there and back again and then there again!

I'm about to embark on a mini-adventure: a quick trip back to Spain to visit friends, and hopefully see a few new places--but friends are the priority. I decided that it was a rather silly idea financially (to which my sister decidedly agreed--since when did she get all responsible and stuff?) but then, the timing was pretty good: the research job I've been working on in schools finished up before Christmas, and I'd been planning to quit my side job at an entirely too infrequently visited Mediterranean restaurant nearly since I started two months ago. The problem with working two part-time jobs without benefits is that you don't really make money.

By the time you pay the bills, and the loans and eat and go out a bit, there's your monthly income! So I didn't really have much money saved up, but I was looking at tickets and they were so cheap! And then a housesitting gig came up, providing me with three months' free rent...the perfect post-trip, no-job cushion! So I decided to do it. And I leave in 2 days! ¡olé!

Now, the other thing all this job changing thing is doing is making me think pretty seriously about a career (and, as my wizened older sister cautioned, it doesn't look good on your resume to change jobs so often--no one will want to hire you, assuming you'll leave after a few months). My roommate mentioned once that she learned about climbers who went up to the top of wind turbines to fix them, and this sounded like a pretty great job, so I've been doing some research. Rope access technician does sound like a job I would enjoy! But unfortunately though the original certification can be obtained in a week-long training course, you'd have to have some other skills

(welding, for example, and be certified in these other skills) and until you've reached a level 2 or 3 (several years' worth of work/experience) you might be hard-pressed to find work, unless you get on with a good company early on. A lot of freelance type of work at the beginning. So it would be great if I already had a side job, with a flexible schedule. But it's not an investment I can probably afford at this point, and also probably not something I'd want to do for decades (is there anything out there??) and thus I am, a bit regretfully, putting that idea back on the shelf. Next? (Ok, Kevin, you win...)

Well, I'll work on the next idea. In the meantime, it's time to take a holiday in Spain! And then get back and find a job ASAP. (It will probably be another temporary job I don't particularly enjoy, which will help me get by until I move to South America in the fall. I haven't quite figured the details of this move out, yet, but no worries. The adventure is there. Probably just for a year, and then I'll come back and be a real adult, I promise. Maybe. Don't hold me to that. I may have

been crossing some fingers in there, which is tricky while you're typing, by the way).

Until next time (probably next year), do something to improve your karma, drink some good tea, laugh with friends, hug your family, and wave to the sun.

To know the universe itself as a road—as many roads—as roads for traveling souls!

Here is a tale--no, less a tale, more an anecdote of recent times:

Over Halloween weekend I went to several different parties, donning a big red sheet, a pillowcase over my head, and a little woven basket: a decent (and simple) Little Red Riding Hood costume (Caperucita Roja). I had a good time, being silly and hanging out with friends. But the best part? At one of the parties I was talking with some Colombian friends and decided that I wasn't going to speak English to anyone the rest of the night. I thought it would just be funny for a while, but that non-Spanish speakers would probably get annoyed with me and I'd have to stop. ;) And then something very fun happened! I began talking to random people...and they answered me in Spanish! So I made new friends. And then a friend introduced me to some Brazilian friends of his, so I tried out my rusty/poor Portuguese! And then one of my new friends switched to French, so I tried to follow suit, of course. It is very probable that I mixed up and/or invented some words and conjugations during this tri-lingual conversation...but it was entertaining beyond reasonable explanation. I left feeling giddy and elated--delighted with these short interactions. Just what was it that made those conversations so noteworthy for me? Have I simply been suffering from intercultural interaction withdrawal? Did it remind me of friends and adventures I had in Spain/Portugal? Was it simply a linguistic libido, a mere morphemic thrill?

Let us assume it was some combination of these possible explanations, and let us also assume

this has not been an isolated experience. What, then, do I do with this unsurprising revelation? I love languages and meeting people from other cultures.

It seems I should figure out a job/career which involves these things. Don't get me wrong, I've had this idea before. (You know, the whole getting-a-master's-degree-in-Translation-and-Interpreting, etc...but so far I've come up blank on that front.) My friend suggested I take the foreign service exam...maybe should. Also going to apply to be a program leader for various youth summer abroad programs. In the meantime, the days are getting shorter and colder, making me a restless little gypsy, all bundled up in her down comforter and dreaming of days not long gone: of sun and summer; dreaming of new adventures.

So it goes.

This repeating mantra in Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five gives a sense of resignation and acceptance, though, in most cases, without seeming overly fatalistic.

I think that about sums it up for my general feelings right now. I've been working towards my court interpreting certification since January (each step/exam only happens every few months) and just got my results from my last exam: not a passing score. The next exam date is on a Saturday I can't attend, so if I want to keep doing it, it's not until next year sometime. I'd also

gotten all excited about doing Teach for America--the perfect solution, I thought, for becoming a teacher without having to go into more debt to go back to school! And found out I didn't get accepted to the next application step. So it goes.

I recently did job training for a new job, and I'm excited to be working in schools with kids--even though giving them exams will probably get really repetitive and tiring after about...5 times (=one day). It will still be better than sitting in front of a computer all day in an office. That kind of job just isn't for me.

At any rate, I've begun to get a bit restless, I guess. It's not that I'm unhappy in Albuquerque--

I've made some really good friends, am having a good time playing frisbee, the weather's been great, I have a garden (cut a most divine cantaloupe this morning), I'm close enough to home that I can visit for a weekend, there are beautiful mountains and places to explore nearby... and yet, I'm directionless. I don't know what I want to do with my life. There's got to be something out there for me... that really fits! Something that I love, and yet is useful/productive/valuable to humanity or the earth. Hah. Very specific, I know. But if I knew what I wanted to do, I wouldn't be writing this, I suppose. I would be applying to school somewhere, or jobs in a certain field or...

As it is, I think it's time to seek out another adventure. Let me clarify: time to move to another

country again! Maybe teach English, since that and translating are about the only skills I have to offer. I'm looking for positions in Latin America, mostly, though also Spain (if only!) and Morocco. I've considered going to a country where they actually pay well, too, which would allow me to continue paying student loans, and have leftover for traveling after a year... Though for whatever reason I'm not as attracted to China, Vietnam, South Korea... So it goes.

If you have ideas for me, I'd love to hear them. In the meantime, I need to go get some seeds for a fall planting, and maybe painfully pick out the chords on my guitar to a really easy song. Wouldn't it be nice to be a musical prodigy? I am not. So it goes.

Alaska: a teaser

So! I have returned from the land of the midnight sun with entirely too many activities/adventures/pictures to put into a blog entry. I'll just select a few pictures, and hopefully do a follow-up entry later.

Alaska has a bunch of beautiful flowers in the summer, it turns out.

And there are glaciers in Alaska!

And more glaciers! I am dazzled.

And foxes!! Taking home ground squirrels to the kits!!

summer?

I'm not sure about the title, as this will be rather brief, and I've been rather poor at writing lately. This is because, as per usual, I've over-committed myself and do entirely too many things. I think that's how I like it, though.

Anyway, in celebration of my upcoming vacation (first paid vacation ever!) to Alaska (!!!) and since I've been talking about it for about 3 years... I bought a new camera!! It's funny how it can have over 5 times as many megapixels, over 3x the zoom power, etc. etc. and still be less than half the size of my previous camera. Oh, technology.

Thus I give you a (brief) photo update of my weekend-ish:

I went to two post-baptism (Catholic) fiestas this weekend. They mostly involved sitting around and eating lots of good food, watching small children jump around in those jumpy-air-houses, pinatas, drinks, and speaking lots of Spanglish. I also managed to find the Women's world cup finals on during today's party and sat around with the ol' Mexican dudes to watch some futbol, yay! USA lost in PK's to Japan, by the way: it was an intense final. Above is my co-worker, her daughter, and I.

And this is my cute little cantaloupe!! I'm very excited about and proud of my garden; on Friday I picked eight summer squash. mmm. It was fun to be able to send my parents home with produce from my garden in exchange for produce from theirs! (They were here for a brief visit.)

Another co-worker. I thought the strawberry in the lower-right was a flower at first. Strawberries are much better tasting. Especially when covered in chocolate. (Remember the part about eating yummy food?)

I also played some sand volleyball with frisbee friends, ate lunch with my parents + family friends, went to church, and took an exam this weekend. I have no photos of that. It was rather brief. The test was step 3 of 4 in getting certified to be a court interpreter. That is, if I pass. I think something like 80% of people fail it. It went better than I thought it might, but I'm making no hopeful guesses, because I don't know how they grade and I definitely missed some sections/words... I will be extremely put-out if I failed, though, since the test costs 100 dollars, I can't take it again until February or March of next year, and I missed a frisbee tournament/chance to hang out with my sissie to take it. Obviously I still filled my weekend, but given the choice I will opt *not* to pay money to take tests I have a good chance of failing... We'll see--maybe it will all be worth it.

And, as is also per usual, I have been less brief than I intended, and successfully put off picking up my room. I've also been sitting in an extremely uncomfortable position for no apparent reason and now have a neck cramp. Time to sign off.

BLOOD DIAMONDS

I met a man in the parking lot

sitting in his parked car

he told me stories

talked of his life

his death

he's died more than once

showed me his scars

bullets, entered here

cut out there

He showed me pictures

child soldiers

a village of burned bodies

children, charred

skin peeling away from their fragile frames

and mud

digging in the mud

men, boys, next to each other

next to other men and boys,

dead

covered in mud

naked

mud on their eyes

in their ears

on their penises

but still digging, the men and boys

looking for diamonds,

its the only way to stay alive,

digging, all day

you stop, they shoot

digging

maybe a mango for lunch

well, breakfast, lunch and dinner,

the same

green, not ripe

Maybe your best friend,

he finds a diamond

puts it in his pocket

or maybe mouth, safer

thinks he'll run,

buy his way away

free

winks, makes a sign like "shh"

you look away, scared

digging, digging

Then it's there,

the barrel at your head

then a gun is in your hand

you look up to see your friend

gun at his head

shaking his head, no, no

they're yelling at you,

kill him, shoot him

he is a cheater, a liar,

he must die

you saw him take a diamond

shoot him

or we shoot you both

now

You don't even care

dying

you've been dead before

your family is dead

you saw them shot

you were dragged away

to the rebel camp

in the cold jungle

what is it to die?

better

it doesn't matter

But you pull the trigger anyway

they kick his body in a ditch

in the mud

kick you in, too

dig

You dig

around your dead best friend

no tears

no feeling

just keep digging

that's all

He tells me,

looking at the green field

at students, playing

volleyball

soccer

running

I cry, he says

to look at this

You don't know what you have here

they say this boy is twelve,

he shoves a picture at me

look, is he twelve?

no, he is just a boy

the caption says the boy's name, 12, in Congo

fighting with Rebel forces

he shoulders an AK-47

peering into the distance

they are ten dollars there, he says

he is talking about the guns

people here, they say they like to shoot

I laugh

you like to shoot?

I'll take you to a place

where you can shoot

free guns, free bullets

shoot whatever you want

see if you like it

like to shoot

I cry, he says

people, they don't know

they wear diamonds

bling

and black people!

they have no idea

some don't care

they wear it anyway

But it's blood

those diamonds

they buy

they are blood diamonds.


© lindsy r. glick 2011

the best use for business cards

So sometimes while at work I get little Ideas and I scribble them down on little scraps of paper, or my business cards, since I don't really give them out to anyone, anyway... They're usually little phrases, or ideas to expound upon later (which never happens), or short poems, something related to the music I'm listening to at the moment, and sometimes utterly invented. They've been floating around my purse, and in order to get rid of the clutter, I'm going to just type them up here, and throw away my little paper scraps.

* 'Round here, the wind blows so strong you turn 'round and look the other way. 'Round here you've got to stand up straight, and walk into the wind. If you don't you end up facing away, missing life, blowing by. 'Round here you've gotta look the wind in the eye.

* "I pledge my life to the World of Disbelief, where I belong." -Sum 41, "Walking Disaster"

* -pdf's, doc/docx, problem loading flash, 15" screen, shadows telling time on windowsill

* The Ballad of the Desert and the Sea...

* Opposites attract -> but what happens when there's a barrier between us?

Miss you, but can't live with you... meant always to be apart.

* to go out walking, in the sun

to go out walking, without shoes

to go out walking, anywhere with you

walking in my sleep, walking in my dreams

wake up, and you're not walking anywhere with me

* I Can't Believe I Bought a Lint-roller, and Other Corporate Sell-out Stories [Hehe, this one I actually want to make into a children's book; it would scare children into following their dreams. haha!]

Behold! I have found my vocation

in the midst of a (very good) introduction to Smoke and Mirrors, a collection of short stories by Neil Gaiman. And it goes like this, "...I wondered about where stories came from. This is the kind of thing that you wonder about when you make things up for a living. I remain unconvinced that this is the kind of activity that is a fit occupation for an adult, but it's too late now: I seem to have a career that I enjoy which doesn't involve getting up too early in the morning. (When I was a child, adults would tell me not to make things up, warning me of what would happen if I did. As far as I can tell so far it seems to involve lots of foreign travel* and not having to get up too early in the morning.)"

Ha! Perfect! Making things up, foreign travel, *eating delicious toast and drinking good coffee in the mornings, and not getting up to early in the morning! I added that bit about the toast and coffee, because I think it's a good one, and clearly fits with the rest of the job description. Besides, I already do said ritual on a nearly quotidian basis, so I'm part way there already!

But really, I do think I would love to write... now I just have to figure out how to somehow "become a writer" because, uh, it doesn't seem the sort of profession that one just applies for, generally... (And yes, I realize that if I actually have even semi-serious ambitions regarding writing I should, probably, write a lot more in general. Even here, blogging, because I clearly have not been prolific of late. Hmm...

In other life-vision-related news, last month I also had a flash of vocational inspiration and applied to Doctors without Borders. I thought just maybe my handy skills (um... Spanish? and, uh, construction and radio communication? I tried...) would be just what they needed in some lovely "underdeveloped" country in Latin America or something. It was a good thought, and really, it seems about perfect... but apparently they don't need me, at least not now. Hmph. Maybe I should study something medicine related?

So many options...

But before I do something crazy like go back to school (ugh) I want to be pretty sure that I want to do X thing for more than a few months/years.

And right now...

I'm still feeling pretty gypsy.

So maybe I should make more things up, do lots of foreign travel, and not get up too early in the morning. (¡¿Right?!)

i will never be obsessed with anything, because i am always obsessed with everything

Sounds very Wilde-esque, I know. (How do you turn names into adjectives, anyway? Are there rules for that? Wildonian?) Back to my point:

Because of my rapid fascination with almost anything, I have a great many interests, very few of which get seriously developed. Take sports: I've played/ran/done volleyball, basketball, track, soccer--if only intramural, ultimate frisbee, climbing, gymnastics... and I'm anywhere from terrible (soccer) to fairly decent, but never have I been really great at any of them, nor do I expect to become so.

And then there are all those other things I like to do... dance, music, woodworking, cooking, sewing, painting, drawing, writing...the list goes on and on. As I said, obsessed with everything.

Yet because of this, I will never specialize and become an "expert" at any... (a friend pointed out that, "specialization is for insects." and thus I need not strive for such a thing.)

I'm convinced that the only way I'll ever become a pro salsa-dancer is just to dance, dance, dance. Or a "real" writer: I must write ALL the time! But I get so distracted by all the other things I want to do/learn! I suppose this is the axiom we learn from the "Jack of all trades, master of none" idiom. Which I like to do a gender reversal on, with a comical outcome: "Jill of all trades, mistress of none." Not exaactly the same connotations, eh?

Anyway, back to learning a Dispatch song on Mom's guitar...

a word of advice to my 20-something friends

Do not read the introduction to your IRA packet. It will depress you. Their intention, I'm sure, is to make you feel secure in your investment. To feel good about the many years ahead of you in which you can plan, save and think about your future and your some-day retirement. Relax, you've got anywhere from 40-45 years left to ensure that your retirement allows you to live comfortably and securely. FORTY TO FORTY-FIVE YEARS?!?! ¡Madre de Dios! I quickly ran a mental projection of myself after reading those words...and predicted approximately 12 career changes and 8 major geographical moves. Okay, maybe not quite, and time passes really quickly, and things happen and people make connections and put down roots and settle down. That may well happen, I recognize that as a possibility. But can we just take it in 2-3 years steps at a time for now? I CANNOT THINK ABOUT 40 YEARS FROM NOW! That's not to say I refuse to start saving money, on the contrary, I'm all for it, my account's already set up. Just please don't try to comfort me by talking about something 4-5 decades away. I am kind of a gypsy.

snow day

Apparently I brought the snow back with me from Indiana... I was just ahead of it driving back to Albuquerque but this morning had to brush snow off my car and scrape the windshield. Scratch that, I had no scraper or brush! I just wiped it off with my hands, breathed into the lock trying to thaw it enough to turn the key, and then set the defrost on high while I finished getting my stuff together for work. Welcome back to New Mexico. (?!?!) It kept snowing and the forecast is a bit grim, and since New Mexicans have no idea how to drive in snow, a mere 3-4 inches shuts the city down. If I didn't have a rear-wheel drive tiny convertible that handles una mierda in the snow, I probably would think the amount of accidents today ridiculous, but I slid around a bit getting in and out of the parking lot where the snow and ice hadn't been melted away by cars before me. And on the way home I bought an ice scraper and snow brush. Tomorrow I will be so prepared.

In other news, since I got to come home from work early due to the snow, I finally got around to making some granola bars. I'd been planning on it for ages, ever since a friend asked me for a recipe (which I didn't have) and he ended up finding this one, trying it out, and liking it. My pan o' deliciousness is cooling now. Should be a good snack for work.

I also finished my book (The Sun Also Rises) and experimented with a silly collage:

It was a pretty good afternoon, although I had to skip salsa dancing tonight, since I figured it was a bad idea to be out on the roads. Oh, and my stupid sister has been playing pick-up ultimate on the beach, and hanging out at the zoo in the sun on her vacation in California. *sigh* Come back, summer!

DEAD ANIMAL PHOTO SPOILER ALERT

You know, just in case the picture of a dead javelina is going to gross you out...

It had snowed up in the mountains shortly before I left for the citay, and I saw this poor guy on the side of the road. Not having seen many javelinas up close (they're kind of aggressive and it is generally recommended not to come in close contact with them, especially if you are accompanied by your dog, which will with all probability chase the javelina for some time until it realizes there was not one but three, and they are not so very scared of it, turn quickly and high-tail it back to YOU, with angered javelinas as its heels), I turned around and pulled off the road in order to further inspect:

What odd creatures and what tiny, hooved feet.

My next stop was to renew my soon-to-be-expired driver's license (ah, waiting in the famed MVD lines...kind of made me think of Spain, ah ah ah) and say good-bye to my mummy.

And then, having broken forth onto the high plains, I saw perhaps the largest herd of pronghorn antelope I can remember seeing. The pictures do not display their numbers, but it was a very scenic...scene.

Also, I despise digital zoom on cameras and think the quality is abominable, but I think this image is rather striking, despite its lack of focus and/or extreme pixelation:

It reminds me of Little House on the Prairie and my grandmother's watercolor paintings.

In other news, I went [horseback] riding with some friends in Glenwood while I was home and put my waterbottle and camera in the saddlebag. Oops. Turns out the waterbottle leaked and I did not notice that my camera was getting this precious liquid into into its fine mechanical and optical parts, which do not so very much appreciate baths. This is rather unfortunate, as I am not financially able to buy myself a lovely new camera, as much as I have been wanting to do so for years...Until that time so presents itself, I am borrowing Mom and Dad's B camera, which is, actually, remarkably similar to my old one. Same model, in fact, but with a fold out screen rather than built-in. Anyway, I have, once again, been bailed out, so to speak, by my parents and am capable of capturing images. As an added bonus, my parents are not particularly zealous in deleting their photos after uploading them to their computer, so I imagine my delight in finding some remarkable photos from July. I'll leave you with this gem of a moment:

Big Al says "Don't forget to check the tire pressure and fluid levels in your car!" right before getting dunked by his grandson at a Fouth of July celebration. :)

the noises behind the sounds of silence

I hereby desire to terminate the lack of written expression which has been my tendency these weeks past...In thus doing I shall summarize the defining events which have taken place since my last entry.

-I celebrated the 25th anniversary of my birth; I reflected on this seemingly important number with due attention, and appalled my mother by stating that I was officially one quarter century old. She said being more than half a century old sounded terribly intimidating.* I, however, was neither terribly overwhelmed nor disgusted by this number for myself, feeling that it is a rather prime age with OPPORTUNITY written all over it. Don't get me wrong, there are days when I am frustrated by the transient stage between "student" and "grown-up" (in which I apply many stereotypical ideals or expectations to said state of being, which ought most definitely be reconstructed)but other days I am quite excited to have the past I've had and the future that is yet to be. Those are good days.

-I packed up a very few things (for once in my life I was not moving on an airplane! But the space of the trunk and front seat of a Miata is comparable to two suitcases and a carry-on item, so it was really about the same, the difference being that I didn't have to pack so neatly or control the size and placement of liquids) into the little car my parents have so generously allowed me to drive until I can afford a vehicle of my own and moved myself to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I, like the bear, wanted to go to the other side of the mountain to see what I could see, see what I could see. Photographic evidence of this journey will be provided below, or in a separate post.

-I interviewed for two jobs, one to be a campaign staff member working to raise money for good causes, but with a schedule and duties I was not particularly fond of (read "door to door") and the other a paralegal position with an immigration law firm Ah-hah, now we're talkin'! Both organizations called me back for a second interview or to do a trial day and after interview numero dos at the law firm, I was hired! I know the assumption is that I will be speaking Spanish all day with this job, but in reality I will use it somewhat infrequently, as the clients I will mostly be working with are part of the "employment immigration" demographic, meaning largely scientists, professors and engineers hired by the university or labs and in need of working visa papers. Some of these will speak Spanish, perhaps, although the majority will probably possess European or Asian passports. This will also be exciting, because I looove meeting people from other places and and building those multicultural relationships. Also, HURRAH, I HAVE A JOB!!!!! (I start in one week. Must go shopping for "business casual.")

-I moved into a lovely adobe house with an extremely independent and furry cat. "Tarzan." A temporary abode, (oh, just look at those two words! "Adobe abode") I will be staying here for three months while its owners bask in the tropical bounties of Central America. In April I will once more seek cheap, shared housing, preferably within biking distance of my work and the university zone...and I will buy a bike.

-Did I mention they have a compost bin at the office? They have a compost bin. Wicked.

-I went to a salsa class with a friend from high school. Both of those things are remarkable. I love to dance, but I've taken very few, if any, formal classes in salsa, and it was nice to have some explicit instructions. It was also fantastic to reconnect with my friend (I also totally took advantage of her hospitality and invaded her home for a week before I moved in to my current house) and find out we have a lot in common again. Salsa next week? ¡Qué sí!

Having expounded with more detail than intended, as is my custom, I shall withhold photos for a separate post, not wanting to exhaust my hypothetical readers with overwhelmingly lengthy entries.


*My mother, of course, was exaggerating her age and rounding up. I think she is 42 or 43, really... *wink*