"...and hopefully we can catch up again

somewhere on this globe!

and you know my 'fale' is your fale :)

til next time.. fa soifua x"

-rachel

(she was my TA for PASI101:

 The Pacific Heritage)

in samoan, fale means home

& fa soifua means farewell.
--------

sometimes, i feel so overwhelmed at how

many wonderful, interesting and kind

people i have met since january.

o beautiful day.
first weekend back at school:

hike through pogonip to the garden of eden.

go forth.

lamb & eggplant are two of my favorite things.

today was so wonderful.

i bumped into my favorite

professor of all time, june,

while running to a meeting i was late for..

 she ran up to me, hugged me

and told me to come by her office

sometime. i can't wait to

tell her about my maori education

class in new zealand and

discuss "education for liberation"

(she knows a lot about this topic).

 my education classes seem so

fantastic, relevant and perfect.

the ED115 professor made a video of us

saying our names so he can

watch it over the weekend

and learn all our names.

i met with shelly and

next week, i get introduced to her

"Anthropology & Photography" class

as the writing tutor!

i had to be on campus all day
and have so many awkward long gaps
between classes,

so i sat outside on the knoll with

keevan and then we found jack

in the steve. cafe.
(jack just got back from sweden
but didn't get to eat too many
pastries because they were too $$)

then i joined the backpacking club

and 2 of my friends are the rec leaders!
about 100 of us played an intense
duck-duck-goose game
on the wet & dark east field.
then maryna and i drove home
through the fog & trees.

life is good 8)

i won the food systems raffle at fall festival!!

free ticket to hear Michael Pollan speak!

:D

Every Body Eats.

i will be employed for the rest of the year!

i'll have my own little office in the department

(with a key) that i share with the other 7 tutors.

apparently, it has 2 desks, paintings, a microwave,

and some sofas.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

kala brought me back some macarons

from her sister's wedding reception in sf.

her roommate, stephanie, also gave me

some hello kitty ones her aunt made.
i ate one of each and gave the other 2 to
my housemates.

while waiting at the social security office,

i read an article about food recall insurance

& another one about food preservation trucks.

then i came home and made myself

my first real lunch in my new apartment.

got some discount seeds at pro-build
& some for free at fall fest!

for some reason, james' kiwi accent

is even stronger on skype.

i had some trouble understanding him..
plus internet connectivity 7,000+ miles
apart is not so great.

testing oven 1 2 3

brown sugar cookies. tada!

kuala lumpur; malaysia

one of the most beautiful cities

i have ever been to. islamic architecture,

patterns, and designs are so intricate and unique.

we visited during ramadan so it was
extra interesting to be able to
hear all the prayer calls echo
throughout the entire city.

the professor that i am working for

told me that i seem

 "accomplished and adventurous."

she does anthropolgical & photographic field work
in oceania and south-east asia.
(how fortunate that i just went to these 2 places!)

(and that i wrote a 10-page research paper
on middle class emergence in papua new guinea
and took a course on art in the south pacific.)

nick and i met up with one of his friends

from high school who lives in singapore.

along the way, we walked through
this crazy subway station.

 then we went to the zoo and stayed
until 12:00am.

^first time i saw a sloth!

love sprouts?

make your own!

today, i got a plant & an

electro-man extension cord!

he has a light where his heart should be

& it lights up green when plugged in.

i've lived in 5 different places in the last 4 years.

here is the most recent place:

plants are up to something

in our little back yard.

"it is my observation, however,

that the more knowledge and interesting information

you know, the happier you are"

-heather o'neill 

author of lullabies for little criminals

故宫. 

 the kitchen with two refrigerators.