finalities

Anyway, I have less than a week til I go back to England. How do I feel? To be honest, part of me is bloody scared but another part of me is sort of looking forward to it. On one hand, nothing will have changed and I'll be back at my parent's house going crazy. On the other hand, I see many of my friends for the first time in 10 or so months if not longer (in some cases over a year). Mixed feelings really. I want to come back and visit my friends here but money means that may not happen for a while and I'm worried they will forget all about me!! Did I mention that because of my own disorganisation, my journey is taking four more hours than it should? Yes, I have to fly BACK to Phoenix to get my flight to London. Essentially, I am flying west to go east. Yep, stupid but not much you can do when you plan things a week in advance of leaving Flagstaff!

Since being in Washington DC, I have done a lot of sleeping and gone to a few museums to be a geek. I am staying at a friend's really nice hotel type apartment so I haven't spent as much as feared. I think I may be going to Baltimore tomorrow then on sunday somewhere else. New York is looking unlikely sadly due to finances and the sheer time it takes to get there would make it not that worthwile for a day trip. On the upside, NYC will always be there and flights these days aren't that expensive.

Strangely enough, I am going to miss the US, especially Flagstaff and NAU. Despite the ups and downs of the year, I had an amazing time and really caught the travelling bug. I want to go so many places now but as ever, money will probably make some of that simply not possible. I need a job dammit!!

Mexico

I am still alive. Hooray! In Acapulco at the moment which is really cool. Spent a few days in Oaxaca before this and got to Acapulco at stupid o´clock in the morning today. Spent a lot of the day at the beach attempting to get a tan and generally chilling out. It´s really hot and humid here. Prices are a bit higher than they were in Oaxaca but still, everything is far cheaper than the US.

Been staying in hostels and travelling on buses to get around Mexico. The current hostel is actually really nice and lets us have free internet access - bonus! You meet a lot of random types along the way though. In the hostel in Oaxaca, I ended up sharing a room with six other people - was a bit interesting. Here we have a room to ourselves (luck of the draw) which is cool.

leaving

On friday I leave Flagstaff, who knows if I will come back. I am going to Mexico for a fortnight with four friends, we're planning to spend a week in Acapulco then a week somewhere else that I can't pronounce. After Mexico, I am going to DC for ten days, during that time I am thinking of taking a day trip to New York (on my own though) just cos I'd really like to see it while I'm here. I then fly back to Phoenix to get my flight back to London (yeah, complicated way to do it).

It's weird that things are coming to an end here. I have a small problem with my dissertation, in that I have a bad feeling that I will get bored rigid by it. If I'm gonna muck up my degree, at least let me enjoy the dissertation and have the huge disappointment rather than let me be bored rigid and still have the huge disappointment. The end of term has stressed me out, I'm not in the best of moods. I'll update soon.

Vegas and more

I went to Las Vegas last week. Maybe it was because I'm under 21 and can't drink legally but it wasn't quite up to the hype. I liked it, definately an interesting place and all the tacky hotels amazed me. There's something about seeing people glued to slot machines day and night that is a bit depressing though. Stayed on the 27th floor of Circus Circus so had a pretty good view of the neon. Spent most of the time exploring the strip of Las Vegas with my sister. It was definately good to get away from Flagstaff for a few days.

I also went up to the Grand Canyon (again - 4th visit!) with my parents and sister. It's still there, still a hole in the ground and has lost most of it's novelty value for me now. We did go on a helicopter ride over the canyon which was really cool! It looks really amazing from the sky. Though did have to wear huge earphones and I got a bit motion sick cos the helicopter went up and down really fast. Bid the 'rents and Megan goodbye yesterday cos they went off to Tucson to see some family friends today.


I'm so in up the creek without a paddle at the moment.... Why? I have a load of crap to sort out with very little time in which to do it in, here is the list:
1. I have 3 and a half weeks in which to sort out where to go after NAU finishes.
2. I have done absolutely NOTHING related to my dissertation.
3. I have to figure out how to get rid of all the junk I have acquired over the last few months that won't fit into my suitcase.
4. I have to figure out a job for the summer.
Ok, listing it makes it seem a bit better. Yay! Maybe my list isn't so bad although that is a lot to do all the same.

Other things I have learnt this week:
1. 9 shots of tequila with no chaser is a really really bad idea, especially when you haven't drunk anything alcoholic for ages (I STILL can't remember some stuff from that night).
2. I am actually starting to feel ready for the return to England.
3. That my friends from the UK do remember my existance (yay) - thanks for the postcards, emails etc that you've all sent over this year.

SPRING BREAK

Spring break was Ok in the end. The Grand Canyon was very cold and damp but was definately an interesting experience. Laguna Beach was ace! It was warm, sunny and very relaxing. We went over to L.A and tried to star spot which was fun even though we didn't see anyone famous. Got very lost in Beverley Hills and accidentally found a house that was allegedly occupied at one point by Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. We also found the Playboy mansion but that was less exciting. Got very sunburnt though and saw a few less hunky surfer guys than we would have liked. Also watched far too many crappy MTV dating shows in the evenings cos being under 21, there wasn't much to do as usual.

Have a lot of stuff to think about now though. The 'rents are coming over in less than two weeks, I have a load of crap work to do and I need to figure out what the hell to do with three and a half weeks between NAU finishing and heading back to the UK. Strange how the time has gone so fast, bloody scary if you ask me. Seems that it all happened without me paying enough attention. Such is life.

snow

I am breaking my usual habit of updating about once a week. Why? Well, I am very excited because there has been about 3 or 4 inches of snow which is more snow than I have ever seen before. It's much deeper than the snow shown in the picture (top left) but I needed something to demonstrate the presence of snow. I have gone camera crazy and taken loads of photos (as ever, email me/let me know if you want to see). I went sledding yesterday with a few friends and I think we are going again later. The downside of so much snow is I had no snow gear so had to buy snow boots and waterproof trousers, taking my spending money down further! Still, I love snow so it's all good!

Spring break is coming up. Escaping Flagstaff as well - hooray! The only thing is I need to buy new clothes (one pair of trousers is actually falling apart) but I really don't feel I can afford it with all this stuff to plan for. I can't assume employment over the summer so I need to hold money back to keep me going. Wimbledon always proves expensive with the train tickets and although I will get the money back, I need to allow for it.

theories on life

Some days I think that America really is one big conspiracy. Things seem to be working against you all the time and it gets irritating. For example, I've been cycling up and down campus to all my classes twice a week yet despite that, I don't feel I've made much progress lately in my weight loss campaign. Mildly troubling I must say because I don't want to come back to the UK and find I have put weight on, would be depressing. I think the food here is what isn't helping, the uni catering company go to very little effort to provide healthy food options or even a nice level of choice.

The NAU basketball team managed to make it to the Big Sky Championship and the games were this week. I went with a few friends, looking NAU tastic as ever. The first game went well and NAU won, the atmosphere was amazing. Unfortunatly, the second game didn't go so well and NAU lost despite the atmosphere still being really good. To be fair, if NAU won, there were rumours they'd be playing Duke University (Ivy League = posh ish) and if that had been the case they probably wouldn't have stood a chance.

Spring break is now just over a week away. I'm off to Laguna Beach in California with Antonia and Heather (Swansea uni people), will be nice to get away from Flagstaff. I really need a break of some sort though I've just got through midterm week (one more to go on Shakespeare) so there is less work to do now. I'm working on sorting out my dissertation still, things in that area are very much up in the air at the moment. It all depends on how much information I can get and how much help I can get over here in researching it all.

radical happenings

I did it, I got my ears pierced. My semi radical (well not really but lets overlook that) thing to mark my time here has been done. Wasn't as painful as I feared though in Arizona you have to be over 18 and have to have so much proof of age because otherwise you need your parents consent. Not even mentioned it to the 'rents yet although to be fair that's only cos I forgot.

Anyway, I survived the ball. My 'date' Allen was really cool although a tiny bit shorter than me and for some reason reminded me a bit of Jon. Had a great time doing crazy dancing with my friends. Considering I was 100% sober, it was great!

you shall go to the ball

Planning for the NAU ball I stupidly agreed to attend on saturday is sort of coming together. In the sense that I have a dress (courtesy of my Mum forcing me to pack it), two contact lenses (finally, I'm not one eyed!) and a purse. Unfortunatly I still need shoes of some sort and probably jewellery. Additionally, all of my friends seem to have started a 'Persuade Hazel to get her ears pierced' campaign. I've been vaguely thinking about it as the thing I should do to mark being here cos I don't ever want a tattoo (loads of people I know are doing that as their radical year away thing). The problem I always have with new things which involve forward planning is that I always have big doubts. It took me five months to get around to changing my hairstyle when I was 15 (that is the only basis I have for the preceding statement though). Anyway, there's a group trip to the mall on friday so maybe I will manage to buy stuff. In other ball related news, the whole prospect of the blind date with some Texan bloke is a bit nervewracking so a few shots beforehand will definately be on my to do list.

I'm feeling a bit less homesick than last month. I suppose now I have less time left here than I've been here for (if that makes sense), these things can be made more rational. Plus the 'rents and Megan are coming over in april and that might be helping things. Though not getting post or hearing from many of my friends from home for a while does get distressing when I let myself descend into those annoying homesickness phases. Still, got to make the most of these things while I am here.

2006 starts

I am back in Flagstaff having got the Greyhound up on sunday. Going by Greyhound was certainly an erm... experience. The lady sitting next to me decided to reveal most of her life story to me during the journey and then the couple opposite joined in to tell me about their trip to London. Among other things they asked if I knew Princess Diana, which castle the Queen lived in and what sort of training Mounties (who are Canadian by the by) went through. I had been looking forward to listening to some CDs and enjoying the scenery but alas, that did not happen.

Since I last updated I have actually done quite a lot so I will try to remember it all as best I can. The remainder of my time in Tucson was quite good, the couple I was staying with were great and really made me feel welcome. New Year's in Phoenix was Ok, I celebrated twice - once at New Year UK (5pm here time) and once at New Year Arizona. I went to this block party thingy with some friends, it was allegedly the 4th largest party in the US but being under 21 meant that I couldn't drink (I liked my new year 2005 from what I remember) so it wasn't as great as my friend had hyped it up to be. In fact it was a bit like spending new year at Hull fair!

After New Year, I went on a Road Trip with a couple of friends. We went to Cuidad Jores, Mexico via Roswell, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. Roswell was pretty cool, alien themed stuff everywhere, even the McDonalds had been shaped like an alien space craft type thing. The TV show "Roswell" wasn't actually filmed in Roswell, much to our disappointment so after seeing all the alien stuff we moved on. We didn't really see a huge amount of El Paso because that's where we crossed the border (by foot) to Mexico. Mexico was pretty cool actually, was nice to be able to legally drink again and have genuine Mexican food. The border town did remind me of a Spanish version of Camden Market with more beggers though.

I'm not on my own here in Flag which I had been a little worried about. Antonia and Theresa are also here so we've been planning a trip to L.A at the end of Jan. At least that's something to look forward to! I got all my textbooks today, spending too much money as a result. Mildly depressing!