As seems to be happening a bit too often recently, I can't seem to fall asleep so I am blogging. I do have quite a bit on my mind and have had a full week and for some reason am really happy and full of adrenaline presently (inexplicably other than having had a great day and a great few days). I finally joined a gym by my house which I tried out early this morning and loved, I got the color copies for an outreach we're doing on campus the week after next, had a great time talking with one of my roommates today, and am excited about my costume for the "metro" party tomorrow. The party is a costume party where we have to dress as one of the metro stops. For instance, if you dressed as the Princesa (princess) stop, you'd likely dress as a princess. If you dressed as the Lavapies (wash feet) stop, you might dress as one who washes feet or as washed feet or one who has washed feet. You get the idea. So, I have decided to go as the Bambú (bamboo) stop and precisely to go as a bamboo fairy. There is no real explanation other than the idea came to mind, I got excited about the idea and the idea of making my costume and, really, when else can a grown woman dress up like a green fairy with wings and tights and sequins and fabric leaves all over, and real bamboo in her hair with a mask. There are really very few times. So, tomorrow is my excuse and I am excited about my costume even though all I have so far is some paint, some sequins, some possible skirts to sew onto or to copy, some random fabric scraps, a green shirt or two to choose from, bamboo, wings made from hangers and pantyhose (ready to be painted), some random ideas, and a little bit of time. So happy costume wearing to the rest of you if you happen to have the occasion.
Okay, now for the actual updates... things I blogged about at some point in time recent or earlier this month, but never got around to telling you how they went...
My second driving class was much better than the first. I think I amused my roommates and some friends as I told them about it. First of all, I think my instructor and I are understanding each other better. He wasn't quite as critical of me and when he was I found some new strategies to cope. One, encouraging myself out loud (which is what amused my friends, who said they weren't really surprised). For instance, when he told me, "What are you doing with your foot on the clutch, you should only have the brake on!" One of the times I responded, by saying, "Yeah, I know, but did you notice how most of the times today I've done it the way you want. In fact I think more times than not, something like three fourths of the time." Then another time I said, "Yeah, but imagine if you had to go to another country and "relearn" how to drive, changing minute details that you have spent the last 16+ years doing." He then said that he had been to the US and had rented a car. And I asked if it was an automatic. It was and then he chimed in that he had actually rented two and had driven in both Miami and Orlando, FL. The other tricks were that (1) I actually have begun to change how I drive, (2) my dad confirmed that the way I drive is the "right" way, and (3) after having talked to my dad, I asked a Spanish friend of mine who was kind enough to answer my e-mail with a thorough response of the fact that he drives the same way I do, that driving schools don't teach you how to drive just how to pass the test, and WHY the driving examiners make you drive this way (for example, they don't want you to turn your head because they assume you don't know how to set your mirrors properly). Actually my friend's explanations helped tremendously and the reassurance that I am not psycho nor that strange by how I drive, that it is actually what normal people do AFTER they have passed through the driving school and exam and actually learn how to drive. So, I am one step closer to a Spanish driver's license and car.
