La Biblioteca

Today, I found myself going somewhere I hadn’t gone in years.

The library.

Now, I don’t count my high school’s library considering I’d go in there for class and such. I count going to a library outside of school out of my own free will. And it happened. Today.

I was in the hunt for books about Sri Lanka and Indonesia. I’d done enough research on the internet and I decided I wanted actual books about the countries, figuring it would be a nice change. Now, I used to go to the library as a kid all the time. The library was my place.

So, it was a surprise to find that once I walked through the doors, I felt like a complete stranger. This feeling was solidified by the woman at the front desk who gingerly told me that what I was searching for were travel books and that they’d be found in the 900s. Only after looking at her blankly did she point and say “upstairs.” I felt like an airhead. For someone who loves books as much as I do, how could I feel like a stranger? I thought I’d feel at home among the shelves that held thousands of pages, but that wasn’t the case. It was sad, really. I realized what a simple and yet, in my opinion, underused resource the library is. Sure, there were plenty of people there. But I found myself alone wandering through the book cases. All the teenagers and adults were sitting at tables, absorbed by their computers or studying. None of them even noticed me walking around.

After searching through the sections the woman had directed me to, I wasn’t completely satisfied with the books I’d found, so I took to the computers. I searched some keywords and wrote down two codes– J959.8 for a book about Indonesia and J954.93 for a book about Sri Lanka. The numbers were close to where I had been searching before, so I went back, but I didn’t find the books. Finally, I went to another lady and showed her the codes. This woman nicely pointed out that the “J” in front of the numbers stood for “juvenile” and that I’d find the books in the kids’ section downstairs. Wow. Duh.

And so, my search led me back to the place I used to go to all the time as a child. I felt a little self conscious among the children and their parents, but at the same time, it felt more familiar. It was refreshing to see moms and dads with their kids sitting and reading at the tables. I followed the decimal system and was delighted to find the books I’d been searching for. They were colorful and some were published by good ol’ Scholastic. They were, yes, exactly the kind of research books everyone used in elementary school when given a project about a country. I hauled over a total of eight books to one of the kids tables and sat down to read.

Here are some interesting things I discovered while skimming through the books:

Indonesia

1. Indonesia is home to the world’s largest and smelliest flower, the Titan Arum, which looks like this:

What does it smell like you ask? Rotting mammal corpses. Lovely.

2. Selemat jalan! means “Happy traveling!” in Bahasa Indonesian, which is the national language. The language itself has no genders, words sound as they are spelled, and they use the Roman alphabet.

3. Mt. Krakatoa came up quite a few times as there was a tragic eruption in 1883 that killed many people. Consequently, I’m not proud to say that when I first read Krakatoa, that incident didn’t come to mind. Instead, this did:

For those of you who remember this episode, you know it was one of the best Spongebob episodes ever created. Every time Squidward screamed “KRAKATOOAAA,” he would erupt. Is it insensitive to laugh about it?

4. THIS EXISTS IN INDONESIA:

IT’S A MOUSE DEER. WHAT. HAHAHAHAHAHA WHAAAATTT?!?! I had myself a good, hardy laugh that drew the attention of a few parents; I couldn’t help it. I’ve officially made it my mission to find one of these things in the wild in Indonesia (I’m still laughing).

Sri Lanka

1. The “Head Woggle” = to say ‘yes,’ the head moves from side to side with a down-up, not a sharp left-right, movement.

If someone wants to explain to me that motion, or better yet, show me, that would be much appreciated.

2. Galle (where I’ll be living) is on the southwestern coast and is a natural harbor. Closenburg, which is in Galle, is apparently a “swimmer’s paradise.” (omg yes yes yeeeessss)

3. There’s a traditional game where two players sit astride a pole, with one hand behind their backs, and swing at each other with pillows until one of the players is knocked off. Aka, a traditional game in Sri Lanka is an intense pillow fight. Hell yes.

4. Elephants are an abundance in Sir Lanka:

Look at them, just lounging in the water. Definitely plan on visiting an orphanage and hopefully riding an elephant!

All right, so I realize what I posted isn’t the most helpful information, but I do plan on (and am excited to) delve deeper into these books. After the quick skim, I left the kids’ section with the eight books in tow and headed to the check out desk. While I was in line, I panicked slightly– how many books was I allowed to check out at once? I tentatively asked the lady at the front desk and she answered “99.” It took me a second, and then I laughed and she laughed too. It got slightly more awkward when I tried to use the self check out to find that my library card had expired. Looooool.

Finally, I made my way out with my arms full of books and a goofy smile on my face. Sure, my experience at the library was interesting, but I enjoyed it none the less. I promised I’d be back soon enough (as if I have a choice– I have to return my books before  July 11th, if not they’re overdue!) and made my way to my car, excited and fulfilled.

The eight books I checked out

Confession: Something I’ve thought about before and fantasize about. How amazing would it be to be minding your own business at the library, looking through some books, to have a (hopefully cute) guy come up to you and strike up a conversation about what you’re looking at? You could talk about the latest books you two have read, discuss favorite authors, he could even recommend a book and cleverly write his number on your check out receipt… WHY CAN’T WOMEN GET PICKED UP AT LIBRARIES. OR BOOKSTORES. SCREW THE MARTINI, BUY ME A BOOK. Get me drunk off your knowledge, I’ll go with you much more willingly. Ugh.

Now, that. That would be sexy. Hey, a girl can dream.

 

Graduation, the World Cup, and Some Backpacks

On  June 12th, last Thursday, two events occurred, one more important than the other.

1. My high school graduation

2. The start of the World Cup in Brasil

Take a guess which one was the more important one..

Graduation

Being done with high school is surreal; I watched my two older siblings go through it and I thought “Ha, that’s so far away for me.” And yet, as it always does, the day arrived, and every day it hits me a little bit more. Gone forever is the same monotonous routine and I couldn’t be happier. The minute I threw my cap in the air when our principal dubbed us graduates and I hugged my friends around me, I felt relief and a certain freedom. It also marks the transition into my “limbo” aka the few months before I embark on my gap year. This limbo will be consumed by work, pre-departure shenanigans, and of course, the glorious World Cup.

The World Cup

4 YEARS I (AND THE REST OF THE WORLD) HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS AND IT’S FINALLY HERE!!!! Do I consider it sad that I was more excited for the start of an international futbol tournament than my own high school graduation? Not at all. I consider it almost an honor to graduate on the same day as the start of the World Cup, and what a World Cup it has been so far! Netherlands with the 5-1 revenge, Costa Rica with the impressive upset, Switzerland with the last second goal… There’s nothing that gets me going like futbol (my incessant and surely annoying twitter commentary of almost every game is proof of this). I don’t understand how people, especially in the US, don’t get excited over the World’s favorite sport. The atmosphere, the feeling of patriotism, the indescribable joy of your team scoring a goal… If anything, the players themselves! I mean, sure Spain got CRUSHED by the Netherlands, but man did they look good doing so. Have you seen their players?! Seriously, check out this glorious Buzzfeed post, I assure you it will not be disappointing.

Some (awesome) Backpacks

Perk of graduating: family coming to visit. Even better perk? Having the coolest older siblings who consequently have jobs and love to travel as much as I do. That fabulous perk got me these beauties:

65 L Osprey Backpack

20 L Camelbak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To say the least, I was excited:

Creds to my sister for snapping this!

 

Now, I am completely new to these types of backpacks, so another thank you to my siblings who popped my REI cherry and helped me look like I slightly knew what I was doing in that store. My gap year keeps becoming more and more real, and these backpacks have just cemented the idea that I will be living out of a cumulative 85 L of space. Kind of a downsize.

Today, I decided to take a little adventure with the Camelbak (and my Argentina jersey, of course), which will serve as my day pack, to get a feel for it. I filled it up with an excessive amount of books, clothing, a pair of shoes, and a rubix cube (?), along with filling up the water pouch, and set off into the woods by my house. My adventure consisted of an impressive amount of indescreet selfies:

The family that was so intrigued by their swimming dog they didn’t even hear me sneak up. Is that weird?

Cute selfie with the couple walking through the woods

Kudos to this couple that just carried their kids on their backs

A few things I learned on this walk:

1. Snakes are creepily mesmerizing and I still become paralyzed with shock every time I come across one.
2. Squirrels really don’t like to take selfies.
3. WHY WOULD I LEAVE MY HOUSE WITHOUT A HAIR-TIE IN 90 DEGREE WEATHER (aka definitely something to remember when I’m abroad)
4. Just because I have a Camelbak with a pouch filled with water and it’s so cool and convenient to have a little hose that you suck on to get the water does NOT mean I need to drink all the water right away. Uuff, too much liquid.

In conclusion, the backpack is awesome. I walked about two miles and the weight never became a burden. This is due to the fact that when I wear the pack, instead of baring the weight on my shoulders and back, it sits on my hips. Whoever designed these packs–GENIUS. Why aren’t school backpacks made in this way?! I’ve been carrying books wrong my entire life. Sheesh.

So. Major shout out to my siblings, I love them way too much. And now I’m currently watching Messi warm up on the field in Brasil. Kickoff time is so close and I am SO READY.

VAMOOOOOSSSSS AL ALBICELESTE!

 

P.s.– Good luck to Lee Mook, one of my fellow Gappers who started his gap year T O D A Y. He’s on his way to Nicaragua as we speak to work on solar powered water distillers. Check out his blog on the “Fellowship + the Gappers” tab!

P.p.s– Happy Father’s Day everyone (: