Groceries again

Tags

30 Rock, classes, Fall Quarter, Groceries, Grocery store, school, Senior year, UCSB

I made a second trip to the grocery store today and I think I was successful. This was my list: potatoes, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, chicken, beef, tortillas, mushrooms, limes, lemon, and other little things. It took me a while to pick out the vegetables because I don’t know how to pick out things. It it looks pretty…BOOM! In the bag it goes and I move on. I’m still learning but it’s all so exciting and intimidating. I felt so lost at first when I was standing in the produce section. However, I could not find rice so I just moved on.

On the way back, I accidentally went to the wrong bus stop so I took the wrong bus. Luckily,  this bus stopped near my apartments so it wasn’t so bad. After putting everything in the fridge, I called my mom to ask her to to make something and I did the prep work for it. My bell peppers are cut so when I get home from class I just have to cook everything, which hopefully will not take too long. Looking forward to dinner tonight!

Alrighty, enough about food. Today is the first day of classes!!! Whoooo! I am kind of excited! My first class today is at 5PM so I am just killing time right now. My first class of the quarter is Chicano Studies 184A, which is a literature course. Should be cool. I like to read and a need to fullfil requirements. I have about an hour before class so maybe I’ll just watch some TV. For the last couple of days I have been watching 30 Rock and I love it. It is such a good show. Ya’ll should go watch it.

Until tomorrow my dear little blog!

 

Anna Karenina and a new buddy

Tags

Anna Karenina, Exchange Student, Tolstoy, UCSB, Welcome Buddy Program

Today I started reading Anna Karenina by Tolstoy and so far I like it. It’s going to take me a while to read finish reading it which is great because I love reading long books. If a book is short and turns out to be a great book then I’m sad when I’m done. Hopefully this will last some time.

I have been telling myself to read more russian literature because I have not read much russian literature. This is the first book by Tolstoy I am reading and then I guess I’ll read Pushkin or Dostoevsky.

On a different note, a couple of weeks ago I signed up to be an EAP Welcome Buddy for exchange students who will be studying at UCSB. The exchange student that I was paired up and she is from Potsdam, Germany. In her little self-introduction to me she said that she likes to go to the gym and to run, which is great! Maybe we can be running buddies or something. She is arriving in Santa Barbara a lot earlier than I am so I feel a little bad that I can’t help her out once she gets there. I’m sure that she will be fine though.

It’s kind of nice to be blogging again. I was wondering what I was going to do with this blog since I’m back but I guess that it will just be a daily life kind of blog of things that I find interesting or that are on my mind.

Now time for some tea.
(Reminder:Buy more tea)

19 days!

Tags

New apartment, Roommates, school, Senior year, UCSB

Time sure flew by. Summer was a mixture of things. Some goals were achieved and some were not. This post isn’t about that but about the new school year.

If everything goes as planned, this will be my last year at UCSB. Scary? Yes. Nervous? Yes. Somehow I feel like I have written this before. Maybe I’ve thought it all before. Of course, it will be nice to be back in SB. See some familier faces and meet new people.

This year I will not be living in a dorm but in a university owned apartment. When I first applied for the apartment I did it so I can have a safety net in case I don’t find anywhere else to live. Then I just warmed up to the idea of not having to look for an apartment myself and the fact that I can pay rent quarterly, which is when my financial aid is disbursed. It was the latter that won me over because I love knowing that I don’t have to struggle to pay rent. Also in order to save some money I asked to be put into a triple so there will be five girls in total, including me. It’s not bad at all though. The more the merrier. Unless they’re evil, but what are the chances of that happening?

We have sent a few messages to each other so they do seem nice. The girls that I am not sharing a room with are from the bay area. If I remember correctly they are both transfer students. The girls in my room are from China and Korea. So awesome because I want to go to Korea! I hope we get along and that we can become friends. We still haven’t discussed our living situation or any rules or anything which does have me a little worried.  I just like having some idea of the future and a vague idea of a plan.

I’m tired. Off to bed I go. I don’t know why I am even up this late.

До завтра! Until tomorrow!

What will I miss the most? Hmmmmm

Tags

postaday2011, Russia (Fall Semester), Study Abroad, Travel, UCSB

One more week left until I leave for St. Petersburg, Russia. I know the day is almost over but I thought I would reflect on the things and people I will miss the most.

• Family: I will miss my Dad because he is funny and jokes around. Of course, my Mom will be missed as well because of her awesome home cooking and her over protective attitude over our kitten, Misha. I’ll miss both of my brothers very much and laughing really loud late at night with them. At night I tend to laugh louder and my Dad can usually tell what time it is by how loud I laugh. Since I counts my cats as part of my family, I will miss them very much and I hope that I can get my cat fix in Russia.
• Friends: One of my best friends, Niki, is so amazing and I wish I could take her with me. There is no one in the world like her. The Twins, Daniella and Ariella, were so sweet and they bought me a neck pillow for my flight. I love those girls. I love all of my friends and I am grateful to be friends with them all.
• UCSB: This year I will not be going back to Santa Barbara to go to school and I will miss the beautiful campus. I will not miss the stinky lagoon though. At the end of last school year I was dreading dinning commons food because there was not much variety so that will not be missed. Naan Stop (a restaurant by my school) you are so yummy. Come with me on this wonderful journey, Naan Stop?
• English: I’m going to miss being able to communicate and understand people. Of course, it is for my own benefit to not speak English but I’ll miss speaking a language I know without stutter over every word.
• Spanish: What are the odds of me finding someone that speaks Spanish in Russia? Slim, I imagine. Yes, my Spanish sucks but I will miss speaking it at home. In fact, it will probably suffer greatly since I will only use it when I call home.
• Leo: This boy is A-mazing. Yes, I am probably being biased but that doesn’t mean he isn’t amazing. Me leaving will make our relationship a littler harder but we both just have to put more effort into it. I’m going to write him emails every day. I will miss him very much (sooooooo much). I love this boy like crazy.

The list of what I will miss can go on and on. For example, I will miss mexican candy and the city of Los Angeles in general. The point is that I am going to miss familiarity. However, I will not let being in a new environment far away from home get in the way of this amazing opportunity in front of me. Everything will be okay. Plus if I back out now I won’t get my money back.

Get Away Gaucho!

Tags

EAP, Gilman scholarship, UCSB

Yesterday, I went to a meeting for people that are interesting in writing for Get Away Gaucho, which is a e-newsletter for prospective EAP (Education Abroad Program) students at UC Santa Barbara. The meeting was just about general information about a section that the EAP office wants to add to the e-newsletter called The Roaming Gaucho (it’s not the final name but I really like it). This new section will be written by students that are currently studying abroad and I am excited to be able to contribute to it when I am in St. Petersburg. After the meeting, I was just so happy and I wanted to be abroad already.

On a different note, the Fall Gilman Scholarship announcements should be up soon and I cross my fingers that I receive the scholarship.

Check out the latest Get Away Gaucho e-newsletter

http://www.eap.ucsb.edu/emails/GetAwayGaucho_2011May24.html

Привет!(Hi)

Tags

EAP, Russia (Fall Semester), St. Petersburg, Study Abroad, UCSB

Image source: indiekrush.com

Hihi, my name is Esmeralda and this is the first blog I have ever made and if anyone has any tips for beginners it will be greatly appreciated. I am still fixing things up but hopefully everything will be up and running soon. To be honest, I do not know what to write about for my first post so I thought that I should just introduce my blog to everyone.

My blog is part of my follow-on project that I will be doing for the Gilman International Scholarship to promote both the scholarship and study abroad programs. I am currently applying for the scholarship and I thought that it will be a good a idea to get a head start on my project. The reason that I decide to do a blog for my project is because it is something that I can do anywhere as long as I have a computer and internet access. Also I want to help others that will also go study abroad and the best way that I can think of is by documenting my personal experience. If you are going to study abroad go to my Gilman Scholarship page and see if you are eligible to apply.

If everything goes according to plan, I shall be studying in St. Petersburg, Russia for Fall 2011 through EAP (Education Abroad Program), which is offered at UCSB. I am extremely excited and scared. Although Fall may seem like it is a long time from now, there are things that one has to do in advance so their chances of going abroad are not jeopardized. So far I have already turned in my EAP application (Jan 20) and have attended my group interview this past Thursday (Feb  10). At the interview, the EAP advisor for my country informed the group that we will all be accepted to go to Russia but I still have to wait to get my official acceptance letter. Although I was so happy when I heard my advisor say that, I know that I will be ten times happier when I receive my acceptance letter because it will be official. The first thing I do when I get that letter will be to call my family, friends, and my boyfriend but after telling everyone I know, I am going to blog about.