chilly days and hot chocolate

it has been pretty chilly in vermont these days

and on sunday all i wanted was hot chocolate.

unfortunately, hot chocolate is something i haven't bought yet...

...because it is still september (at least for another hour and eleven minutes).

BUT i did have some cocoa powder left over from my delicious gluten-free black and white cream cheese brownies (thanks, martha)

and remembered last year on dave's birthday when we made hot chocolate from cocoa powder to go with our homemade churros...(what a great night...thanks again, martha :))

so i got online and tried to find the best single-serving recipe for the ingredients that i have.

here's what i came up with:

1 T cocoa powder

2 T sugar

2 T water

heat it up, stirring til it's kind of a paste. then add a cup of water (i just fill my mug and dump it in) and a couple squirts of vanilla.

stir til it's warm, and pour it right back into the mug.

YUM it's delicious!

it calls for milk, but it's rich enough with water...it would be decadent with milk :)

you can find the original recipe if you google "sara's homemade hot chocolate"...thanks sara!

it's now my favorite rainy/chilly day treat...

but WOW i just realized that in every cup i am drinking 2 tablespoons of sugar....

that is kind of a lot....

hmm.

but it sure is good!!!!!!!

winner winner chicken dinner

yummmmmmmmm here's my new favorite chicken marinade:

lots of lime juice.

fresh garlic (chopped).

cloves (whole).

ground black pepper.

olive oil.

i marinate it in a plastic bag during the day (or at least for a few hours) and then pop the chicken into my george foreman lean mean fat reducing grilling machine. and hazaa (that was for you sonja) delicious grilled chicken :)

2 credits down...34 to go

(my cute little home sweet home)

two weeks ago today, i sat down in my very first graduate class.

the classroom looked different than most that we are used to -

the chairs were arranged in a circle.

some had pull-out desks, some did not.

it was a bit unnerving for this concrete-sequential to sit in a circle

facing my peers,

being invited to share my thoughts and feelings...

i'm getting anxious just thinking about it :)

i put those thoughts aside as the teachers rose from their seats in the circle

to post sheets of butcher paper on the chalkboard

and invited us to list our expectations for the class,

"Effective Multicultural Teams."

Then, we proceeded to make lists of how to maximize our classroom time together

and which behaviors would minimize our learning.

as i opened my brand-new, fuschia composition notebook, the binding crackled

and i smiled, smelling the fresh paper and being reassured of just how much i love school.

those two weeks of school were very long (class from 830-515, M-F)

and very different,

but so enriching.

they are big into experiential learning here,

and it is very new but has inspired a LOT of personal growth

as well as some challenges as i learned how to effectively work in multicultural teams.

but i made it.

i completed my first 2 graduate credits,

and now it is the first week of my real semester.

morning classes from 830-1215, afternoon classes from 130-515.

(don't worry - i only have both sessions 1 day a week!)

independent study of italian for at least 4 hours every week

and studying for the spanish oral proficiency exam.

hopefully i'll get some work hours in too....a little income goes a long ways :)

i'm working on getting the Christian fellowship started on campus...

oh, and let's not forget about homework.

speaking of....i should go :)

xoxo

(this is how dorky we are in grad school: taking pictures with the posters that indicate our group process....)

home

it has been a few days, but i did want to tell you all that i found a church!

my roommate and i went to one on sunday that we had heard about from another student (sabs even called first to make sure that they believe in Jesus...you never know these days), and it was like coming home.

don't get me wrong....it really wasn't anything like home. home would be a gigantic church filled with many people from many walks and backgrounds, many of whom know and love me and who i love dearly, too. this church resembles an old house, with the one-room, one-aisle, 12-pew worship center on the second floor. no big screens, no fancy lights, no videos, no childcare :) but as i slid into my seat, i saw the communion table up front and instantly teared up, knowing i was with family. the tears welled again when worship began and they started the service with revival in belfast's "Days of Elijah" (i really wanted to break into the motions, but don't worry...i held myself back). as worship continued, i noticed the international flags around the room, reading the banners and realizing that this church, too, finds Jesus' last command to be our first concern. reading the bulletin, and listening to the day's missionary testimony, i was captured by their ministries to the local area and their desire to be missionaries not only around the world, but across the street.

and then...they preached from the Bible. i had been holding my breath, not wanting to love the church too much before the teaching actually began. as the sermon continued, i let it out slowly and just wanted to cry with relief. after the service, we met several students who had attended our school last year, and they gave us a lot of information about the spiritual climate on campus. they also told us how to connect with the one christian faculty member on campus, encouraged us to get involved in intervarsity, and gave us some ideas of how christians had come together and reached out in previous years. it was really encouraging - somewhat scary, because students with christian beliefs are truly the minority - but really a blessing to connect with them.

next sunday can't come fast enough. i am so excited to turn in my visitor card and start to get involved; hopefully i will be abled to serve in their soup kitchen or something like that! i would also loooooove to connect with the families and get some babysitting done :) and i am thankful to have found my home...away from home.

oh - zigzag - i have registered to take a course in NYC in january and am looking for a place to live for a few weeks - if anybody knows of any options or connections, please let me know!

climb every mountain

today, i climbed a mountain.

and added another state to my "where i've been" map.

that's 5 since coming to the east coast!

anyway....

i climbed a mountain with my roommates.

and it was hard. but sooooo fun (especially once we made it to the top)!

i love the great outdoors :)

a whole new world

wow.

that is all that i can say after spending a friday evening in downtown brattleboro.

and yes, "downtown brattleboro" looks exactly like it sounds.

are you picturing a main street?

good, because we have one.

i love main street. it's lined with fun or old or quirky or junky stores, all with something unique to offer. the people are smiley and really nice, and the traffic is more than anyone would ever imagine on a main street in a small town. and on the first friday of every month, there is a gallery walk. all the art galleries are open, there's free food, and supposedly everyone in the town comes out.

i bet the picture of downtown brattleboro created by your mind's eye didn't include hippies.

yes, hippies.

as we walked down the hill towards main, we were attracted to the photography display on the side of the road. as we looked at the photos, i saw a unique pair coming towards us. one was a man with long, knappy hair wearing a gunnysack dress. i prepared myself to smile and walk by, reminding myself that "you're in granola vermont. you're in granola vermont." when i made eye contact, he complimented me on my pearls. i thanked him and replied with a comment about them, he replied, and we moved on. my very first conversation with a real drag/cross dresser/transvestite...i'm not entirely sure which category he falls into - i'm kind of new at this :)

as we continued through the gallery walk, we experienced some incredible art. photography. paintings. smelled some new smells....body odor, dreadlocks, and marijuana. we got to know our town and saw a whole lot of new people. as i made my way through the throngs of people on the street (where did they all come from?!? this is only a town of 12,000) i became thoroughly and completely overwhelmed...and extremely conscious of the aforementioned pearls. as usual, i was all j.crew'd out. chino shorts, cardigan, pearl necklace and earrings. coach wristlet. never before have i felt like such a city girl. i was experiencing just a little bit of culture shock; it was a good thing i was wearing my gladiators...literally :)

won't you be my neighbor

i . love . community .

every time i leave school, i get a little sad that i'm leaving my fellow students. it seems like i'm missing out on an opportunity to meet new people (if that's even possible) or to actually get to know the ones i have already met. i envision your typical freshman-year-dorm experience...everyone piled onto the couches in the lounge, watching new movies, playing new games, having deep conversations til 4am: the beginnings of a community.

but today, i realized that community isn't built only on campus. it is built by knowing your off-campus people, by not being too shy to ask for rides into town, by not being afraid to be the first to go visit the other students you know live down the street.

we're day 2 into orientation, and man have my gladiators been pushing me through. from info meeting to personality tests to course fairs to advisor sessions, those shoes have taken quite the beating. by the time i get home i only want my slippers :) (i actually don't own a pair, come to think of it). but tonight, we decided to put the schedules and details aside and have some fun. we put on our galoshes (some of us may have been layering gladiators underneath for confidence!) and headed down the street to meet out neighbors, intending to visit 3 other students a few houses down. but when we crossed the street, there were 2 other students entering THEIR house. what a great surprise! then we made our way to the intended destination, received some cookies and planned a party (AND found out where to do our laundry...that's always important) only to go behind THEIR house to knock on another door!

we made our way home, so so glad that we had taken the time off from our business to reach out to our neighbors, some we didn't even know existed.

giddy with the happiness of making new friends, we had one more stop: the boy who had moved in downstairs. we knocked on his door. no answer. so we decided to run up and write him a note saying we had stopped by...only to find him in our kitchen drinking tea with roommate #3!

it was so nice to finally just sit and talk with people, to begin developing relationships instead of just fleeting meetings in and around school. i am so thankful to find so many students living in my neighborhood, and we are all excited for the start of our little community!

i think i'm going to like it here

there is a sea creature living in the river in my town. picture loch ness or champ of lake champlain. seriously....i saw it this morning as the fog lifted off of the water. but don't worry....after i ran to get a better look, i found it to be simply a recreation of a monster. and...it's smiling :)

remember yesterday when i talked about my wonderful roommate and how she is so incredibly similar to me? (i hope you all got that i was the one who you were supposed to be reminded of...) well, today as i sat in my first orientation session (which was outside, overlooking the beautiful, tree-covered mountains and valleys) and met a LOT more people, i realized that i am in a place with a LOT of people like me. and i love it.

it is so cool to be in a place where people share a passion for language and culture, a passion for making a difference, a passion for learning. when i get excited about something here, that excitement is more than simply acknowledged or appreciated. it is understood. and that, my dear ones, is a really, really fun thing. and i think i'm going to like it here :)