All we did was learn how to write essays which I've been doing forever and a day. The class is a freshman class, so I didn't feel bad skipping a few minutes. Blake popped in last minute and Kevin talked to Brittany in his "Perfect Irish accent" (Get it Jit? It almost works). After lecture, I went to Dutch lesson. Luka is a good teacher and I really feel like I'm learning alot. I Facebook messaged Mom that I was in Dutch class and sent her some phrases. She asked what I had said to her in Danish. -__- Nice one Mom.
This happened.
...I'm not even sure what THIS is.
At 7 PM, Laura and I logged onto Skype and had a meeting with Mark Mannette. I had already chosen my classes the day the course schedule came out, as usual, so basically he just listened to me advise myself and answered a few of my specific questions. Good thing Justin was there to help with computer issues on mark's end. Justin should read my blog. I will tell him he is mentioned. That will make sure he reads it. Oh. Hi Justin. You seem to be reading my devious plot. Heh... Yeah... Anyway, I was sad Mrs. Zogleman wasn't in the office, so afterwards I emailed her. Three times. There were alot of capital letters. My pride was collateral. I may have said I miss you a few times too many. Oops. Oh well.
Laura and I went to the gym. Yeah that's right. We work out. We've been going for a couple weeks now and I think we have a pretty solid reward system. Basically, if we work out a solid week (besides Sunday, our rest day), we get to reward ourselves with ice cream. If we work out for two solid weeks, we get to go shopping! I haven't been shopping for anything but groceries since I got here! This is a good incentive. I want to buy new shoes. I have to lace all of my casual shoes. I am too darn lazy to lace my shoes every day! I lose enough calories working out that I think I have earned the option of lace-less shoes.
Side note: Other than working out, we also make videos. See below.
Yeah. We know we're cool. And now I'm tired and thus, I will bid you good night.
I hope your week is going swimmingly. I haven't posted anything new lately because not much blog-worthy has happened. I do have a few things to write about now though, so here goes.
Thursday, I was Skyped in at my 2 AM to watch Newman University's production of AWoman of No Importance. Although I couldn't really see/hear the first act, I was moved closer for the second and I really enjoyed the performance. Good job guys! I loved being there to support you and I'm glad you had a successful run. CL rocked as the WONI. You were born for that role, Dahling. I had fun talking to the cast and crew after, as well. It was a great feeling to see everyone together again. It was a great contrast to what I usually endure on Skype.
Pancho singing me The National Anthem while Blake respectfully puts his hand over his heart.
On Sunday I had the pleasure of Skyping Blake and Matt again. It was a long 48 minutes of them singing Johanna from Sweeney Todd and Matt giving me a tour of their microwave. Pancho also gave a riveting performance of The Star Spangled Banner with Blake saluting the nonexistent flag in the background. Sorry; BLAKE's microwave. He claims that is a very important detail. I suppose it is a good thing to never know what to expect with them. I also got to Skype Mom, Dad, and Loni this week as well. I showed them my tentative route for the Summer and they showed me Loni's nasty dog. Ew.
Couldn't resist.
Did you know: People here have never heard of breakfast burritos or apples and peanut butter. They think I'm crazy! Well... I may be crazy, but not for eating breakfast burritos. That's normal. I will cook it for them eventually. But first I need to learn how to cook. I also learned from Laura (a student who will be coming to US Newman next semester) that when someone asks you to come over for tea, tea means dinner. What the heck. That blew my mind.
Saturday we had a girl's night and I played the only movie I brought with me: The Hot Chick. Yesssss. I restrained myself from quoting the entire script. It really made me miss Brittany and Kacy. Sssick. Ssssick!
My next prom dress
So here's the India part of my blog. Tuesday I received a phone call from one of the girls in my English lecture asking if I would like to go to India with her. For free. Naturally I fainted. Okay not really, but I was flabbergasted. She asked if I knew anyone else who would like to go as she had a couple tickets. I asked Naomi, who was standing next to me, and she said she was interested. We told her we would think it over and let her know. Naomi's mother immediately forbid her to go, so I asked Kris to go with me. She was psyched too, but realized she had a conflict and couldn't go. Finally, I asked Luka and he said he would love to go.
Being on the wrong side of the road is trippy
When I saw my classmate the next day, she basically explained that she had planned on going on holiday with a group of friends and a few had dropped out. The plane ticket was nonrefundable so all I had to buy was a visa. She said we would be going to the Taj Mahal and staying in a five star hotel. This all sounded fantastic, but what I didn't understand really was why she asked me. I had only seen her about four times in class. It was a little odd to me, so I tried to get as much information as I could. She didn't have exact flight times. (Weird.) And she couldn't give me many details at all because "her boyfriend was handling the trip." She told me she needed to know for sure within two days if we were coming or not because they were going to get the visas on Friday and they had to know how many people were going when they booked the hotel. Wait. What? They said they are staying in a five star hotel which they haven't booked yet. And I don't have to pay? Their friends who dropped out surely were refunded for that since it hadn't even been paid for yet. She called the next day and asked for my decision. I told her Luka and I would go because Naomi and Kris couldn't come. She said that was fine and on Friday she would call when she was on campus to pick up our passports and the visa fee of 95 pounds. "Um. I'm not sure you can get a visa for me without me there. I can just go to London next weekend and get it myself." She said not to worry and that she can just do it to save time. I'm pretty sure it's an AWFUL/DOWNRIGHT STUPID idea to give someone else your passport/visa when you are in a foreign country. Also, no. I don't believe someone can procure a visa for someone else legally. I said okay and we hung up. Of course at this point I was extremely doubtful and only said okay because I needed to talk it over with Luka. Plus, I admit, I was reluctant to let an opportunity like this slip away. Luka and I parted ways because I had to go to rehearsal and not five minutes later, she called me again asking if I could find a girl friend to come instead of Luka. Alarm bells went off in my head. I asked why and she said because her boyfriend would be off doing his own thing and the rest of the group were girls. She thought they'd be more comfortable without a guy around. Okay. The only thing making me feel better about this had been Luka. I felt safer having a guy along with me just in case. This was incredibly shady. Especially since she and her group of friends were in their late twenties. Who feels uncomfortable with men around at that age? Not many. I spoke with Luka that night and we both decided it was a fantastic opportunity, but so incredibly shady that we just couldn't say yes. Going to a far away country in Asia and giving our passports and money to someone I don't know well, no one I know here has heard of, and doesn't have a Facebook (who doesn't have a Facebook?! Grandma CiCi has one!) is probably one of the stupidest things I could have done. I told her my dad froze my bank account and threatened to drag me back to America if I didn't go.
At the end of the day, my intuition was telling me no the whole time. Always trust your intuition. When I was making my decision, I just thought to myself: I could take this opportunity, but that could risk not coming home again. I HAVE TO come home. I have too many people there I couldn't live without seeing again.
If you are reading this, you are the reason I didn't go to India. Jerk.
All in all, if it sounds too good to be true, maybe it is. Check all the facts before you commit to something like this and ask yourself if it's worth the risk.
Now, after all that seriousness, here's a little something to lighten the mood.
Enjoy. >:)
Love you all and I'll be home in five months exactly. :)
