Sunday, April 18

OK, real post, sort of, though still not a whole lot of content. A few people have asked about where Mérida is, so - here it is! Mérida is in the Northern part of Venezuela (West by NW, I suppose). It is near the top of the Andes, just South of Lake Maracaibo. Even though it is pretty close to the equator, the altitude keeps the climate reasonable - a little on the warm side, but not too bad if you aren't spending your days splitting wood or working in attics. 5,348 ft - as a point of reference, Denver is at 5,280 ft (close) & Minneapolis is at 830 ft (not so close).

I suppose though...
I really should be doing homework now. I've got a few more pages of Hume to get through before I can call it a day (philo major, remember?). Interesting stuff even if some parts seem to be way off the mark (some of what he wrote is great, I'm not arguing against that, but other times, well, wow). I'm just not in the right frame of mind for it right now.
Que lastima - ¡Hasta luego!

Saturday, April 17

I realize it's been a couple weeks since I've posted, but I just don't know anything. Dave had a birthday (he's getting old). Lots of writing to do with the end of the semester coming up. Got a little stumping to do before we can till the garden (small expansion). I haven't seen any aliens or bigfoot - at least not since my last post. Haven't bumped into Elvis recently, although I did talk to a guy who looked like him, just with a lot less rhinestones...

Whatever, I should probably get off the keyboard, well, away from the keyboard & off my bum. It's Saturday, I'm going outside to play. (and stump, and till ...)

Friday, April 02

This Warden Message informs U.S. citizens traveling to and residing in Venezuela of the ongoing security concerns on the Caracas-La Guaira highway, en route to the Caracas Maiquetia International Airport. This highway is known to be particularly dangerous, and highway robberies occur at any time of the day and at any place along the highway. The general modus operandi of the criminals is to cause a roadblock with either trash and debris or vehicles, particularly at chokepoints at the tunnels on the highway. Once traffic has stopped, travelers are robbed and/or carjacked, often at gunpoint. There are also credible reports of arriving travelers being targeted in the airport, to be later robbed along the highway en route to Caracass.

Well, at least it shouldn't be a dull trip!

Friday, March 26

MEFLOQUINE:

This medication may cause stomach upset, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, hair loss, ringing in the ears, dizziness, drowsiness, headache, insomnia, strange dreams, or lightheadedness. If these symptoms persist or become severe, contact your doctor or pharmacist promptly. Tell your doctor immediately if any of these side effects occur: fast, slow, or irregular heartbeat, seizures, muscle pain, loss of coordination, numbness and tingling of hands or feet, vision changes. If any of the following occur; call your doctor immediately; you may need to stop using mefloquine and start another medication for malaria prevention: unexplained anxiety, mood changes, depression (sometimes severe, including rare thoughts of suicide), hallucinations, restlessness, confusion. A serious allergic reaction to this drug is unlikely, but seek immediate medical attention if it occurs. Symptoms of a serious allergic reaction include: rash, itching, swelling, severe dizziness, trouble breathing. If you notice other effects not listed above, contact your doctor or pharmacist.

Y'know, I might just take my chances with malaria...

Friday, Mar 19

Spring break is about over, so much for cleaning the garage. I've been looking for a map of Mérida - it doesn't look like something that has been widely published . So far this is all I've found, & it's been out of print for quite awhile. I guess I can keep looking. I did find this, though. Click on the calle link, the school is about 3 blocks South of the airport.

I think all the paperwork is complete now. Well, current anyway - there'll probably be more as things get closer. I also finished my entrance essay for Luther Seminary, but I'll have to wait a couple weeks before sending it. If everything falls perfectly into place I'll wrap things up at UMM Fall '10 semester - but only if everything lines up perfectly & that's with the maximum credit load the university allows. Otherwise it'll be a little over a year from now (but with a much more manageable load). The entrance essay is sent with the candidacy application, but without knowing when I would be starting, I can't quite complete it. Details...

Thursday, Feb 25

No big updates at this point, still shuffling through paperwork (if it hasn't become obvious by this time, I'll just point out that paperwork really really isn't my thing).

I did find the newspaper from Mérida, the Frontera. Well, duh - of course it's in Spanish. If you'd like to take a peek in English, try here (Google comes in handy for things like that). Interesting, not quite ready to commit to ordering a subscription though...

Friday, Feb 12

OK, finished the next batch of paperwork & got it sent off. I've been out of the country a few times before, but the amount of paperwork for a school trip is ridiculous!

½ a pound of paperwork to the Twin Cities campus, another ¼ pound to somewhere in Florida, & another smaller pile to somewhere else in Florida.

It was supposed to be at all of those places by the fifteenth - cutting it close, but I didn't even know about it until a few days ago, so the USPS got a few extra bucks since things had to go priority.

And no, that isn't my own picture, just something I found through Google (the actual pile was much bigger).

Saturday, Feb 6

About a week ago my trip to Mérida, Venezuela (last Monday, actually) was approved, and since I'm not too bad about taking pictures, but not too good about sharing them or writing letters, I thought I'd give this a shot.

This is a study abroad trip for school. I am currently a Philosophy major at the U of M, Morris campus. You don't have to click on every link - I just put them in in case any explanations are wanted - & not everybody will want them.

Last year I tried to get into three different trips, the first two were canceled & the third was full by the time I had applied. I'd had enough pointless paperwork & wasn't about to try for #4. I was looking into a few this year (school year), but when I started looking at what was offered at other U of M campuses, this opportunity really stood out. It runs about 3 months, & in that time I can get in an entire year of college level Spanish (in addition to the immersion of living there) as well as finishing off my science requirements.

How is it possible to have an AAS in CVN with 80+ science credits & still have more needed? I don't know - still scratching my head on that one, but as it turns out I'll be taking Tropical Ecology (in a rain-forest) and Field Botany in the Andes (do I need to point out that this is in The Andes?). I'm really not too upset about getting in a little more science, especially considering the circumstances.

Anyway, since it looks like things will work out, I've got quite a bit more paperwork to fill out & most of it needs to be completed this weekend so I better get to it...