BUFFOLOGY

Spring break is OVER!  Tomorrow it’s back to life as usual, with classes, tests, assignments…  Granted, I had a pretty quiet week this past week, but it was a welcome respite from school all the same.  Whoever invented spring break was genius, pure genius.

Sorry I haven’t written in a while — like Wes said, it’s been a crazy semester!  I came back from India safe and sound (see a few of my pictures here) and had an amazing time; I’d go back in a heartbeat if I could.  It was so incredibly strange to be a foreigner; I never got used to being stared at everywhere I went, being followed by salesmen and orphans and cows everywhere I went, or finding ruins, palaces, and historical sites everywhere I went.  The food was amazing, the air was smoky, the sights were beautiful (especially the Taj Mahal!), and the people were very curious about us… Whenever we stopped at a tourist site, we took pictures of the attraction, and the Indians took pictures of us.  Tall, light-skinned people — amazing!

 One of my favorite memories of our trip was our impromptu stop at a roadside kite shop outside of Jaipur.  Jaipur is called the kite capital of the world; every year in late January, they host a kite-flying competition, and we encountered several Indians from the U.S. that had traveled to Jaipur simply to watch it.  Looking out of my hotel window every afternoon, I could see colorful paper kites popping up and down throughout the city, like popcorn or confetti dotting the horizon; and almost every tree in the city had at least one kite stuck in its leaves somewhere.  The people at the kite shop were very gracious, friendly, and honest, a welcome change from the pushy hawkers of the metropolis.  We played with the kids before they climbed on their school bus (all bundled up in scarves and hats, because it was a frigid 55 degrees Fahrenheit — oh my), flew kites with the shop owners, laughed with the women…  I got a taste of real India, or what I felt “real” India should be like; not the Westernized, trinket-selling tourist traps of the cities, but the hard-working, poor-yet-happy, everyday Indian citizens at home.

One thing that really surprised me, on the other hand, was the Indians’ pre-conceived notions about me.  I grew up in conservative, almost-rural West Texas, where men still say “ma’am” when addressing me, and opening doors for ladies is second-nature.  In India, however, women are viewed very poorly; oftentimes, their only value is their use as a ”commodity” that can give men children, elevated social status, or free household labor.  Even worse is the Indians’ concept of Western women.  I suppose they expect all of us to be like the women they see on Hollywood big screens — loose morals, promiscuous, and manipulative — and many times we were treated accordingly.  We learned to expect this attitude and adjust our behaviors; although different and sometimes awkward, it wasn’t a big deal.  What broke my heart, though, were the cute little boys walking home from school that laughed as they made obscene gestures at us — it was sad to think that they learn such attitudes at such a young age, and that they will probably retain these preconceived concepts of us for as long as they live.  I am now thankful for every respectful word said to me, every door opened with a smile, and every expression of an expectation of my respectability back here at home; like they say, there’s nothing like going away to make you appreciate what you have at home.

That’s enough for now.  I hope you all had a great spring break, and I’ll be back again soon!

-Kelsi

So… tomorrow is the big day.  FINALLY.  Fourteen other WT students, faculty members, and I are flying to New Delhi, India!  I’ve never taken a sixteen-hour plane ride — I plan on sleeping a lot. :)  After spending the past semester reading about India, it will be amazing to actually experience everything first-hand.  We’ll travel around northern India for two weeks, riding elephants, boating down the Ganges, visiting major temples, mosques, and historical sites, interacting with the people, and side-stepping cows. (ha.) 

I must admit, I’m a little nervous… okay, I’m scared to death.  Even after reading all about India, I still don’t know what to expect — how will people interact with me?  will I be safe?  what is the food like?  and are the monkeys really that dangerous?  Nevertheless, I simply can’t wait to get on that plane tomorrow.  I love new experiences, and I know this trip will blow me away — besides, the suspense is killing me!  If you’d like to keep up with our escapades, see our online journal here.  It will be updated daily by all of us students, relating the day’s events and our reactions to our foreign (perhaps bizarre?) surroundings. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year; in a couple of weeks, I’ll post again with an overview of the trip (and pictures!).  Namaste!

4 Reasons why today was a great day

1. It was the first day of my winter break.  No more finals — yeah!

2. I got to work at a job I love.  Physical therapy rocks my socks.

3. I didn’t have a wreck driving on the ice this morning.  Phew…

4. I got accepted to physical therapy school!!!

When I got the message that one of my top choices of doctoral physical therapy programs was offering me a position, I jumped out of my chair and did a little happy dance, right there in our office at work.  I’m so excited!  All the studying, working, volunteering, applications, essays, etc. really did pay off.  I was pretty much worthless the rest of the day at work — I think I was in a happy daze.  I have LOVED being here at WT, and while part of me will be sad to leave, the other part of me knows my years here have left me well-prepared for moving on to something different.

That’s why today was a great day. 

 oh — and only 21 days until I go to India!

winter is HERE!  I woke up this morning to a world slathered in ice.  church was canceled, and I’m all comfy by my computer, finishing up some studying for my last final tomorrow.  yay neuroscience…  maybe it will be too icy to go to school and the professor will give us ALL automatic A’s.  haha.

last weekend was amazing…  we had the Renaissance Festival on campus, and all of us chamber singers put on our furry, lacy, poufy medieval costumes and performed at the feast.  the guys’ costumes were the funniest — they had to wear tights (after they figured out how to put them on!) and knee-pants.  anyway, we sang songs about boar’s heads, wassail, geese, and all sorts of other foods that we never eat any more, and we got to eat that food, too.  my favorite was the figgy pudding and the wassail.  That weekend we also had the annual Carol of the Lights — WT students, faculty, and people from the Canyon community gathered around the new buffalo statue to sing Christmas carols and see Dr. O’Brien turn on all the Christmas lights — and our huge Christmas concert, where there was standing room only.  man, it was a great weekend; I’m telling you, if I wasn’t studying biology, I’d be a music major.

gotta go finish studying, and then do some work for my India class.  I leave for New Delhi in 24 days!

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I never thought I’d be doing this all over again.

When I was a freshman here at WT, I sat down in my first class on the first day of school and subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.  Applications were done, scholarship forms completed, what seemed like mountains of paperwork were turned in, never to bother me again.  Or so I thought…

Now it’s my senior year, and when I come home from class, I meet a sneakily familiar mound of papers on my desk.  Application packets, scholarship forms, personal essays, reference letters…  It feels somewhat like a flashback to a more nightmarish era of my past; it so turns out that doctoral programs require even more paperwork than undergraduate applications.  Imagine that.

On a more positive note, I was very encouraged and excited by the WT Career Expo last week.  There were special sessions on interview skills, networking, business etiquette — did you know you’re supposed to wear your nametag on the right side of your shirt? — and the chance to talk with over 100 prospective employers from the surrounding area.  I made some wonderful contacts and met some great people; I even got a couple of interview offers!  Several of my friends have interviews this week with businesses that were at the Expo.  Now I’m pumped about job-hunting once I finish my doctorate.

I guess all this paperwork will be worth it after all.

~Kelsi May

Homecoming!

Pigskin Revue, the bonfire, Fair on the Square, parades, concerts…  I LOVE homecoming.  For an entire weekend, the entire town of Canyon turns maroon — it seems like everyone has a maroon shirt to wear, and little kids with buffalo horns on their heads run around with their “buffs up” (the WT hand sign: thumb and pinky up, three middle fingers folded down.  That’s the one.)  Students decorate their residence hall entrances for the weekend, eat a turkey leg after the parade, and take lots and lots of pictures by the huge bonfire.  But the most exciting part of homecoming is….. (drumroll…)

THE GAME!

 I’m not a sports buff — I played flag footall once, and got my eye punched out — but the football game is perhaps my favorite part of homecoming every year.  This year was no exception… it was without doubt the best yet.  Continue reading ‘We will kick, pass, and run, ’til those Greyhounds are done…’

Namaste!

That’s the most important word I learned this past week.  You see, I’m going to India for two weeks this coming January, and “Namaste,” the standard greeting there, is something I’ll be saying a lot.  I’m so excited!  I’ll see the Taj Mahal, boat down the River Ganges in the holy city of Varanasi, ride an elephant up to the Amber Fort…  Continue reading ‘Elephants?’