Grades and wanderlust

Passport, check. I-20, check. Backpack, check.

It is over. After a somewhat stressful semester, I took my last final today and am officially on a break. I believe most people are taking their last final exams today, or have taken them already, and will soon be preparing for the holidays. If you are from out of town, or out of the country like me, you too will have to pack up and travel, which typically is either very exciting or incredibly boring. Regardless of how you feel toward packing, we now have to wait for our grades to be posted. And, as usual, some professors post them right away while others understandably take longer. Some grades will please us, others not so much. It is part of college life, though.

My personal recommendation is to relax. Now that we have (hopefully) aced all our exams and just need to wait for the confirmation, we can focus on what really matters: the break. Go outside, go to the beach, go see your friends, and make up to the last couple weeks of withdrawal. If you are going home, wherever it may be, I wish you a great holiday and that you have a memorable time alongside your loved ones. Personally, I am not going home; instead, I am going to backpack in Mexico. I’m so excited! So if you too are not going home but are travelling somewhere new, I also wish you a great time. However, to you, I hope you enjoy the wanderlust and exhilaration that always comes with new adventures.

The plan

I won’t be blogging until the spring semester begins, so I guess you’re only hearing from me again in January. Anyway, have an awesome break and may the curve be with you.

(I formally apologize for the pun)

 

Finals Week

The last week of the semester is arguably the most stressful one. Or at least it is for me. This is the moment when everything catches up with you -- all the exercises you did, all the tests you aced, all the essays you wrote, and of course all those that you didn’t. Also, the pressure of taking final exams is rough; however, we have a special schedule during this week, which helps. All exams are arranged in such a way that we do not have conflicting times and, at the same time, I do not think that anyone takes more than two finals in the same day. Thus as long as you plan your week well, you should be able to study for everything.

Because we solely have final exams this week, no lectures, my personal strategy for surviving is this: first, I set a new schedule that began last week so that I can go over the material with no rush; then I make sure to wake up early every day, and have breakfast to get me going; I go to bed early, which is around midnight for me, so I can get some rest; I set a good setlist that motivates me because life without music is not worth living; and, I am not going to lie, I drink a lot of coffee. Actually my roommate just converted me to tea, so I’ve been drinking a lot of tea lately, but that is another story.

I know, finals week is stressful and requires a lot of sacrifices, but it is part of going to college, right? Besides, it will pay off one day, and winter break is just around the corner! And this is going to be a great break!

If you need some extra motivation, listen to this song because there is nothing better than Janis Joplin telling you to try juuuuuuuuuust a little bit harder.

The Walking Dead

Nope, I am not going to talk about the TV show. Instead, I am going to talk about the World Dance for Humanity. I mentioned this organization a while ago, and now I realize I never told you guys what happened. First, just to refresh your memory, World Dance for Humanity is a nonprofit organization that raises money for projects in Africa (and it is based right here in Santa Barbara!) and this year the SBCC Ambassadors, which I am a member of, decided to support them. So we learned the choreography for Thriller by Michael Jackson, dressed up as zombies, raised some money at campus, and danced (duh!) downtown and in front of the bookstore. Honestly, it was a little embarrassing  at the beginning, but it was also so much fun.

In downtown, we met at the Sunken Gardens where a few hundreds of people gathered together and either danced or watched. Even the mayor showed up. It was nice to see so many people coming together for a good cause. Indeed, this event was much bigger than I thought it would be which I believe is a good thing. Many people were in costumes when they arrived; however, some like myself didn’t, and we put our makeup once we got there. I needed help with mine, though. As a warmup, we danced Beat It by Michael Jackson, and only then we actually showed off our Thriller moves. Honestly, everyone knew what they were supposed to do, and it was such a remarkable experience.

At SBCC, however, things were a little different. Firstly, there were fewer people. Secondly, we practiced again a couple of time before the actual presentation, and I think we surprised many students and staff members. To me, it was interesting that some people decided to join us on the spot even though they had no makeup on, which made the whole thing more organic and interesting.

Also, we raised enough money to send two kids to high school for a year. Isn’t it amazing? Anyway, I just thought everyone deserved to know what happened.

By the way, just in case you want to check it out, this is their website: http://worlddanceforhumanity.org

Just a bonus if you, like me, are a Stephen King fan:

                                                                   Yup, The Shinning!

 

Friendsgiving

I read somewhere that, when you are abroad, friends become family. I can assure you that this statement is true, but I would change it to “when you are away” – I think this is a little more appropriate. It does not matter what your background is, nor why you left, or how long you are away for, we all need people whom we can count on. Also, when you are in a new place, it is natural to sometimes get homesick or to miss those who are not around even though leaving was your choice in the first place. Being an international student myself and, thus, having my family five or six time zones ahead, it is expected that I would eventually miss them. However, I have friends whose families are literally a couple hours away (they could just drive there every other weekend if they wanted to!) yet they report longing their loved ones. Regardless, when these sentiments arouse, we can only count on each other.

I said in another post that I love American holidays, and it is still true. But the problem with Thanksgivings is that you know everyone else is eating turkey with their families, so you want to do the same. This is one of these moments when you need to rely on your friends, and trust that they will take care of you. At least that is what I did. Some friends and I gathered together and had this amazing dinner. It was our little Friendsgiving.

For this feast, we all cooked, so we had food and drinks from all over the world! We could try a little bit of the culture of Japan, Brazil, Sweden, Syria, the United States… Needless to say it was delicious, and I believe we all had a great time. Again, it is good to know that I can rely on people, and that they will take me

If I was to leave you with one piece of advice, it would be this: find people who you enjoy being around and who you can count on. Whether you are coming from across the globe or across the state, your friends will make being away a little easier.

A Not So Scary Evening

So it was Halloween last week! And it was simply amazing! As a foreigner, I get excited when these American holydays come around because they are different and so much fun. I get to do things I am not used to, which is always nice. And, unlike some friends of mine, I didn’t grow up going around my neighborhood in costume to ask for “treats or tricks.” Although, and I must be honest here, throwing toilet paper at someone’s house looks fun. Or maybe this is just the eight-years-old-me speaking up right now. Either way, I enjoy Halloween very much, especially when I walk downtown and see all these people in all sort of costumes – some were scary, others were very creative or funny, and others were straight out silly. But I like them all anyway.

During Halloween, Santa Barbara gets somewhat crazy and all of suddenly there are a few too many parties to attend. I know some people, if not most, go to Isla Vista and they do have a good time there; however, because most of my friends decided to stay downtown this year, I followed them. Since it rained, I guess I made a good decision.

Another important topic when it comes to Halloween is costumes. What costume should I wear? Should I wear a costume at all? Back home, I never had to answer these questions. So, here, every year I forget to buy one and end up having to figure out (or improvise) a character at the last minute. And I do mean at the last minute. Last year I had to be Danny from the movie Grease because all had I had was an old leather jacket and a comb – you know, John Travolta’s character. But this is year I was determined to be something more interesting, so I was Clark Kent. No, I wasn’t Superman; I was Clark Kent. But, hey, what counts is how creative you are! (At least that is my excuse.) My roommate, on the other hand, was Hercules, hence the picture below: 

Yeah, I definitely had a good time. I can hardly wait for next Halloween!

Dodgeball!

Last Friday, October 25^th, the Student Senate organized a dodgeball tournament open for both students and staff members. Needless to say, I teamed up with a few friends and got hit a bunch of times. I gotta admit I am not very good at it, but I had fun nonetheless. It was like high school all over again (I think I heard this joke a thousand of times that night, so why not tell it once more?). It was rather funny to watch staff members as well as other students, people I often see behind desks or in generally serious mood, throwing balls at each other and running back and forth in the court. Some people would turn tomato-red while others would get drenched in sweat. Indeed, it was so much fun.

Because I have such a busy schedule, I could only meet up with my team a couple of hours before the tournament itself, so we did not practice that much. We simply went down to the tennis court at school and played a little, and I am sure some of the other teams practiced for weeks. Yet we managed to win our first match! Uhul! And then, obviously, we got crushed by the next team we faced.

I don’t think I need to explain the rules of dodgeball, right? They are pretty standard, and I think everyone has played it before. If you havent, you gather a few friends and played it now. Your inner child deserves it! However, for this tournament, every team played three times against each adversary, and whoever wins twice moves on while the loser is out. Two out of three, nothing too complicated there. I feel like I cannot express how much fun we had, especially because we won. Honestly, I was surprised.

Maybe, we won because our team took it very seriously,

But, probably, that was not the reason.

P.S.: You guys were great!

Thriller Dance Practice

Have you ever noticed that every blogger eventually begins a post by apologizing for not updating his or her blog? I used to hate that. I mean, c’mon! just skip that part and go straight to whatever you want to say! So today I want to begin this post by apologizing. I know it has been a while since I last posted here, but it happened because, as you probably know already, college can be overwhelming sometimes and midterms are scary. By the way, does anyone know why professors always – like, ALWAYS – choose the same two weeks for all their midterms? I don’t know you, but when I have three midterms in a same week I kind of tend to freak out a little bit. Okay, I freak out a lot. Anyway, let’s put these complaints aside because I want to talk about something a little more cheerful.

I am part of the International Students Ambassadors (which is pretty fun, and I will probably make a post about it in the future) and this year we decided to join the World Dance for Humanity. What is it? Glad you asked. World Dance for Humanity is a nonprofit that raises money to “grassroots projects in Nepal, Uganda, Ghana, Liberia, and to Sarah House in Santa Barbara.” I think this is pretty interesting to say the least. So on Halloween weekend we, and a bunch of other people, will meet downtown and do the Michael Jackson’s Thriller dance and try to bring attention to this good cause. Here is their website in case you want to check it out: http://worlddanceforhumanity.org

Last Friday we, the Ambassadors, met by the cafeteria and practiced because most of us (including myself) didn’t know the choreography. I don’t think we are really good at it now, but at least we know what we are supposed to do. Well, more or less. I think it is going to be fun; we are all going to be dressed as zombies and be dancing in downtown. With a bunch of people we don’t know. In front of a bunch of people we don’t know. At least it is for good cause. Besides, worst case scenario, it will be a funny story to tell.

Unfortunately, we didn’t take many pictures, but here is the only one I have:

Firsts

It is a little embarrassing to admit that I have been in Santa Barbara for so long, and still there are plenty of things I haven’t tried and places I haven’t been. In fact, there is so much of the American culture that I still don’t quite comprehend. For instance, I don’t understand all rules of football, which is a bummer. Since we are talking about it, could someone please tell me why the receiver is able to simply wave at the referee and, magically, he no longer can get hit? Seriously, I don’t get it.

Anyway, last week, SBCC’s football team played against LA Southwest. We won! Although I needed a friend to explain me the game as it was going on, I had so much fun. We had a tailgate party where we prepared for the big game, needless to say I had no idea what a tailgate party was until I was invited a couple of week prior. Also, I must say I am still impressed with some of the things the cheerleaders did, and I mean it. Some girls were thrown in the air, and then they did some crazy jumping around. I got tired just by watching them. So these were some of my firsts last weekend. I can’t believe I’d never done any of that before.

By the way, here is a picture of some friends doing the hula hoop challenge during half time: 

On My Way Downtown

The thing is: I like walking. I don’t mean hiking or walking as a work out, though I enjoy those things from time to time. Instead, I am talking about walking for fun or just to admire the view, which is simply breathtaking in Santa Barbara. So sometimes I’ll choose walking downtown over taking the bus for instance, just as long as I have my ipod with me and can listen to good music on my way there – usually rock’ n’ roll. Yup, in case you were wondering, I am that weird kid who always wears a black shirt, with a picture of a rock band on it, even during a 90 degrees summer afternoon (or as we call it in Brazil: a regular afternoon).

Besides the fact that downtown is gorgeous and worth of at least a couple posts, the walk there can be equally interesting and baffling. For starters, there are a few ways to get to State Street, and some are rather “amusing.” This may not be the best word to describe those paths, but for lack of a better word it’ll have to do it. Depending on where you are walking from, and where exactly you are trying to go, there is one road (or trail if you will) that goes down a hill, through trees and bushes. Some kind soul has even set a rope to aid whoever attempted to pass there. Seriously, the first time I went through this path, I was convinced I would be kidnapped at any moment. Either that or an UFO would appear.

Another possible way to go downtown is by walking down Cliff Dr. And if you go straight, by the highway, there is a huge tree I have climbed once or twice. Okay, I have climbed it way more times than that, but who is counting anyway? Regardless of how often I have been sent back to my childhood amidst its branches, I’ve definitely had fun on this tree. Now someone whose head is in the right place would naturally ask whether we are supposed to be playing on it, and the most honest answer is: I don’t know.

In spite of how I make it downtown, I love the feeling I get when I make a turn and finally glimpse  it. But then again, downtown deserves a post of its own. 

Being Part of a Community

Day of Caring is an annually event that brings people together in the Santa Barbara County in order to give back to our community. There is always some work that needs to be done, whether it cleaning a park or painting a school, and they can be found all across town. I know it may sound like it is not  much, but I guarantee that as little as this kind of work seems sometimes it is precisely what our community craves for. For instance, one of my tasks was “simply” to remove graffiti at the Bohnett Park – why the quotation marks? Because this job was way harder than I expected. Seriously, washing off graffiti isn’t nearly as easy as it seems. Back to my point: what seems like a little for us may be a huge thing for someone else.

This was the 23rd Day of Caring, and as always we had a big breakfast where we meet other people involved, and only then we head to whatever place we signed up to help. It took place last Saturday, September 20, and me along with a bunch of people (some were SBCC students and friends, but many were people I’d never seen before) I volunteered to help out a few non-profit organizations. I truly believe we should go out of our way to improve the community we are inserted in, especially if it is not the community we grew up in or if we don’t plan to stay much longer. I guess it is like we are thanking for the hospitality.

However, the funny thing is that it did not feel like we were working at all. Really. In the end a friend even painted me with leftover green ink, and I found myself laughing with several people I didn’t know their name just a couple of hours before. 

The Beginning

It is always exciting to start something new, something you’ve never done before. No question about it. Strangely, we still feel the necessity to look into the mirror, stare at that frightened person who stands before us, and wonder whether we’ll succeed, whether we’ll fail, whether it’ll be fun, or whether we should just give it up already. Indeed, though we may have expectations, it is rather difficult to predict what will really happen and what we will get out of it, if anything. Don’t get me wrong; I think sometimes “getting something out of it” can simply mean that we are making a new friend, or having a joyful experience. Or hopefully both. But, after all, isn’t it the whole point of trying something new? To stray into the unknown?

I remember when I first moved to Santa Barbara, and how thrilled I was to finally get something I had longed for so much. Still I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to talk to people, I didn’t know anyone here, it was my first time living abroad, and the list of things I dreaded went on and on and on. It was almost endless! But what truly matters is that I made it. I can surely speak the language – although my accent is still easily noticed – made new friends, joined some clubs, got a job, and I even live close to the beach now (this is a story for another post). I am not saying it has been a smooth ride, but it has been worthwhile.

To some extent, I am facing a similar situation right now. I have always liked to read and write; however, I’ve never put my text out there or allowed many people to read them. So, obviously, this is my first time blogging, and I am both excited and a little hesitant, but let’s just hope that my excitement takes over. And, as the semester goes by, I’ll show you guys my daily life here in the breathtaking Santa Barbara!