freedom = scary & exciting

Man, so when I have to write a paper and the teacher leaves it so wide open for a topic it scares me! I have such a hard time making things up...I need a lot of direction when it comes to writing.  For my Spanish perspectives pre-colonial/colonial class I have to write a first person narrative set in those times, about anything. I have been thinking for days about what to write about...it is so hard! Then it came to me...Quito! I have been there, I love it there, and I know places there! It is so nice that I don't have to make it all up for my paper. I am now very excited about writing it because I do love the place and I can share a little of what it was like for me with my teacher who has never been there and I have not really written a paper on it...I am describing the valley and what it is like and it makes me happy to remember it and makes me miss my Ecuadorian family a lot! Here is the start of my paper...

Mi valle, mi hogar, mi lugar favorito.  Arriba en los andes con aire fresco y una brisa maravillosa que hace el sol soportable en el verano y la lluvia caja de lado en el invierno.   Se marca por cimas de montañas, con la excepción de la abierta angosta por el valle inferior que sea hecho por un río frío, ancho y tiene un corriente rápidamente.  Las montañas pichicha hace un lado de la valle con el pico volcánico rocoso guagua pichicha en el centro.  Todo son verde hasta que llega una línea alta un poco abajo de las cimas.  El cielo es azul con nubes blancas y esponjosas que pueden cambiar a gris en un momento y empapa una persona en un ratito.   

I know not everyone can read Spanish but that is what it is being written and (mostly) thought of/up in. :) 

emotions run deep

So...I was so very excited this past Sunday for my first geology field trip in Hawaii and it was a vulcanology one, so I was extra stoked.  I went shopping the day before to have the right clothes, bought food and had even ordered a new camelbak backpack so I would have enough water and space.  I got up early, had my breakfast and got totally ready for my day.  I was looking like a field person and feeling good. I showed up about 25 minutes early at 9:05 am, that is who I am, and no ones else was there yet, so I pulled out my guide and started reading it.  On the first page I saw that it said to meet at 9am...for some unknown reason I had thought it was at 9:30...they had already left. I have never seen a geology field trip leave on time and I was only like 5 minutes late because I showed up so early, but they were gone already.  I couldn't believe it.  I looked around more and still there was no one else but me.  I could feel my head getting hotter as if magma was bubbling up from my stomach into brain...I got so upset! I cried, oh yeah, I cried over missing a field trip...that was a first for me.  Mom suggested taking a taxi, good idea but it is so expensive here and I had no idea how long they were going to be in one spot at a time and so that was not very practical, also I had no access to a vehicle so I couldn't catch up that way.  I was so upset that I gave myself a very bad migraine.  Missing anything related to school has never made me upset to that extreme before.  It is like being in a relationship, where that one person can make you the happiest you have ever been or the most wretched you can imagine.  The fact that I am so emotional over vulcanology shows me I am doing what I love, but it sucks because I am so emotional over it that I miss class.  I tried to clam down and just relax and let the migraine get better, but I ended up going to the ER on Tuesday, again!  So now I have missed a whole other week of all my classes because of that.  Frustration is what I am feeling right now...I was finally caught up in all my classes (after dropping World Religions) and now I am back to trying to catch up and I have to make up a midterm that I missed. Argh, I can't be this emotional about vulcanology all the time or my life will be filled with huge mood swings along with huge migraines.  It is not just the class that I get emotional over...I get jealous when Bruce praises someone else in class...I can't remember the last night I was jealous of someone and not just jealous, I was practically glaring at the person and almost hating them.  Those are some pretty strong emotions for someone I have never talked to, no?