letter

dear cruxan mosquitos,

stop biting me.

please.

‘

i have now lost count of the red spots on my legs.

i have inadvertently inhaled so much “REPEL” that

it is possible that i will leave st croix with some sort of cns toxicity

–

i itch. then i scratch the itch, then the scratch is red

then the red burns, swells-

and then i feel temporary relief…

but suddenly, it itches again, and the cycle continues.

– – – – – – – –  – – – – –

to the mosquito’s that sneak attacked me under the table at the restaurant…

very uncalled for.

to the mosquito that flew up my skirt…

pervert.

for the mosquito that flew in my shoe…

seriously?

to the mosquito buzzing around in my room…

you are not welcome here.

–  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –

i hear you like potassium.

if i put a banana outside my door,

will you bite it instead?

i also hear you like asians.

i’m only half. could we come to some sort of compromise?

?

anxiously awaiting  your response,

rachel

p.s. just got bit on my middle finger. i think i have my answer.

purell.

It’s 1:30 am.

I just applied for my first nursing job.

My chances of getting this job?

1 in 13,000

I did it anyway

and

it felt good.

(i think)

Life is kind of intense right now. Everyone has so many expectations ((or maybe it’s just me, projecting my expectations of myself onto other people, who I then imagine are projecting them back onto myself. Probably this.))

Nursing will be great, but with graduation so close, and so many perceived or non perceived expectations, I’m finding myself wondering if it really will be great. Honestly, I’m kind of scared. Especially after today, when at clinical ((thinking I was being an awesome nurse in training)) I put together this little bundle o’ toiletries to make my young patient more comfortable, but accidentally gave her lubricant gel instead of Vasoline. The mother was mildly pissed, thinking it was hand sanitizer that she just put in her daughter’s hair. I assured her it was not hand sanitizer, but even though the package clearly read “Lubricant Gel” she could not be convinced otherwise. Lubricant Gel/Vasoline what’s the difference!? It is HUGE apparently. The mom? Not happy. No mind the other 500 (exaggeration) things I did for her daughter, at this point, it was all about the “Purell.” …whoops…

Make my chances of getting the job I applied for 1 in 15,000.

Crap. Am I stressed? …. … I think I’m stressed.

What I need to do is make a plan for my life. Maybe a list would make me feel better. Lists always make me feel a little better, because secretly, even though it probably seems that I do most things on a whim or make all my decisions last minute; the truth is, I like a little organization.

(Real life) Plans after graduation aka The “to do list”:

0. Get out of Bal’mer.

1. Epic road trip with my buddy and her pup… See things in the US that I’ve never gotten around to seeing:

a. yellowstone b. moab c. glacier national park d. the grand canyon e. yosemite

2. Hike through India. Visit some ngo’s and find future wish list employers:

a. mother theresa’s missionaries of charity? b. birthing center, goa? c. awwa? d. find out how to start my own clinic?

3. Secure a job/continue education in either:

a. seattle (UW)  b. portland (OHSU) c. denver (UC) d. boston (harvard) e. philly (u penn)

4. move to to where my job/school is.

5. live there. try really hard to stay put and stop moving

6. join a club- commitment(???).

a. join a real club b. make up a club and force all my friends to join.

Okay… there’s my five year plan in in six easy steps. …feeling good….

bah humbug?? nahhh…

though i am in danger of sounding borderline scrooge-ie, i must admit, I HATE THE SNOW. this girl is in no way shape or form, dreaming of a white Christmas.

snow= snowed in=bored=scared to drive=can’t drive to yakima=sucks!=cabin fever=too much computer=lame, lame, lame.

wow does it feel good to get that one out… don’t get me wrong, the stuff is nice to look at. its calming even… when you wake in the morning, groggy, still half asleep, disheveled hair and all, stumbling down the stairs, to watch it gently and without a sound, float to the earth, covering everything in a soft blanket of white. but it gets old. real fast. like as soon as you realize it’s not going to stop anytime soon and it’s going to make the roads undriveable, fast.

after two days of being snowed in, which included two attempts to drive out, (unsuccessful-obviusly) with much tire squeeling and sliding backwards, and one very eventful cold, and almost tearful trek through the storm to attempt to buy chains with no successs, we were rescued by my superhero roommate and her superhero fiance who bought chains for me. as soon as superhero roomate’s fiance meticulsouly (ha) put my chains on,  jenni and i tore out of portland… okay that’s a bit of an exaggeration, “tore out” looked more like slowly and carefully making our way up the two mile hill, where 7 mph and 20 minutes later we made it to the freeway where we experienced FREEDOM!! freedom from the white stuff. it was a great feeling to not see those annoying little flakes whirl around, looking so innocent. we knew better.

currently, i am sitting in a sweet coffee shop in good old Tacoma, cringing with each snow flake, and hoping and praying that they will keep melting when they hit the pavement. thank you jesus for thermometers that read 37º! take that wannabe horrible snowy snow!!

ho ho ho…

good morning snow! you are so innocent and pretty when i am in a half asleep confused state.

merry christmas

in light of the advent conspiracy…
in light of the true meaning of christmas…
in light of the fact that ignorance is not bliss,
and knowledge gives you the
ability to make a difference…

take a look at my friend jody’s pictures.
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6577230

jody recently went on a trip to nigeria, and he’s using his amazing photography-skills to help raise funds to build wells in some of the villages he visited. i can’t think of a better way to spend some of your money this season.

turkey pictures.

 

here is a taste of turkey…no pun intended. hee heee… to see more pictures, click on the link below, hopefully it works!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=52805&l=1545c&id=722095864

 

shabaan, summer, tea and me.

 

so there we were, summer and me, sitting in shabban’s store in the old city…

when you go into shabaan’s store, he always offers some of that amazing arabic tea, so you can sit and chat it up about annoying cheap tourists, random objects he is selling, the deliciousness of the tea you are sipping, and the like…

 anyways, so there we sat, piping hot tea in hand, when i…

 (clumsy i am…and i am sure i have established this before, but in case you forgot- rachel = clumsy…)

 …somehow, manage to spill hot…. but wait, not starbucks-you-can’t-sue-me-cause-it’s-not-hot-enough-to-actually-burn-you-hot; but HOT, HOT, like I’m-in-a-foreign-country-in-a-market-7,000 miles-away-from-american-lawsuits-hot

tea on my leg.

as it soaks into my jeans while scalding my leg, i continue to sit there and make what alex likes to refer to as my ‘hamster squeal’ which sounds something like;

“eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” (high pictch-ed-nessly)

 this is how shabaan decides to rescue my burning leg;

he camly approaches me, and like a person trying to extinguish a flame, he pours water over my jeans…. like three minutes after the fact, after the squealing had ceased, after my leg was actually burning.

 

today, in israel, in the old city, in the market, in shabaan’s shop, my leg was extinguished.

 

I love it here- i laugh constantly.

 xx