By the way...

I don't think I ever wrote this in my blog, but I was accepted into my study abroad program at the University of Glasgow! I will be studying there Spring semester and traveling around Europe over my breaks and at the end of my program. I'm so excited...and there will definitely be more interesting blog entries coming from Scotland. :-P

XOXO

Jess

Feeling better.

Quick update on the past 5 days:

Thursday:

I had my normal Sex and Gender class from 11-12:15, then worked on some homework before heading to a performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with my Drama in Performance class. We saw Quartett which ended up being a beautiful performance even though it was sort of confusing. (CLICK HERE to read more about Quartett.)

Friday:

I went to Morningside Heights with my Architecture Field Study class. We walked through Columbia University and it made me miss Bec and Bill SO much. It was weird being on that campus without them. Had a meeting with my Drama in Performance group to talk about our final project. Then I rushed back home, ate some dinner, and headed to Brooklyn for another show at the Brooklen Academy of Music. Friday's show was in a different theater (the opera house) and we saw a circus show. By far my favorite performance of the semester...soooo amazing! (CLICK HERE to read more about Inside Out.)

Saturday:

I slept in on Saturday, did a bunch of work, and then went out with my roommate, Liz, to our friend's show. Emily Greene, our friend, was performing at Rockwood Music Hall and she was unbelievable. If you want to listen to her songs (PLEASE DO!) go to http://www.myspace.com/emilygreenemusic. After the show, Liz and I went to a hookah bar and then to her friend's apartment. We had a great night and I met some awesome people. It was the night I needed to finally relax and enjoy being in New York City.

Sunday:

I slept in very late again on Sunday. I didn't end up starting work until around 5 or 6pm. I went to Starbucks so I could focus and then Liz joined me around 9:30pm.

Today:

Had my normal Monday morning art history class today. (I got Starbucks before so I could stay awake, and it worked.) After class I had a meeting with my professor about my final paper for his class and a paper that is due on Friday in my Architecture Field Study class. The meeting went well and I feel good about my papers. (Now I just have to start writing them.) I went to Starbucks, of course, to do some work this afternoon at around 3pm. I got back to the apartment tonight around 9pm. Now I'm just hanging out finishing up some work, getting ahead on other work, and listening to Emily Greene with Liz. Hopefully I can get a lot of sleep tonight.

Love you and miss you all!

Love Always,

Jess

Still no relaxing for me.

On Sunday I, of course, spent most of the day in Starbucks doing some homework. I feel like that's all I do here...go to class, walk to Starbucks, do more work, stay there until closing time, head back to my apartment, go to sleep, get very little sleep, and then wake up to start the process over again.

Monday I had my normal 9:30-10:45 class, was tired as always, and then walked back to my apartment. I barely took a nap when I got back (I might have closed my eyes for 30 minutes before I had to wake up), and then I went to Starbucks to finish some readings for Sex and Gender and get a head start on some other work. My friend, Victoria, joined me at Starbucks and then we treated ourselves to frozen yogurt before I had to go back and finish my work.

Tuesday was Sex and Gender...we had a quiz, then recitation, and then I returned to my apartment to drop some stuff off before heading to Brooklyn. I went to work around 3pm and got back to Mahattan around 6:30. Work was good, normal, nothing special. (Sorry I am so boring today, but honestly I have had a boring week.) I got back from work, went to Starbucks (shocker, right?) and wrote an essay for my Drama in Performance class. I feel like I am doing worse and worse on these papers. As much as I read the materials and the fact that I am seeing these performances (and we all have our own opinions) I feel like I can't go as deep into the meaning of the performance as the other people in my class. Everyone always sees these hidden meanings behind every little part of the performance, and I never realize it until I hear everyone talking in class. I also have SO much work in my other classes, that I feel like I can't spend as much time trying to find the symbolism in these performances. UGH! I'm just stressed and I'm hoping that I will have some relaxation time soon (even though that never seems to happen).

Today I had art history and I decided to wake up early to get some caffeine at Starbucks. It helped me so much in class and I didn't feel like closing my eyes once. (It's not that I'm not interested in the material, it's just early and dark in the classroom so it makes me tired.) I came back to the apartment to edit the rest of my essay, then I printed it out and headed to class. My Drama in Performance class was interesting as always, but like I said before, I didn't feel like I needed to contribute anything to the conversation because by the time I would feel like raising my hand, I would've just repeated things people had said.

Now I am back in my apartment, it has somehow gotten to be 10pm and I haven't finished the work I wanted to finish. I'm going to sign off of this right now, start some readings for next week, type up class notes, and then hopefully that will allow me to have some free time this weekend.

Love you and miss you all!

Love Always,

Jess

Relax? What do you mean?

I thought that after my class on Friday I would be able to relax and enjoy my weekend...boy, was I wrong! Yesterday I had my architecture field study class and we got our midterms back. I was very happy with my grade, but now I know what to work on for our final. After sitting in class for a little bit, we made our way to the Upper West Side for our tour. We walked all around and ended up at 79th and Broadway, so at the end of the tour I walked up a block to get H&H Bagels. I've had it on my list of things to do for a while now and I finally got them. I brought back 6 bagels to the apartment and have already been through two.

After I got back to my apartment I had to finish a response for my art history class. After hours of reading and writing, I went to post it online and the website wasn't working. I waited 45 minutes for it to finally work and then as I was about to post it I realized I did the WRONG response. I was so close to screaming at the top of my lungs, but I resisted. Instead, I sent an email to my professor telling him what happened and hopefully he won't mark me down for turning in my other response late. Since I had to do another response, I was forced to cancel my Friday night plans with my friend at Columbia and sit inside all night and do work.

Now it is Saturday and I'm done with my response and trying to post it online and it isn't working! Ugh...why does this have to happen to me?? All I wanted this weekend was some relaxation and so far I have gotten NONE. After I finish this post, I'm going to start some other readings for my Sex and Gender class and then maybe tonight I'll be able to have some fun and leave the apartment. Hopefully I will end up relaxing a little in the next day and a half before another week of school/work begins. Hope you are all having a more relaxing weekend than me so far!

Love and miss you all.

Love Always,

Jess

Almost Friday!

This week has been very intense. Many conversations about life and death, especially after what happened on Tuesday. Yesterday, I had my art history class and then my drama class in the afternoon. At the very end of class my drama teacher had us do a meditation in class. It was called A Meditation on Grief. (This is pretty much the meditation we did--> CLICK HERE.) We had spent the entire class talking about sickness and death and the meditation was very emotional. Everyone had their eyes closed and the entire time I was wiping tears off of my cheeks. I just couldn't hold it in anymore. I spent the entire 10 minutes with tears rolling down my face. At the very end before we opened our eyes I wiped the tears away again and tried to hide the fact that I was so emotional from the meditation, but when I left the classroom I couldn't hold it in any longer. I let out a huge sob and could not stop crying. A few people from my class comforted me and I walked most of the way home with a couple of guys from my class. It was nice to be able to talk to someone else who lost somebody close to them and I just felt very supported.

After I returned to my apartment, I had to get some work done so I tried to forget (or at least push away for the time being) all of the emotions that I still needed to get out. I feel like I still need to cry just to make myself feel 100% but it will take a little time. Last night I wrote an essay for my Sex and Gender class while everyone was out on the streets celebrating the Yankees victory. I heard so many people banging drums, playing music, and singing "We Are The Champions." It was a loud night.

This morning I had my Sex and Gender class, had my usual coffee and conversation with friends at Starbucks afterwards and then I came back to the apartment. I tried to get some work done after I got home but then I had to run off to a play in Brooklyn tonight. We saw a crazy show called "The New Electric Ballroom." The location of the theater/warehouse was beautiful. Right by the Brooklyn Bridge and near the Manhattan Bridge. (The neighborhood is called DUMBO, which stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.) I can't even explain what this show was about. There was nudity, peeing, faces being shoved in cakes, and many other bizarre moments. If you was to see more about the show, CLICK HERE)

After the show, I hopped on the subway back to Manhattan, got a slice of pizza with my friend, Stephanie, and then we went back to her apartment. We did some tarot card readings with her roommates and then I realized it was 11:30 and needed to head home. I just got back to my apartment and now I'm going to get in bed! Hope you all are having a good week so far. I'm so happy it is almost the weekend. I can't wait to actually relax a little and not have to worry about midterms.

Love and miss you all.

Love Always,

Jess

A depressing day.

Last night I spent hours in Starbucks like always doing my readings. Liz, my roommate, ended up joining me around 9:30 or 10 and then they closed at 11pm. This morning I had Sex and Gender from 11-12:15, and then I had recitation from 12:30-1:45. However, we thought we wouldn't have recitation because an NYU junior committed suicide this morning, at 4:30am, in the library. Supposedly there have been a lot of suicides at NYU and a few of those have occurred in the main library. (CLICK HERE for the NY Times article about today's suicide.)

The library was open though, so we still had recitation in the library. It was very weird though walking through the atrium when someone had just committed suicide there 8 hours earlier. But I want to stop talking about this because it is such a horrible topic.

Anyway, I got back to the apartment, had some lunch, and then headed to Starbucks (like always). I finished an essay and now I'm back at my apartment with Liz, and I'm trying to get in bed soon. Hope you all had a better Tuesday than I did.

Love and miss you more than you know!

Love Always,

Jess

Done with my midterm.

So, it is 12pm and I am done with my Art History midterm. I feel sort of confident about it (I know I missed one date because I accidently switched the dates of 2 churches, but that it only a minor detail). I will have no idea how well I did for a little while though.

Anyway, Saturday night my roommates and I just walked around St. Mark's and the East Village looking at everyone's costumes. They were AMAZING. Both of my roommates were feeling sick, however, so they went back to the apartment at around midnight. I had spent so long doing my makeup that I needed to stay out a little longer, just so it would be worth it. I ended up meeting up with my friend, Emily, from my Sex and Gender class and then I walked to my other friends' apartment before heading back home. It was about 2am when I left their apartment, but an hour was knocked off so I ended up getting back to St. Mark's around 1:15am. Below are pictures from Halloween!

Liz (Flower Child) and Emma (Twitter) before hitting the streets.

Me with my creepy zipper makeup on St. Mark's.

Me and Erica (another Flower Child)

My makeup at the end of the night...it even scared ME to look in the mirror!

I woke up Sunday morning to do all of my studying for art history. I have a great new way of studying where I send in the pictures to Walgreens, have them print all of the pictures out, and then I write the names, dates, and all the info on the back. It is fast and easy! I stayed up late studying and then woke up this morning to take the exam. It went by really quick, and I am so happy it's over. Although, now I have to go to Starbucks to do my normal hours and hours of reading for Sex and Gender. (I couldn't do any of the readings this past weekend because I was focused on art history every day.) Hopefully by at least Thursday I'll be able to relax and celebrate being done with midterms/work.

Love you and miss you!

Love Always,

Jess