It's a bit weird thinking about the past year or so and how different things are now in comparison to what you thought they would be. I shouldn't really be surprised that the best laid plans never actually happen. Flashback to sophomore year: taking the year off to intern w/Congressman Jay Inslee's office in DC in the fall, going to SMC w/vero to take some GE's. It wasn't what I had wanted for myself, but it was still a really good experience. Despite hating DC while I was there (it's nearly impossible to do anything there unless you're 21), I realise that I did have fun. I liked wandering the halls of the capital and its surround buildings. I liked living in a city with so much history, imaging who had walked down the same steps I did. Returning to DC last September for my mini-internship w/the Senate reminded me of that. It reminded me how I enjoy the hustle and bustle of DC. And the time I spent at SMC? Hey, that was cool too. I hadn't spent that much time with Vero since junior high. Suddenly traffic jams on the 10 didn't seem so bad, even after a long day of classes. I didn't expect any of that to happen. I was suppose to be living on campus at UCR and getting use to that school. But I learned then that things aren't always suppose to work the way you think they should.

Because I got screwed by finaid at UCR, I ended up attending UCLA, where I met some amazing professors, and took some even more amazing classes. UCLA was the first place I felt comfortable at; it felt like home. I may not have participated in any school clubs, but i still managed to make a handful of friends, like Minori, who duh, would end up moving back to JAPAN after her short stint at ucla.

According to the plans I made last year, I should have been completing my first year of two at Simmons College. Half way to getting my Master's in Spanish Literature and Education, and living in Boston.

Instead of my glory plans of barrelling straight into graduate school after undergrad, I ended up being a bum for three months!!! I spent a couple of weeks in DC working on the 6th Annual National Democratic Latino Leadership Summit, and gushed over political celebrities like Ted Kennedy, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and John Kerry (hah!). I got my act together when I realised loans had to be repayed soon and my finaid check from spring quarter was starting to run out. I took a job with Pets Are Wonderful Support/Los Angeles, a very small non-profit based in Hollywood that assists people with life threatening illness keep and maintain their pets. It's not a bad place to work. It can be fun, and I love being able to play with clients dogs and sometimes even cats. I have to admit that the job was more enjoyable when Boops and Rudy, our old office cats, were around, but oh well.

I've steered off course for the past year, but that's okay, because I'm already looking into graduate programs to apply to this fall. So, now I'm only...two years off from my original plans, and who knows what can happen in that time.

I can't say that I'm unhappy with where I am now. I wouldn't trade living with Bri and our two kitty cats for anything. But I do have to admit that I miss school more than I could have ever imagined. My brain yearns for information. More input, need more input! (haha, i'm such a loser, inserting a Short Circuit reference) I guess I wasn't prepared for the real world when I was booted out of UCLA last June. I knew it then too. Even the day of graduation, with cap and gown on, I didn't want to go. I didn't want to cross the stage at Royce Hall. No way,man, even though I was the one who insisted I had to graduate in four years. I'm still not sure what I was trying to prove. Actually, I do, but that's a-whole-nother post about having to prove to myself that I'm just as good as my uber smart and successful sisters. If I've learned any one thing since being out of school it's that I have to go back to school. I feel most functional when i'm busy with papers, juggling heavy reading loads, and taking notes in my odd spanish/english mix. I think, i'm destined for a life in academia. And you wouldn't believe how excited I get at the idea of having a Ph.D before I'm 30. (I'm drooling right now just thinking about it)

It's been ten months since graduation and I still haven't completely adjusted to the real world. I only work part-time, and manage to stay up until 2 or 3 in the am and roll out of bed the next morning just in time to catch the end of Price is Right. I refuse to work a 40 hour a week job in some office (yes, I know that i work an office job, but dude! I have a cat in my office. and it's not the typical office job.) where my life force will slowly be drained from my body and soul. That's not for me, no way no how. I enjoy being able to take cat naps when I get home from work and then staying up late working on some project (project of choice the last couple of weeks: sewing bags!).

It's 12.18 in the AM, and Bri's just about to get home. It's time for dinnah, ice cream and some sewing. [this is the life]

I'm still alive.

I just hate it when my cat gets booger crusted to her white nose fur. She's so damn squirmy its near impossible to pick em off!

In other news,

It's my birthday. And its off to a great start.

EDIT: Sofia was right. The day ended up working itself out. And it was very very nice. I'll post pictures soon.

Thank you all for you kind birthday wishes!:)

The yelling and misunderstandings are getting old. It seems like we can't go a week without something exploding.

This morning the alarm went off at exactly 7.30. Brian turned it off and we rolled over. 7.45 my alarm went off. Snooze. 10 minutes later we were up and deciding whether or not we should make the trip over to Pasadena to check out the kitty cat we were thinking about all weekend. We got there a bit after 9.30 and there was already no parking anywhere. Brian drove around while i went inside to look for the cat. Unfortunately, I couldn't find her, and the lady that worked there had no idea who i was talking about when i asked for the "cat with the broken jaw." I went over to the Adoption office with Brian and asked if we could get her ID number and check if she was still available. To our delight, she was! Next we met with an adoption counselor to make sure it was a fit. The moment the lil' calico we so kindly nicknamed Steel Jaw came into the room we fell in love. In came a tiny kitty with a patchwork of orange and black on her otherwise white fur. She was skinny and stretched which each step she took. And her nose, it just wouldn't stop sniffing. Absolutely adorable. It seems that in the past two months she's had a rough time. When they found her she had a broken jaw/multiple face fractures that had apparently occured two weeks before they found her. On top of that she had a bout of Upper Respiratory Infection (kitty flu). Not to mention being spayed. Well, she seems to be in good health, aside from being a bit skinny. The few hours that our new kitty has been home we've realised she's a bit oblivous to her surroundings. Peaches (the new kitty) is more concerned about getting her head scratched and receiving some human affection.

here is Peaches! (she wasn't cooperating so much with me when i tried taking pictures of her; much to spazzy)

come tuesday, this sweet lil' thing may be mine'n bri's.



i hope no one snatches her before we have a chance to adopt her. we're lucky that PHS is closed on sundays and monday for the holiday. Seeing her sweet lil' face is definite motivation to get up early tuesday. i hope kara likes her as much as we do.

:)

I feel so restless today.

Is it sad that I'm pretty excited and happy that my consolidation loan went through and that my loans are now fixed at 2.8 percent interest???

i wanted to gloat at work that my responsible behavior months ago will pay off throughout the life of my loan. It feels good, yknow?

Today while I sat idly at my desk, I overheard something my coworker said that caught my attention, so much so, that 8 hours later I still haven't forgotten. He was discussing the small cluster of Russian immigrants that live in West Hollywood and how the city of WeHo was going to name part of the city Little Russia. He continued to say that he didn't understand why immigrant groups, like the russians and other groups that have neighborhoods named for their motherland, are so resistant to American culture. According to my coworker, they moved to America and should therefor assimilate. He didn't see or even find the need to hold onto one's culture. I guess it bothered me that he felt this way because even though I didn't grow up in a neighborhood named Little Mexico (is there place named that?) I can understand why immigrants tend to live in sections of cities where their neighbors either look like them, speak their mother tongue, or share their culture traditions.

If I was in the kitchen at the time of the conversation, or perhaps if i was more outspoken, i would of given my coworker the following reasons to why immigrants don't always assimilate 100% to American culture:

1) Such pockets of immigrant groups within neighborhoods or cities arise as the result of immigrants social networks. An immigrant is more likely to move to an area where he either knows someone, like a relative or friend from their homeland, or to an area that is familiar, either because of a common language spoken or shared cultural traditions. When Argentina received a boom in European immigration, Buenos Aires, like many cities in the US, saw pockets of immigrant groups form within one city. I remember reading in one of my classes of an Italian immigrant in Buenos Aires who honestly believed that everyone there spoke Italian because he happened to live in an area where the majority of its inhabitants were Italian immigrants. A more personal example is my fathers immigration to the us, who went where his brother lived, and that happened to be East L.A. It makes sense that these sub-neighborhoods based on culture would develop as numbers of immigrants from a specific country or region increase.

2) Assimilating to a new culture isn't as easy as it sounds. It's a process that occurs slowly over time. There are even some people that choose not to assimilate, and there really isn't anything wrong with that. It's odd to hear my coworker say these people need to assimilate to American culture because while there definitely exists a culture that is American, its hard to say what is original american culture. Especially when considering that America is a country born of immigrants, and that its culture is one spurred from the meeting of various cultures. The importance of culture various from person to person; some may find it incredibly important, while for others its a passing thought.To some, their culture traditions are a way to identify themselves. By assimilating they would lose their identity.In some instances holding onto ones culture may be their only connection to their motherland. This is true with language. The linguistic component of culture is perhaps the first to be affected by assimilation. For example, while first generation immigrants speak their mother tongue, two generations later, their relatives will more than likely have lost the ability to speak their grandparents native language.

I guess what I wish I could have told my coworker is that immigrating to America doesn't mean that you must check your previous culture, language, and traditions at the border. Immigrants have different reasons for moving to the US. Some of the reasons aren't by choice but rather necessity, and holding onto their culture is their only connection to home, especially when they can't return. If culture = identity (as i believe), then who is my coworker to criticize a group of people for not wanting to completely let go of their identity/culture?? I don't know his background, or for how long his family has resided in the US, but i'm almost certain that his family has been in the US for awhile. And perhaps, he is a good example of why people refuse to completely let go of their culture.

i haven't forgotten about you livejournal. It's just that I dont ever seem to have the motivation or energy to put down into writing (or typing?) the various topics that pop into my head throughout the day...