And...I'm BACK! What to look forward to:

So apparently I haven't posted to this blog in over a year! I have made a lot of new commitments for the year 2010, so I expect to be posting updates here a lot more often.

A few major things to look forward to:
*Tales from my classroom
*My first ballet class
*My first jazz dance class
*Training for the 2010 BP MS 150
*"Oh, Becca" moments of clumsiness and wonderment

Day 5 in Spain

June 15, 2008

Well, I’ve been traveling for almost a week now, and this is the first opportunity I have had to spend some time on the internet other than using the international blackberry for email. Not that I’m complaining! Although I think internet is a wonderful way to keep in touch and feel closer to family and friends, I also feel that it sometimes can hinder a traveling experience. Like when you spend two hours walking around Madrid, not to enjoy the city and experience all it has to offer, but to search for a café that houses wifi, to take the metro to where you’ve been instructed will have wireless and be open until 1am only to arrive and find out that it closes in 20 minutes.

So this was the beginning of my trip- Getting over jet lag and searching, unsuccessfully, for cheap wireless in order to sit and do some work.

I am surprised at how hard the jetlag has been for me this time. I woke up both Thursday and Friday morning with a terrible, what I have started to call “lack of sleep hangover”. My head was pounding, the lights were too bright and I had no desire to eat. Me, who is used to international travel, having a hard time adjusting? I don’t get it!

So the kids arrived safely Friday morning. 45 aged 15-17 yr old students, tired from travel but eager to see Spain. One immediately had his backpack stolen, in front of the hotel! So, I spent the first 2 hours of their arrival taking the kid to the police station and the US Embassy. It was an experience that I hope to not repeat with the next group.

Saturday morning, the groups all went their separate ways. One down to Cadiz, via Sevilla, and the rest of us to Segovia, but as two separate groups. I’m with 13 kids, who so far seem to be pretty harmless. This afternoon I gave my lecture about no drinking and breaking rules, so we’ll see how far that goes.

I have chosen to live with a host family this year, which is kind of scary! I am not at all confident with my Spanish, so living with natives makes me nervous! But, I’ve made it through the first day. My Senora, Esther, is so great! She LOVES to talk, and apart from the Castellan accent, I can understand most of everything she says and get my point across to her pretty well. Living with her will be good practice for me. We’ve already discovered a mutual love for Helado’s and Gelatos, so I know we will get a long great :) Oh, and did I mention she has a piano?! So I can continue practicing throughout the summer! My piano teacher will be so excited to hear this!

Time to rest up, tomorrow is the first day of school!

My First Piano Lesson

I think I'm off to a pretty good start working towards my 2008 goals. Today I had my first Piano Lesson!

Seeing how I hadn't had a piano lesson since the year 1992, I was pretty nervous! Mostly nervous about feeling completely dumb...not my favorite feeling. But I kept telling myself that everyone has to start somewhere.

When I first sat down, I felt so awkward and my whole body was tense. We looked through my old piano books (books I used in 1989! Almost 20 years ago! Last night my mom and I went crawling around the attic and found all my old piano books.) And one piece jumped out at me, triggered my memory, and before I knew it, I was playing the piece and reading the music!

My brain hurt by the end of the lesson...so many memories were catching up, but it was really fun to feel like I was learning something new and my teacher was so encouraging the whole time! I'll be going to lessons weekly, and I'm so excited!

I just have to get up early tomorrow morning to practice...I wonder if my parents will still give me prizes when I complete pieces with no mistakes!

2008 Goals/Resolutions/To-Do List

It's finally ready...my New Year's Resolutions...or as I like to think of it, my TO-DO LIST for 2008. I'm sure I'll be adding more to it as I think of it, but here is a good start:

2008 Wish List/ TO-DO LIST

SELF IMPROVEMENT:
Read a book per week (52)
Take Piano Lessons (Suzuki Method) -DOING
Finish teaching certification -DONE 4/21/08
Take GRE
Take dance lessons
Take a Photography class
Take Rowing lessons on Town Lake
Take Surfing lessons -DONE 6/23/08

HEALTH:
Run a 5K race -DONE: Bluebell 5K
Run a 10K race - TRAINING
Lose 30 pounds
Do Cardio 3 days a week, Lift weights 2 days a week

TASKS:
Organize my room
Make cork-board
Hang pictures and decorations

PURCHASES:
Buy a headboard
Buy an HD TV
Buy a new car -DONE

FINANCIAL:
Pay $10K off of student loans
Put 10% of each paycheck directly to savings
Increase monthly donations -DONE

TRAVEL:
EYC Mission Trip -(postponed 2009)
Camp Allen Summer Camp
Go to South Africa -(postponed)
Scuba Dive this summer
Scuba Dive in South Africa
Go surfing this summer (Spain or Costa Rica)
Go wind surfing in South Africa
Safari in South Africa

Out from under the dust!

So, I can't believe that I found this Blog! I remember thinking it would be a great thing to have, and then completely forgetting all about it. Took me a while to create a new password and log-in for it, but get excited...I'm BACK!

My favorite thing about this Blog, was noticing what I wrote in November of 2004: "I love to travel and I love kids, so I hope to incorporate the two for my future job. So I'm sure you will be hearing all about my travels as I post on this site!" Funny thing is, I currently work for a Study Abroad company that didn't even exist at the time that was written! spooky!

So, I'm here to start the documentation of my travels. I leave in a few days for SPAIN. I'm a little nervous because I've never traveled to a Spanish Speaking country on my very own before. AND...I haven't really spoken Spanish since I lived in Honduras 2 years ago. I think I'll need to go buy a pocket dictionary! My Itinerary is pretty cool...the first half of the trip is a marketing event, so I get to go to a coctail party, nice dinners, free accommodation and a tour to a winery/vineyard! The second half of the trip is for my company, visiting all the different sites throughout Spain where we have programs. It will be super busy and hectic, but I'm excited! I'll keep you posted on how it all goes....

Thankful for Thanksgiving

I'm a first generation American, and Proud to be one! The only times I feel out of place, is during the holidays meant for families. You see, all I have for "family" is my mom, dad and brother. This also means that the holiday of "Thanksgiving" or Turkey Day, holds little to no significance to my family. By significance, I am of course referring to the significance we have been raised defining: Pilgrims, Mayflower, Indians, Corn, Turkey, Pumpkin Pie, eating till you burst the seams with all your family.

We grow old, we lead busy lives, and we no longer need to hear or act out the story of Thanksgiving. To me, the holiday's significance has become a yearly reminder as a time come back to family and reflect on all that we are thankful for, which is probably the true heart of the day. My family and I spent this Thursday cleaning house and I did 6 loads of laundry (obviously a college student with no quarters). But I spent the whole week leading up to the day thinking about friends, and all the little things in life that I am oh so so thankful for. Late night phone calls, chocolate cake, Family Dinner Night with friends, rolling on the floor laughing until your stomach hurts, and the opportunity to live another day to experience all those things over and over again.

And so I wonder...why do we celebrate this day only once a year? In an ideal world, everyday would be Thanksgiving (and I'm not just saying that out of my passion for pumpkin and pecan pie), but I am so thankful for the yearly reminder Thanksgiving Day brings to us.

*don't worry....we celebrated T-Day on Friday, had the feast with friends and it was good!

BLOOD MONEY??

It's the beginning of a new month, and we all know what that means: BILLS DUE. So with Christmas Season creeping up on us, rent to be paid, due dates to be met....I think I can speak for the majority of us, that the weight of debt is settling in. As a college student, it's an even heavier weight than prepared for.

So the question is, when we start selling our belongings and our plasma to lighten the load....have we gone too far? When we start sacrificing our carefree, social life that college is supposed to provide, are we growing up too fast and losing sight of our youth? I personally can't say when I think enough is enough. I've given up every night this coming weekend. Not to be a college student and have a fun night out with friends, but to be with 3 and 6 year-olds babysitting in order to lesson the load of the debt the beginning of the month ensues. Not only have I sacrificed my social life, on Tuesday at 1pm, I will be spending the following three hours of my day sitting in a chair selling my plasma for a measly $15, if that!

The therapy of shopping, a stress reliever of the forgotten past. The ability to release creative energy into crafts and projects, a skill now rusty and hidden beneath cobwebs. The simplicity of a bubble bath and leisurely hours spent reading are replaced stealing minutes thumbing through magazines or mentally book marking pages in novels at the local Barnes and Nobles Bookstore. The amenities that were once an extension of my being have been dissolved into luxuries I can only enjoy in my dreams. My once free-time is now spent putting in extra hours at the office, babysitting, returning unused products to their stores for cash refunds, and now the final blow: selling my plasma.

Is this the only answer to our poverty brought on by college woes? Is this the only way to climb out of the dark tunnel we created, before it is too late and we are faced with the real debt the world out there welcomes to us after graduation? Spending our blood's money, is this what it's come to?