Pyro and Whatever Else

I’ve always been both interested and fascinated with fire. So my recent craze is lighting candles in my room. Unfortunately though, candles are a no no in my college apartment – fire hazard. Understandable, but truly a bummer.

So my flight has been moved forward, primarily so I can get back in time to help out with orientation for the new students coming to college. Anyway, I now leave on the 22nd of August and I’m gonna be flying through Honolulu, Hawaii. Super BONUS mann!!! I’ll be there alone, but I have a few hours and know a few people there, so we’ll see what I can put together.

Well, as I said before, I’ve had a wonderful two months on the Doulos learning so many different things about life. It’s been an intense period of being in the classroom of life. There were rough times, but it was generally a wonderful growing experience. My favorite part was meeting so many people from all over the world and being able to learn more about what is ‘normal’ to them. I guess this coincides with my interest in sociology and communication across cultures. It really was the perfect hands-on classroom for doing this. And I can safely say that I’ve learned more from my two months there than I could have possibly learned in a year of textbooks. Furthermore, this was practical and not just the theoretical side of it.

During my time on the Doulos, I read about 5 of the Left Behind series books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. But what was more exciting was Rick Warren’s bestseller ‘The Purpose Driven Life’. Mann…that book was such a crazy read because so many times it really seemed like he had written the book just for me. Sometimes it hurt really bad to confront my real self, but the book was a reminder of how there’s always hope, even through your worst mistakes and biggest problems. Mann…sometimes you feel like you’ve messed up big time, feeling in the pits of despair, but then a book like this one is handed to you. A reminder…

Just for an update in terms of books, I’m currently reading ‘The God of Small Things’ by Arundhati Roy. I’m really enjoying her very descriptive writing. It’s a book that basically teleports you straight into India so that you smell the smells and hear the sounds.

Ahhh…so a new found thing that makes me happy: mixed berry tea straight out of Switzerland. A friend of mine on the Doulos invited me for tea one day and she makes two cups of this tea that she has from home. And wow…it’s like going through aromatherapy while enjoying the amazing hot berry tea. Definitely a wonderful way of relaxing. Hmmm…I guess between that, my candles and Arundhati’s piece of art, I’m taken care of. Oh…and the constant crazy mix of music coming from my laptop. Yeah…