Almost Thanksgiving...

A week from tomorrow, at 6 AM central, I will board a plane that will take me to transfer to another plane that will take me to Massachusetts (okay, NH first, but then MA). For starters, holy mother of God! It's Thanksgiving time already? But it feels like the semester just started.

Then again, it also feels like I have lived in New Orleans my whole life. I consider 60 degrees "winter weather" now and potential snow over Thanksgiving/Xmas fascinates me. It's not like I've missed anything on that front (except a few flurries in Fitchburg Monday I heard?), but I haven't been acclimated to cold enough weather to produce snow, in fact, I wore flip flops to class today.

New Orleans culture feels like my own in many ways now. I feel so strongly connected to the events, music, food, et cetera. I know my way around the city fairly well now, and not having a car/money, that's impressive.

Anyways, I was talking about how I am going back to MA for Thanksgiving. I know 18.5 years in one place vs. 3 months in another hardly compares, but I honestly don't remember what it felt like to live in MA. When I think of home, I think of my dorm room, and consider my house back home my parent's house, the house I grew up in. I'm not ready to completely leave the nest at all, I love my parents' support, but it's how I catalog things. Home will feel like home again within a few hours of being at home home (how many times can I say "home" in one sentence?), but my dorm room is where I live. It's a question of saying you're from one place but live in another.

I am sad I missed the foliage. I think it might be cool to do Watatic while I'm home, some sort of mountainous structure. I went from the second hilliest city in the country to a giant bowl near the bayou that we all know and love as New Orleans. Even on hurrication in Texas everything seemed so flat. I miss freaking out behind the wheel driving up and down the super-steep streets of Fitchburg, it'll be so unreal to see hills like that! I haven't been around hills since August 15th, the day I moved. I also haven't touched a steering wheel since the 14th, so we'll see how driving works.

I am excited because most of my high school friends either live in Fitchburg still or are coming home, so I'll get to see my crowd. I miss them. I miss my family. I miss NCCES. I miss Fitchburg<3

<3Alymay

Appreciation for College.

College is awesome. We think as high schoolers but have the freedom of an adult and parents to call on if you really mess up and a place with free food that's opened at most decent hours. Though I am much more studious here than I was in Massachusetts, I have certainly lived more. For better or for worse, I've developed a strong taste for ramen and have learned to hide a hickey with toothpaste and foundation. I've broken minor laws and had to figure out how to take care of myself when I couldn't breathe. My door is decorated with condoms as a response to some stupid penis graffiti people left on our door signs (if you're drawing a penis on my door, you better give it a condom). It's 2 AM and instead of doing my russian homework, I'm writing. I've changed my major about 30 times in the past week. I love it here.

Nobody looks at you funny when you dance to Ricky Martin and Britney Spears. When you're first starting out at school, you make friends while wearing a towel after a shower, brushing your teeth next to each other. The concept of personal hygiene has lapsed a little bit and you take more risks.

I feel myself living my life to the fullest now, and I am one happy woman for it.

Part of me still wishes that next week was Thanksgiving because I do miss Massachusetts. Down there, you have to wear a sweater outside because it's so cold. Here, you have to inside because people jack the AC way up. I want to see the leaves change, but ours only fall from hurricane damage. When the Red Sox win, people aren't partying in the streets, in fact, some people get pissed at you for wearing a sox shirt. One (extremely drunk) guy I ran into on the quad tried to pick me up today with this line, "I have a problem. I love red heads, but they're all from Boston and I'm a yankees fan". It was so weird to be their concept of a Boston girl when I am really just from North Central Mass.

And I do miss Fitchburg. More than I can say.

<3Alymay

Dallas Files? Just Kidding.

Hey everyone!

Here in Dallas, it's almost one, but I am still awake. I am having a fantastic weekend here with Meg and Andrew (roommate and boyfriend respectively) in the DFW area. I've met a lot of Andrew's family and friends, seen the Fort Worth Stock Yards, went tubing for the first time, gone to country clubs for dinner, and gone swimming. The rest of the week includes plans of seeing Andrew's high school, the aquarium, a jazz concert, a wildlife refuge, and other points of interest. I am sure that we'll have a blast. Here I am about to take a picture with a horned cow.


As for the storm, it did not seem to hurt NOLA too much at all. Tulane will resume classes on Monday, so Andrew and I bought flights for Sunday morning. This ended up becoming a ten day vacation more than anything, but it is a great thing that we left when we did. I have homework to do and miles to go before i sleep (I don't really sleep to well in general at all, and a close friend being in Slidell didn't help me that much at all this week). I am very homesick for Massachusetts, and often think about my high school, my dog, my close friends, FSC, and First Thursdays (not going to lie, I thought about coming to MA for the evacuation to hit up NCCES' first day and FT this month). Though I am a little homesick for MA, I am having fun on my hurrication here.

Much love,
May