It's the world I know...

Cruisin' into Chicago yesterday in Amy's shiny new vibe, we passed a Morroccan restaurant, a Jimmy Johns, and a shisha shop, its display window packed with every size and shape of hookah, right in a row. Coincidence? perhaps. Miss you guys already.

But don't you know that it hurts me so to say good bye to you...

...a special shoutout to all my friends. for being who you are. for being there for me when i needed you the most. for knowing me better sometimes than i know myself. for making me laugh when i feel the need to cry. for being amazing. for being more like a family than i could have ever hoped for. i wouldn't be where i am without each and every one of you.



2 days left in madison.

what's your 7 day outlook?

Everyone in Argentina keeps warning us that it will be cold when we arrive. Opposite hemisphere = opposite seasons, I get the picture. All the delegate emails have been reminding people to pack WARM clothing, blah blah blah. My packing space is limited enough to begin with, since I need to bring my LIFE for the next 12 months with me, as I stop at the conference en route to my traineeship. I decided to look up the forecast today, and weather.com may have changed my packing list slightly.

Buenos Aires

July 1: 62 and scattered showers
July 2: 61 and partly cloudy
July 3: 62 and partly cloudy

Cordoba

July 4: 66 and mostly cloudy
July 5: 62 and cloudy

This little Wisconsin girl had to laugh. It takes a LOT more than that for me to consider it winter. Who wants to come visit Wisconsin next January? I'll show you what cold weather is really like...

True @'ers do lunch in different hemispheres...

I just may be visiting Jessie while I'm in Argentina :)

Everyone here's got somebody to lean on...

Over the past 4 years, I have been incredibly lucky to have found several very close groups of friends. My friends have always been the most important people in my entire life. They have shared so many fun memories and have been there for me when I have needed them the most, at the most significant points in my life. The Hump Day Crew from the 7th floor, my Paris girls, the AIESEC'ers, the Barriques family. But there is something to be said for those who have been around since the beginning.

My roommates.

There are 6 of us. While we have never all lived together at once, and people often get confused when I refer to someone as my roommate who lives in a different apartment than me, that's what we are. We met in the dorms almost instantly, and by the end of freshman year, our group was sealed. Over the years, we've mixed and matched, from the dorms to summer sublets to the Embassy, but have somehow always lived together. Who would have known that 4 years later, despite everything that's happened, we are all still here.

Last night's gourmet dinner was the last roommate dinner for half of us. 3 of the girls will remain in Madtown next year to live it up as 5th years together, while the twins head off to their real grown-up jobs in Chicago...and I leave the country. The menu of choice was garlic shrimp with homemade pesto, bruschetta, cherry cheesecake, a couple bottles of fine wine...who says that college kids live only on EasyMac, Ramen, and beer? Nothing out of the ordinary for us.

As we flipped through photo albums last night, and laughed at how young we looked in those "drinking in the dorms" pics of freshman year, I realized how lucky I was to have spent my college years with 5 people who are now my best friends. All the little moments we recalled made me realize that they have been the ones who knew me best...every Halloween, every FRIENDS marathon, the first until the last Badger football game, the classic college road trip to Florida for spring break, the Christmas shopping trips to Chicago, the dance parties at Brothers, and every feast that we have cooked. We spent the summer after freshman year roadtripping all over the state to visit each other and kept in touch as people have transferred schools and come back or studied abroad. We've been there for each other through the school stress, the family deaths, the falling in love, the heartaches, the late night drives just for the sake of talking for hours.

Jack, D, Liz, Ralpie, Em...here's to you guys. Thank you for being my roommates. Thank you for being my best friends. I love you all so much and will miss you like crazy.

you love this town, even if that doesn't ring true...

Preparing myself to jump into a new culture has me thinking more and more about my own culture. I know that part of the beauty of AIESEC and part of the responsibility that comes with any kind of living abroad experience is being able to teach others about MY culture while being equally open to learning about theirs. Other than random trains of thought, I really have no idea where to begin. How do you explain something that is a part of who you are, how you have been raised, and what you have always known?

What is culture?

What is American culture?

How do I want to go about sharing this with others?

I have always been fascinated by culture, but when put to the test of teaching it to others, I'm stuck. hmmm.