No more car

While on the Pedalers trip in New Orleans, I was reflecting a lot on my options for transportation this summer...
I've got my Subaru legacy at home. Although old, this car has got quite the life in it. "The Suby" has endured my mom's work days as a Public Health Nurse, my brother's high school and college careers, and finally the majority of my high school years also. Now it sits at home, ready for anyone's leisure use.
My dad and I previously decided that I would have my car...
But now I'll use my bike, rather!

Critical Mass

When in New Orleans I found out by a passerby-er that Critical Mass is a nation-wide movement that started in the E Coast====Awesome!

I was thinking that this whole time it was just in Minneapolis... But how wrong I was.

Well, for those avid bikers, let's get out this friday and join the other hundreds of people in this grassroots movements that can raise some serious environmental awareness, eh!
This Friday, Loring Park---be there at 5 pm and we'll "roll out"
!

Soon-to-be Sister-in-Law

So after many...MANY hours of being on the Greyhound through Sunday and up to Monday, I got a hold of my brother via the airwaves and he told me he proposed to his long-time girlfriend
!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow, this is a first for me so I am going to have to let down my sisterly-protections and cut the bride-to-be some slack
;)

But it makes me feel absolutely great to hear the happiness in his voice and in hers; so a beautiful day it was!

PS--when I spoke with my mom earlier and she told me that my brother was trying to call me, I just got the marriage vibes somehow... I guess I'm just intuitive!

Love,

Annika

First Week Back

So who knows what I was thinking when I thought the first week back at school from Spring Break would be relaxed... Yes, because it's not.
But since all of us Pedalers departed from one another yesterday, I have been missing the group vibes and each of their unique personalities that I grew so accustomed to during our week+ together.

Pedalers for Peace ride out again participating in Critical Mass this Friday.
Get ready. I am.

First Night in New Orleans

We were told by our contact person that sleeping across the street from his house--in the median of the road--was the place where other volunteers had stayed and that we would be safe sleeping there. No one would mess with us, we were told. Our contact person warned us that if we had any trouble, the only source of that trouble would be the police.
Well, he turned out to be right on the money.

Yes, The Pedalers and I pitched our tents and were ready for some real food [after eating insurmountable amounts of pre-packaged gas station food]... but all we could get was the neighborhood store called "Spider Meats" [which we ended up loving, by the way] and different waves of police officers/military personnel encounters.
After being questioned if we were OK, if we knew what the area was like that we were staying in, and after being told that this "wasn't a good neighborhood," the final squad car rolled up the median where we were set-up on and the officers acted quite harsh to us.
Needless to say our tents eventually--eventually but quickly--came down from the median and we would spend the majority of the rest of our nights in our contact's dilapidated house.
PS--the neighborhood did not have a good reputation but that was mainly told to us by seemingly rich people who would drive through in their polished SUVs... people who obviously had already pre-judged the community members of the area in which we were staying. What a shame for them, though, because it was those neighborhood members who treated us the best, advocated for us, and supplied us with things that they most likely needed themselves.
Wow, now that is caring for your neighbor. Maybe those people in the SUVs should stay in that Saint Bernard community for a while and humble themselves.

Spring Break was Crazzzyyy---in SUCH a beautiful way

New Orleans--and the South as a whole--was a whole different world in many ways. Sure, so essentially almost all of the things we had planned were "destroyed" and warped into randomness... but the action that was done with that--the attitude of "rollin' with the punches" is what made those last-minute decisions and that randomness beautiful.

There is so much in the South that we must become aware of. On the way down, after getting out for a half-hour stretch break from the Greyhound bus, some friends and I did a little exploring of Jackson, Mississippi. We ended up having a conversation with two people of the community who were born and raised in Jackson and who still inhabited the area. My friends and I were in awe when these people answered our questions of "what happened to the homes and stores here;" "where are the jobs;" "where do people live if all of the buildings have been ransacked, looted and destroyed??"...

Many places in the SOuth are just simply ignored and not talked about because of different, corrupt agendas

almost 20-some hours later our group of the Pedalers for Peace was in New Orleans, LA...

Wrapping it up.

Thursday is already coming tomorrow and bit by bit I am feeling more content with my standings in the week...
Yes, tomorrow I will be half-way to being fully organized for Pedalers for Peace... we leave at 7:30 am Saturday, PS.
I am finally almost done with my one/two history essay/s (I combined them so I'm still trying to figure out if Prof. Kolnick will accept them as two answers or as one..hmmm...)
Then tomorrow I can maybe organize more of my study abroad stuff before I head off this weekend... but there may be more vital things to do first hmm...
You see this, THIS [the above] is what has been going on in my head all this week. and more. !!
But you know what--no complaints--nope--none!! Because I am not the only one here that is in such mental situations. Everybody else is just about ready to wrap it up!
So I guess if I think of all of these tedious last-minute things [not forgetting about my HIS of US Foreign Policy mid-term exam on Friday] as a "communal initiative," then it's not so bad!
All right, leaving you here with the "communal initiative" vibes~~~

and smile.

Buying the Plane Ticket

I just got done buying my plane ticket for my Summer Study Abroad program in Cuernavaca, Mexico...
Those internet search engines can really be put to use!
But I did a sort of spur-of-the-moment thing and got just a one-way ticket... Yes, in the long run it does make sense to buy a round-trip ticket, but I just am still not sure if I will stay in Mexico City for a week longer (after the end of my program) or if I'll go see my "family" and friends in Parral, Chihuahua... Vamos a ver. The future will tell us...
Now I also just finished emailing--what I am writing to you right now--to my dad. I can just see the eyebrows starting to frown. But I explained my reasonings well and stated that I still support my one-way ticket decision, etc. I like the idea of being a pseudo "free bird" and we'll see what happens with it. I've got some extra money stowed away for occurrences such as this; and I'm fully willing to use that money for a ticket home. I also just applied to a couple "cheap travel" sites and am secretly hoping that when I'm in Mexico nearing the end of my program, that I'll come upon a few last-minute, cheap flights back to MN.
Well, I'm not worried---so let's just hope the parents will feel the same!

:) Buenas Noches

Nobel Peace Prize Forum

The entirety of this past weekend was spent in Moorehead, MN for the Nobel Peace Prize Forum. Concordia was the host and it was a wonderful set up.
I think the majority of everyone there would agree that the Norwegian Peace rep. from the UN was hilarious with his unique humor and soft-spoken persona. But moreover I believe everyone was incredibly impressed with Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh. His innovations with micro-credit for women from Bangladesh have been paramount. Every time I looked down at my notes or my eyes wandered to other sides of the gym, I caught myself and thought: "These people are amazing; I should be watching and studying them every second that I can!"

Ok... To be continued. Off to the Honors Review Council!

The Cedar

I haven't seen "Juno," but I've heard that the soundtrack is awesome!!
Go and check out Kimya Dawson (sorry if I spelled her first name wrong!) at The Cedar Cultural Center on April 16--7:30 pm.
We are so fortunate to have such a fine attraction just a few blocks away from Augsburg! My goal: to go there more... and earn more money in order to do so!

--Annika

...Spring Break is just a week or so away~~~~~~~~~

Action for "Dream Act"

Today at the Capitol ended up being very inspiring and an experience that I will continue to deem as vital to continue throughout my college life and hopefully further. This social action is necessary and it was wonderful to see and interact with the, literally, one thousand high school students who were present.
The "Dream Act" is a bill that Pawlenty vetoed last year and this year it would need 17 legislative votes to pass. Unfortunately, the odds for the bill to pass are very low--but that doesn't mean that the social action that took place today made no difference. Actually, the opposite occurred...people--specifically students who are/have been/know someone who is/has been affected by immigration and financial challenges to higher education--rallying and speaking with legislative voters from the Capitol voice and furthermore personify nation-wide needs. This pro-activity spreads awareness and shows that communities of all ages care and are affected.
These students--immigrants or not--are our future. To make higher education more expensive for undocumented students is to hinder the people of our future. All students must be able to have the ability to have EQUAL opportunities to higher education in order promote educated and innovative people for the future of our nation and world.

A Late "Felicidades"...

I wanted to be sure to congratulate all of the "Scholarship Weekend" attendees and participants. All of those who took part in the event and its activities were wonderful to be around, and it was definitely great to get to know some of the people who will be students next year. The hard work and dedication that was put into the event was evident and I can't say enough how great it was to host you students that were here.

Buena suerte con todo!

Too Much Love

First Ave. on Saturday nights is always bumpin' with the "House"/Techno sound. By around midnight it starts to get pretty packed and the beat pulses right through you.
:)
Well, this past Saturday night my friends and I decided to get some of that good sound pounding into our brains after seeing a show at Teatro del Pueblo produced and acted by a Colombian group.
To go off on this tangent about Teatro del Pueblo, the show was quite powerful and amazing, although also a bit confusing. Never before have I seen an air-bound, blindfolded woman use bungee-type cords to hold herself up and move to and from one cord to another... the whole time not even being able to see the ground that lays many feet below her...
She crafted her movements to express persecution and ultimately the plights that many immigrants experience. She then later scaled the side wall using to of those bungee cords--just not blindfolded this time.
The whole show was in Spanish. Its first half spoke about crossing the border, while its second half told a story, through dance, about sexual violence against children.

Although the abstractness of the production was a bit confusing at times, the strong mission of the actors was purveyed without a doubt.

Homeless Awareness Week

Thanks to the Augsburg student club, LINK, Homeless Awareness Week is being promoted here at Augsburg. Tonight LINK started the week off with a performance by ZAWAY (I may be getting the name wrong), a group of formerly homeless people who have been putting on productions around the Twin Cities area for four years. A representative from Minneapolis City Council was also here to speak about Henneppin's plan to dramatically decrease homelessness by a specific year (which I can't remember--but it's not too far off!) The City will be providing housing to the homeless without requiring them to first jump through unending holes. The city already has a lot of homes reserved for this mission.
Tonight helped to lessen and correct stereotypes while answering questions giving a great performance!
Thanks to LINK and a special congratulations to my buddy LeeAnne who puts more work into a lot of campus activities that more of us know!

Dream Act

Be there--tomorrow--Tuesday--at the Capitol to support undocumented immigrants' rights to education!!
A couple of my friends and I will be going at 6 am via bus and then the volunteering will begin at 7! Get ready for (hopefully) massive amounts of people and a lot of productive running around! It is things such as this that make me feel like I am getting more of my voice out there. SI SE PUEDE for immigrants' rights!!!