Holly

Today is Friday, marking the end of Week Six. I'm sort of shocked and amazed at how quickly this quarter is passing, but it's great at the same time. It means I've been busy, if not totally productive, even though there is still lots to do before the quarter and the year end in June.

I received some great news this week that I am very excited about! At the end of March I applied to study in an Evergreen consortium program with the University of Washington in Seattle at the Jackson School of International Studies. I sent an email to the program coordinator to follow up on the status of my application and he wrote back telling me I have been accepted and will be receiving a formal letter next week! This is so completely fantastic!! I am from Seattle, so I get to move back to my city and do my senior year at UW studying upper division Spanish language and Latin American Studies classes while representing Evergreen.

The main reason why this is such great news is that I have to begin studying a third language in order to meet graduate school requirements for a Masters in Spanish. My research has revealed that pretty much every graduate program in Spanish across the country requires reading and writing proficiency in a third language, preferably Portuguese or French (because apparently learning a second language isn't challenging enough). For me it makes perfect sense to start studying Portuguese with a focus on Latin America since it's the language spoken in Brazil with a population of nearly 200 million people!! There are many similarities between Spanish and Portuguese, so hopefully the transition won't be too terribly confusing.

This opportunity is going to be invaluable in helping me to prepare for post-graduate studies. I feel so fortunate to have been selected as a representative from The Evergreen State College. It's really clever how the partnership works between the two schools. I won't be graduating from UW, rather all my credits I earn in Seattle will be transferred back to Evergreen and applied towards my Bachelor of Arts degree here. ¡Felicitaciones para mi!

Posted by winhol13 at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tonight when my Spanish professor arrived for class he suggested we all go to an event downtown. There was a poetry reading by one of the Nicaraguan delegates visiting from Santo Tomás, a sister community in Central America that has a longstanding relationship with an organization representing Thurston County. The poet presenting was a man named Wilfredo Espinoza Lazo and José Gomez from The Evergreen State College faculty provided interpretation in English. My Spanish class met Wilfredo a couple of weeks ago when he first arrived from Nicaragua, and he recited a fantastic poem filled with onomatopoeias in Spanish. It was brilliant!

Next week is the Immigration and Border Dialogues Conference 2008 hosted at The Evergreen State College. It is May 15-18 and I am really looking forward to participating in some of the program events. The event tonight was hosted by Bridges Not Walls, an organization that is committed to addressing the human rights aspect of immigration reform. The slogan "Nobody is illegal" is poignant and true, and I think it's exciting that this organization has such a strong presence in Olympia. Their website http://oly-wa.us/bridges has all the necessary information about the conference next week.

Never a dull moment...

Posted by winhol13 at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This week has been nuts. ¡NUTS! I don't regret taking 18 credits this quarter, but I'm definitely starting to feel it. This weekend marks the break between weeks five and six, and I have tons to do between my contract and my evening Spanish and choir classes. In choir we have solo auditions coming up in order to have a performance in the spring recital on June 1. I'm putting something together, but I don't want to make a huge deal of it unless I know it will be happening. In Spanish I have to prepare a presentation about the preparation and cultural traditions of drinking yerba maté. Poetry translations from Spanish to English are challenging and fun, but time-consuming for sure.

On top of all my academic work I have to balance two part-time jobs with varying schedules. Working nearly full-time while going to school full-time is a delicate balance between sanity and complete craziness, all the while trying to budget time to sleep enough so that I don't actually lose my mind. However, I have managed for enough years to be able to see the light: graduation... one more year and it's mine! I'm going into Week Six of my last quarter as a Junior, and that means I only have one year left until I earn my Bachelor's Degree! I'm definitely taking this summer off from school so that I can focus on working a ton and start the fall off with some money in the bank. Financial aid will help to pay for tuition and books, but I basically have to work enough to pay for everything else, i.e. rent.

So how am I going to balance work and school this weekend? I think after my shift ends tonight at the Greeks' in Seattle (I wait tables at The Continental Greek Food and Pastry Shop in the University District on the weekends) I'll be heading out to some Latin dancing at a Chinese restaurant with some of the other lovely Spanish-speaking ladies from Olympia. But I have to be back at the Greeks' tomorrow morning at 11AM so I'll have to remain tranquila tonight, meaning no tequila tonight. It's amazing how much culture a girl can get in just one weekend in Seattle! I guess this weekend sleep will be the sacrifice, but that's what coffee is for so I'm OK with that.

Posted by winhol13 at 01:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I had so much fun meeting and talking to new students and parents at the New Student Reception in Seattle at Safeco Field! What a great evening filled with delicious food and friendly folk! Thanks to everyone for coming and I hope other students around the country take the opportunity to go to other regional New Student Receptions. I posted a few photos from the event below if you want to take a look.

Next Thursday, May 1 I am really excited because there is the annual march/rally for immigrants rights! It is an important event that celebrates immigrant workers and raises awareness to the public that NOBODY is "illegal". The idea is also to inspire immigration reform laws and bring attention to the fact that our economy and very way of life in the United States is completely and totally dependent on the work force of immigrants, legal or otherwise. The march is in Seattle and I have no doubt there will be a fantastic turnout.

Welcome Greeners!

Ambassadors Tenzin, Ahbi, Holly, Ashley and Ben

Here we are again with Jessica Richardson, our boss and hard-working Admissions Counselor!

Posted by winhol13 at 01:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to work as an Ambassador hosting a meal and hanging out with prospective students. Ambassadors Kelly, Steven, Cameron and I had a delicious meal in the Greenery with our kick-ass "prospies", then we went to Red Square to hang out with the Juggling Club! Kelly is an avid juggler, so we spent the evening throwing things around and having fun hanging out at Evergreen.

Kelly swinging her stuff

Cameron and Steven testing their skills...

Ben belongs at Evergreen!

They both give Evergreen a thumbs up!

Steven is focused...

Sometimes it's hard to keep things airborne when you're juggling

Ambassador Ashley stopping by to see what all the fun was about

Posted by winhol13 at 02:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tonight I am looking forward to meeting many of you new students at the New Student Reception in Seattle at Safeco Field! I went to the event last year as a new student, so it will be fun to experience this exciting time as an Ambassador. The food is going to be great and there will be an awards ceremony recognizing scholarship recipients for everyone's hard work and achievement. It is also an amazing opportunity for new students to meet faculty and program advisers from Evergreen.

This Sunday is the monthly singing of the Olympia shape note singers, also known as a Sacred Harp singing. Last quarter in the Evergreen Singers we learned about the traditional style of sight singing by learning the shapes to the pitches of Fa-Sol-La. I have been singing in traditional choirs since elementary school, so it was quite a new experience to sing from the Sacred Harp text--totally different. I intend to continue singing with the local and regional chapters that meet semi-regularly, and EVERYONE IS WELCOME. The people who sing shape note music are hands-down some of the nicest people in the world.

This weekend I have a friend that I met in Argentina visiting! I'll be showing him around the Pacific Northwest and going to Seattle to see the city. Sunday is homework day. I am working on an English language translation of a story called El vaso de leche (The Glass of Milk) by Manuel Rojas from Chile. This is my first attempt at literary translation and I have found it's very challenging to find the right nuance of each expression in order to preserve its artistic originality. I'm sure it will get easier as I continue to practice, but at least it's a lovely story.

Posted by winhol13 at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I live right near the border of Olympia in the town of Tumwater, and I discovered there was a little park beneath the 1-5/101 interchange called Tumwater Falls Park. The waterfalls are created as the Deschutes River flows through this 15-acre, privately-owned park. I had a lovely walk between downpours last week, so if you're looking for something fun and easy to do outdoors, I highly recommend coming to Tum Tum for a good time.

Okay, it isn't exactly Las cataratas de Iguazú (Iguazú Falls)...

Posted by winhol13 at 11:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)