Cameron

This week I was quite busy, busy, busy. I had a paper due Thursday, I still have a research paper to write, Africa preparations to make, I lost my keys (found ‘em later though), and I‘ve had work every day of the week. And I’ve been staying up into the wee hours of the morning this whole week. I’m also having a little trouble with some of the kids in my seminar who aren’t quite taking the class seriously enough. But I know that problem will sort itself out as the faculty takes notice of their behavior.

There was some good news, however. Down at the Procession of the Species studio, someone donated a gigantic papier-mâché wave that is basically a float, and we get to use it! I was so happy, because I was supposed to be in charge of designing a wave for our class to integrate into the procession. So that is one pressure that is removed from my shoulders, though still many other stresses are pushing on me. Luckily, I get to relieve some stress in dance class on Wednesdays, followed by a relaxing trip to the sauna in the men’s locker room. HOLY MOLÉ! The sauna is sooooo nice! I don’t know how I got along without one before! : )

I really can’t wait to go to Senegal. I just got the itinerary, and it looks like there will be over 24 hours of time spent just traveling! But, it will still be amazing, and when we get back, our class has a week of Sabbath, because we are reading a book called Sabbath for seminar. I just hope that I will be able to rest with the knowledge that I will have to do a research paper and a formal presentation due the next week. But of course, if there weren’t some level of stress, it wouldn’t really be college, would it? I definitely am busy, but not with busy work, so I feel good about it all. It will all start coming together soon.

Also, I just looked outside my window, and it is snowing and raining and the sun is peaking out through the clouds! We have had some schizophrenic weather lately. It’s CRAZY I tell you!!

Class this week was awesome. On Tuesday we had a pretty good seminar; on Wednesday dance class was going well until I got a massive foot cramp and had to sit out for a while; Thursday was really awesome, and truly something special. We held class at a studio in Downtown Olympia because our class is going to take part in a ceremony that is now in its 14th year running in Olympia called “The Procession of the Species”. It is a little hard to explain exactly what the Procession is, because it hits on many deep levels, but basically, they close off the streets in Downtown and thousands of people dressed as different animals and nature themes process through town. It’s a huge deal, but it is not a “parade”, because parades have a military connotation; this event is aimed at reclaiming our spirit by submerging ourselves in celebration and appreciation of nature. It sounds really amazing, but words hardly do it justice, so I’ll post some pictures of last years Procession, and this year’s once it happens. Here is their website: http://www.procession.org/

On Thursday, I also got to see Bernadine Dohrn speak, a former member of the radical Weathermen group from the 1970s. It was interesting hearing her speak about the problems that we face today with the knowledge that she was an extremist in her time as an activist. I was surprised because she advocated that we just live a full life, and do our best to make a difference in what we can; each of us can’t try to fix all the world’s problems at once.

This weekend has shown us much kind weather here in Olympia. As opposed to the norm of about 55 degrees, today, the high was (drum roll please) 81 degrees! While I guess it is a sign of global warming, I still wanted to take advantage of the clear skies. I decided to take my chair out to the field, you know, to get some reading done. The book is about how Western thinking has separated to the mind and the body into two different entities, but after about an hour both my mind and my body decided I wanted to play some Ultimate Frisbee. So I honored their decision and started playing. Of course, in this weather, I was shirtless, as were many of my peers. When the sun is out, Greener’s become more like reptiles, taking in the sunlight like it was dessert instead of UV rays. And since, of course, I didn’t bring sunscreen with me to Washington, I now have a healthy pink glow unevenly spattered on my skin. But it was worth it. Plus, Frisbee was awesome, and I got to play with a guy named Will, who helped put together Evergreen’s intramural Ultimate team, and he was really supportive of me coming out to their scrimmages on Saturday’s, which I think I just might do.

Last year’s Procession

Well, I’m back from spring break, and so far this has been a very interesting first week back at school. Right now I am trying to get my shots that I’ll need for when I go to Africa in May. Oh, yeah, by the way, I ‘m going to go to Senegal for two weeks in May! I’m going with about ten other kids and one of teachers from my program, and I’m super excited. I’m not so excited about all the shots I’ll need though. While we are in Africa, we will be doing a lot of drumming and dancing, and probably a lot of sun burning. Today we had our dance class, and I haven’t danced in two weeks now because of spring break, and my feet are killing me! But it was a blast, and I still have all my killer moves.

I’m really glad to be back at Evergreen. It’s been nice catching up with friends, and best of all, it’s been sunny and warm. Well, I consider the mid 50’s warm compared to the winter norm of low 40’s and 30’s. Come to think of it though, winter wasn’t that bad. Coming from Southern California, I thought I would become a Popsicle, but I managed to not let the weather get to me. Actually, I really love living in a place that has all four seasons. And I’ve been told watching everything turn green up here is amazing. I must say though, it is harder to settle down and study because it’s sunny until like 7:30 and all I want to do is go outside and play on the field and skateboard! But I’ve got tons of reading to do, so I’ll compromise and go read in the sun.

This quarter, our class is focusing on getting involved in the community, and we are being given time to do internships and volunteer work in the community. I’m thinking about volunteering at an art gallery in Downtown Olympia called the Black Front Gallery. They are running low on funds right now, so I want to get more students on campus interested in the gallery so that it gets more business. I also might volunteer there so they can get some free labor. Hopefully the Black Front doesn’t go under, it’s a really special little place. So I hope it works out. I think this quarter will be fun, but also lots of work. All I can say is, “Bring it on!”