ASB Chicago!

Apparently I am the only member of CAT that chooses to update R on my life.
Here in Ann Arbor, the semester is half over! This is crazy, but also good because I am really struggling to care about homework/exams right now.
Last week, I got to go to Chi-town for spring break. It was amazing. We stayed in a neighborhood called "Little Village," which is a super Hispanic community, and we got to go all around the city to different service sites. Since I've only really ever been to downtown Chicago, this was really cool. It's actually a giant city, and I felt kind of overwhelmed, but by the end of the week I was more comfortable driving around and finding places.

My group had 12 people in it, including me. There were 5 freshmen, 3 sophomores, 3 juniors, and 1 senior. I love them, they're all great. Our service sites were mostly different YMCAs where we helped out in Headstart classrooms with 3-5 year olds. Headstart is a really cool idea, since it provides pre-school for children whose parents couldn't afford it otherwise. Monday, we went to a Hispanic headstart, and the teachers didn't really seem to need us or want to talk to us. It was still fun though, because the kids were adorable. I played with a little boy Giovanni most of the time, and we helped them learn about the food pyramid, which is now apparently just a plate. Headstart is really into healthy eating, which is funny because the meals they provide the kids are super processed, pre-packaged, made in bulk and shipped to the different YMCAs. Also they throw away all the leftovers after each meal/snack.
Wednesday we played with kids at an all black YMCA/Headstart. Apparently Chicago is super racially and ethnically segregated, and we definitely saw that. Thursday and Friday we went to more Hispanic programs, and they let us take pictures, which was exciting.

They all wanted super hero face paintings. This is Sonic (Jeffrey) and Spiderman (Brian)

I played a lot of tag and got really tired. This is Emmanuel, Emilie, Brenda, and Samantha.

On Monday, we also helped sort food for this organization called Food Circle. They believe that even poor people deserve to eat healthy, so we passed out bags of veggies and eggs and breads from Trader Joe's to whoever wanted them. It was sweet.

Tuesday, we worked at the greater food depository of Chicago and sorted 9000 pounds of potatoes. Then, we went to Su Casa and helped clean. They are a Catholic Worker house that takes in displaced Hispanic families, even if they're illegal immigrants. I loved their art/murals.

They even have their own chapel. That's Jesus in the gold box!

After work Thursday, we went to dinner at Uno's Pizzeria. Apparently they invented deep dish pizza. I still think Pizza Papalis is better. Mark and I decided we could use our extra money (what we didn't need for gas) to chip in for dinner. Then I forgot to get a receipt, which we are supposed to do for St. Mary's records. One of many instances where I failed as site leader (I also got my car lost a few times on Friday, and hit another car while parking on Monday. Oops). Then we walked down Michigan Mile to Millenium Park and watched ice skaters. Mark and Helene decided to go up to one couple and tell them they were the cutest couple on the ice. Adam gave our left over pizza to a woman asking for food/money, and Becky tipped a saxophone player who was actually really terrible. We were really nice on Thursday night, I felt like a proud mom.

Friday, we took a tour of a homeless shelter run by Franciscan Outreach Association. It did not look like a fun place to live, and it made me sad for homeless people. Then we helped them serve food at a soup kitchen. One of the workers was a guy from Germany spending a year of service in Chicago. He gave his number to two of my girls, and I guess he is planning on visiting Ann Arbor...creepy.

This is how close together the beds were in the shelter. Yuck.

Basically, my week was great. I really want to do a year of service now, but I think I want to go to another country, because I have never traveled and should probably try that. I really liked the house we stayed at, though, so I would also love to do the Amate program.

In other news, today I spent 3 hours in the Bentley Library looking at old newspapers. I feel like such a researcher! Then I rode the bus with Evan Smotrycz.

I hate my radiator

It is finally cold in Ann Arbor, but its been cold in CAT house for a while. Now that the radiator has to be on more often, I feel angry more often. The clanking noise is the worst thing in my entire life. Which I guess means I have a pretty good life, but that's not the point. I can't wait for spring when I will finally be able to sleep through the night.

In less cranky news, I turned 21! This is supposed to be a big milestone in American life, but let's be real, not that much is different. I still don't like alcohol that much, and I'm too cheap to buy the kind that tastes good. Also, I felt the beginnings of drunk Friday night, and it turns out I'm not a huge fan! I don't like my head to feel spinny. But I will try to prepare myself so that CART can have lots of fun times when we are reunited for the summer. Also, I want to sing karaoke while Taylor signs the words. But I don't need to be drunk to sing.
Bobby bought me drinks for my birthday, and it is determined that Ashley's will be our hangout when we can all go to bars together. Since we don't like Robbie anymore, I will play the role of Barney. Sorry Rachael, you still have to be Ranjeet. Or I guess you can be Robin's new boyfriend, he's ethnic, too...

I am learning lots about black people right now, I'll probably become one soon. I'm also learning a lot about ancient Rome, because I have to read and comment on essays that my thesis seminar partner writes. Spoiler alert: ancient history is boring.

I'm thinking a lot about what I want to do with my life now, and I think I'd really prefer not to have a real career. I could just have a job that lets me afford food and a home, and then I can have free time to watch TV and travel. Maybe a flight attendant would be a good job.

We only have 2 more weeks till spring break!!!!! I am so excited for my ASB trip, because I actually like everyone in my group. That doesn't happen often! And we are spending at least 3 days working with head start pre-schoolers. Another career option: full time babysitter. I love babies.

Food, Drinks,...Drunk!

Ok so this post is mostly about Bobby's birthday...but I need to start with some things that happened earlier in the day.  Around 4:30, Spenser's friend Emma came over because they were going to cook this super fancy dinner and talk about Yiddish stuff.  As she was cutting up vegetables and such, Spenser started telling Taylor and I how he wanted to be a hair stylist.  Ok, fair enough.  Well then he proceeds to say that he wants to be a gynecologist.  He says we can just come in to see him, sit down, and he'll take care of our vag and hair all at the same time.  And the funny part is, it was kind of hard to tell if he was kidding because he started saying "all" he needed to do was take the MCAT and some pre-med classes...

So anyways, we get ready to go to BDubs.  I curled my hair for like the first time ever and it actually turned out pretty well!  As I was in the bathroom doing that, Spenser kept coming up to the door and getting his groove on...very entertaining.  Finally, we walked to BDubs with Bobby and met like 15 other people there including mostly AED people, Kelly, and Justin.  Bobby first ordered a Long Island Iced Tea and then a Margarita.  After finishing our food, Bobby and his little, Greg, played darts and pool while the rest of us just sat and talked.  Taylor and Christine left because Taylor had to drive home.  Before everyone else dispersed, a random guy at the other pool table bought Bobby a shot so that was cool. 

 Now, here is where I can no longer tell you the happenings of Bobby's night.  Dan, Akshay, and Kevin took him out to the bars where my only indication of his level of drunkenness is a few texts and some facebook postings by Akshay (which you can view on Bobby's wall).  

But...there was still excitement going on at CART house as well.  When I got home, I found Spenser stumbling around giggling his head off.  It was only 10:00.  So, I went in Christine's room and played around on my computer for a while. Until...Justin and Kelly showed up at the door.  For some unknown reason, they thought there was a party at our house.  Teener and I had to explain to them that no one but us and our drunk roommate and his friends were home and that nothing interesting was going on.  Meanwhile, Spenser has been in the shower for over 20 minutes.  I got worried that he was passed out in there and made Christine go knock on the door.  She did and he didn't answer.  But finally he did so don't worry he's alive!  It took some time, but finally Justin and Kelly got the hint that we weren't going to entertain them and they left.  I went to the bathroom to get ready for bed, where I became fairly convinced that Spenser had showered in cologne, and then went to sleep. 

It was a good night and made me super excited for our SUPER AMAZING AWESOME EPIC 21ST!   

Dr. Convery

Today, I had a meeting with my (maybe!) thesis advisor. Nancy is certifiably insane, but also probably a genius. She has SO MANY BOOKS! I think its actually impossible that she's read them all, but they were impressive nonetheless.


Nancy has a spear in her bathroom. Taylor and I saw it.

 We had some awkward chatting where she spoke in some words I didn't understand. She is super excited that I like Africa (she'd probably love you even more, Rachael). Anyway, she is writing me a letter of rec for being an honors fellow, she wants to be my advisor, and she told me I should apply for more grant money this summer and hire my own research assistants. Also she thinks I should get a PhD in anthropology.
I'm pretty excited, maybe eventually I will pick a topic!

this is what I will look like after I become an anthropologist

Also, today I feel pretty sure I don't want to be a doctor, just to keep ART updated on my life plans.

CAT and boobs

Yesterday, Spenser abandoned CAT for the weekend. I think he went home, but I'm actually not sure because he just left when I got home from class. This was sad because he left lots of dishes in the sink. Now the sink is clean, though, so that's happy.

Also yesterday, CAT went shopping. Ashley needed some food that was not just snacks and I needed to return bottles and cans, because it gives me anxiety when the recycling bin is full. Taylor didn't need things really, but she's our chauffer.

While we were out, we also went to Briarwood, because I had been given false information that the semi-annual sale was still happening at Victoria's Secret and CART loves bras. The sale was over, but there were still some bins of cheap bras and CT each got one and A got 2! Thus the title of this blog entry.
Last night, Bobshley went to an AED progressive while CT stayed home and were lame. Megavideo has been shut down (a sure sign that the world is actually ending this year), so we spent half an hour searching Netflix for a movie to watch, only to be rejected because apparently the Converys were already watching on another device. It was not a very exciting night, sorry.

It's finally snowy in MI, which is happy but sad. It's happy because snow is really pretty, and I just got a new pair of boots which make me feel stylish and warm. It's sad though, because the cold makes me want to sleep and eat all the time, and I have lots of work to do.

Ashley's first game!

Victory for MSU

A Night of Games

All day yesterday, we talked about how we wanted to do something fun...but we didn't know what.  We went to get free South Quad dinner from Teener (which was chicken patties and mozzerella sticks!) and sat at the table pondering what to do with ourselves.  When suddenly, we all had the same brilliant idea! Game Night!  So after a few minutes of being those annoying people who sit around when the dining hall people want to close, Christine kicked us out and we went to the CART house to prepare our evening of fun. 

We now have bajillions of games.  For Christmas, Bobby got Catchphrase and this game called Say Anything...It's kind of like a combo of Apples to Apples and Loaded Questions.  So anyways, we warmed up with Catchphrase.  Since there were 5 of us, we decided that instead of playing on teams, the person who it buzzed on would just get a letter of HORSE each time it landed on them.  Eric lost.  Taylor won.  Teener was a poor sport for coming in second to last.  

Then the drinking began.  Eric and Ashley had hot chocolate with alcohol infused whipped cream which was delicious!  Bobby and Teener had wine, and Taylor had the strawberry lemonade drink that we invented.   We then proceeded to play Smart Ass (the worst game ever invented).  We made Bobby and Christine go around the board twice because the rest of us were bad.  Taylor won again.

We finished up the evening with Say Anything.  Everything went great the first round.  A, C, and T all tied for first with E and B coming in last.  Things started to go downhill when we got into round 2.  The good news: THE STRAWBERRY VODKA IS FINALLY GONE.  The bad news: some of it managed to make its way into Taylor's nose.  After the question to Eric of  "What is the best way to waste time?", Christine, Bobby and Ashley all simultaneously threw down their answers of "SEX" which caused Taylor to burst out laughing and thus led to her booger-vodka fountain.

All in all, in was a good night.  WE MISS YOU!