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| I think I got duped. 
I was running some errands today, and after I get out of the CVS in McLean, I head around the corner of that plaza over to Greenberry's to pick up something for my sister -- iced coffee, grande, with half-and-half; costs $1.79, including tax. Before I'm even halfway there, I run into a large black woman with a young boy in tow. She looked a little bit frantic and asked if I spoke English. Thinking she needed directions somewhere, I said yes and asked what she needed.
So she tells me she's driving a white Jeep -- she gestures to the parking lot and we both see one of those Cherokees parked nearby -- and that she's been driving around all morning to four or five places trying to get financial aid in the form of stuff like food stamps. Little red flags go up in my mind, of course, b/c inevitably, the next topic is probably going to be money. It is. She says she's got five kids at home, one's two years old and needs Pampers, the other's five and needs "pull-up pants" (disposable pants, it turns out), they have no food at home, etc etc. While we were talking, an elderly man wearing a uniform with a badge "Security" came around the corner. At that point, the thought crossed my mind to ask him to help her. I thought of telling her where the local police station was, but for some reason, I didn't because she kept going on about how every place she'd been to said she'd have to wait 7-10 business days to get approval for food stamps or whatnot.
I didn't want to just give her money b/c you have no idea if someone's just going to pocket the money once you turn the corner. Plus, I just read an article yesterday in Reader's Digest about how people will actually pretend to be Hurricane Katrina victims to dupe people and nonprofit orgs of their money -- and it works, too, apparently. So, I decide to volunteer to go back into CVS with her and actually buy stuff with her. She keeps going on about how she has no money, so I figure I can give her some money when we go to pay for her purchases. Well, she does get Pampers and those alleged pull-up pants, and that already adds up to almost $20. She mentions her five-year-old is really fat ("why?" "because he's really greedy" -- but I thought she said she didn't have food at home...? What would he be getting fat on?) and I start getting the "red flags going up" feeling again. Then she says again that she still needs food and can I please give her money for gas, and by now, I'm starting to think, "Whoa, hold up" b/c what am I gonna do if I go with her to Giant and she fills a whole cart up with groceries and charges them all to me? I'm not exactly loaded either. But by now, I already feel kind of -- um, cornered? Just walking off now seems very inconsiderate and what if she does happen to have five hungry children at home waiting for food stamps that won't be approved for 7-10 business days? So I give her some money to pay for the Pampers and pull-up pants and another $20 for groceries, wish her good luck (she started kind of crying -- is it really hard to force yourself to cry? I really don't know), said I'd pray for her, and went on my way to Greenberry's for my sister's iced coffee.
In retrospect, I was really mad at myself b/c I think I got duped (I called the phone number that she gave me that was supposedly hers that she said would be disconnected b/c she wouldn't be able to pay the phone bill until next Friday, and not only was it not disconnected, but it was for a 703 area code! not a 202 area code for DC where she had said she worked or lived or whatever) but next time, I won't be and I hope that she doesn't have five hungry children at home (but that would mean she was lying) but if I hope that she does, that means she was really in a state of extreme poverty so I don't know which to hope for. 
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| could you enter the sport of.... competitive eating?
A 105-lb Asian female (not the famous Sonya Thomas) won a pizza-eating contest by eating 11 slices in 10 minutes (link for article here). So I was thinking -- how do you condition yourself to competitively eat? I mean, you get paid just to sit there and stuff your face; how awesome is that? Maybe I should try it sometime...
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| I loved Spain. I just got back from my study abroad in Valencia, Spain yesterday. To be absolutely honest, I didn't enjoy every single moment there; there were moments when I dearly and earnestly wished I was home, but overall, I absolutely loved it. Spain is six hours ahead, so right now, my mind still thinks it's almost four in the morning so I'm probably not very coherent at the moment, but when I think of my time abroad in Valencia, Spain, I will think... Aprender español (learning Spanish); waking up at 7:30 (latest) every morning since I had class at 8:30; people ranging from teenagers to businessmen in suits with nice briefcases astride motorcycles because parking is otherwise impossible; seeing apartments, apartments, and more apartment buildings since houses are rare in Valencia (not enough space); eating food that had a lot of olive oil, salt, and vinegar; taking a (nap) almost every day; shops closing at 14:00 every day and not reopening until 3 hours later because I guess shopkeepers have to take their siestasiestas (naps), too; living the city life; not crossing the road even when the pedestrian sign turns green because absolutely everyone seems to run red lights; people staring and/or making comments because I'm a foreigner; other Americans yapping in English at the top of their lungs while standing in the bike lane (not something i'd like to do...); Pans and Company (European fast food, kinda prevalent like McDonald's); Movistar (one of the three cellphone companies in Spain -- it swallows your $ like no other); Jacinto Benavente (street where my host mother's apartment was); my wonderful madre (host mother); my madre's 3 grandchildren, who were the most well-behaved when they took a nap; seeing baby rabbits (and chipmunks! I've never seen those in cages before) on Las Ramblas in Barcelona; getting off at the wrong train station with Jessica on the way back from Madrid; sketchy guys on the streets; getting laughed at (in a nice way, of course) for always being hungry and always wanting to take pictures; and of course... my dear friends that I made in España. 
Us
in front of the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) in Barcelona (you can't actually see
the palace in this pic, just one of the many waterfalls in front of the palace)
Us inside one of the towers in El Templo de la Sagrada Familia, also in Barcelona
"Studying abroad has been one of the best experiences of my college career." I concur and I am now plotting of ways to tweak my academic schedule so I can go abroad for the semester
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| Summer too BoRing?
Get ready for another EXPLOSION...
KE VII / BoRing? III weekend is only a month away!! Register and come out for a fun-filled weekend at your nation's capitol!!.. Open to all Greeks/non-Greeks nationwide!!!
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| Lessons I learned from second year (not limited to these and not arranged in any particular order):
- Love
yourself. If you don't love yourself, who will? In order for others
to accept you for who you are, you must first accept yourself. While
this seems like common sense to some, those (okay, me) who are their
worst critic struggle with it, I think. If I don't show people who I
really am inside, they can't possibly understand or accept me b/c they
really don't know me.
- Work never pays off 100%. I wish it
did. I wish I had 100% efficiency and that all the hard work I poured
into things would just pay off completely, but life never goes that
way. The only problem is -- work doesn't pay off 100%, that much is guaranteed, but if you don't work, you're almost guaranteed failure too.
- You
can always have a longer nose, bigger boobs, better skin, etc etc. I
have trouble with this all the time, and I still do. But if you can't
look past outward appearances, others won't be able to do the same for
you, either.
- (Redundant but slightly variant lesson on hard work) The value of hard work, even though it doesn't pay
off entirely, cannot be underestimated. There's no substitute for just
getting down and dirty and working your butt off. Yes, this is
college, the time to develop lasting relationships and to learn about
yourself but you better expect to work hard otherwise you'll be
pushed to the bottom and without any chance b/c everyone else will be
snatching up yours.
- Everyone else is a freaking genius who can balance a gazillion credits, get a sky-high GPA, and still have time for volunteering, helping the old lady cross the street, and actually being social.
- Acting
happy is an uphill climb. It really is, but I do it anyway. Someday,
though, maybe I'll learn and change my ways. I act happy and upbeat a
lot of the time b/c I don't know how else to act around people. I
really need to learn how to socialize properly. I'm so anti-social!
- The
importance of your family can't be underestimated. I take 'em for granted, and I regret that.
- Do not post xangas the night before exams... and I'm doin' it right now. =/ Back to the books.
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