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!
Sunday, 12 February 2006
Monday, 6 February 2006
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.
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.
Wednesday, 11 January 2006
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!
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!
Tuesday, 27 December 2005
Christmas
On a scale of one to bizarre, this Christmas was about an eight. Mainly because it was hot and sunny, on Christmas day. That is something you don't get in the UK. In fact it was like a British summery day except without the rain or threat of. That's probably the best thing about Christmas in Tucson, Arizona.
As you observant types will have noticed, I am now in Tucson. I'm going to try to keep this a brief ish entry cos I don't want to make my hosts feel like I am misusing their PC or owt.
Washington DC was great. Went all over the place really. Including the White House, The Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Cemetary, Jefferson Memorial, Capitol Hill and the Washington Memorial. It was really nice weather apart from being really really cold! I even went ice skating for the first time in ages and ages, I was quite good apart from falling over onto my arse right in front of quite good looking ice rink attendant bloke!
Tucson has been good as well. It's hot and sunny all the time, except at night obviously. There are also cactus everywhere, even Phoenix doesn't quite have so many. I think I have seen enough cactus to last me a lifetime but then I suppose I should expect it seeing as Tucson is in the main Arizona desert type area. The people I'm staying with have been really nice to me although I did have to go to church on Christmas Eve with them (first non wedding/funeral church service I've attended for at least nine years).
Off back to Phoenix on friday. From there I think I'm spending New Year with one of my friends although she hasn't replied to my email yet so that isn't confirmed. After that it's either back to Flagstaff or a bit more travelling depending on my mood and whether I can persuade anyone to come with.
As you observant types will have noticed, I am now in Tucson. I'm going to try to keep this a brief ish entry cos I don't want to make my hosts feel like I am misusing their PC or owt.
Washington DC was great. Went all over the place really. Including the White House, The Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Cemetary, Jefferson Memorial, Capitol Hill and the Washington Memorial. It was really nice weather apart from being really really cold! I even went ice skating for the first time in ages and ages, I was quite good apart from falling over onto my arse right in front of quite good looking ice rink attendant bloke!
Tucson has been good as well. It's hot and sunny all the time, except at night obviously. There are also cactus everywhere, even Phoenix doesn't quite have so many. I think I have seen enough cactus to last me a lifetime but then I suppose I should expect it seeing as Tucson is in the main Arizona desert type area. The people I'm staying with have been really nice to me although I did have to go to church on Christmas Eve with them (first non wedding/funeral church service I've attended for at least nine years).
Off back to Phoenix on friday. From there I think I'm spending New Year with one of my friends although she hasn't replied to my email yet so that isn't confirmed. After that it's either back to Flagstaff or a bit more travelling depending on my mood and whether I can persuade anyone to come with.
Tuesday, 29 November 2005
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving was really good, was nice to get out of Flagstaff and go somewhere warm, ie. Phoenix. It's now well below freezing in Flag except it's dry cold so I don't notice it so much then I nearly catch hypothermia by sitting outside in the cold at 9.30pm with my friends waiting to see "Harry Potter". Ending up in hospital really isn;t on the to do list right now especially since I have to pay and stuff.
The meal was basically like a British Christmas dinner - turkey tastic! I made sure I took a smaller portion yet I still felt absolutely stuffed afterwards! Everyone around the table had to say stuff that they were thankful for, luckily nobody really minded what you said (I believe I was thankful I still had all of my toes). The pumpkin pie we had for pudding was much nicer than the pumpkin pie I had helped to make with the find a family people a few weeks ago - bonus!
Whilst down in Phoenix, we also went to see "Rent" with Zach and Eric. I'm not usually a musical type person but I really liked it. Zach and Eric, who are both Musical Theatre majors, both said that they liked it and they are fans of "Rent". We also went on a mall crawl the day after Thanksgiving, one of the busiest American shopping days of the year. We only managed two malls and I wasn't really in a shopping mood but it was good fun anyway. Zach and Eric hosted a mini fiesta on the friday night which was really cool, got very drunk though so I can't remember much. I do remember the entire room breaking into song at one point (everyone there was a music student except me, Antonia and Amber).
The meal was basically like a British Christmas dinner - turkey tastic! I made sure I took a smaller portion yet I still felt absolutely stuffed afterwards! Everyone around the table had to say stuff that they were thankful for, luckily nobody really minded what you said (I believe I was thankful I still had all of my toes). The pumpkin pie we had for pudding was much nicer than the pumpkin pie I had helped to make with the find a family people a few weeks ago - bonus!
Whilst down in Phoenix, we also went to see "Rent" with Zach and Eric. I'm not usually a musical type person but I really liked it. Zach and Eric, who are both Musical Theatre majors, both said that they liked it and they are fans of "Rent". We also went on a mall crawl the day after Thanksgiving, one of the busiest American shopping days of the year. We only managed two malls and I wasn't really in a shopping mood but it was good fun anyway. Zach and Eric hosted a mini fiesta on the friday night which was really cool, got very drunk though so I can't remember much. I do remember the entire room breaking into song at one point (everyone there was a music student except me, Antonia and Amber).
Monday, 14 November 2005
San Diego
As it was Veterans Day (a bank holiday), my friends and I decided that a trip to San Diego was necessary. After all, I had never left Arizona since arriving here, it was about time I went to California.
We drove there. Yes, drove. Nine hours of car fun! We drove to Phoenix first to change cars (Amber's dad lent us his very comfy Chevrolet Impala for the trip). We (well I) managed to make the CD player jam withing ten seconds of leaving the car park of the mall where we swapped cars. I felt bad about that the entire trip! On the journey from Phoenix to San Diego, I saw no less than three dead cows and several really big cacti. We were all knackered by the time we reached San Diego.
We stayed with Amber's grandma, Nonnie so free accommodation! Bonus! She was really nice, a combination of my Gran and the old lady who used to live diagonal to me when I was living in a maisonette (back in the day). She was born and grew up in Britain so welcomed me and Antonia (the other Brit on the trip) by playing "Rule Britannia" on the piano and forcing us to sing! Doesn't help that I don't actually know many of the words to that song!
On saturday we went to Seaport Village which is on the San Diego harbour front. There were loads of really cool shops. Including a hammock shop!!! Unfortunatly I don't have anywhere to put a hammock and I don't have the tropical island with whale music yet. Nevertheless, it was definately my favourite shop! There was also a really nice seafood restaurant. I had fish and chips, probably the nicest chips I've had in the US - they actually had some potato content!!
On sunday we went to Mission Beach. There were so many hunky surfer guys, it was fantastic to just lie there watching. There was this random guy called Ryan from Georgia. He was really flirty and very pervy, it took me absolutely ages to get rid of him! That kind of thing never happens to me normally, but we don't do younger (he was 19) and we certainly don't do guys with tattoos saying "Mom" on their chest!! I went into the sea with him (before I realised how pervy he was) but got soaked so had to go buy some dry clothing for the remainder of the day. He left once he realised that I wasn't really that interested and none of my friends were either. Apparently he found a more willing (and nearly naked) sixteen year old (by this point I had gone to buy dry clothing).
Note to self, next time someone digs a big hole in the sand, DO NOT volunteer to be the one buried up to the neck in sand. Whilst it was incredibly funny, it was also quite painful and really really difficult to get back out again! I had to go jump in the sea fully clothed in order to get the sand off me! Once again I was soaked, bad idea!! The sunset over the Pacific Ocean made up for being drenched and slightly cold though. Really really pretty, took some amazing photos even if I do say so myself!
The journey back on sunday wasn't half as exciting. We were all knackered, I slept for almost all the journey between Phoenix and Flagstaff! Going to San Diego was exactly the break I needed though. Right now I am trying to type up my research project from hell so it's back to earth with a bang. Fortunatly my alternating essay with this has kept me motivated until now so my happiness level is still comparitively high - yay!
We drove there. Yes, drove. Nine hours of car fun! We drove to Phoenix first to change cars (Amber's dad lent us his very comfy Chevrolet Impala for the trip). We (well I) managed to make the CD player jam withing ten seconds of leaving the car park of the mall where we swapped cars. I felt bad about that the entire trip! On the journey from Phoenix to San Diego, I saw no less than three dead cows and several really big cacti. We were all knackered by the time we reached San Diego.
We stayed with Amber's grandma, Nonnie so free accommodation! Bonus! She was really nice, a combination of my Gran and the old lady who used to live diagonal to me when I was living in a maisonette (back in the day). She was born and grew up in Britain so welcomed me and Antonia (the other Brit on the trip) by playing "Rule Britannia" on the piano and forcing us to sing! Doesn't help that I don't actually know many of the words to that song!
On saturday we went to Seaport Village which is on the San Diego harbour front. There were loads of really cool shops. Including a hammock shop!!! Unfortunatly I don't have anywhere to put a hammock and I don't have the tropical island with whale music yet. Nevertheless, it was definately my favourite shop! There was also a really nice seafood restaurant. I had fish and chips, probably the nicest chips I've had in the US - they actually had some potato content!!
On sunday we went to Mission Beach. There were so many hunky surfer guys, it was fantastic to just lie there watching. There was this random guy called Ryan from Georgia. He was really flirty and very pervy, it took me absolutely ages to get rid of him! That kind of thing never happens to me normally, but we don't do younger (he was 19) and we certainly don't do guys with tattoos saying "Mom" on their chest!! I went into the sea with him (before I realised how pervy he was) but got soaked so had to go buy some dry clothing for the remainder of the day. He left once he realised that I wasn't really that interested and none of my friends were either. Apparently he found a more willing (and nearly naked) sixteen year old (by this point I had gone to buy dry clothing).
Note to self, next time someone digs a big hole in the sand, DO NOT volunteer to be the one buried up to the neck in sand. Whilst it was incredibly funny, it was also quite painful and really really difficult to get back out again! I had to go jump in the sea fully clothed in order to get the sand off me! Once again I was soaked, bad idea!! The sunset over the Pacific Ocean made up for being drenched and slightly cold though. Really really pretty, took some amazing photos even if I do say so myself!
The journey back on sunday wasn't half as exciting. We were all knackered, I slept for almost all the journey between Phoenix and Flagstaff! Going to San Diego was exactly the break I needed though. Right now I am trying to type up my research project from hell so it's back to earth with a bang. Fortunatly my alternating essay with this has kept me motivated until now so my happiness level is still comparitively high - yay!
Monday, 7 November 2005
plans
Guess who's off to San Diego, California next weekend? Yes, that would be me! Not only that, but will be cheap cos all I'll have to pay for is a share of the petrol (or 'gas' as I should say) and food cos we are staying at my friend's grandma's house. Bonus!
I'm never in a writing mood when I update this these days. Sorry for that but I will do my best anyway and I'll see how I get on. If this entry seems disjointed etc, then we know why.
Last week was Homecoming at NAU. Festivities started with a huge bonfire outside my hall of residence. I went with a few of my American friends. We took loads of photos (let me know if you want the link), I've even got a photo of me with some firemen - woo! On saturday there was a parade. The theme was 'Return to Mount Olympus', in other words anyone who was anyone was wearing a toga. In fact, it was toga-tastic! There was also an American football game, this time NAU's team was really bad and by half time I was truly truly bored so I left early. I was later told that things did not improve and NAU lost very very badly in the end.
I went to Sunset Crater again yesterday with my find a family. They also baked pumpkin pie, an American tradition apparently. I suppose as pies go it wasn't too bad but it definately isn't on my top five pies list or anything like that!
I'm never in a writing mood when I update this these days. Sorry for that but I will do my best anyway and I'll see how I get on. If this entry seems disjointed etc, then we know why.
Last week was Homecoming at NAU. Festivities started with a huge bonfire outside my hall of residence. I went with a few of my American friends. We took loads of photos (let me know if you want the link), I've even got a photo of me with some firemen - woo! On saturday there was a parade. The theme was 'Return to Mount Olympus', in other words anyone who was anyone was wearing a toga. In fact, it was toga-tastic! There was also an American football game, this time NAU's team was really bad and by half time I was truly truly bored so I left early. I was later told that things did not improve and NAU lost very very badly in the end.
I went to Sunset Crater again yesterday with my find a family. They also baked pumpkin pie, an American tradition apparently. I suppose as pies go it wasn't too bad but it definately isn't on my top five pies list or anything like that!
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