Funny Things I've Noticed

It's funny to me how certain things are so prevalent in some places that you don't notice their presence or absence right away. Over time I became so accustomed to seeing squirrels and mopeds on campus at USC that I imagined I'd always be around them.  To my surprise, it took nearly a month of school at FIU before I saw a single squirrel or moped.  So I'm sure you're wondering what the two were replaced with. Everyone here either skateboards, bikes, or rides electrical boards to class every day. I think the electrical boards are probably the funniest to see because people tend to walk in pairs but of course normal walking takes longer than riding a board so the person is always speeding up and slowing down to catch up with their walking friend.  Squirrels were replaced with skittish white birds and very bold lizards. Much like squirrels at USC fear no human, lizards at FIU will challenge your walking path on the sidewalk anytime they feel like it.  There's also some very large birds nesting on campus.  They sometimes blend in with the grass if you aren't paying attention when you walk.

I'm the type of person who loves to know what kind of animals are around me, especially if they're interesting/I can put studying off for 5 more minutes because I just had to google them :) I'm pretty convinced that the white birds I've been seeing on campus are "American White Ibis". They're consistent with this geographic area however I don't know why they've been flocking to campus.  They usually spend at least 10 hours a day looking for food but they eat from shallow water sources so I'm not sure why they're always pecking away at the grass on campus. Maybe I have the wrong bird but nonetheless it's pretty exciting!

Oh the Difference 600 Miles Will Make

Today is the first day in a long time I've woken up to a temperature that feels like less than 100 degrees! It rains nearly everyday in Miami and usually the storms are short lived and sunny but sometimes they're dark and set in like back at home.


You could definitely say I'm missing the typical PSL (pumpkin spice lattes) with scarves, cute boots, and cardigans but I guess year round pool access isn't too bad either ;)

Living Away From Home

Being so far away from home has been tough. When things aren't going right you're the only person who can fix them because you can't turn to your parents or your friends for that extra little push to get through it.  I've had a few interesting and slightly stressful situations lately but I'm taking them all in stride.
The other night it had gotten kind of late and I needed scissors.  I ran over to the Walgreen's right across the street from the school and after about 10 minutes of browsing the "back to school" section I could only find the rounded tip children's scissors. I walked up to the front register and after waiting in the long line I asked the lady if they sold any regular size scissors there. About half way through my sentence I could tell from the face she was making that she didn't speak English and unfortunately my Spanish wasn't strong enough to get me out of this predicament. We spent the next few minutes with me making hand gestures and elongating all of the syllables to my words and her saying "you want price check?".  By now I was dying of frustration because such a simple question was impossible for her to understand. The customers in line behind me were sighing and looking around for another open register so I finally turned to the man who had been in line behind me the whole time and desperately asked him if he could translate for me. He simply turned to the woman and said "tijeras para adultos" and she turned to me and smiled and said "isle 5". ANGRY is an understatement for how I felt.  I couldn't believe there was someone there who could help me the whole time but he just stood and watched the both of us struggle instead.
This week I also realized that I threw away one of my textbook components. The business school here is very big on online software components.  An access code that's good for 6 months comes with your textbook bundle but since I lost mine I had to spend nearly $100 for a new one which is quite disheartening when you're unemployed. My school schedule would easily allow me to have a job but I've realized it's extremely difficult to get a job in a place where English is not the predominately spoken language yet it's the only one you're fluent in.
Lastly, as luck would have it, I was up pretty late last night doing a little homework. I typically do homework in my bed because it's more comfortable than my desk chair. As I slid off the bed to run to the kitchen for some water my foot got caught in my laptop cord and hurled my laptop off the bed. The screen cracked and the outside shelling is coming apart. Thankfully it seems to still work well enough because being unemployed in a big city, I can't afford a new one on my own. I know my parents are always there when I really, truly need a pick me up or any type of monetary favor but going from being really independent to needing everything handed to you doesn't feel very nice.
Although most people here voluntarily speak Spanish all the time and adjusting to the environment has been quite the struggle, my roommates have been really helpful with me practicing Spanish and most of my classmates have noticed that I don't speak Spanish so they speak in English sometimes for me :) If nothing else I've just been taking everything one day at a time and always putting my best foot forward.  The stressful moments of today are the laugh worthy moments of tomorrow