Holly

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)

Are we already in Week 2?? Where does the time go?

There is so much going on this week at Evergreen and in the Olympia community. Today there is a speaker from Nicaragua named Yamileth Perez presenting at a café downtown called Traditions about free trade, the burden of debt, and immigration for the Nicaraguan people. I learned that Nicaragua is the second-poorest country in the western hemisphere and the presentation is in Spanish with some of my fellow Greeners doing the English interpretation.

Tomorrow there is a reception for the release of the book Let Me Stand Alone: The Journals of Rachel Corrie, and I think I would really like to read her book. For those of you who don't know, Rachel Corrie died tragically in the Gaza Strip in 2003. She was an Evergreen alumni and community activist, and I started to read her book in the bookstore just last week. I remember hearing about her death five years ago, and I think it is important that her journals and story have been published for everyone to read.

Ok, time to get busy writing a paper in Spanish. I just finished reading the first book for my contract called Y nunca te he de olvidar (And I shall never forget you) by Julianne Clark. It's the memoir of Clark's experience married to the famous Chilean author Manuel Rojas and their adventures living and traveling in Chile, Cuba and Europe. Julianne Clark is from Seattle where she teaches Spanish, and her story about her first husband was absolutely one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read in my entire life. Not only was it academically fascinating (Clark writes about her encounters with people like Salvador Allende and Mario Benedetti), but her prose in Spanish was lucid and entertaining. I think everyone should learn Spanish just to be able to read this story... ¡Qué lindo!

Eso es todo por ahora... ¡Ojalá que no llueva toda la tarde!

Posted by winhol13 at 01:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)