K.I.T.

This is an ode/giant apology to the ones I've failed to keep in touch with:

It's not that I don't love you,
I really truly do
It's just that my life has been taken over
by this giant thing called schoo(l).

I hate talking on the phone,
like a lot a lot.
Mostly because I am so awkward,
and partly because I forgot.

I promise nothing much has been going on at my end,
it's mostly school and work
these group projects are already making me bend.

I got a lovebird named Lemon,
its butt is blue
I call it an it
because I'm not sure if it's a female or a dude.

My cousin got married last weekend
on Friday the 13th.
Boy that open bar got the best of me,
I can help it, I like free drinkth.

So that's all I have to say,
I promise I will post more.
Gotta give the people what they want,
with funny stories galore!

Lemon says herro!

On why I am not looking forward to classes starting...

This isn't just your old "Oh but I love summer, boo school" sort of dread (though it kind of is because lazy days by the pool are awesome). First off, I'm a creature of habit so having to switch from my summer to school routine is simply unpleasant. I've had this nice working-out, surfing the net, reading, cooking, evening shifts at the library groove going for the past month which I've really quite enjoyed but will no longer be plausible.

Second, I'm not looking forward to the stress that school and assignments bring, to myself and my peers. In general I feel like I've calmed down considerably since my middle school days where I studied and worried about grades non-stop. "Well that doesn't sound very responsible of you, since you are in grad school after all" some of you may be thinking. It's a work smarter not harder philosophy baby. If I've done a project or taken a test and turned it in, there's no use worrying about it anymore. I'm not saying this to discredit the worries/concerns of my peers (I certainly have other things that I will needlessly obsess over), it's just that when other people stress out, I pick up on that energy and then I start to stress out. And I've just enjoyed having such a nice, relatively stress free summer; it's probably added years back on to my life!

And then there's this underlying thread of competition that seems to run through grad school in general. It kinda sucks. Granted, I could just be imagining something that isn't there, but I'm pretty sure this is encountered everywhere, including in the workplace. How do you deal with it? You could take the bait and attempt to one-up every person that you met by listing all of your accomplishments. If you're like me you could crack jokes (recall the "stand up and introduce yourself" episode from last year in which I said I spent the summer waiting tables, hence my people-person abilities). Jokes aside, I might have to take up meditation or something though because school starts in a week! Who has 2 thumbs and is not ready for classes to start?!

Grumpy hamster is not ready for classes to start either...

Sometimes you can go back

I was fortunate enough to visit the Bahamas not once but twice this summer. Last weekend I returned with my team members to present our findings at the second annual One Eleuthera Health and Wellness Symposium, which this year just so happened to be focusing on cancer. During our 9 hour long conference I learned a lot about the biology behind the BRCA gene mutations (the BRCA gene normally works as a tumor suppressor, without it the genes that cause breast cancer grow unchecked). It was cool/humbling/nerve-wracking to present my work to esteemed doctors and researchers, but it went off without a hitch.

This trip was action packed, in addition to the conference we got to attend Tarpum Bay's (the settlement we lived in) and Hatchet Bay's homecoming celebrations. These were weekend long celebrations, kinda like a fair but with more drinking and jungliss (a Bahamian term for ghetto looking girls who look tacky, like they are from the jungle. both a singular and plural noun and verb, it's now a part of my regular vocab and I'm trying to bring it back to Atlanta). This was a bittersweet visit, since this time I don't know when I will be back, but the Bahamas, namely Eleuthera, is now a part of me and I most certainly will have to return. I'm missing those beaches and the people already!

Hello Eleuthera!!!

The narrowest point in the world, the Glass Window Bridge, with the Atlantic ocean in darker blue and the Caribbean in light blue. 

The Craigslist Queens

As I write this I am sitting in my most awesomely decorated new apartment. Coming from a place that was already furnished with essentially nothing of my own to contribute, this past month has pretty much been consumed with worrying (and when I was actually done wasting energy worrying) acquiring furniture. So whether you are a post grad, a young adult, a more mature adult, or still in school but needing to upgrade from an old fold-up card table and air mattress to something more substantial, then listen up because have I got some life advice for you!

Here are some tried and true methods for furnishing a new place (or adding to your repertoire):

1. Buy off your landlord/lady/liege. We were lucky in that the reason our landlady was renting out her place was because she was getting married, so we had the great opportunity to buy things like a table, chairs, dressers, bookcases, a coffee table, and a t.v. off of her for a steal. Bonus: we didn't even have to move them.

2. Look to Facebook, where if you are in any sort of class group page, many people will be selling/giving away things for dirt cheap. I unfortunately couldn't carpe any of these deals as I really had no place to put them and was out of town during the peak post-grad furniture dump bonanza.

3. Thrift stores. People are all about upcycling these days, and if you are creative enough you can repaint some of those really ugly pieces of furniture into something bright and awesome. I unfortunately have neither the patience nor the supplies (because unfortunately by the time you gather all the paint and primer you can sometimes end up spending way more than it's worth) for this sort of endeavor. But one day I really hope to transform something.

4. Use what resources you have. This may be furniture that you already have, or the generosity of your parents. I am fortunate enough to have a mom who is super pumped about me decorating my first adult place that she bought me 2 super classy chairs from Target. Thanks Mom!!

5. Freecycle.com. This is an awesome jem of a website; you join the yahoo group that corresponds to the area that you live in. Daily, people post things that they are looking for or giving away and everything is totally free! That's how I ended up getting the awesome brand-new birdcage that will house the new member of my family (more on that later). I figure I saved myself at least $50, and it's a great site/concept for those who are especially concerned about the amount of waste/junk that we humans can accrue. Just always bring a friend with you to pick up your new trash-to-treasure and always be sure to send a thank you post!

and finally #6. Craigslist. I must admit, I was once one of those people who turned her nose up at the idea of getting something like a piece of furniture used. Granted, I would never buy something like a bed/mattress off of Craigslist; however, my roommate and I really lucked out in finding/buying a really nice (and cheap) ikea couch off of Craigslist. I do emphasize the lucking out part because with anything that's fabric and that people have been laying/sleeping on you really have to be careful. Bedbugs are no joke people! But this thing is great. And there really are some jems on the site, along with some god-awful stuff that's incredibly overpriced. We also ended up getting 2 side tables for $5 each, and I also got my desk and chair for a total of $50. You just have to look and be really careful. Never go alone, and if you find yourself given directions to a shady part of town that has a large group of men outside of the house were you are supposed to be looking at a couch, then turn the f-around (yes this did happen to us and yes, we got the hell out of dodge). While there are such things as Craigslist Queens (i.e. savvy female shoppers such as myself) there was also such thing as the Craigslist Killer, of which there is a Lifetime movie about.

There are some things that I think you should be careful about buying used (like mattresses); when it comes to cleanliness and a good nights sleep you sometimes have to suck it up. But you can really cut costs if you are willing to see the potential in things. Your table may not match your chairs, but hey, that boho mismatched look is totally in anyway.

Classy chairs and free bird cage

Do yourself a favor and frame your posters

Our craigslist couch. 

Can I go back already?

I've been back about 2 weeks now; in some ways it's gone by fast and I think "wow 2 weeks!" and other times when it feels longer I think, "wow only 2 weeks??" The constant rain since the day I returned isn't helping things much. Yes, with the exception of about 2 days the second week, it had rained pretty much everyday for a week straight. Talk about depressing and tan fading. Skyping yesterday with my team members and seeing all of our co-workers in the Bahamas finally made that homesickness hit full force. How can you not make connections and feel a little empty after living someplace for 6 weeks and delving deeper into the culture and the people than you ever would on any week long vacation?

pretty much sums up our last night perfectly. 

I'm very thankful to have to opportunity to go back, though there were definitely some things I missed and am glad to have now that I'm back. These include:

1. Cheap groceries/the Dekalb farmer's market. I ate kale everyday for about a week when I came back. I will never complain about food prices again; everything is just so much more expensive on a tiny island where everything has to be imported and there's no longer an agriculture industry (our Bahamian friend and the proprietor of Sweets n Treats, Miss Mary, explained that Eleuthera used to grow a lot of pineapples and tomatoes but the younger generation just doesn't want to farm, hence the lack of locally grown produce).

Eat all the produce!!!

2. Netflix. Maybe this has caused more trouble than it's worth, but I've started The Office from season 1 (never watched episodes consistently or got really into it) and now I'm obsessed. Yes a little late to jump on the bandwagon but better late than never. After reading Mindy Kaling's book (which is hilarious, you need to read it!) it makes you look at things a little differently, especially knowing that Kelly isn't actually a complete ding-bat. And Jim...need I say more?

Do something useful with your summer and read this book. via

3. Making money. It's so nice to be working and getting a paycheck instead of just spending money constantly. During the week I'm just working nights at the Emory library (still trying to figure out what to do with myself during the day...) which is not exactly a busy scene but is a cool change of pace. I unfortunately spend a lot of time puttering around on the internet, but manage to get some work done (we do still have to have a comprehensive write-up and presentation to show everyone that we didn't just go to the beach everyday for the past 6 weeks... we worked in the morning and went to the beach in the afternoon).

4. Air conditioning. Oh how I love you. And after going a month and a half without you, find myself getting more chilled than normal. It's a beautiful thing.

Currently moving into a new apartment, and coupled with a lack of anything notable going on (sometimes no news can be good news) has made it so that I didn't have a whole lot to say. But once I get settled and am no longer in this weird limbo of unpacking from a trip just to pack everything up and unpack again, things will feel a little more back to normal and posts can become a bit more regular. I have a few things in the works but won't jump the gun on spilling just yet...

I can't even...via 

Winding Down

We are really getting down to the wire as far as our time here (can't believe there's only a week left), so needless to say a post is long overdue! It's just steadily gotten hotter and hotter here this past month, which has slowly sapped much of my computer browsing energy in general. And now for some updates:

1. Last week we finished our final settlement survey, making our total number of women surveyed a whopping 180. A great, large number of people and data (trust me, took hours to input all of the surveys into SPSS statistical software based on the data dictionary I'd created. Believe it or not--because I really don't--I've taken on the job of data inputer and stats test-runner extraordinarre. And even more shocking is the fact that I like it). Now we are visiting one settlement in the north, central, and south regions of the island in order to tell communities what we've found and get any extra input.

This is what 180 surveys looks like

We are so pumped we are done! (photo cred: Sara)

2. Also as of last week I am now feeling 23! Yes, the only thing better than having my 21st in Cyprus was having my 23rd (man that sounds old!) in the Bahamas! Spent a relaxing day at the beach, followed by a delicious dinner at the fancy/famous Tippy's beachside restaurant (a favorite of Mariah Carey and Matthew McConaughey) which came as a big surprise from my team members as I thought we would just eat at the fish fry. We made our appearance there later, when the crowd was noticeably more Bahamian/local and got our groove on to some local Bahamian jams (along with about 5 different birthday songs played, to my mortification, in my honor. the best was probably when the song "Birthday Sex" came on, to which one of my team members turns toward me and seriously tells me "sorry but you ain't getting none of that tonight").

Perhaps the most adorable dancing partner ever (photo cred: Sara)

3. We will be coming back! Yes indeedy, we've been invited to present our project/findings at the One Eleuthera Health & Wellness Symposium on cancer the first week in August. I really can't begin to describe how awesome/what an honor it is to have people be this appreciative about our work. It's amazing and really starts to hammer home the idea that slowly but surely I'm starting to become a "public health professional."

I could not have asked for a better team members (photo cred: Sara)

People always tell you that when you go abroad for an extended period of time you are going to go through phases: upon arrival you will be so pumped but after about a week you'll start to get into that moody/homesick/irritable towards all your surroundings period. After this comes the calm contentment that you feel because you've finally become truly comfortable with your environment. I've definitely gone through all of these stages. I was excited, and once that wore off I was hot/sweaty/itchy/generally unpleasant; now I'm coasting, and when I stop to look around at the clear Caribbean beneath my feet I get sad because it's a feeling of calm and beauty that I wish I could (and know I can't) bottle up to take with me and remember forever. I've had my ups and downs here, but Eleuthera and my time spent on the island has been an experience that certainly will stay with me forever. Not your typical summer internship but something that's equally valuable and in a way far more special. Now I just have to look forward to the depression/rea-daptation phase that comes upon your return (but oh, the reunion with a.c. will be so so sweet).

To the North we went!

Pink Sands (if you squint you can see a tinge)

This past week we traveled up to northern Eleuthera in order to make it easier for us to survey settlements and not have to worry about traveling back and forth the hour and a half it usually takes. We lucked out and got to stay on Harbour Island in a fantastic beachfront house. Harbour Island is a small island off the coast, about a 5 minute water taxi ride from the mainland. It's an adorable tourist town where many a wealthy vacationer (and apparently some celebrities) like to park their yachts while indulging in some pink sand beaches. There are few cars on the island, as most get around via golf cart, and compared to the rest of the island, most of the buildings are kept up (probably to look good for the tourists). We had a lot of fun going to the beach everyday and visiting the local bars at night; though nothing could top our first night there, when we got to hang out on the owner of Walgreen's private yacht.

Be still my interior design-loving heart

can I bring you back to Atlanta

Yes, as we were leaving the marina bar we came across a group of college guys, one of whom hopped onto the back of our golf cart. He introduced himself, saying he was from Texas, at which point one of the girls in my group exclaimed "I'm from Texas!" Lo and behold she had actually gone to grade school with some of the guys so we had the chance to see how the other half lives. The owner, one of the guy's dads, had married into the Walgreens family and lets just say they are doing well. It was very hard to leave, though nice to return to our friendly neighborhood of Tarpum Bay.

We did do some work while up north, visiting the various settlements. The most notable had to be Spanish Wells, where the people look like they are from West Virginia, have accents that sound Scottish, live in what looks like the Florida version of pleasantville, and make up perhaps the largest percentage of white Bahamians on the island. They're descendants of the puritans who came looking for religious freedom and the Tories who left following the American Revolution. Over half of the island has the last name Pinder that, along with the weird looks of the locals, indicate that the rumors of inbreeding aren't just rumors.

Don't let this deceptive facade fool you...

Top off our strange visit by seeing a tricked out golf cart that looked like an old 1950's pick up full of Amish people (and their million kids) who looked like they belonged in the coal mines of West Virginia and we were ready to get the hell out of dodge. Currently wrapping up the last of the settlements that still need to be surveyed and we will begin putting together a preliminary report of findings that our stakeholders can have before we leave (yes, we do work while we are here).