M.I.A. Once Again!

My Dearest Kris…

I have not forgotten about you or our blog! I’ve just been a bit busy. And with great things! Let me fill you in quickly because as time progresses you will know more and more!

First! I’m back home for Spring Break with my family. We went to my little baby cousin’s 3^rd Birthday and oh my gosh we had a blast. My entire family played pin the tail on the donkey! It was hysterical! Can you imagine my mom and dad?? We spun each other so fast and hard that we were all almost tripping. I really regret not filming my parents’ attempts. That would have been priceless. We were celebrating the child within. Lol.

Second! This is awesome. Cristina and I signed up to be part of a crew of Flash Mob America! Ianina Fazio sent an invite on fb asking who’d like to join and I said yes lol and of course dragged Cristina with me. Early Tuesday morning we went to an auditorium to learn the dance routine; then, at noon we went to Brickell at a shopping center and did the dance moves. We were celebrating Oreos 100^th birthday lol. Ill send you a link later. Unfortunately we didn’t get our awesome dance moves on film cuz well..we were both dancing. I should have asked my mom to come. Oh well. It was so much fun. We got free cookies and milk, some souvenirs, and I’m pretty sure SOMEONE will post the video up on youtube. This event was happening worldwide at noon. Pretty cool, I mean, how many people can say they’ve done or been part of a flash mob? One thing to scratch off our bucket lists.

Third! I went to Vanessa Cuartas’ school and she and her classmates were working on short films they had to do. They had to create a video explaining to their instructor why they deserve an A for the class. One girl needed an extra person and asked me if I would join the video lol I came out of nowhere and asked a question and then left. My acting classes in 6^th grade finally paid off! Haha. I asked her if she could email me the finished product so I can show my parents their future star. Once she emails it, I’ll pass it along. J

Fourth! My internship at the Mayor’s office starts tomorrow night. We will have an orientation and guess what? Food O_O lol. Dinner. Will. Be. Served. You know how we do, we prioritize events based on availability of food. Lol. Just kidding, but it’s always a pro! I am so excited about that!!! Hopefully I have more to tell you after tomorrow’s meeting.

Fifth! I am the Social Networking/Grant Writing Intern for the Literacy Alliance organization (http://thelitalliance.org/about.html) I will be starting a blog for them. I absolutely love what they do! Go to their website for more info, but what touched me the most is that they focus on the at-risk population. Their mission statement says it all:

“Our mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of Central Florida residents by providing educational resources, programs, and training opportunities through in-person presentations and the Internet. Targeting at risk children and adults, we encourage them to reach their highest potential by discovering the rewards and joy of reading.”

It is an extremely hands-on organization. Hopefully, as I get more and more involved with it, I’ll have exciting things to share.

Sixth! And I know this will make you happy. I just ordered my KONY 2012 Action Kit and a T-shirt. I am so excited about that! AND I just learned that there will be a group of people getting together in Orlando for Invisible Children. I watched their latest video and it made me cry. I felt ashamed that the most I’ve ever done regarding IC is said “yes, that is so sad. I will do something.” And never end up doing anything. No more!

Seventh! I am also volunteering with ALA - American Lung Association. I will become a certified ALA OAS Facilitator! You know I had to take Advair and Ventolin daily, which really sucks, but that is the very reason why I wanted to get involved with the ALA. OAS is a program called Open Airways for Schools and I believe I will be teaching about asthma to little kids. :)

Okay, now I know I’ve made this one a bit long, but bare with me! I wanted to share everything with you. I’m sure I forgot something. Anyway, I look forward to hearing about you and NUSUK and what you’ve been up to lately!! Any more news on Georgia? Jude Law? :)

Miss You!

Yaso

Writing on a Friday night...

Hellooooo!! :)

It's Friday night. And I'm in bed. Feeling a bit tired. And there's nowhere else I would like to be right now than here. In bed. Adele on my headphones. Feeling good. However, I knew that if I'd be in the U.S. we would probably be having some movie night or girls night or something to debrief about the week... ah... alas, one day in DC ;)

I can't sing along to the music I'm listening to right now... Sucks! But I just got done doing some really hard vocal exercises. They're these classical ones that are really hard to get good at and they tire out the voice so now I'm a bit raspy and not uttering a word to rest. It really is like exercising any other muscle and allotting time for recovery. But I'm really grateful. I found a really good teacher. I have so much fun practicing and going in for lessons!!

Let's see.. a few cool things I'd like to share... I'll be spending about half of March out of town for events, conferences, and trips. There is a huge education conference in London, one of the biggest in the world, and they're sending me to present a poster! Look! My name is on there! I'm so excited! I'll be in London for 3 days. I'm gonna try to explore some and take lots of pics :D!!!!

Another thing is that I was invited to go on a peace & conflict study trip in Georgia with one of one of the members of my team. Don't get too excited, not Georgia the state that is close to you... lol.. But the country. !!!!!!!!! They're figuring out the details! But if it does happen it would be so awesome!! It would be for 3 days and we would learn about all sorts of things. Ahhh! Mike is a bit concerned for the safety there but I've assured him that they wouldn't send us somewhere that is significantly dangerous. I was so excited when I was invited and I wanted to tell you for a couple days, haha.

Today, Mike and I went for lunch at this really great place by work. We ordered mac and cheese and veg chimichanga. But I loved their twist on their food. It tastes different but really good. And it's not very expensive. Great place!

Lol.. the pic in the middle is of a ferris wheel in Glasgow when I went there for a work event.

This weekend we are going to the rock climbing arena and I'll be in London for the Peace One Day event with National Union of Students and Jude Law!!!!

You're right, good things are coming.

Miss you too.. lots... :)

xx

K

Great News!

Dear Kris,

That's a picture of a delicious Caramel Latte David made me! Seriously, we never need to eat out. Ever.

So sorry it took me this long to write. I guess I didn't have much to talk about. Until now...but I'll save that till the end. First up, I had told you that my mom started that interior decorator certificate course a couple of weeks ago. Her instructor told her to choose a place to decorate as her final project, and of course, she chose my apartment. She came up last weekend and decorated my living & dining room and my study area. I can't wait till she finishes my room and bathroom and everything else to show you!! :D It's finally going to look like a residence, not a dorm. Know what I mean?

I know we rarely wear makeup, but I bought this amazing eyeshadow set. I love it. You loved it when I was wearing a shade a while ago and I've been wanting to show you the whole palette. The picture doesn't do it justice. It's from Urban Decay and it's called "Naked Palette". It was a bit pricey, but I think it's worth it. Sooner or later, I'll try the smokey eye look, take a pic, and show it to you lol.

Anyway, before I tell you some huge, amazing, great news I have, I wanted to share with you a story I saw in the local news. I was trying to find the article, but I guess I'll just tell you. A judge in Orange County was giving the option of community service instead of just paying a fine. I'm not sure what the stats are, but those who chose to pay the fine instead of community service were repeat offenders. Isn't that amazing?! I love it. There were people criticizing her calling her a "social worker". WHO CARES?! If it works, shut up. I got so annoyed. People only complain. *SIGH* I admire that judge. She stood by her decisions. :)

Now... for the important news... around September or November of last year I was desperately searching for jobs, internships, volunteer opportunities. I eventually gave up since the Holidays were coming around lol laziness ensued. I don't remember most of the places I applied to. Today I received a letter from the Office of the Mayor of Orlando! I was accepted to the "2012 Mayor's City Academy". It's a ten week program that teaches you how the local government works. I am so so so excited!!! The first session will be on Thursday, March 8, at night. I will let you know when I get more info! :D!!!! All new knowledge that will be useful one day in DC.

Ahhhhh!! Good things are coming O_O I feel it!!

One last thing: i miss you! no coffee dates, no psycho gym dates, no candles.

See you -1.5 years :)

xo,

y

Current Events

If this were 15 years ago (about) this would be sent through the Royal Mail of the UK. Good thing it's not then, too much clutter would amount! :) Anyway. This was the second week at my job. I'm getting excited because events are coming up and that means planning, making databases, and helping out with anything needed. I was excited to see a name badge arrive this week. It's cute! And I got a work mobile. It has a better alarm tone than my phone lol. Let's see... what else...

I apologize for all the photos I've sent. None of them show you Edinburgh. It's been way too cold and we spend a lot of time in the warm indoors. I can't wait till it gets a bit warmer... And by that I mean into the high 40's and 50's. I miss Florida so much!!! But honestly, even though it's cold, and there are some inconveniences: I'm really happy and thankful. I believe everything happens for a reason and there's a reason why we are here. I'm thankful for the annoyances, because I know it will make me appreciate life back in the U.S. when we get back. And I'm thankful for the beauty and history that surrounds me. It really is a beautiful place.

So currently, I'm just trying to get into a good routine. I've set up a good schedule and now I gotta stick to it. Make sure everything is up to date and dont let things get too far behind. It's been a bit tough the past couple of weeks because I'm not used to it. But I'm trying to follow a good work schedule in order to have time the rest of the my weekdays to work on music, read, cook, work out, or go to events...but mostly, make sure I'm working on some music, paintings, and reading. If there's anything living here is teaching me: massive discipline. If you can be a go-getter type of person in this city, then you're pretty disciplined.

Look what I've cooked today! The first picture (above) is bread with goat cheese, tomato, and vinaigrette :D I had it at a restaurant with a friend and replicated, lol. A bit of a mess and half-fail, but tasted good! Then, (below) I cooked veggie samosas. This time I made them with self-raising flower and made them thicker. So they're a bit thicker, which I like. mmmm!! Then, I made carrot cake. It's so good. I put a donut glaze on it instead of cream cheese frosting since it's easier lol and tastes good and it's cheaper. In this one I put raisins and white chocolate chips. Gonna have a bite before I go to sleep. Ah..the reason I work out ;)

Other current events... I'm gonna meet up with a Edinburgh Univ student. She's a volunteer with Save the Children UK. They hosted a movie night to watch "Blood in the Mobile". A documentary about the conflict minerals from Democratic Republic of Congo. I'm talking to people from Enough Project's Raise HOPE for Congo campaign to get tips and advice on how to campaign with students here. So we're gonna be discussing things we can do since they expressed interest in taking some action. So that's exciting--let's see where it goes!

Speaking of Congo... so much focus on the American presidential election leaves no room for important things that are happening. Well, let's acknowledge President Obama's amazing speech at the National Prayer Breakfast!!!! I loved it!!! Btw, I'm gonna try to get involved with Democrats Abroad's chapter here in Scotland. My colleague is the director of the Scottish branch. He says I can help him out with doing voting campaigns once elections draw near. Woohoo!

But I did want to mention foreign affairs... Specifically, Congo. Since it's been on my mind a lot lately. It's just crazy what goes on and the world just looks the other way. I'm hearing about genocide in Syria and all this. I don't even know what's going on. But I gotta start getting more informed. Here's an article by JP on USA Today about the current situation in Congo and Sudan: Sudan and Congo are being savaged as world shrugs.

So that's life at the current moment.

Shanti Om,

>:)

K

No More Politics

Hello Kris!

I’m writing to you after the 19^th Republican Debate. So far, 3 primaries, 3 different winners. These folks don’t know what they want. Man, oh, man. Right now, this is the only source of drama in my life, so I cherish these debates. As much as I want to taken them seriously, because lets face it, there is still a chance that one of these 4 men can heavily influence the outcome of the 2012 Presidential Election, I simply can’t. For one thing, I don’t care about forming a colony on the moon. I simply care about the quality of education here. Another thing is I don’t care about the “constitutionality” of the Affordable Care Act. I care about everyone having

access to healthcare. I just don’t get these debates. I normally watch them for fun, but I skipped a couple of the previous ones because I got so tired of watching Gingrich and Romney bickering all night.

I admit, I was getting sucked into this whole ugly world of politics. By that I mean, choosing sides of one party and not focusing on what really matters: policy work. I still believe President Obama is doing the best he can for what’s best for our country, but there are just too many variables. Too many people have their greedy little hands over all our congressmen and

women. So why support a person when you can support a policy? One of them is easier to read, fix, understand, and implement. Hopefully, we will be able to work on good social policies one day in DC. I will still be a political junkie just because I find it fascinating to see just how far a person would bend to please everyone.

I’ve been working on a sketch. Lol. It’s a work in progress. There will be many parts to it. So far I have this:

What do you think?? J I’m excited! I might get my sewing machine this weekend! I think my first project will be throw pillows and curtains, lol.. Any requests?? OH! I got a flyer of a pizzeria voted best in Orlando 4 years straight. Guess where I’m going?! Lol .freezes a slice for you. That’s all for now. When my classes start being more interesting I will let you know.

peace,

y

First day of work

Hi Yaso!

It's Monday evening and I've completed my first day of work. It was great. Even though I spent most of the time reading materials. The kinds of tasks I'll be doing look fun; hard work but fun. We've got great events lined up. I'm so excited. And I met the staff today. The project staff with whom I work directly are amazing. It was the first day and I've gotten such great advice about 1) the price we pay for our flat and other options in the area and 2) getting a second master's/choices to be made. Ugh, I MISSED people! lol Then, I just noticed that we received an email from one of my co-workers about yoga. Apparently, they all do yoga on Tuesdays. What?! Awesome! .dresses comfortably tmrw. And oh yeah, it's a very casual environment.

That same co-worker is about to finish her post with us so now she is doing this project on her own: Operation Seed-Bomb Britain by Bicycle. I love the concept. Looks like so much fun. I'd love to do that! :)

So today I was reading through some material about students not being incentivized to study abroad here in Scotland. Would you believe that less than 1% of university students in Scotland take up such an opportunity?!? You'd think because they're so close to Europe they'd do it in a heartbeat--I know I would!! I feel like studying abroad is something Americans look forward to way more than Scots (if we're going by that statistic). One of the barriers is the lack of language skills. It got me thinking about Finland and how their kids are taught a number of languages since primary school. My coworker told me that most Scandinavian countries are really good about teaching their children various languages. In Scotland, they're just trying to bring that back. What universities tried to do is widen the accessibility for people and therefore stopped requiring a foreign language skill. I see why that would be good for some. However, it had a negative side effect.

I think that's something that should be done in America as well. Really invest in language skills from primary school. That would really build up a strong workforce and do loads of good for the economy, don't you think? We gotta be competitive as individuals, to be competitive as a country. We have to be on par with the rest of the world AT LEAST.

On another note, adjusting back to life in Edinburgh has been a bit tough on both of us. We're thinking about moving flats because the rent has increased once again. And so now we're gonna start looking at options. We hope to get a bigger place for the same or less, which is totally possible. We're only really paying for the great location. It really is such a great location. It's a shame.

Anyway. I'm so glad you had a great time in NOLA. I hope to visit there. It must be nice to be in the Birthplace of Jazz. How crazy. I love that. I love cities with culture. Like DC. Unlike Weston. haha.

Some photos:

It snowed for 5 minutes this weekend!

Here is my first waffle on the waffle maker you gave me :)

Happened to get a nice shot. This one is a keeper.

Miss you amiga
xxxxxxxxxx
Kris

Important News!!!!

Dear Yaso,

Well. Thank you for your lovely letter. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will speak to your points in a second letter, in which I'll tell you about what's going on with my life generally since I've been back.

I just wanted to share this with you. And I haven't shared it with anyone except my parents!! I've been waiting to tell you so I can post it online. Cuz, you know, I'm so into celebrating myself and how awesome I am and everything. lol.. (for everyone else: that was sarcasm).

So remember I went in for the interview last week at National Union of Students (Scotland). And I told you I didn't get the job on Monday (Jan 16). Then, I told you I wrote back for feedback and was waiting on the feedback. The girl who interviewed me wrote back that night and told me to call her the next day. So, I called her the next day in the morning (Jan 17). She was going to go over the feedback from my interview but asked me if I would be interested in an internship type position for 3 months with possibility of extension. We talked about what kind of job it would be and she asked me if I could come in in an hour.

So we hung up, I told Mike I have to leave asap. I ate breakfast and got dressed quickly (and STILL looked good lol) and left.

I met with the interview girl and she told me A LOT of good information. I took notes. I felt VERY encouraged. We can chat about this in detail if you want lol. I'll get to the point.

Then I met another member of staff to talk about the internship position. We talked about it. We hit it off. And she told me to let her know by today.

I emailed her last night telling her I would take the job.
She told me to come in Monday at 10am.

And that's when I start my new job!!!!

Position: International Education Assistant
Hours: 36/week
Wage: £6.08/hr

Not the best wage... but it's something. I'll take it. Cuz it's an ideal position.
I get to work on policy, student engagement, event organising, admin work, and many other things.
I even have possibilities of travel to other countries. There's a training event in Brussels that I can partake in if I wanted to.

Plus there's a possibility of extension and I can build my network! They really like me there and are impressed with my CV :D They're gonna do everything to support me and develop my skills as needed.

I'm SOOO excited and SOOOO happpyy!!!!

Persistence works!!

I cant believe I was crying one day cuz of this and out of frustration and the next day everything changed!!!

I have a job!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Now, I got so used to applications for jobs that it's weird not having to do any for a while.

:) :) :) :)

- Kris