Summer Sloth

Oh MAN everyone is having such adventures! I can't wait to hear more stories and see all the pictures when all my sloths are back in the land of the obese and ignorant. I just got back to Murrysville on Friday and I feel as though I will waste my whole life watching television for lack of anything better to do. It rains, I don't have a car, and I hate everyone I used to know from high school. At least my family is pretty cool.
Fortunately, this is a temporary situation. My family and I are going on a sweet vacation to Central America and then I will be back in DC for the Summer!! I'm going to move back around June 24th to live in the Claridge House (25th and K) by myself. So far, I don't have many commitments as every internship I applied to turned me down. But at least I'll be away from here! Make sure to holler if you're in town or if you want me to come visit you!
Hugs and kisses all!
Sam

I am a little baby (sloth)

So im like crying (actually balling) right now as im writing this. I just had to say goodbye to my host family and i got too emotional. I am going to miss them so so so so so much and they honestly made this semester something completely different. They had my family for dinner today which was actually very cool and enjoyable. I was quiet stressed out before they came over because frankly my parents can be too much but they were really cool and chill and both families loved each other.. but yeah I'm really going to miss Spain. Although it originally wasn't my first choice to study abroad I have truly fell in love with everything about it, it's amazing how in only 4 months I got so attached to a place.

Well
okay
now that i killed that topic i'll move on

so tomorrow morning im going with my family to Andalucia, the province in south spain and then we'll be going to barcelona. im pretty stoked. Then im going to london for a few days where i'll be seeing ma girl chey chey and larry. i'm very stoked. BUT THEN i'll be going to Israel which i've been waiting for since i left it 9 months ago. for that im super stoked. but seriously i cant wait to be back in dc and see you all. I have really realized that you guys are the best and reading everyone's posts always cracks me up.

now im going to bed. im sorry its been a retarded post, i am high and tired.. and emotional haha.

adios chicos

tut

This Sloth Hates Finals

Hi All!!!!! I'm taking my last two finals this week, one tomorrow which I have yet to start studying for and one on Wednesday. The Wednesday one is going to kick my because it is Greek and naturally studying abroad, I have negative brain cells now.

I'm leaving Edinburgh on Thursday and just when the weather starts getting better, it's much less depressing here and people are actually outside during the day. So with leaving Scotland I have been reflecting on how I feel about this whole thing, and I came to the conclusion that Scottish people are depressed drunks with an identity crisis, it is really quite sad but it makes them loveable at the same time. There are those regular homeless people I walk by everyday, whose only companions are there starving puppies, and I will miss them. I'll miss watching the bum fights and fearing for my life everytime I walk home at night through "the rape park". Last week my friend found someone jerking off as she was walking home through said rape park. And I will defintely miss the Scottish NED's. NED's are a very rare breed of British trailier trash. NED stands for "Non-Educated Delinquents" and they roam the highlands of Edingburgh in white tracksuits and fake burberry hats, the women are usually pregnant and smoking a cigarettete with scruchies in their hair and exposed gut, I think you get the picture. And last of all I will miss "fanny pack", she's my flatmate. An endearing Canadian girl from Cornell majoring in Linguistics, she is the epitome of a nerd, I didn't think people like her existed, but I was clearly wrong. She is allergic to almost everything, has terrible asthma, and is a hypochondriac and germophobe. I find myself just sitting in silence studying her behavior. She eats the same dinner everyday, couscous with a banana and a non-flour treated bread and a glass of herbal tea. She goes to bed by 10 every night and wakes up at 7. Her clothes consist of khakis, a polo, high socks, and orthopedic shoes. She is the most interesting person and I love talking to her, last week i learned about her "gastro-intestinal nastiness", I just sit in awe because I'm just amazed by the geeky shit that comes out her mouth. Well anyways, I guess I'm getting a bit nostaglic about leaving and I really am just putting off studying.
I'm moving to London on Thursday, and that has been a disaster and a half. I don't have a job yet, I can't extend my visa, and worst of all Timmy got deported. Well not really, but we went to Paris and something went wrong with his new visa and he got arrested and put in a holding cell by immigration, after which he had to leave the country and fly home to Australia. So he's been in Australia for a month now and we're still not sure when he's going to be able to come back, another two weeks hopefully. Well with that being said, I now have an empty flat to move into with no furniture and no Timmy :(

Melissa I'm totally down to join this book club, I read the Red Tent though, really good book, It'll be a good reference for when we write the History of Flow.
I love you all and miss you terribly xoxooxx

Cheers,
Cheyenne

p.s. I took an adderral 20rx last week and got cracked out by myself in the library, it was amazing yet lonely becuase you guys weren't there so be cracked out with me.

Bon Voyage Emily!

Having Emily in DC has been bitter sweet. I know that she can be a little much some times... a lot of the time. But, she was constantly willing to smoke a cig, talk about Obama, DJ, give invitations to the cape, fill the bucket and deliver aderall. She definitely made the semester unique. So, all of our worries about issues with her assimilation into our group of sloths can be no more.... She got into NYU, so, if you are a sloth who knew Emily.. wish her well! She's got a great heart and hopefully NYU will be the place where she grows up a little.
love to all!
-Katie

9:30 PM Gelman Library-2 unwritten ten page papers

(I had to throw in a blast from the past!!)-This describes how lonely we feel on campus.






Well, heres what we do without our sloths. hang out with kids, in armpits and with parents.
ps. that's gyawu teaching my dad to do the electric slide.

So here Gyawu and I are. Finals seem to be over for everyone except for us and we are stuck in the library. Gyawu has a 10 page paper due tomorrow and mine is due on monday, but I'm convincing myself its due tomorrow because I don't want to be here by myself this weekend. Life has been pretty boring for us, finals have taken over and our lives consist of gelman, sleep and drugs. We are the only sloths left in dc, and all of our eggs are in eachother's baskets. These eggs need to be spread out and incubated in different sloth baskets, so ya'll better get home soon and safely.
Gyawu and I are sitting here trying to think of what's going on in our lives and sadly it is very hard.
We are going to try and get in shape together this summer, mama houle is going to give us some tips.
We are also going to study for the lsat and gre... we'll see how that goes.
I also want to start a book club, if anyone is interested in joining. The first book I want to read is The Red Tent. Are there any suggestions for good books??
Gyawu is working for the school this summer, in the housing program. Which means univeral access to all dorms! (YEAH) and it also means that Gyawu has to be at work at 7:15 am 5 days a week.
I will be working for a law firm as the human resources intern, 9-5 on monday through thursday. Which means tons of weekend trips. If anyone wants to go back to Jacksonville all are welcome!
Also Gyawu wants me to inform ya'll that my new nickname is Dutch Mama. (he just told me that its fitting because I look like a little dutch boy) but I like it because I roll mad dutches!

anyways-- tons of sloth love from claws-sloth and dutch mama-sloth! We miss you dearly!

GOLDEN SLOTH WEEK

In Osaka, drinking Chu-Hi... one of the things i'll miss most from Japan.

In Nara, deer wander the streets and sidewalks and just about everywhere else.

Dotonbori, in Osaka.

In the moutains in Karuizawa with Saki-chan and Haruki-kun.

Osaka castle pond and garden.

We have been converted. Go to Japan and she'll get you too, I swear.

Ueno in Tokyo, when the sakura were in bloom. People have picnics and drink under them at night in this park.

We made origami houses and scenery. Japan has the best kids in the world; they are always ridiculously cute.

...

Oh my sloths, my sloths! I miss you all so much and it's been so very very long! こんにちわ! 

So, today was the last day of "Golden Week," which is the Japanese equivalent of spring break, I guess. It was all that i wanted, and more! Erica and I went to Osaka, Nara, and Kobe with four friends, and then I went to Karuizawa, which is way out in the mountains, with my host family.

Yhe osaka trip was... crazy. Erica and I took a midnight bus - think China Town, but less sketchy - with 2 guys, and we were meeting two other guys there. Well, I brought a bottle of vodka, thinking it would last me a good part of the trip and help me save a little cash. (This country is fucking EXPENSIVE.) They stuck us 4 foreigners in the very back of the bus, which was probably the worst idea ever. While everyone else drifted off to sleep (or rather, attempted to do so,) we got trashed. Smacked-in-the-face drunk. I actually feel really bad about it in retrospect, because we were probably the most annoying people in the world. Literally. We were rowdy in a few too many ways... So, we get to osaka after not sleeping, with no idea of what we're going to do, where we'll sleep, etc. We lived like true sloths! We didn't sleep the next night either, even though we paid for a hotel room. The night after that, we slept in a 'manga kisa' which is basically a manga (comic book - which everyone, including old business men, read here by the way) library, with small square cubicles that have computers. So for 1200 yen, about $12, we slept in these little boxes of rooms on the floor, with towels for pillows, for 8 hours. Really, it's not such a bad deal!

So after putting my body through hell and loving every minute of it, I went away with my host to the countryside, to a popular vacation area. It was beautiful; we stayed in their wooden house up in the mountains. Basically, we just relaxed and took mini day trips, and then went to an onsen each night. Onsens are hot springs, and they honestly make you feel like you've been reborn! I spent 5 days with my family, just relaxing and recuperating. 

Then yesterday I went to a park with two friends, and we had a drinking picnic in the sun.

My experiences here have definitely been effected by my living situation, but my family is becoming more used to me and easing up a bit, thankfully. I think they are a lot more comfortable with me in general after this trip, so we'll see!

There's so much more that I want to try to describe, that I can't choose what to say!  I hope this mini-synopsis explained a little bit!

I love and miss you all!

xoxo

hard core

I'm a senior!!!

I finished with all my tests and papers today and I'm officially done with junior year. The last 24 hours have been a race against time though. First of all, after being enclosed at my house all weekend to do work I realized on sunday that I still have a shit load to do. I decided however to pretend like I have nothing and I went to watch the Real Madrid game at the bar here. It was such a crazy game and at the end we won which was the determining game for us to win the Spanish League Championships. You can only imagine how crazy the madrilenos get on a day like yesterday. Everybody was hugging everybody, singing and dancing at the bar. We decided to follow the crowd down to one of the plazas in town where they had a HUUUUUUUUGE celebration. I am talking thousands of people all dressed in real madrid shit dancing, singing, drinking, smoking on the streets. There was a stage set up and a dj and at 3am the team's players came back to town (it was an away game) and we got to see all of them and party up. It was the most insane thing i have been to. completely insane. I got home after 4 am and had to wake up at 7 to take a final followed by many others. It sucked but was worth it.

Tomorrow I am going with Pam to Cadiz which is a cool town on the beach about a 5 hours train ride from here and we'll be there until thursday night. I am so stoked. All I want to do is lay on the beach, smoke a bit, drink a bit and maybe spit some game. on friday my parents are coming WOOHOO.

I still love and miss you all very very much. I think about you guys daily and how much I wish you would be here with me.

happy may!

happy may everyone! time flies..
i got 22 zillion pages to write so i'm gonna be short but I love you all !!