tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120691252011-11-17T22:52:01.777-05:00Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.comBlogger381100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-88389392785249684392009-12-31T02:07:00.002-05:002009-12-31T02:14:40.371-05:00

Arrived in Denver this evening from Portland, where it had been snowing. We came down from the mountain as it started, and it just kept going. Traffic was frozen for hours. Inching. The backroads kept moving while highways stood still.Denver is not too cold and full of promise. A larger city with clear, free air. I can feel the sun even though it is night. At home, I sleep on the largest,

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-39236112582321016982007-05-18T19:32:00.000-04:002007-05-18T19:33:37.100-04:00

2/28/07 5:49PMHi all,I am now home. safely. Not too much delay on the airplane, and I slowly sink back into the work as I get ready to start writing my thesis.no pictures up yet, but soon...-Alea

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-37754090620639330132007-05-18T19:31:00.000-04:002007-05-18T19:32:36.448-04:00

2/27/07 12:25AMA couple more days in the mix, and now I'm about to start the final trek home. I'm leaving Honolulu at midnight tonight, on another long series of flights that will get me in on Tuesday night Boston time. Now less than 24 hours. I have mixed feelings about going back home, but I'm happy to have had a transition to regular life from vacation in the form of Kelsa's regular

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-77929753266990597342007-05-18T19:29:00.000-04:002007-05-18T19:31:04.881-04:00

2/21/07 5:26PMDear everyone,It?s been a long time since I?ve been able to write, so this is a very longone. It was meant to be read in pieces, as I have written it, but it isbeginning to turn into a book. Pardon if some of the stories are cut off -I've been writing in bits and pieces, and I am often interrupted in the middle.It is quite a different experience having a computer along. But

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-37298494331172773122007-05-18T19:28:00.000-04:002007-05-18T19:29:06.913-04:00

2/13/07 8:30PMOk, this library computer is locked down and I can't transfer my latest storiesto it to send, so you will have to wait until the next connection to hear allthe latest news. But I am here in Port Stephens, AUS, and it is sunny and warmand the rainforest is gorgeous. Yesterday, we went surfing in large, dumpywaves at One Mile (not kilometer???) beach and tasted our second round

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-89661077039638415542007-05-18T19:24:00.000-04:002007-05-18T19:28:10.927-04:00

2/10/07 4:51AMI am sleepy. Groggy, and I know I left this morning so excited and full of thoughts, but now they all have left me. My luggage is all carry on today – I don’t remember the last time I did that. I left my sun lotion behind because I knew they wouldn’t let me past security with it. It wouldn’t fit in my one allowed plastic baggy of 3 oz liquid goodies. I almost didn’t bring

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1134174327841671312005-12-09T19:12:00.000-05:002005-12-09T19:25:27.860-05:00

Maybe it's the strange way I think about things, but life just seems better in poetry. Not in regular old organized poetry, but just in metaphor, or crazy verse. I guess it's a way to laugh at life or just to take it less seriously. Which is basically what the director told me when I auditioned for "The Old Law," a Jacobian play about killing old people who have lived beyond their usefulness.

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com68tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1126668454552120352005-09-13T22:47:00.000-04:002005-09-13T23:27:37.523-04:00

I just got home from reading a bunch of stuff for my speech interfaces class and I found a letter on the table for me that I thought was my loan statement. But opening it up, I discovered it was my new credit card. Lo and behold, my old one is about to expire. So instead of putting it off a few more days, I decide to activate the card while my noodles were cooking, distracting myself from my

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1125930518250766772005-09-05T10:26:00.000-04:002005-09-05T10:28:38.256-04:00

This article is awesome! I want to go back...http://travel2.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/travel/04tanzania.html?ex=1126497600&en=af61c801d6b60964&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1125500578794633412005-08-31T11:00:00.000-04:002005-08-31T11:02:58.806-04:00

At the laundromat, time is free. I must do my laundry, and I cannot leave until it is through. I cannot wander off to the kitchen to cook something up or go start re-arranging my closet. I can’t be pulled off into some activity by roommates, and I am not reminded of anything that I should be doing, or at any point wanted to do – I am already here. It is a neutral place, a changing place, a

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1125408248254735622005-08-30T08:33:00.000-04:002005-08-30T09:24:08.316-04:00

In Mexico they do your laundry for you. And in Tanzania too. Much better than I could ever do it myself.My laundry has been stacking up since I got home. I had to do it the minute I stepped into the house, then it started growing. So by the time I took off with my roommate to walk to the laundromat this weekend I had two big bags, including some heavy Tanzanian material and some shirts I just

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1123877257546690442005-08-12T14:44:00.000-04:002005-08-25T14:07:56.146-04:00

Once in high school I decided not to eat red meat. Not for long. In college, I ate largely vegetarian, but occasionally opted for the meatier side of the meal. I discovered that I am not meant to be vegetarian. My body cannot seem to handle a meatless diet. Nonetheless, I do tend towards organic meats for the same reasons I was considering meatlessness. But chicken, I have never really had

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1123872246954759222005-08-12T14:17:00.000-04:002005-08-12T14:44:06.970-04:00

The past is getting to me. I am perpetually 1 year behind my desires. Last year, I was ready to go to grad school. Instead, I had to find work right away and bide my time while I applied. This year, I am ready to leave Boston. But grad school is holding me here. I am hoping that it will engulf me and allow me to catch up. I was walking through MIT today and the past came flooding back to me

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1123861056381764452005-08-12T09:47:00.000-04:002005-08-12T11:37:36.923-04:00

My bug troubles have increased tenfold since returning to Boston. When I left for Africa, I was under the impression that that would be the worst of the insects, but even the ants cannot compare to the horrors of last night in my bedroom in Cambridge. (the ants, at least, were not digging into my flesh). Africa is known for its Malaria carrying mosquitos, rampant AIDS, and various other third

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1123647278377726342005-08-09T23:09:00.000-04:002005-08-10T00:14:38.406-04:00

My roommates are forcing me to read Harry Potter, a very slow starting book which is just beginning to catch me at page 195 (out of 650). Luckily, it is a quick read. The issue of grades and passing tests brought me back to yesterday when, after several years, I had access to all my internal MIT grades. My jaw actually dropped at the number of poor grades I got, specifically in EE subjects. I

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1123385030511891372005-08-06T23:23:00.000-04:002005-08-06T23:23:50.516-04:00

Trying to turn on comments, we'll see if this works...

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1123250936204497652005-08-05T09:51:00.000-04:002005-08-06T23:27:40.653-04:00

The things I do in Boston are so different than the things I do while I'm traveling - but should they be? For one, there is a lot more organization involved. A lot mre paperwork to take care of. I can no longer ignore my bills, my rent is taken care of monthly instead of daily but any issues with roommates and house repairs become long term problems. You can't just leave the next day and find

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124990297897597402005-08-04T04:04:00.000-04:002005-08-25T14:03:57.050-04:00

I just got back to Boston, and what a quiet city it is. No people, no cars, no noise, no markets. Nothing. I think I've entered a ghost town. With a few caretakers walking around. To be fair, I got in at midnight, which is a pretty deserted time in Mexico city as well. But I can tell already that I will be longing for the bustle of D.F.On the other hand, Boston feels as if I never left.

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124990216755047262005-07-31T19:40:00.000-04:002005-08-25T14:01:42.730-04:00

Still in Mexico city, I have lost all sense of travel or home. No longer on my own, I actually miss the solitude, but am grateful to have friends around. And yet it is difficult to remember being completely on my own, difficult to imagine that I had things to do or that I ever talked to anybody. But of course I did.Last night was Hugo´s wedding. It was a lively party starting with a small

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124990148290327342005-07-27T17:58:00.000-04:002005-08-25T14:00:33.923-04:00

I sit outside the door to the apartment, eating a chocolate cupcake and wishing the key hanging from the deadbolt would turn. It is pouring outside and I don´t want to carry around all day the big bag of pastries I just bought. Especially as my throat is getting a little rusty and I´m feeling very tired. I think I might be catching a cold.After the cupcake and a cheese filled pastry (real

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124990085387098712005-07-25T12:41:00.000-04:002005-08-25T13:53:06.666-04:00

Hola todas!I am now here in Mexico city! It took me some time to find the hostal last night, but I successfully managed to negotiate the subway around a closure in service of the line I needed and a dark quiet neighborhood after darkIn fact, I ran across this really nice woman and her father that walked me around the neighborhood until we found the place. It turned out to be within steps of the

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124989861632816202005-07-23T16:59:00.000-04:002005-08-25T13:52:03.306-04:00

ok, craziness abounds. Last time I was in Europe I swore I would never do this weird standby thing again. And this time I thought maybe I was sufficiently flexible in time and place, they claimed I would get out of here in 3 days. But no. The agent says no flights for the past week and in the indefinite future (bare minimum one week). Luckily, they will give me a refund. But I still had to

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124989800551204452005-07-22T05:11:00.000-04:002005-08-25T13:50:10.043-04:00

in amsterdam, going back to Boston in the next few days, whatever plane I can catch. Shouldn't take me more than 3 days.Alea

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124989738936904942005-07-17T10:56:00.000-04:002005-08-25T13:49:45.356-04:00

OK, where to start? I have hardly written a thing about Tanzania.I am spending my last night in Stone town, back to Dar es Salaam tomorrow and then to London, Amsterdam, and home. That is the current plan anyhow. My other option is to go to Germany.Tanzania is amazing and ranges from the very poor to the rich from bugging the tourists all day and charging three times the average daily salary

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124989677192936622005-07-12T10:48:00.000-04:002005-08-25T13:46:59.526-04:00

The ants tried to eat my shoe today. Or maybe they just wanted to carry it off. But they wouldn't let go. There I was, sitting on thet bus and ouch! is that a mosquito biting me? I brush my hand at it and it feels like something bigger, but I see nothing falling to the floor. But as I look down where I think something bit me, I do see something wiggling on the back of my sandal. So I take

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124989488701479622005-07-03T02:39:00.000-04:002005-08-25T13:45:38.523-04:00

Ok guys, not much time to write, I have to catch a plane from Dar es Salaam to Mtwara (the deep south of Tanzania), but I am keeping a journal and will update you more when I can use a computer for a really long time.Africa is amazing, I'm so glad I came. I'm all about third world travel now, it's so much more interesting than Europe. So much more removed from home that I do not get stressed

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124989425025551102005-06-26T06:31:00.000-04:002005-08-26T15:02:59.643-04:00

On Thursday, I went scuba diving. It was my first time ever, but I really wanted to try out some water sport, and windsurfing lessons were cancelled that week due to some access problem.The fish were all silver and the pier was made up of huge cubes of concrete. I guess there were a few sand colored fish hiding on the bottom, but it took me quite a while to notice any of them as I was far too

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124989358109497552005-06-26T05:37:00.000-04:002005-08-25T13:39:57.973-04:00

Greetings from Dar Es SalaamLast Wednesday, I got on the train in Barcelona to head out for a day trip to Tarragona, a city of many Roman ruins. It was the last minute, and I listened to two announcements and checked the Leaving train board to make sure I was on the right platform. So I rushed on to an almost empty train just to see the rest of the people get off over the next 3 stops. The

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124989289111031342005-06-21T16:00:00.000-04:002005-08-25T13:34:09.920-04:00

I was riding along on Hugo's bike today, and playing with the foot baskets, slowly learning to turn them over and stick my feet in without looking. And a few times it got so I did it practically without thinking about it and also accidentally. And I began to think about how we learn things, about memory and the things we understand. At some point I get a feel for how things work and I guess it

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124989216946604002005-06-20T23:37:00.000-04:002005-08-25T13:32:47.716-04:00

Once again the days are flowing by. I sit down to a barbeque and chat and wake up 3 days later having done practically nothing but improve my SpanishFlashback to friday night, though.Sonar. At 8pm, I met up with Hugo and we went to find some food. It's nice to have an insider around. We went to a turkish place (wraps) and it was delicious. Good feta with corn, veggies, mushrooms... very

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124989055805186772005-06-17T20:05:00.000-04:002005-08-25T13:28:36.016-04:00

Only a quick note now, and more later...I am back in Barcelona, there is a music festival here - Sonar. And then a crazy fire wielding holiday next week. The but trip over from Madrid was very nice - 8 hours of beautiful countryside, I barely noticed the time passing. They have a funny thing here, big black bulls randomly placed along the highways. The one you see on postcards from Espana. I

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124207888070191172005-06-13T13:27:00.000-04:002005-08-16T11:58:08.073-04:00

I have hit a slump in Madrid. I am tired of sightseeing and I don´t know what to do with myself. But I think I´m slowly figuring it out. I think I need to find a place to learn windsurfing or do some salsa dancing or something. Ihaven´t been big on the social scene so far. It´s hard without friends. I´ve taken a step backwards from my life in Boston. But maybe I´m catching back up. Or

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124207336096546822005-06-10T18:26:00.000-04:002005-08-16T11:49:48.126-04:00

The Guggenheim is fantastic. I arrived in Bilbao wednesday and, after findingmy pension and the info booth in the wonderfully winding streets of old town, Irushed off to the Museo de bellas Artes, which happened to be free for the restof that day. There was one El Greco I liked there, and a couple of sculpturesand paintings that I thought I liked, but I left thinking perhaps it was noteven worth

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1124206941308756162005-06-08T17:03:00.000-04:002005-08-16T11:43:05.693-04:00

I arrived in Barcelona 6 days ago, and now I am off an running around Spain. Thanks to Hugo, I am now completely comfortable talking about nearly anythingin Spanish, even if I don't know how to say it exactly. The cobwebs are gone,and I can talk all day in only espanol. And suddenly, it feels almost like Iam in the US again. That is, all of my worries are gone, I am not concernedabout finding my

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1125075670610309812005-05-18T23:47:00.000-04:002005-08-26T14:58:05.146-04:00

There's nothing wrong with you.And nobody knows your faultsThey probably aren't even faults

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1125075761039756782005-05-18T13:13:00.000-04:002005-08-26T14:58:28.116-04:00

Make a fool of yourselfMake people mad

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1125075897969679322005-04-22T18:17:00.000-04:002005-08-26T13:04:57.970-04:00

I woke up this morning.. no, it was last night. I started thinking of men in my life and what they mean to me, what happened, what do I want. But it didn't happen like that, it happened suddenly. I just knew without thinking about it. And I realized how much I like a man I really get along with, who is really a close friend, but how that somehow is never something in someone I want to stay

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12069125.post-1125000533448188122005-04-13T17:38:00.000-04:002005-08-25T16:13:15.016-04:00

As if I weren't about to cry already.Work is finally over. Well almost. I almost just left at 4:30 and it was like 4:55. I stop to think 'what next?' and decide that I actually feel like working on Matlab today. And I get this craving for sugar. Pure sugar, not just cookies or pastries, but candy. In fact, I want Twizzlers. I think about the vending machines downstairs because I've decided

Aleahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05983775226173370161noreply@blogger.com2