Limes, Llamas, Lima & Life Beyond!: I'm too tired for titles

Woah, it has certainly been awhile! Life has been CRAZY!!!
Brief summer recap: I worked at the library which was enjoyable as always. I couldn't play tennis because I wanted to let my elbow fully recover, but I took a lot of power walks. Went to the drive-in with my cousing, but we ditched before the second movie to get chocolate-chip pancakes at IHOP. Had an awesome Indian dinner downtown Chicago after a day at the beach - my first time at one of the beaches in Chi-town and also the only cold day that week. Went to the melting pot for the first time - amAzing! Got a puppy! Her name is Carly and she is an Australian Shepherd! We got her 5 days before I left for school, which was sad that I had to leave so soon after getting her. Lastly, visited my brother at U of I for a day and got to see my cousin Sonja's freshman dorm! Good summer.

I moved to school on the 23rd which was already two weeks ago practically! Hard to believe! I am living in a house off campus on 15th street, which is about to blocks south of campus. I have 5 house-mates: Krista, Clare, Colleen, Erin and Amy. Amy and I share a room and the rest of the girls have their own rooms. But Amy is going to Philadelphia second semester for an internship so then I too will have my own room, which will be good for student teaching. I moved in a week early to help with the freshman orientation. Training for OA's (Orientation Assistants) began on Tuesday the 24th and boy did they keep us busy. My room was a mess the whole first week because when I moved in the girl who had been living in my room during the summer still hadn't moved out and then I didn't really have time to unpack my stuff anyhow. OA training was fun, though because we met in small groups with other OAs and played icebreakers and such, which are actually fun when you feel comfortable and sort of know some other people. Friday was move-in day for the freshmen which for OA's means physical moving all their stuff into the residence halls. I was assigned to a dorm called Voorhees (note the Dutch name - it matches the traditional Dutch architecture), which is an obnoxious shape but it is not a huge dorm, so it was less tiring than when I had to move in students to Dykstra my sophomore year. The bummer was that I couldn't really carry that much heavy stuff because my elbow was acting up. I had hit it on a chair a couple days before trying to catch a cup that someone tossed to me. I am beginning to wonder if it will ever manage to fully heal, since I seem to have an affinity for smacking it on things. Anyhow, over the weekend, my OA partner Erin and I met up with our group of ten students for discussion and games. My first week being back at school felt sooooo weird for various reasons: 1. being gone for a whole year 2. being a senior and watching the new freshman 3. living off-campus 4. having a car 5. not being able to fully move into my room. I guess in some ways, being a way for a full year made me feel like I wasn't really a student at Hope anymore and coming back almost felt wrong - like I should be moving onto the next thing. BUT I definitely need this last year of college and I think it is going to be a pretty great year!
Amy moved in on Sunday and it was great to see her! Also on Sunday I had lunch with my friend Jeff and it was good catching up with him! I've had fun visiting my friends' houses and apartments too. My house doesn't look as cute as most of theirs but I'm satisfied to be living where I am.
Tuesday was the first day of classes. I had Asian Politics and Physical Geography. I think Asian Politics will be really interesting because I am fascinated by both India and China which are the two countries we will be examining. My only reservation is that we have to write a 20-page term paper and I HATE papers! I'm not that psyched about the geography class, but it's only a half semester course, I'll get by. Wednesday I had my two overlapping courses. Say what? Yes, I have two courses that overlap but I have to take both of them because they are requirements for my majors - Secondary Principles (for education) and U.S. History (for social studies). It is super frustrating that they overlap because they both seem like awesome classes taught by amazing profs but I can't be in both of them all the time. And I HATE HATE HATE missing class!!! So I'm considering dropping the history class and taking it over the summer, thus technically postponing my graduation a month or two. I haven't decided yet. The teachers of the classes have said they are willing to work with me so I can squeeze in both, so I may just punt and deal with missing some class. Maybe it will be good for me :-) Also on Wednesday, I went to the advanced tennis class which I took sophomore year and loved. It was so exciting because I got to try out my brand new tennis racket and it is fantastic!!! Plus, I know I'm going to improve so much because there are a lot of really talented players in the class and they hit SO hard! My elbow was causing a bit of trouble though. I decided that I would play anyhow because I want to strengthen my muscles and it didn't really hurt while I was playing. It has been pretty sore since then so I just keep putting icy hot on it, which feels marvelous! I think this semester is going to be pretty intense. I am already feeling behind on my homework, but I just have to remember to take things one day at a time. And actually I'm so interested in all of it that the reading has been going ok so far - we'll see if that holds. I'll probably be burnt out by the next time I blog. I received my field placement for the semester and I will be in a social studies class at Holland High. I've never had a social studies or high school placement so I think it will be a sweet learning experience. And my social studies methods course will complement it nicely.
Apart from my schoolwork, I have been plugging away at my Fulbright essays. For those of you who don't know, I am applying for a Fulbright scholarship to Jordan to teach English the year after I graduate. The scholarships are pretty competitive so I don't know how likely it is that I will get one, but hey, if I do I will finally get my chance to go to Jordan after changing my mind and doing a second semester in Peru.

On a more reflective note, I thought I would say a bit about what has been like coming back from Peru. Leaving my host family was difficult, but I was excited to come home and be with my family and it is strange how natural it can feel to just fall back into your old routine. But as much as things seem the same on the surface, in fact everything is different because I am seeing it through new eyes, shaped by my experiences over the past year. That being said, it has been difficult to figure out how I feel about being home because it has been comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. How do I fit in a place that is basically the same even though I am not the same? I know I have had some reverse culture shock because in my study abroad handbook there was an article that talked about feeling like Americans are excessive upon return from another country and that was probably my most frequently-used word all summer. And that's not to say that I would exclude myself from those who are excessive. Packing for school was awful because I felt like I just have waaaay to much stuff. Could I possibly need all these things when I just survived a year in Peru living from two suitcases of 50 pounds each? Did I really miss anything so much while away that it affected my overall happiness? The resounding answer to that one is a NO. So now that I'm back, shouldn't I just simplify? It's hard. Especially because our culture tends to emphasize the opposite of simplification. Another challenge about being home is that I miss my host family. I am afraid that I will never get to see them again and thinking about that possibility makes me sad. And it is especially torturous to know that my little host nieces and nephew are growing every day and they are going to get so big, but I am not there to watch them grow anymore. Plus there is a new student living in my house who does get to be with my family. Jealous? Me? And it just feels so hard to keep up with people who are so far away. I did call my host family to say hi a couple weeks ago, which was wonderful! All in all, I would say my readjustment is going pretty smoothly, but we will have to see how this semester goes, as I am sure I will continue to be challenged as I decide how Catalina (which is what they called me in Peru) fits together with Caitlyn.