Alison, ‘12

Fall break has come to an end and I’m back on campus, glad to be getting into my normal routine again.

I still can’t get over how wierd it was to be back home. I’ve forgotten the feel of my house in the dark. Used to be that I’d stay up late doing homework (or not) and have to find my way from one end of the house to the other by feeling along the walls. I spent so much time doing that sort of thing that I eventually had the layout memorized and could walk through any room with the lights off. This past Saturday, I was up staring at the computer for who knows how long. By the time I looked up to go to sleep, the house was quiet and everyone had gone to bed. I shut off the computer, then the dining room light, and started to make my way to the kitchen. The kitchen is immediately beside the dining room, yet I bet you can guess who still managed to smack right into the doorjamb! After recovering from rather sudden and unexpected contact with the wall, I walked with some speed but slightly less confidence through the TV room. And I tripped over the laundry basket, which is always, ALWAYS in the same place. Needless to say, I’ve already lost a decent amount of familiarity with my home environment since leaving for school.

I only saw my friends for a little while this weekend, since most of my time was absorbed by family interactions. Heather and I decided to make t-shirts, so we went into Michaels in search of puffy paint. We came out a half hour later with 4 bottles of paint and about 80 pictures of us acting ridiculous with the craft supplies. The evening ended with dinner at El Paso, a fantastic Mexican place in Bon Air. They have great chips. If you ever go, order a quesadilla and load up on the white sauce!

One of our less ridiculous craft store shots

On Saturday, my family and I went to the Richmond Folk Festival on Brown’s Island.  Parking was scarce, but the weather was nice so nobody seemed to mind the long walk from car to entrance. There were lots of performances – more than I expected! I’d estimate that they had five or six separate stages situated at various spots on the island, by the canal, and near Tredegar. For those of you who don’t know, Tredegar is an old iron manufacturing company down by the James River and Brown’s Island is close to the downtown area. The most city-like part of the city, I mean.

The entrance to the Richmond Folk Festival (note my brother’s large head in the bottom corner)

Anyway, my brother and I spent a lot of time in the dance tent. They had a massive dance floor set up and were playing salsa music, music which I enjoyed but refused to dance because of my intense lack of rhythm. My favorite part of the festival was a line of vendors from various countries and cultures. My aunt, mom and I strolled along and sorted through the items for sale while my brother stood by rolling his eyes. He’s not a shopping fan, and clearly even the multi-cultural variety was too much for him to bear. On the way out we stopped for lemonade, aka a plastic cup with two squirts of lemon juice and about 8 tablespoons of sugar. It was delicious.

Hand-woven African baskets

My lack of cultural sensitivity knows no bounds…heh heh.

Delicious junk food

Today, back at UR, I spent/wasted a lot of time just hanging out with my friends. I had a CORE midterm earlier and studying for it absorbed most of my life yesterday. After an afternoon of nothing, I went to a ‘charla’ held by Professor Gustavo Pellon of the University of Virginia. Prof. Pellon spoke about a few short stories by Latin American and North American authors. He told an interesting story, which I think is relevant in light of the recent folk festival.  A Chilean man whose name escapes me came to the United States to take a writing course. Before a dinner for all of the students, the host sent out a notice asking all of them to wear “cultural garb.” The Chilean man was confused. He had grown up in the city, always wearing jeans, Birkenstocks, and tee shirts. Naturally, that’s the combination he wore to the dinner. The host approached him and expressed disappointment that he didn’t wear something more exotic. Prof. Pellon indicated that we have a tendency to look for and expect something different from those outside America, that we see the differences as cute and wish we could experience them. I know I’ve felt this way before. I’m always jealous of people from other countries because I feel like they actually have culture and I don’t. Apparently, we’re not so very different as I thought.

That’s all for now. I’m off to watch a movie with my make-shift roomies (aka Mallory, Nellie, and Meg). Haha I love them - I seriously spend more time in thier room than in my own. Good thing they don’t mind…or at least if they do, they haven’t told me yet.