Record of an Eclectic Mind

An Unforgettable Day

2007-05-26T14:48:00.000-06:00

Snorkeling in the Aegean and a sunset at the Temple of Poseidon all in one day.

What a blessed life I lead.

Yarrr

2007-05-25T23:24:00.000-06:00

The last two days have been great - we're all really settled here, and loving every minute of it.

Thursday was mostly a relaxing day for me. A big part of the group climbed the mountain again, to a different spot, and got stuck wandering in a cloud for 20-30 minutes. We had a big get together led by Leslie (with some input from Dr. Hopper) about free travel, which got us all thinking and excited about that.

It looks like I might be hitting 6 countries - Italy, Germany and/or Switzerland, France, Ireland, and England. Gina and I will (likely) take out from here, and meet Chris in Germany and/or Switzerland.

Yesterday (which was Friday, I suppose, but days have no meaning here), we had even classes, and I had Aerobics. Let me just say that Billy Blanks will kick your butt. Goodness.

Last night, a big group of us went to go see Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End here in Porto Rafti. The movie theatre is just a giant outdoor space with lots of separate padded chairs, some tables, and reclining lawn chairs as the front row (where I sat). Since my pictures aren't up yet, I've stolen this one from Beth. Anyway, we had such a great time. The movie was good (I could go into more detail, but this is not a movie review post), I thought, and the company was great. We took millions of pictures of this unique (but completely awesome) movie theatre - why don't we do that in the States? The movie started at 9:15, but we didn't get back to the Artemis until 12:30, because the movie had not one, but two intermissions. The first one scared us all - we were not expecting it. Well, we weren't expecting the second one, either, but the first one served its probable intended purpose - to buy Coke and popcorn. Even movies in Greece are better.

Tonight, we go to see the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, and we get to watch the sunset over the water. I'm considering snorkeling (or napping!) after classes today.

(Aside: That's one of the reasons days have no meaning here - if we're not traveling, we're in class, Saturdays and all.)

But I wouldn't trade a second of it.

The Hike

2007-05-23T02:42:00.000-06:00

Mid-morning on day two, and I'm already knackered. I went out hiking with a group this morning - only drawback is that this was in all likelihood the first athletic thing I've done since high school. I only made it halfway up, but, hey, I've got to start somewhere. I feel pretty good about it. I'll make it to the top before too long, and I'll be proud of it, too. I got a little bit of sun (but didn't burn - hoorah!), and I've started getting outside and moving again. I have Aerobics this afternoon, also, so I'm looking forward to getting more active.

Still no Coke, also, so I'm feeling good about that. Lots and lots of water just feels good. Also, I'm eating oranges like no tomorrow. I eat more oranges here than I do in Florida.

I'm excited about classes here - I really like the atmosphere. Small, relaxed, centered on our surroundings. And this group of kids and faculty members is amazing. I'm really blessed to be in this group. We've been here for two full days, and we've already begun to mesh exceedingly well. We used rope course activities to hold our very own Olympics last night - which my team (The Spartans) won with a flourish. We're a great group.

Our first outing is Saturday night - we're going to Sounion to watch the sunset. Sunday takes us downtown Athens to see the sights there. I'll be sure to have pictures and stories from there as well.

Acclimating

2007-05-22T13:40:00.000-06:00

Well, day 1 is almost complete. And let me just tell you that it was amazing.

Everything here is very different than I expected it to be, as I was always sure it would be, but it's so much better than I could've thought. I had 3 of my 6 classes today (Paul, Humanities, and Sociology), all of which will be really great, I think. None of them seem like they'll be too heavy of a load, but they'll all be full of amazing information all centered on the journeys we get to take while we're here.

The food is excellent, and I've managed to go 2 days sans Coke, even though we have it available to us for just ,50 Euro. This evening, we had the HUG Summer 2007 Olympics, which my team (The Spartans) won by a landslide. I'm convinced that it was all due to Libby hauling off and slapping Matt in our skit and Ashley breaking her mug. It was a lot of fun, and the group is meshing so well. I'm here with great people, and great faculty.

Tomorrow, I'll get my first taste of Christian Home, Aerobics, and Greek (which I am so excited about - Vicky is so nice).

I can't say enough about it, but I'm putting pictures on Facebook and Photobucket, so be sure to look for them.

General Information

2007-05-22T02:41:00.000-06:00

Well, it finally feels like we're here! In case you want to send a letter:

Sarah Bay
Harding University in Greece
37 Klm Porto Rafti Avenue, Markopoulou
Attiki, Greece 19003

And the classes I'll be taking:

ODD DAYS:
9 Paul
10-11:30 Humanities
11:40-12:30 Sociology
12:45 Chapel
1:30 Lunch

EVEN DAYS:
9:00 Christian Home
12:45 Chapel
1:30 Lunch
3:00 Aerobics
4:00 Greek

Our first little excursions are this weekend. I'll have pictures and stories after then for sure.

Greek Greetings

2007-05-21T10:27:00.000-06:00

Well, we have safely arrived in Porto Rafti - tired - yes, sore from so much sitting - yes, sick of airports and airplanes - yes, massively excited - heck yes.

Glasses begin tomorrow, which is insanity. Wednesday should be a very exciting day - UEFA Champions league final will be held in Athens at the Olympic Stadium, and they said they're expecting 40,000 people from England and Italy to be coming for the game. I think I could very easily get caught up in the football hype.

It's just under 2 weeks until we go to Egypt, which I can't even believe.

Actually, I still can't really believe that we're here. It's a little surreal, but it's definitely starting to sink in.

So is the jet lag, so I'll have more for you later.

Stop the World, I Want to Get On!

2007-05-20T07:13:00.001-06:00

Well, gang, I'm off to Greece for the summer.

I'll do my best to make updates here, so everyone can keep tabs on what is happening on the far side of the world.

Love you!

Bisons for Obama

2007-05-01T20:11:00.000-06:00

Well, the political arena is heating up. The debates have begun; we've had the first Democratic one, and the first Republican one is coming up in just a few days. People are starting to take interest and get involved.

I am actually very excited to say that I'm doing the same. This will be my first presidential election to vote in, and I'm really anxious to take part and be involved.

I went to a meeting for Bisons for Obama tonight, and I've started to get excited about campaigning for Barack Obama. I've been continuing my research, and just to start with, something that encourages me most about, besides his personality and speaking capabilities, is his willingness to move across party lines in order to get things done. He, like many others, has spoken about changing the extreme partisanship in Washington, but unlike some others, he has made strides toward making it happen. He's been involved in a few different projects that have paired him with Republicans, and those projects have had positive results. I think working to decrease the strict party lines is an admirable goal.

Also, SelectSmart rates Obama as a 72% match for me, the highest of any candidate. While I know an online quiz is by no means authoritative, it's nice to see that he and I think along the same lines.

I encourage you all to start doing your research for the 2008 election, and to take time to get to know what kind of candidate Barack Obama is.

If I Ever Leave This World Alive

2007-03-08T18:43:00.000-06:00

Every once and awhile, a band comes along that just feels good. No matter how long you go without listening to any of their music, the second you turn it back on and hear the first few chords, you can't help but smile.

I'm experiencing that this very minute, and it's every bit as refreshing as a breath of spring air.

I first heard Flogging Molly my junior year of high school, I think. They played at Warped Tour in 2004, and it was there that I had the great pleasure to see them. Senior year of high school and freshman year of college saw them quickly becoming an obsession, and I still count them among my absolute favorites.

I also credit them, just a bit, for helping to get Jeff and me together (after the little Destiny bit - thanks for that, Kristina). In the summer of 2006, they released a CD/DVD called Whiskey on a Sunday, which Jeff and I went to see together. The documentary increased my appreciation for them tenfold. There was a period after its release that I listened to almost nothing else.

The word that comes to the front of my mind when thinking of FM is unique. There's not much about them that is duplicated throughout the music industry. They are a seven member band fronted by a 45 year old Irishman. Their sound is somewhere in the middle of traditional Irish music and punk rock, even though all they ever really set out to do was make great music, free of any label. They consistently use instruments people don't associate with punk - a tin whistle, a banjo, a mandolin, a fiddle, an accordion - but they still rock harder than the majority of their peers (don't believe me, try a concert). They began in 1997, playing every Monday night at Molly Malone's in Los Angeles for a number of years, and they still managed to break out of the bar band stigma.

They've released a live album, 3 studio albums, and the CD/DVD. The live album, Alive Behind the Green Door, was recorded at Molly Malone's in 1997. Their studio albums are Swagger (200o), Drunken Lullabies (2002), and Within a Mile of Home (2004). The documentary is completely worth it - it chronicles the amazing history of an amazing band.

I can't really say enough about them, because the music speaks for itself. Do yourself a favor and go listen.

Left to right: Bob Schmidt, Nathan Maxwell, Dennis Casey, Dave King, Bridget Regan, Matt Hensley (sadly, no longer with the band), George Schwindt

So Much Depends

2007-03-07T23:28:00.000-06:00

As a student of literature and the English language, I am an avid fan of poetry. Through the trillions of literature courses I have to take, I am constantly being exposed to new things.

Today in class, we came to a poem that is both widely known and widely hated. It's a poem by William Carlos Williams, an American who wrote a lot during the '20s, '30s, and '40s. Williams is most often classified as a modernist and an imagist. He was more concerned with the arrangement of the words on the page and the picture that they presented than he was with elusive meaning. The words, to him, were less important than the way you put them together, and the way they were put together didn't necessarily tell you how to read them. He was out to make a truly American form of poetry, using the language in the same way an average American would do.

Back to the subject at hand - his most infamous poem. If you're at all familiar with his work, you'll have guessed it by now. If not, here it goes.

The Red Wheelbarrow

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

I've heard many different people lament over how ridiculous this poem is. Others say that this doesn't even qualify as poetry. And yet another group will praise it as the epitome of what Williams was trying to do - make something ordinary artistic.

I'm no expert - but I'm inclined to say he succeeded.

After all, Williams managed to change the way America looked at poetry. Knowing that, it's easy to see that so much depends upon that red wheelbarrow.

Honestly, Lady

2007-03-04T13:47:00.001-06:00

What, is Ann Coulter still in the ninth grade?

At the Conservative Political Action Conference, Coulter made the following remark about John Edwards, Democratic presidential hopeful:

"I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I -- so kind of an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards."

When did juvenile name calling become an acceptable means of political commentary? And using the word faggot as a put-down in a serious political atmosphere? I'm not really one for political correctness, but stooping to insult someone by saying they're part of a specific minority? You wouldn't dare use "the n-word." Why is faggot ok?

Sadly, it doesn't stop there. After being criticized by prominent members of her own party (including candidates John McCain and Rudy Giuliani), Coulter's response?

"C'mon, it was a joke. I would never insult gays by suggesting that they are like John Edwards. That would be mean."

Great way to try and rectify a really dumb comment - make another one! Let's keep throwing teenage comebacks at him, just for kicks, rather than trying to deal with his policies or political views or campaign issues (which I thought was the job of a political commentator).

Honestly, lady, are you kidding me?

Coffee's Frothy Goodness

2007-03-03T23:47:00.000-06:00

Why is it that drinking coffee in a coffee shop can instantly make one feel sophisticated, informed, and very sure of him or herself?

Nothing makes me feel as aware as drinking coffee does. Sitting in some quiet little coffee shop, serenely discussing the state of the world and the purpose of life with a dear friend does something for the soul that no other beverage can come close to imitating.

It's true, however, that coffee isn't all about inner tranquility. I'd chance to say that the majority of the time, coffee is the crutch that carries us through our days, keeping us from falling asleep in class or at work, making sure we keep every moment productive.

A lot of lovely things have been said about coffee. People over the ages have praised its taste, touted it as life's driving force, and sadly, even criticized it as a vile, bitter waste. Sure, there are plenty of ways to get caffeine (and I will take a moment here to apologize to my first love - Coke - for this horrible bout of infidelity), but why argue with the 71% of Americans who choose coffee?

What is it about this wonderful drink that has us all hooked? (Besides the caffeine, of course. But really, if we're going through the withdrawal headaches, how can we appreciate the beauty of this roasted drink?)

This luscious obsession can be traced back to 9th century Ethiopia, though this all-important word didn't enter the English language until 1598 - and it's been a constant presence since.

More and more these days, however, coffee has become a specialty, and the statistics are mind-boggling. It's a far cry from the basic roasted bean of yesteryear. Now we have to combine it with sugar, cinnamon, hazelnut, chocolate - or use espresso, steamed milk, foam, flavors, tall, short, low fat, nonfat, extra hot - well, you get the point. Personally a latte, shot of Irish cream, and dollop if whipped cream suit me just fine.

And so, having worked up a thorough craving for just that and having the sudden urge to save the world one coffee shop at a time, I'll leave you with the words of Algerian scholar Abd al-Qadir:

"No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness."

Those Bothersome Life Lessons

2007-03-01T23:20:00.000-06:00

The longer I'm in college, the more I realize that a true college education has very little to do with the material you learn in a classroom. Throughout the course of this, my second year, I've been in a class that has been the epitome of this statement. At time, I feel like this class takes this idea to the extreme in that it can show an almost blatant disregard for teaching the material and often becomes a series of mind games.

Interesting how I've chosen to personify the class in that action, instead of the teacher.

Any challenging course takes a lot of time and effort, but if learning the material is the main focus of the class, then the time and effort can be well spent and can pay off grandly. However, sometimes, learning is not the only obstacle. It can take a back seat to the other forms of education that are sometimes very unwillingly accepted.

It may seem so much more pleasant to do without those lessons, but like it or not, there are times when you don't get to choose.

Through organic chemistry, I have been forced - against my will - to learn how to work as part of a team; that helping others work their way up is more fulfilling than being alone at the top; sometimes you must deal with people you'd rather avoid; that people will defy reason and rationality (but that they'll also defy expectation, as well). I know now that understanding priority is essential, time management is a major asset, and determination (mixed with a dash of spite) can pull you out of a very deep hole. Friends that make it through the most stressful of times with you are great to have around when the world is a little lighter. Your enemies aren't always who you think they are. No one else can give you your self-worth. Nothing replaces really, really, really hard work. Finally being able to see the other side of the mountain makes the past struggle begin to fade.

And so maybe, when you're forced to learn those bothersome life lessons that you didn't realize you signed up for - and might not have chosen, if you'd known - you come out with a bit more than you paid for.

Perhaps I'm Just Losing It, Too

2007-03-01T18:02:00.000-06:00

About a year ago this month, I read American poet Sylvia Plath's only novel The Bell Jar. I'd heard of it before, but I was really exposed to the story of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes through a Senior Seminar paper done by a girl who actually sat in front of me in chapel. Her paper was on Ted Hughes' poem "Daffodils", which is a reminiscent look at the early stages of Hughes' and Plath's marriage, in the days where they were simply struggling poets - not estranged lovers that crumbled apart piece by piece.

The book is a semi autobiographical look at Plath's life and struggles with mental illness. The novel is told through the eyes of protagonist Esther Greenwood, and it deals with time that she spent as a magazine intern in New York City, the development of her views on morality, writing, and reality, her first descent into madness, and her subsequent stay in a mental hospital.

The second I finished reading this book, I really wanted to flip it around and start again. It's a tragic story, really, especially viewed in light of Plath's eventual suicide, but her manner of storytelling makes you forget all that. It's quite a comic novel, as Esther's cynical and witty remarks have you seeing through her eyes. This trait - this high level of identification - also makes her "crack-up" seem completely rational and sensible. You see the world as she sees it - through the bell jar - and you forget that it's not supposed to look this way. Plath expertly lures you into believing that this is what reality looks like, since it's Esther's piece of "reality."

Really, it's hard to convey my love for this book. If you've never given it a look, I suggest you find a copy.

Since reading it, I've also stumbled across (read: was assigned in various literature courses - see, I really do learn things!) a few short stories that remind me of the feel of The Bell Jar, whether from content, style, or some combination of both. The first one I encountered was British writer Doris Lessing's "To Room Nineteen." It is the story Susan Rawlings, a woman who rents a hotel room in order to escape from the pressures and discontentment of her life as a wife, mother of four, and homemaker. She visits the room daily, and it destroys her relationships with her husband and children. She becomes absolutely dependent on the room, and eventually kills herself.

Nineteenth century American author Charlotte Perkins Gilman used her short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" as a way to fight the misguided ways that mentally ill women were treated in the nineteenth century. It is a first-person narrative drawn from Gilman's own fight with postpartum depression and her subjection to Weir Mitchell's "rest cure". The narrator is a woman who has been diagnosed with a form of hysteria (the blanket ailment for women with any sort of mental illness) and put on the rest cure. The lack of activity and human contact drives her to begin seeing patterns in the wallpaper. Eventually, her mind morphs this into a woman trapped by the pattern. At the end of the story, she has lost all rational thought and assumed the identity of the woman who has escaped the wallpaper. Through the duration of the story, the reader is given little hints at the woman's further deterioration - lapses in consciousness, verbal ironies, and the like.

Note: Although Gilman did overcome her postpartum depression (despite the rest cure), she, like Plath, ended her own life.

Each of these stories has had me completely entranced. I've loved every line of them, and I regretted the completion of each one.

So what exactly is it that fascinates me about these intimate looks into the breakdown of reality? I've begun to worry just a smidgen - I can't get enough literature about women going crazy (I believe I'm headed for Kate Chopin's The Awakening next). Perhaps it's just a testament to the skill of these writers, because every step in that journey away from reality seems perfectly innocuous and reasonable. The wit and candidness of The Bell Jar, the social commentary and coherently irrational thought of "To Room Nineteen," and the beautiful use of imagery and foreshadowing in "The Yellow Wallpaper" show that these "cracked" women have the ability to be amazing, amazing writers.

But on the other hand, perhaps I'm just losing it, too.

Blogging With a Purpose

2007-02-28T21:32:00.000-06:00

And so I decide to try a new approach to blogging (because I obviously need more ways to waste time in a day).

Previously, my blogs have included daily recaps and completely random, unedited, and often personal ramblings. Now, we try something else - blogging with a format. Blogging that has been edited and is worth reading, even if it might be about breakfast cereal. Blogging that is less self-absorbed and more in tune to things in the outside world, be they serious or not-so-serious. Blogging that is honest without being overdone or overexposed.

Here's what I'm looking forward to using this blog for:

- thoughts and opinions on music, movies, TV, and literature
- discussion of school and all related topics
- serious thoughts on religion
- musings on those random topics encountered throughout a day
- observations on politics and world events

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but if nothing else, it has helped me in planning to write with more purpose than I've been known to in the past.

So, here's to something new - that idea of blogging with a purpose.

P.S. It's amazing the things that one is motivated to do when one is procrastinating chemistry.