San Xavier Weekend

This has been a good weekend for me. Not only did I spend the week getting lots of photography and journalism practice, but this weekend capped it off perfectly. Yesterday my friend Britain and I spent the afternoon at the Mission San Xavier del Bac, which is a National Historic Landmark.

The actual building dates back to 1797 but the mission was founded in 1692. It is located on the San Xavier Reservation, which is part of the reservation for the Tohono O’odham nation, located just south of Tucson. The mission is apparently considered to be the “finest example of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States” (www.sanxaviermission.org).

Regardless, it’s a beautiful structure both inside and out, with an unusual and intriguing mix of Catholic, Spanish, and Tohono O’odham (Native American) influences.

Light a Candle

Stories to Tell

“So many people are shut up tight inside themselves like boxes, yet they would open up, unfolding quite wonderfully, if only you were interested in them.”

-- Sylvia Plath

This is what I'm discovering in journalism school. Even stopping random people on the street can be fascinating. People are diverse, and interesting, and everyone's got a story to tell.

I was published in a major national newspaper!

I got published by the New York Times!!!!!!!!

It's not an actual piece of journalism, unfortunately, although that would have been too awesome for words.

Remember the scholarship essay I published below? There was an article in the New York Times Travel section a few weeks ago asking for readers to submit short essays about why they travel, and since my essay was on a similar theme, I figured what the hell.

So I submitted it.

Then this week I got an email from the Travel desk telling me that my essay, along with several others, had been chosen out of almost 400 to be published! An edited version of my essay will be in the print version of the Travel section of the Times this Sunday. It can also be found on the NY Times website here.

FYI, it's the fourth and last one, titled (not by me), "At Home in Kabul." And this is an edited version of what I submitted, which is the same as shown several posts earlier on this blog.

Tumblr

I just started a tumblr. I'm not entirely sure what they are called, so I'm just calling it my tumblr. I recently heard that it is taking over the social media empire, so I figured I should get in on it. Social media is becoming an important part of journalism. For several of my classes I've been required to tweet and/or keep a blog. I actually have two blogs, a facebook account, and a Twitter account. I'm just adding this to the lot.

http://kelseywanderer.tumblr.com/

Check it out!

Update

Didn't get the internship. Still waiting to hear if I got funding for the Dari language program. Most likely stuck here all summer, taking classes and (hopefully) working. Boo.

Traveler's Paradise

Or it would be if it weren't for that pesky little war...

Scholarship Essay

So...I filled out my FAFSA and submitted it today, which then led me to search out scholarships in a vain attempt to assuage my ever increasing debt from student loans. Unfortunately, even though I have no money I don't qualify for very many scholarships. About the only one I could find was from some random company of business consultants.

I'm not actually sure it applies to me, either, due to the rather vague description which reads:

"The A&F Scholarships are available to all high school juniors and seniors as well as all students currently registered in any accredited post secondary institution."

I presume that includes graduate students?

Well, I plan to enter anyway. All that it requires is an essay, written to answer this question:

"What have you done outside of the classroom that demonstrates qualities sought after by universities or other educational facilities? Of these, which means the most to you?"

My answer? Keep reading to find out. And please, let me know what you think!

The girls stared shyly at us, sneaking peeks whenever they thought we weren't looking. Our tour guide explained who we were and why we were there, then started asking questions of the class. When he asked what each girl wanted to be when she grew up, the answers surprised me. Most answered that they wanted to be a teacher, and many specified that they wanted to teach English. Other common responses were journalists and lawyers, and one particularly ambitious student even answered, “a politician.” The most remarkable part of these answers was that they were coming from young girls in Afghanistan, who for the first time were able to dream about having a life of their own choosing, instead of one chosen for them by their families.

In March of 2010 I spent ten unforgettable days in Kabul, Afghanistan as part of an educational trip to explore issues facing women there. As part of that trip we visited a school for girls run by an Afghan non-profit organization. There are 120 students at that particular school, with a long waiting list of parents who want an education for their daughters. Contrary to the opinion held by most people, Afghan parents want their children, including their daughters, to have every opportunity -- just like all parents the world over.

The main reason why I chose to go on this trip to a war zone was to see the other side of the story, to find situations like this. I knew there had to be more to the country than the war that is currently being waged there, and I wanted to see it firsthand. Everything I found in Kabul confirmed this belief. The Afghan people are the friendliest, most welcoming and gracious hosts anyone could imagine.

When I decided that I wanted to travel to Afghanistan, it was only after taking into account all of the risks associated with such a trip. Of course, it didn't help that there were two suicide attacks in Kabul a mere two days before we were supposed to fly out of the U.S. Making that decision, balancing the possible risks with the possible benefits, was quite possibly the most difficult choice I've ever had to make, but in the end I decided that the benefits definitely outweighed the risks.

Once I made the decision to go, then came all the details. And there were a LOT of details. I had to get multiple vaccinations, harangue the organization I was traveling with until they supplied me with all the necessary information needed to make all these arrangements, apply for a visa from the Afghan embassy in Washington, D.C., book my flights, including the flight from Dubai to Kabul that had to be booked separately from the rest of the itinerary, convince my family that this was the right decision and reassure them that I probably wasn't going to die, buy appropriate clothes and travel accessories, find travel insurance that would cover travel to a war zone, and ultimately provide for every contingency I could think of. Getting all of these done in less than a month was an almost Herculean task that required great persistence and efficiency on my part while sucking up all of my spare time.

However, once I stepped foot outside the airport in Kabul and actually saw the city and started to meet people, all of the effort and hard work it had taken to get there faded from my mind, as well as any residual fear of what might happen. I felt like I had come home. I adjusted to the different culture and strange city surprisingly quickly. If I experienced culture shock, it was mild enough not to leave a lasting impression. Before I went on this trip I had toyed with the idea of going into a career in aid and development work but wasn't really sure if it was a good fit for me. After visiting Afghanistan, I knew without a doubt that that was what I wanted to do. I love traveling, and I have no trouble adapting to new situations and cultures, not to mention extremely different living conditions from what I'm used to.

Every day in Kabul was crammed full of meetings with people, from women's rights activists to Members of Parliament to the director of a reconciliation organization that works to convince Taliban members to leave the Taliban and come over to the government. I took copious amounts of notes and tried to learn as much as I could. However, the most important lesson I learned in Afghanistan was that the more I learned, the less I understood. Afghan culture is complex and rooted in thousands of years of tradition. No outsider will understand it easily, or maybe even completely. There will be no easy solution to the situation there. But that doesn't mean that we should stop trying.

Photos from my trip to Afghanistan, March 1-10, 2010

I Really Want This Internship

I really want this internship. I really, really want this internship. I didn't think I would want this internship this badly, but I really want this internship.

I want to spend the summer in DC. I want to work in an office environment where I can wear nice clothes. I want to do something that makes a difference. I want to jump-start my life, or at least my career. I want to work for an organization that helps people, that makes a difference in the world. I want to meet new people. I want to be a tourist and visit all those "our nation's capital" memorials and museums and shrines. I want to see my friends who live there. I want to be able to at least pretend there's a possibility of me getting a job when I graduate. I want to believe I'll be able to work in the field I want to when I graduate. I want to tell myself that I'll make it to Afghanistan soon, that I'll find a job that will take me there and that this internship will help.

I don't particularly want to spend two to three months living on my friend's couch, or to be away from my cats (i.e. my babies) for a whole summer, or to be paying rent and utilities here while I'm living there, but I still really want this internship.

Mostly because it will fool me into believing that I might have a job offer waiting form me this time next year if I get this internship and it goes well. Or at least I'll have some experience to offer other potential employers.

I really want this internship.

Deep and Inscrutable

The Naming of Cats

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, or George or Bill Bailey -
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter -
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum -
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover -
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

T S Elliot

Vintage Jade

When it comes to style and fashion, I'm pretty much clueless. If I like something, I'll wear it, but not without an immense amount of staring in the mirror and deliberating the relative fashionable-ness of it (or not).

Considering that for the past few years I've been buried in a small rural town in Illinois working in a kitchen, I've paid even less attention to fashionable clothes than usual. As a result, on the off chance that I do manage to get that internship in Washington, DC this summer, I realized that I won't have any appropriate work clothes to wear. Any that I already own are from my last year of college or earlier, which puts them firmly out of style. This has led me to do quite a bit of research on style/clothes/fashion trends over the past few days. I'm out of practice when it comes to business casual, office-appropriate outfits so I've been trying to remedy that through internet research.

Unfortunately, due to my limited (or more accurately, non-existent) budget, even if I do get the internship and head out for some shopping, at best I would be able to buy a few items and only for extremely reduced prices. But with me being me, that hasn't stopped me from admiring and dreaming! During the course of my research I've come across quite a few separate pieces as well as complete outfits that immediately had me salivating.

Oh, to be rich...

The outfit below is one of them. I love absolutely everything about this dress, from the rich vivid green to the asymmetrical draping across the chest to the traditional tea length. I also love the choice of shoes. Paired with this dress, the shoes add to the classic 1930's feel of the outfit. That happens to be a period I adore stylistically, so everything about this looks appeals to me.

Vino

This is what I need right now. I've been having the week from hell, and it only looks to get worse as the countdown to the end of the term gets closer.

Bad Dreams

"I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams."

-- Hamlet

For Love of Anthropologie

I've recently become enamored of the monthly catalogs sent out by Anthopologie. I accidentally got several in the mail last fall, addressed to a previous tenant of my apartment. Before then, I had never seen one of their catalogs and therefore never before realized how utterly amazing they are.

Anthropologie is the only commercial clothes line I know of that turn their catalog and photos into works of art, instead of merely showcasing their products. I ended up subscribing to receive their catalog because I love looking through it so much.

I've never ordered anything from it, and I doubt I will any time in the near future, simply because of the extravagant prices, but I love a lot of what they have almost as much as I love the way they photograph it.

I particularly like the retro, old Hollywood glamour look they've got going on in the current April catalog. Check out these photos from this issue below to see what I mean.

Mompos Dress
$228

Natalie One-Piece
$158
(I absolutely adore this suit -- it makes me wish I had an extra $160 lying around!)



Grand Coast Cover-Up
$648

Luminescent Top
$88

Chai and Smiles

When I think of my trip to Afghanistan last year, these are the two lasting impressions that come to mind. Everywhere we went we were greeted with welcoming smiles, invited to sit down and warm ourselves by the stove, and had endless cups of chai (tea) pressed on us. Afghan culture is famous for its' hospitality, and with every visit we made it became more abundantly clear just how well deserved that reputation is. Afghanistan is a beautiful country, and the people are the friendliest, most gracious hosts I've ever had the good fortune to visit.

Before I left for Kabul, all my impressions of Afghanistan came from the news, and all of them were negative. Most news coming out of Afghanistan is about the ongoing war or terror attacks, such as the double bombings of a guesthouse and hotel two days before I was due to leave for Afghanistan (ultimately one person signed up for the trip ended up canceling after news of this attack reached us).

I'll admit, this bombing coming so soon before I was to leave and targeting a guesthouse very similar to the one I would be staying at in Kabul did cause me to stop and reconsider my options, but eventually I decided that what I stood to gain outweighed any possible risk. I left home and headed to Kabul as scheduled; now looking back I am more convinced than ever that I made the right decision.

I met up with the rest of my group in Dubai, and we finally arrived in Kabul after more than two grueling days of nonstop travel. There were twelve of us in all, ranging in age from 25 to 77 and in careers from botany to law. We had all come to Kabul for different reasons, but once there we were united by the unique experience of being strangers in a strange land.

Our welcome to this peculiar new world came when we stepped off the plane to go through customs and all the women donned headscarves before we even caught a glimpse of the city we would call home for the next ten days.

That headscarf quickly became the bane of my existence, as I quickly proved incapable of keeping it on. There is an art to it that Muslim women must spend their entire lives perfecting. I spent the first few days constantly rearranging it, pulling it back up as it slipped off, trying different ways of draping it, and eventually just holding it up. About halfway through the trip, however, I started to figure out some of the tricks to keeping the scarf up over my head, as well as a better way of wearing it. And by the time I left I had become so accustomed to wearing a headscarf that I would catch myself starting to slip it over my head every time I headed outside for several weeks after returning home.

Most Westerners see headscarves as a symbol of the oppression of women, forced on them by a heavily patriarchal conservative Muslim culture, but I think that there is much more to the issue than simply this. It might be naïve of me, but one thing I noticed is that in Kabul at least, a headscarf has many practical applications. There were times that I was actually grateful to have it on—and it also wasn't uncommon to see men on the street wearing a scarf draped around their head as well. Part of the reason for this is because Kabul is infamously dusty and polluted, and often both men and women on the street would be walking with their scarf held over their nose and mouth. By the time we left, the dust was getting to me and I unconsciously found myself doing this as well.

Learning the unfamiliar art of the headscarf would be just the first of many new and unusual experiences waiting for me in this vibrant and chaotic city, and each served as a reminder to me that other ways of living are merely different, not necessarily better or worse.

Stolen Memories

Repetition

Twisted

Enchanted Forest

Taken in Central Park, NYC, the weekend before Thanksgiving 2009.

Backpacks and Travel

So this is the backpack I bought. It's the Eagle Creek Truist Vita 55L Travel Pack, normally $200 but I got it for more than half off at $95,which comes to about $104 with taxes. Not bad, eh? Good hiking backpacks are expensive, and this one seems pretty good quality for the price. It arrived today, and I immediately became ridiculously happy when I saw that giant box sitting in my apartment complex's office. I just knew it had to be my backpack, because nothing else would need a box that big.

I wasn't sure about the color originally; this model also comes in black and I first thought I would order it in black instead of the maroon color. Black doesn't stick out as much, doesn't show dirt or wear and tear, and seems more neutral. But then I thought, well, I kinda want to be girly with this. Black is so...blah...and seems more like what a guy would have. I'm a girl, dammit, and sometimes I want to show it! Besides, this isn't obnoxiously girly, like those annoying females who buy everything in pastel pink (a color which I abhor), it's just slightly feminine in a matter-of-fact, functional way. Like me.

I know it's a bit of a pipe dream at this point in my life, but I want to travel. I want to visit all the obscure, hidden, out-of-the-way corners and roads less traveled. Buying this backpack makes that dream seem a little more real, like a real possibility. I definitely intend for it to happen in a few years, once I finish school, but of course it's completely out of the question until then. Having this backpack stashed in my closet where I can see it every day reminds me that someday, it will happen. I just need to be patient, which is definitely not a skill I possess. Knowing that this backpack is sitting there just waiting for me to fill it up and hit the road might make it worse, but I'm gambling on being able to use it for a small trip, even to my parents' house or somewhere, which should help.

Yay for making future plans seem a little bit closer!

REI and Stress Relief (not like that!)

I've been having a lot of trouble this term. Take, for example, the fact that I'm writing this post instead of finishing my paper that's due tomorrow, studying for my midterm I have tomorrow, or prepping for the county Board of Supervisors meeting I have to cover for my reporting class tomorrow morning. I need some sort of stress relief to counteract the immense amount of stress school is causing me. Last term I spent long hours in soaking in the bathtub with a glass of wine and a trashy romance novel. It worked pretty well.

However, in January my water heater somehow fried itself and had to be replaced. The new one basically sucks. My water pressure is crap, the water doesn't get hot enough for me, and it doesn't last long enough. Because of this I can't take baths anymore -- I can't get the water hot enough (I like it so hot it's just short of burning), and I don't like feeling cold in the bathtub, so it completely loses its appeal. As a result, that form of stress relief is out.

Unfortunately, the new one I seem to have developed is much, much more dangerous: I've been shopping online. Apparently I've gained an addiction to REI.

Quite frankly, I'm embarrassed and more than a little ashamed by the amount of money I've put on my credit card in the last two months. Not to mention worried. There is absolutely NO way I can pay it off, and due to some late payments I have that horribly high penalty APR of 29% on my card. And even while I'm having a panic attack about this, I still log on to REI Outlet and buy more! I can't control myself! In my defense, I only buy the sale items from REI Outlet instead of the regular REI site (REI is insanely, ridiculously, outrageously expensive).

The way I got started was with the $100 Visa gift card my brother gave me for Christmas. I mentioned that I would probably use it for groceries and my parents told me to make sure to buy something non-food or bill related with it. My original plan had been to get some durable travel-friendly clothes for when I eventually go back to Afghanistan (as I hope I will). So that's what I did. Unfortunately, once I started I couldn't stop. I'm too scared (and ashamed) to even think about totaling up how much I've spent. I've also gotten a few things from ExOfficio, Patagonia, 6pm, and now Old Navy. It's spreading! Ahhhhh!

I'm trying to control myself, and I hope it works. But I've been trying for the past few weeks, and I just spent another $500 or so. I'm hoping to have enough self-control to send most of it back, but I'm not very good at self-control. Basically, I don't have any.

But on the other hand, I've gotten a lot of nice, good-quality clothes that should last me a long long time and serve me well in my future career. I also made the decision to stop buying normal, fashionable clothes and buy these travel clothes instead. Only it snowballed. I meant to do it gradually, over the next few years. Instead I've done it over the past few months. I just bought a hiking backpack that was half off (backpacks are really expensive, so that's actually quite a good deal) and a pair of hiking boots. Those are major purchases, more expensive than anything else I've bought, and the most important so I'm hoping that will cure me of this driving need I have to click that "Purchase" button.

Swans

Buying Bread

With Cat-Like Tread

With cat-like tread,
Upon our prey we steal.

Silent be,
it was the cat!

Newspapers

As I'm a graduate student in a journalism program, for many of my classes I'm required to subscribe to the local daily paper and occasionally the New York Times. My teachers insist that we go the old school route and get hard copies delivered rather than just reading online. As a result, my apartment spends most of the year buried under piles of old newspapers.

And I Find Strength in Pain

I've recently become completely and utterly enamored with Mumford and Sons' music. Especially this song, "The Cave". Everything about it speaks to me and I love the singer's voice. I particularly like this acoustic version as opposed to the official smoothly made music video. This one just seems more real and raw, like a real person with real feelings is singing it instead of some digitally perfected finished product with all the emotion edited out.

Is not that strange?

I've never really been a huge fan of Valentine's Day. Most people would probably leap to the conclusion that it is because I'm single, and as such I must be lonely. Not true, although it does somewhat contribute to my dislike of the holiday. However, the main reasons why I don't like Valentine's Day are 1. because of the obvious heavy commercialization that seems to be the driving force behind it and 2. because I don't think you should need an arbitrarily chosen day to show your affection for your significant other just because Hallmark wants to sell cards and chocolates.

On the other hand, Valentine's Day is always a good excuse for me to watch my favorite movie, "Much Ado About Nothing." The 1993 film is directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars as Benedick. Obviously, it's an adaptation of the play by William Shakespeare and Branagh has kept it fairly true to the original play, which is just one of the myriad reasons why I like it so much. Shakespeare was a genius and his work requires no help to be amazing. The play/movie has some of the most romantic and tender scenes ever portrayed between one of the most successful relationships in fiction's history. Here is one of my favorite scenes that gets me every time. It always makes me tear up a little..

A Strange Love
Much Ado About Nothing at MOVIECLIPS.com

Apart from this scene, the play has some other great lines as well.

Beatrice: "...But for which of my
good parts did you first suffer love for me?"

Benedick:"Suffer love! a good epithet! I do suffer love
indeed, for I love thee against my will."

Also, at one point Benedick proclaims, "for I will be
horribly in love with her!" which is just a fantastic line.

Benedick claims that he and Beatrice "are too wise to woo peaceably," which I love.

Benedick just generally has some great lines throughout the play. His are usually the best, and often the funniest. Towards the end they tend to be the wisest as well, especially regarding love.

Danish Maid

Staircase to Somewhere

Stained Glass