June 5, 2010

U-Turns

My two friends, Jess and Elena, thought I was in a "funk" yesterday evening so they took me out to a Drag Show and the Pride kick off event at Town in DC. I had to be drug there at first but it was well worth the exhaustion today.

On the way to Town we passed by a church in South East DC off Route 5 that had a sign in front that said, "Don't worry, God allows U-Turns." My first thought was....why in the world would you ever advocate U-Turns?! If we are all making U-Turns then we will end up like New Jersey where you cannot make a left hand. In order to go Left in NJ you go Right into a jug handle (aka U-Turn) so you can re-enter the intersection and finally go where you wanted to go which is now right in front of you (I know confusing right! You also are not allowed to pump your own gas in Jersey). Don't get me wrong I REALLY love jug handles...there is even picture evidence of this on Facebook....and I love New Jersey. But really...sometimes wouldn't it just be easier to make the left hand turn?

Furthermore, if you have already been down that road why would you ever want to revisit it? You have seen all the sights on that road, stopped at all the restaurants, met the people who live down that road. And clearly there is a reason why you didn't park on that road. You kept driving for a reason right?

I pointed this out to Jess and Elena who gave me a different view on U-Turns (keep in mind Jess is from NJ...so she may be biased....) I said that I would never want to make a U-Turn because the way I see U-Turns are a form of back tracking. I would rather keep moving straight. Turning Left and Right, merging, taking new roads and never using my rearview mirror. I didn't want to go back to where I have already driven through. Jess and Elena, however, really liked the idea of U-Turns because what if you missed something? What if you really needed to get to a house that was on the opposite side of the freeway that you couldn't get to before? What if you realized that you made a wrong turn and you REALLY did need to back track?

One of my biggest problems is reflecting on past events and growing and building upon them. Maybe I could benefit from a few U-Turns every now and then. After all if you do take a U-Turn you aren't driving on the exact same road. You are on the other side of a road you used to be on. And maybe that is where you need to be.

June 2, 2010

So Long No Talk

Hey.....So I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a while! Let me give you a run down of the past four months!

Things I did this semester

I was in the Vagina Monologues- We raised over $1,700 to support women who have been assaulted.
I made costumes for the musical Cabaret at my College. It was one of my favorite shows I have worked on...I love musicals!!
I worked on a group quilt with the people I work with- As a result I have started working on a quilt on my own. I'm excited to see how it turns out!
I started a book club- It was themed books by women all over the world. We read books written by women from China, to Egypt, to the US....
I made a Consent Zine
I was co-president of FUSE-Feminists United for Sexual Freedom
I TAed an Introduction to Islam class- I want to teach in the future and this was such an amazing experience I cannot wait to teach again!
I spoke at the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Colloquium- The Theme this year was Women in Politics.
I am now doing Archeology at Historic St. Mary's City
I traveled to Florida to visit Raina, my friend from Egypt, and my friend from high school Lacey- University of Florida is BEAUTIFUL!!!!! I hope I get to go back and visit sometime soon!
I played in a LOT of SNOW! It was really shocking to the system at first. But I love snow!

I learned a lot while I was gone....

Patience- Learned
When I left for Egypt I was one of the most impatient people in the world. I was defiantly operating on fast paced US time. I have learned that for some things just take longer to get done. Whether it is overcoming an obstacle, learning something new, or accomplishing an every day task; eventually everything will get done. If you just wait things will fall into place...sometimes it just takes longer then we want it to.

Pace of Living-Things Will Get Done
This goes alone with the above. I used to have panic attacks if I was going to be late to something. I am happy to say that this no longer happens! I know at times I got SO mad at how erratic and chaotic things seemed when I got to Egypt. This can even be seen in by blog entries...I was VERY irritated in the beginning....but it got better. Patience has defiantly helped me with this. I know that everything I need to do will get done. It its own time everything will get accomplished. I know I sound like a fortune cookie....but I see now that we are never given more then we can handle. I used to get SO mad when people would tell me this. But I love that I can say it now with confidence that it is true. It is something I struggle with every day. But I know that in the end everything will work out.

True Life-I'm A Caffeine Addict
I AM SO ADDICTED TO CAFFEINE!!!!! I gave it up for a while in Egypt...but I am completely back on the wagon and I wish I wasn't! I still think that the best coffee I have ever had was the coffee I got by the Med in Lebanon....I would go back just for that.

Fall in Love- Love is Hard- Love Takes Work
I learned a lot about love over the past year. Love is the one thing that has the power to make you feel so amazing and make you feel like complete shit. Things got bad when I was in Egypt with the person I was in love with. But it was through my heart break that I learned how much work it takes to be in love. When you are together that love comes so easily. But it is the distance that really shows you your love. Long distance relationships are hard. They hurt. Frankly they suck. But in the end I think they are the most gratifying because they teach you so much about yourself. They are the best learning experiences and I am glad that I had this one. I am no longer with the person I was with when I went to Egypt. But I will always be grateful for my time with that person. Since then I have experienced many different forms of love and they have all been influenced from my work with love from Egypt and I am excited to explore love in the future.


Things Get Bad- But I Can Do It 
The title pretty much says it all. My trip to St. Anthony's Monastery still helps me every day that things go wrong (for more details read my post about it earlier...). Every day I wake up with my mantra and I try to think about it and live it every day. Egypt was one of the best learning experiences of my life and I am excited to see how these lessons play out in my life in the future. I can't wait to go back!