Raging Storm

This is how the stream at Joy's house looks on a normal day. It's very mellow, all the rocks are exposed and the water trickles along very peacefully.

Then we had the most insane storm last night and it sent everything topsy turvy in the entire town. The first sign that it was more than a normal thunderstorm was when water overflowed in a windowsill and flooded the bathroom. The lightning just would not quit. Lightning struck every ten seconds and the thunder shook the whole house. By that point, the rain was so loud, it was impossible to have a conversation with the window open. All this, and it was still so damn hot!!

Pretty soon Joy came home from work early because Cacao Lane had closed due to flooding! The entire historic center was flooded and all the businesses had closed. Joy, her roommate Sarah and I went for a wet walk and saw the town overrun with water and of course got very wet.

Kevin, Joy's other roommate, shone his headlights on the "stream" so this picture could be taken. It was very dark, and it still didn't turn out that well, but you get the idea. On a normal day, the water is about 8 feet down, last night it was less than two. The force of the water and the speed was terrifying. I was afraid to be near it alone. This wasn't the only stream running over either. A little stream or river of sorts runs right through the center of town. There the water is usually ten feet down and there are buildings built right over it. It's very quaint because it gives the town little bridges and spaces for benches and enjoying a coffee it wouldn't have otherwise. During the storm the water was actually hitting the buildings and that was the cause of the flood.

By the time I got home from school this afternoon at 4:30 pm the stream was still this high. The news said that the storm is supposed to continue tonight and the telltale heat lightning that comes before the storm is already in full swing out front. This is seriously the most exciting weather I've ever experienced. I could really do without the humidity though. Thank goodness for those dehumidifiers.

Hot, Humid and Sticky

This is the famed hammock in Joy's yard. It provides relief from the heat with its gentle swaying and green leaves overhead. The other night, after doing laundry, we got mini-six packs at the beer and wine store, I like to call them "baby beers," and had a few on the hammock. It's big enough for two people, but I can only handle all the bugs and sticky, thick air for so long - baby beer or no baby beer. It's beautiful here, but too hot, even with the hammock.

In two weeks I'll be back in Spokane. What a relief that will be. Currently it is 91 degrees in Ellicott City ("feels like 93") and 41% humidity. In Spokane, it's 76 degrees ("feels like 76") and 27% humidity. Where would you rather be?

Unveiled: The Camping Stove

And here it is. This is the set up in the kitchen I will soon occupy. What a relief. It's nothing like the vile and disgusting image I had in my head. My overactive imagination (I am somewhat like Olivia Joules) conjured up images of 1970s Coleman camping gear covered with an impenetrable layer of dirt and grime, standing on rickety metal legs and attached to a hazardous propane tank ready to blow at any minute, hissing and releasing nasty fumes into the house as I fumble with a box of so-called strike anywhere matches and singe the hairs on my arms and my eyebrows getting it lit. No, this tidy set up is nothing of the sort and should work out just fine for my needs. I actually like the idea that the oven is smaller and energy saving. Besides, I rarely used more than two burners at a time in my kitchen in Spokane, and my refrigerator, stove and oven were all smaller than in normal American households because the kitchen was so small. In Switzerland, I will actually have a bigger kitchen. Now, the question is why it was ever referred to as a camping stove in the first place. It's electric!

A couple photos of the apartment:














The living room and balcony.
The kitchen -- yes, my kitchen in Spokane was actually smaller!

Ellicott City in Pictures

Sarah & Desmond's - cutest coffee shop in town, but they don't open until 9am!!!
A business that would never survive in the Northwest.

Pretty white church on a hillside

Joy actually lives on this road. Supposedly it goes all the way to St. Louis -- ha ha! "the west."

I believe this is the Bureau of Tourism

Entrance to town and Howard County

Olivia Joules: Brilliant!

Helen Fielding, regarded as the queen and creator of chick lit with her ground breaking Bridget Jones's Diary, lives up to her reputation, perhaps even surpassing it, with Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination. It is a novel first and foremost about espionage that lightly incorporates romance into the plot, making it the most brilliant chick lit book I have read yet. Olivia Joules is set in our modern times, involving politics and current events as well as personal growth and love.

Fielding, who really did define the chick lit genre, is clever in that she doesn't allow the romance to be at the center of the story. Her protagonists are always loveable, strong, yet girly and adorable women whose successes revolve around personal achievement. Stories that are just about the romance are merely romance. Chick lit, particularly Fielding's, is distinct in that the protagonist is always fabulous on her own, thereby attracting wonderful men, something I was disappointed to see the producers, writers and directors miss altogether in the movie adaptation of Bridget Jones.

Fielding's Olivia Joules is an inspiration. It is at once gripping and exciting, romantic and sexy. I absolutely loved it!

These people are receiving Masters degrees.

During my first full day of classes, I experienced not one, but two instances of utter disbelief regarding my classmates' lack of general, common knowledge. The first was when a woman made an argument pertaining to "No Child Left Behind" while we mock argued a court case from 1975. I remarked that it was anachronistic to make an argument based on "No Child Left Behind" and the woman just looked at me like I was a giant tomato, or marshmallow.

"It's what?" she asked, looking genuinely puzzled.
"Anachronistic --" I paused. No look of recognition. "It's not chronological," I said. No dice. Still she didn't understand. I thought maybe I had said the wrong word by mistake. So I said, in layman's terms, that "No Child Left Behind" wasn't around in 1975. The she got it, but by that time it was "case closed."

That really bothered me. I don't like to think that I am in a 700-level graduate course with a classmate who doesn't know what the word anachronistic means.

Fast forward to afternoon session in a 600-level Educational Research course. Our professor, Dr. James Snow, quite possibly one of the coolest professors I've ever had made a reference to the Symposium, using the word pontificate in his deadpan description which was quite entertaining. No sooner does the guy make his funny statement and the class starts laughing, but a girl next to me says, "What was that word you used? I don't know that." He responded, as I would have, that the symposium was a men's group in Greece, etc, etc. And she interrupted and said, "No, that word, ponfit?"
"Pontificate?" he asked her. "Yes, I don't know that," she responded.
I, along with most the class and Dr. Snow, told her.

My God!! These people are receiving Masters degrees! I agree that there is a lot of knowledge out there in the world, and no one can possibly know all of it. But, come on. Anachronistic and pontificate!?! It's not exactly Greek. And if you don't know a word, look it up, don't announce it!

One last thing...people should also be aware that Brazilians speak Portuguese, not Spanish. That, however, is another story.

Camping Year Round

The confirmation came early this morning that the camping stove is indeed for year round use in the kitchen. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read the previous post, "Why are a camping stove and butane listed under kitchen?"

This confirmation is somewhat disturbing to me and has meant the return of the irrational (although now not so irrational) imagined scenarios of me schlepping through the streets of Neuchâtel in the snow with a butane tank to refill it and the even more horrifying thought of a kitchen that is not integrated and tidy, but rather dominated by a camping stove that clearly belongs next to a campfire. Maybe, I'm hoping, there are some really fantastic camping stoves out there in the world. Perhaps this light blue camping stove is a luxury edition so luxurious that it can be used in the home. The pictures are on their way.

Maryland

Finally I arrived in Ellicott City. This is my friend Joy's house where I am staying during my summer session at Loyola College. I haven't spent that much time on the East Coast, but what I've noticed is that when you get away from the obviously urban areas and into the smaller towns all of the old houses have big porches like Joy's house has.

This is the stream that runs in front of the house. It makes a lovely relaxing sound that goes nicely with the birds' singing. If only the cars on the street would quit going by, it would be most idyllic.

I love chick lit!

In the past week I have finished two chick lit books. This is no new phenomenon for me -- last fall I went through an Anna Maxted phase while I worked briefly as a drive-thru teller at US Bank. The best part of the job was that I could read when I didn't have any customers. And read I did, relishing every juicy, gossipy, romance obsessed, fashionista word. I went through every one of Maxted's books in a matter of weeks. My devouring of the chick lit genre slowed considerably after I started this job. Here the only reading I do is the technical editing of real estate appraisals that are so boring it is necessary to drink excessive amounts of coffee to keep myself awake in my prison like cubicle, locked away from the light of day forty hours a week.

My latest read was The Nanny Diaries, a book I purchased over a year ago. Given that I was a nanny at the time and didn't want to focus on the insane aspects of my job any more than I couldn't help myself from doing anyway, I put it aside for what turned out to be a long while.

I am pleased to say I really enjoyed this book. I was impressed with the storyline, especially the ending which rang so true. A certain rawness was exposed in the characters, not blatantly, but enough that they developed realistically. Now I am planning to read McLaughlin and Kraus' next book, Citizen Girl.

Before The Nanny Diaries, I read Emily Giffin's Something Borrowed in 6 hours. I was flying from New York back to Spokane and it was a combination of "couldn't put it down" and "bored out of mind" that lead to my speedy read of this 275 page novel. It was espeically fun to read a story set in New York (also true with The Nanny Diaries) having just been there. This story is the kind of romance that really makes you swoon. I love the profile of the protagonist, Rachel's, career. She is so successful, yet yearning for love and a family at the same time. She is the kind of down to earth sensible gal that is inside of each of us. You can't help but want to see her come out on top. I love seeing women portrated in literature as feminine, girly, independent, successful and yet not perfect. I guess that's why it's called chick lit.

Next week, I fly to Baltimore so I've lined up The Devil Wears Prada and The Wonder Spot. I can't wait to board the plane. In the meantime, I have some serious packing and moving to do!

Rudykins

I love the curious look on his face in this picture. The sound of the camera makes him very still and when it happens a second time, inquisitive and he then leans forward on his front legs and widens his eyes, but tries to maintain a stance that will let him dart away if need be. He is consistently awed by the camera, wanting to figure out what exactly it is.
9 months ago, I thought people who were crazy about their animals were seriously crazy themselves. Now I can understand how close a person can become to an animal, how nice it can be to have them in your life. I'm going to miss Rudy so much in Switzerland. So, so much.

My Favorite Pillow

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow. -Lin Yutang

One thing I keep coming back to as I prepare to move is leaving my bed behind. I know this is really silly, but while making the decision of whether to accept the position in Switzerland or not, I literally woke up in the night with the terrifying thought, "Where will I sleep!?!" I guess I am extraordinarily attached to my bed. So, in order to not leave all of it behind, I'm taking my favorite pillow with me. Why not? It's down and should easily fit into the front pocket on my large rolling suitcase. The rest of the bed I will be able to recreate after a trip to IKEA.

It's just one of those things. You never know what's going to be hard to leave until you're leaving. Just like you never know what you'll miss until you're gone.

The Loves of My Life

I may be moving to Switzerland, but I don't live there yet. Right now, I live in Spokane, Washington. This weekend I am off to Seattle to visit the two loves of my life: My boyfriend, Joel and our rabbit, Rudy. Rudy has been living in Seattle for several weeks now, since I went back east for my brother's graduation from Bucknell May 19th. I had no idea how much I would miss having Rudy around the apartment. It's really not the same without him jumping around, doing little spins in the air or just hopping up onto my lap while I'm watching a movie or whatever. He is the cutest little rabbit ever!!