Yes, This is Cleveland. Haha.

Shaken or Stirred?

I've decided I want to be a bartender at some point in my life. Obviously that won't happen in the next half year, since I live in the middle of the Bible belt and go to a close-minded Christian school, but hopefully when I move away from this place I'll be able to realise my bartending dream. :) Haha.

The weather has gotten a bit cooler over the past few days...which still hasn't stopped me from wearing shorts, but I am really hoping that it will get nice and sunny and warm this week. Mmmm. There is nothing like studying outside.

My brother drove down to Atlanta with his girlfriend yesterday, and they'll be spending their Reading Week down here. Randy and his Chinese buddy Lin are also making their way down south, so it'll be a nice reunion this Friday! I cannot wait! Right now I feel so disconnected from reality, from life. Cleveland is the most isolating place on earth. It'll be nice to get back to the city next week.

Adventures in Tutoring

I tutor a 2nd-grade class a few times each week, and it's quite entertaining to say the least! This morning the kids were doing research on small laptops, trying to gather information on key people in black history. As I was helping one boy with using the computer, another boy calls out to me, "Is Usher still alive?" -- to which I reply yes. Haha. Then he looks for Usher's date of birth, only to conclude, "If Usher was born in 1978, that means he's 78!"

Hmmm. Then he's pretty dang fit for a 78 year-old!

With a straight face, I told the boy that Usher was actually 33. "He lives in Atlanta," I mentioned. The boy replied, "Cool, I want to meet him!" and then broke out in song with his friend, literally in the middle of class, singing Baby let me love you dowwwwn, there's so many ways to love youuuu. It was pretty entertaining. Oh, kids. So hilarious. They keep me down to earth, I'll give 'em that.

Uganda's Election Results

Uganda just had a national election -- the first election without the presence of the LRA in northern Uganda. (Sidenote: the LRA has since been pushed into the Congo and is wreaking havoc on villages there.) Musaveni, one of Africa's longest-serving rulers, is head of Uganda's National Resistance Movement (NRM) party and has served as the nation's leader since 1986. He received over 68% of the votes. Whether this is a good thing for Uganda, I'm not sure... Read the BBC NEWS Africa article for additional details.

Overworked yet Hanging In There!!

I got amazingly good news today -- to be revealed later. =)
But, this week has been overwhelming... to say the least.
That piece of paper with the letters "B.A." better be worth all this stress. Yeesh.

Studeó, ergo sum.
I study, therefore I am.

Maybe I should quit trying to translate things into Latin and get back to studying for International Law. *sigh*

Exams and such.

Today I totally choked on a political science exam. And I mean choked.

But it's over now, and there's nothing I can do to change the outcome. I already put in my due diligence in study hours. Hopefully I can redeem myself by the end of the semester. I just struggle sometimes with gathering all my thoughts and organising them into concise essays or short-answers. I tend to put a lot of time into formulating my words just so ... or thinking of the best way to structure a sentence... Time escapes me, and the next thing I know the professor is calling "Thirty seconds!"

So it goes.

Tonight's agenda includes baking cookies (check!), writing two briefs for international law (in progress), studying for tomorrow's ILO exam (in progress), and finishing up my finance homework (in progress).

I am armed and ready, coffee in hand.

If Not Now, When?

A few months ago I found an amazing blog -- one which I had forgotten about until today when I finally managed to remove viruses from my laptop. The blog is called "eatbees", and it's by a man named Marcel V. Côté. I strongly urge you to check out his article titled "In or Out", which opens with the following words:

A few months before leaving Morocco last fall, I remember trying to explain to my best friend a dilemma that has confronted me throughout my life, and that I have never fully managed to resolve. I told him that I feel pulled in two different directions in response to injustice in the world. One instinct is to withdraw and seek an island of inner peace. ... The instinct pulling me in the opposite direction is engagement. ... Having seen inequality firsthand, do I have the right to ignore it?

Upon reading Côté's biography, which is pretty interesting by the way, I discovered that he's written a novel (published online --> under his "About" section). I haven't read any of it, nor have I read a significant number of his online articles... so the views he expresses aren't a reflection of my personal opinions. Just wanted to clarify that.

Spent the morning listening to the Sunday Baroque program on the local classical station, making homemade Larabars, and trying to rid my laptop of a spyware program. Fun stuff. Now I'm off to Panera for an intense day of prepping for exams. Shane and Shane concert tonight on campus!

Wow, what a stressful week. Nothing like a glass of merlot, a hot shower, and some classical
music to ease the stress... This is going to be a beast of an upcoming week.

Hope Renewed

Praise be to God who knows my needs before I can even express them. He is making me whole, even as I stumble and fall continuously. What greater love than this? I know none other. "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil." I will get through this and I will focus my heart and mind on what is to come -- Christ in me, the HOPE of glory.