Spring break

So, I'm on spring break this week, although it seems like it just started after working all weekend. It's nice to have a week off to relax and get caught up again. Spring break is definitely a different mindset here than it was back at Bethel. It all started with Dragon Day the Friday before spring break-- a huge parade through campus of a massive dragon the architecture students built, with the rest of the students in the department parading around in risque or questionable costumes. When the dragon has made it all the way though campus, the dragon is lit on fire in the arts quad (the picture is of the arts quad last fall). (If you want to know more, or see pics, just look up dragon day on wikipedia-- it explains the whole tradition.) With the drunkenness and the craziness, it made me realize that while it was kind of funny, it was weird too. It reaffirmed that spring break is nuts out here, and I am totally ok with avoiding the insanity as much as humanly possible.
I'm still working on the internship front-- looking at internships in NYC, Connecticut, Tennessee, Minneapolis, etc. I'm realizing more and more how important connections are to getting your foot in the door-- whether it be for a job, or an internship. I will admit that at times I find this frustrating, but its probably something I just need to accept. Even now though, I am thinking of where we are going to be living after I graduate next May-- of looking for a job wherever that may be, just to be prepared. It makes me realize that maybe I am more of an adult than I want to admit.
Hopefully, the rest of the week will be a good combination of relaxation and work, productive and fun too. I'm definitely looking forward to Easter though, and seeing Cody play in the worship service. I hope you all have a good Easter!

Hallelujah

I have been a bit remiss as of late at posting in general. Even more, I have been extremely remiss in posting anything music related. So, to make amends, I will now link you to a blog that is better at it than I am! My Old Kentucky Blog has created a wonderful post about the great Leonard Cohen song "Hallelujah." Most of you probably know the Jeff Buckley version better, I myself didn't realize that Buckley's version was a cover until I read this post. MOKB has posted the Cohen original and a plethora of covers, many of which I have never heard.
I highly recommend the versions by Dave Bazan, Regina Spektor, Beirut and Imogen Heap.
Enjoy!

Hallelujah

Return from the City

So, at approximately 2:00 in the morning on Wednesday, I finally made it back to Ithaca. The time I spent in New York City was great, but definitely made me appreciate my life in Ithaca. Life was insanely busy for the few days that I was there (and on my way down and back). The road trip down was entertaining-- as road trips always seem to be, particularly when you are in a car with four other people, two of whom you have never met. One of the girls had a gps system, which we used to get down to the city. It was great until we reached downtown Manhattan, and would have about three possible right turns, and all the tom tom would tell us was "turn right." As the navigator, leading us down broadway, past madison square garden, it was quite the adventure-- and traffic nightmare on a saturday night.
Eventually we made it to Brooklyn, where I was staying, conveniently in a building that had a subway stop in the basement, so travel was no problem. Saturday night I walked four blocks to the nearest Chipotle, and thoroughly enjoyed the first fajita I had eaten since December. I spent the rest of the night just chilling, as my other friends were all heading to a burlesque show, and I didn't really feel like joining in.
On Sunday I had the chance to spend the afternoon with a friend of mine from childhood who is in grad school in manhattan. We went to go see a play on Broadway that she had gotten student rush tickets to. If any of you ever have the opportunity to see it, I would highly recommend it. The fun/funny part was that we had front row seats, and there were several times when David Morse and Cieran Hinds were literally less than 18 inches away from me. This was followed by dinner at a fun little French restaurant, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
As far as the school aspect of the trip, we spent the day on Monday at the United Nations-- getting a tour and meeting with several different departments about the work they do, and how to get involved. While it was fun to be in the UN, it was a little disappointing, as they pointed out that unless you work for some obscure country, odds are slim to none that you will ever get the chance to work for the UN, as hiring is done by examining which member countries are under-represented, and allowing these people to take the qualifying exam which allows them to be interviewed for jobs. Clearly, the US doesn't have a problem of under-representation.
Monday night was a social networking event of hors-d'oeuvres and drinks. While I made a decent effort, networking is really not my thing. And, unfortunately, most of the people that I met were involved in fields that didn't have much connection to what I am interested in-- most of them were finance people.
Tuesday was spent at the Cornell Club, meeting with various panels of people representing different businesses and groups in the non-profit, public, and private sector. I made some potential interactions here-- which theoretically could lead to some internship possibilities for the summer (which is mandatory for my degree). They would be located in nyc though, which would mean I would be several hours away all summer. But, we will see.
Per road trip usual, our car broke down on Tuesday night around 9 or 10 pm outside of Scranton, PA. We ran out of gas because the gas line went bad and leaked half of a tank while we were driving down the interstate. My friend who was driving (and the owner of the car) is an international student who got his license in August (which I hadn't found out until after we were in the city), and had no idea what to do when encountering car problems. Fortunately, we got it all worked out with AAA, who towed the car all the way to Ithaca (about 100 miles away-- way to go AAA plus!).
I was supposed to the head down to Newark about 36 hours later-- but that simply didn't happen. Given the level of exhaustion I was reaching, I opted out of the trip for the chance to get caught up on my work, as I have two midterms this next week. Good times.
--brianna

Life after the flu

So, life has continued on, and after many days of sleeping, eating way too much chicken soup, etc. we are finally feeling better. Cody is back at work and I am back in class, working to quickly get myself caught up on everything that I missed (fortunately, I have just about finished everything). While still not completely energetic, we can actually talk to each other now and understand the conversation-- no more straining to make sense of words through coughing fits, etc.
And it's a good thing that I am feeling better and should be caught up by tomorrow, because on Saturday afternoon I am heading down the NYC with some friends! There is a professional development trip for the program I am in, with all day meetings at the UN on Monday, some social networking events, and meetings with potential employers/companies I could get an internship from on Tuesday at the Cornell Club. That's right-- Cornell has a club in the city, which just makes me laugh.
But, for the weekend I am planning on having fun and enjoying the city-- going out to eat and such on Saturday night, and spending Sunday with a good friend of mine from elementary school. I think it should be a good trip, and won't force Cody to go (at least not yet).
So, the plan is to get back to Ithaca late on Tuesday night, spend Wednesday and Thursday in class, and take off Thursday afternoon for Newark, NJ for my Community Development class. We are going to spend Thursday night and Friday meeting with community development groups and the mayor's office to discuss and learn about changes being made in Newark. Fortunately, we will get back on Friday night, which is a good thing-- because it is going to be a very full week. But, I am looking forward to it, and hoping Cody won't get too bored without me! :)
--brianna

hospitals

So, if the title didn't give it away, I am currently writing from the ER here in Ithaca, where I have spent the last three hours approximately. I almost passed out in class today, and the only ways to get checked out were either to walk across to the other side of campus to the health services office (but I was shaky and dizzy and could hardly stand), or to be taken via ambulance to the local ER. Thus, here I am, IV attached, blood tests run, EKG and Xrays taken.
I have never been admitted into a hospital, and its a bit weird. My room is in the middle of the ER, and the curtain/door to my room is constantly left open, so I see everyone coming and going, nurses, doctors, patients, emt's, etc. I wouldn't recommend being admitted to the ER, but so far it hasn't been too bad. And, I had to post, because they have free wireless, I am really bored (but not awake enough to attempt to do my homework), and they don't allow access to facebook, so no playing scrabulous.
It's been pretty cool to see how our friends are willing to help us out though. Cody is home sick and unable to drive, so they picked him up to come check on me, and drove him home a little bit ago so he could take a nap. I will be here for probably another hour, and then hopefully able to go home. Just thought I would update the blog, and be a little lame and do it from the hospital, just for kicks.
--brianna

Fat Tuesday/Ash Wednesday

This is one of the only years in my life where I have been conscious of the coming of Ash Wednesday. Most years I would realize on the day of when I saw friends with ash on their foreheads, or I wouldn't realize it until a week or two after it had occurred. The truly unfortunate aspect of this realization is that the only services that I have been able to find here in Ithaca are tomorrow night, and I, of course, work from 4 PM till midnight tomorrow.

I have never actually attended an Ash Wednesday service, but it has been a concept that has greatly intrigued me over the last few years. Most of my interest sprang from The Mercy Seat's Fat Tuesday/Ash Wednesday concert series that they used to announce the opening of their church 2 years ago. The shows were held at a Northeast bar, and ashes were imposed at the end of Wednesday nights music. It was an experience that I was forced to miss due to my work schedule at Bethel, thus, I have been trying to be more conscious not to miss another opportunity like that one.

To be perfectly honest, the Fat Tuesday concept is pretty lost on me. In the brief amount of research I have done today, I figured out that the concept arose as a final celebration and consumption of meat before the fasting that would occur during lent. As I fully acknowledge that celebratory holidays aren't really my thing, I guess it isn't surprising that I'm not interested in the Mardi Gras idea. The part of me that longs for Good Friday, and the uncertainty and yearning that comes with that day is very intrigued by the Ash Wednesday idea. I will also caveat that there is probably an element of my having grown up in a very conservative Calvinist church that looked at things like Ash Wednesday as a heathen Catholic practice that no good Christian would ever take part in. So there is that whole rebellion element.

I guess the purpose of writing about this is to see if anyone else has any thoughts. Also, I am trying to decide at the last minute if I should give something up for Lent. I have only done that once before, it was my senior year of college and I gave up caffeine. I didn't really have a great reason behind doing it then, but I did sleep really well after the caffeine withdrawal wore off!

It is harder for me to judge how to approach something like this these days. I don't have the opportunity to have thoughtful, in-depth conversations about church/faith/practice like I used to when I was around a whole lot of people who were much more intelligent than I am about these things. I find that most conversations I have about faith these days are the ones at work when people wonder why in the world an intelligent person would be religious and what in the world did I think I would do with a degree in Theology and Biblical Studies. Its a brave new world.
-cody

Transitions

So, life is beginning to take shape in a more formalized way here in Ithaca. My class schedule is now complete: International Trade Policy, Statistics for the Social Sciences, Community Development, and the Comparative History of Women and Work. Cody will start work officially as a shift supervisor this week, which means that we are moving out of the transition phase we had been in for the past several weeks.
One of the exciting aspects of moving out of transition is that we have officially become members of our church. We now have the opportunity to become more actively involved in church, which started today. It was a bit unusual because the church switched over to two services today, which was a bit haphazard, but also created more opportunity for involvement. I spent the morning greeting everyone as they walked into the building for the second service (aka the new service), and Cody served as an usher. The interesting part about being a greeter was that I had the chance to meet a lot of people I hadn't met yet, and was able to have some good (although very short) conversations. I haven't been this involved in a church since I left the church I grew up in, and I realized that I enjoy being able to serve in this capacity. Maybe not all the time, but it allows for new connections and opportunities, which I appreciate.
I am hoping that this church involvement will allow me to do more research for my master's thesis (which isn't formalized in any way yet). But, I am hoping to write my thesis (which isn't due for about 15 months) on the role that religious institutions play in creating community within a neighborhood or city. I realize that for some of you, this may not be very interesting, but I figured it might be for others (if so, and you have any ideas of books or organizations that I should check out, feel free to comment). Our church is intentionally located in the middle of town, and also has offices (the church meets in one of the local schools) in the center of town. It very much seeks to be a part of the community in which it is located, as well as seeking to create community within the church. This is a concept that intrigues me very much, and I think has much value.
On a totally separate note, this has also been a transition for me and my work at the store, as the store has a new manager. So far, this hasn't been going very well as I don't think the manager and I have clicked very well, and it is making work much less enjoyable. Hopefully this is short lived. But, if you feel so inclined, I would appreciate prayer on this, as it could make my already not relaxing weekends much less relaxing.
I hope that all of you are well!
--brianna