As Proud of Myself As Always

Remember, remember!
    The fifth of November,
    The Gunpowder treason and plot;
    I know of no reason
    Why the Gunpowder treason
    Should ever be forgot!

Oh no! I forgot to watch V For Vendetta! Oops!

Happy November 5th? Yeah, something like that! Well... the Universe most definitely did not seem happy today. I mean, it was gloomy all day long and now it is pouring rain outside. Why is it raining of this most wonderful of Tuesdays? Whatever.

I'm sure there are some of you out there who are wondering what's going on in my life. I am also sure there are some of you out there whom I have never met before and are creeping on my blog cause I'm cute and funny! Well, thanks for the ego boost... even if it's a little weird...

Since I'm apparently feeling like being random today, I am going to completely abandon the structure I planned for this post and just talk like the crazy person I sometimes fear I am.

Last week was Homecoming. Now, people kept trying to tell me that no one sleeps during homecoming week, but I kept assuring them that I wasn't going to be super involved in homecoming so I didn't need to worry about it.

NO!!! Those were lies!

Homecoming is such a big deal on this campus it's a little ridiculous. (my sorority) only participated in Lip Sync and Window Painting and I still didn't sleep almost the entire week.

Now, please do not be mistaken in your comprehension of my stance on homecoming. I LOVED (with a million little hearts surrounding "loved") homecoming! It was just tiring!

That being said, I am so proud of Kaitlin and Erica for organizing Lip Sync and really making sure that it was not only an enjoyable experience but a dang awesome Lip Sync!

Here is the link for anyone who wants to watch it:

PHI MUsical!

For the eternal fun of all, we're going to play "Where's Ali?" For "Pressure" I am on Stage Right (your left) and I am the second person from the center, just look for the blonde hair whipping around. For the "Chorus Line" section, I am in the light blue on the back row toward the center. For the end, I am the awkward person in the black shirt that does a mini (unplanned) costume change when we're all turning around.

Sadly, we didn't win anything with our Lip Sync, but we all worked very hard and are very proud of it... Oh! And most of all, it was a lot of fun and a great bonding experience with my sisters!

And just for fun, homecoming pics:

Moving away from homecoming, I had to turn in a Character Analysis this week for my Acting 1 class, and one of the questions asked for an IQ. Now, I've never taken an IQ test and had no idea what my character's intelligence would be in relation to mine if I couldn't even quantify my own intelligence. Thus, I took an IQ test online.

Let's just say that I now want to take a legitimate IQ test because I'm curious as to how accurate the various online versions I took were.

Ha, sorry for being mean.

Just kidding, I'm not sorry!

Just kidding, I really am sorry.

Anyway!

Guess which beautiful and fabulous young lady met with her Study Abroad Coordinator today? If you didn't guess me then I am seriously questioning your deductive abilities. If you guessed me, imaginary cake and confetti for you!

I am so excited to get started with looking at study abroad programs and such. The wonderful lady I met with was very helpful and not only answered all my questions but also pointed me in a good direction to get started.

I am not going to study abroad for another two years, but who knows! This time 2015, I could be blogging from another country! So if anyone would like to help financially support my cultural development endeavors, I guess I would have no choice but to accept your assistance. Family: wink wink, hint hint, cough cough, nudge nudge, etc.

Let's see, what else... OOOHHHH!!!! This week in our Inspiration Week because Initiation is this Saturday! I am so excited it's not even funny! I have the perfect dress and super stunning shoes to match. Don't worry; I will certainly take loads of pictures of me in my gorgeous regalia.

By the way, I am so proud of this hat I crocheted.

I know it's nothing special, but it's the first hat I've made that actually looked good.

And can I just say that being able to crochet hats is soon going to come in handy because it is getting cold here. Not as cold as Minnesota (haha), but much colder than little Ali is used to! 

And as long as I'm sharing things I'm proud of, to the right you will find pictures of my props project for my Stagecraft class. 

Now, I am not a painter so I am so dang proud of myself for painting that tomato.

In other news: MOVIES!!! My father has asked that I not spoil anything for him, but I saw Ender's Game this weekend. My suggestion is that if you haven't read the book you should go see it because you would probably like it. If you're a weirdo like me who knows way too much about the book, just wait till it's out on Redbox because there is so much wrong.

My biggest problem with the movie was that it did not seem like they made the Ender's Game novel into a movie, but rather that they took the idea of Ender's Game and made a movie. The two do not seem to connect.

However, for those of you who are old enough to go see Rated-R movies, go see Escape Plan. It is SO GOOD!!!!! I was scared about it being Rated-R, but it was actually fine. There was no sexy stuff, only a little cussing, and some blood that I just covered my eyes for so I didn't have to see it!

The movie was well-written which was so refreshing. The acting was great, but what else would you expect from Stallone and Schwarzenegger? The plot progressed nicely, there were interesting twists, and I never felt like it was dragging. So if you have an opportunity to go see Escape Plan, do it!

If you've never heard of Escape Plan, go here:


Escape Plan - IMDB

Is there anything else I forgot? Um... send me packages! I love getting mail! The Blacklist and The Tomorrow People are my favorite shows currently on TV. I have discovered the wonders of planners and working out: two things I previously despised. I have my audition for next semester's shows on Sunday so be praying for me.

I guess I'm at the point where I should conclude this post. Here goes:

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

As Proud of Myself As Always,

Ali

As Zombified As Always

Merry Christmas! Wait a minute... Yep! I'm still too early, darn it. I wore a Santa hat to class last week and everyone was so confused, but I am so excited for Christmas that it's not even funny. Only two more holidays to get through then I'm home free!

Speaking of which, who can guess what I was doing two hours ago? Anyone, anyone? Need to phone a friend? How about I give you a hint: there are pictures on my Facebook!

Ooh! I see the light bulbs! That's right folks, this girl right here was working a haunted house. Now, for all of you who were concerned about my mental health since I may have had a panic attack in a hay maze once, I am happy to report that I am totally sane... or as sane as I was beforehand... meaning not sane at all!

I am a little sore though because I was on the floor the entire time in a contorted position. I hope it looked super creepy because it felt super creepy and people seemed to be scared poop-less. Honestly though, I had to try to keep myself from laughing because these big guys would come through and scream like middle school girls. It was a lot of fun and the zombie makeup was epic!

I did the makeup myself, and yes! That is fake blood!

Moving on, this week is HOMECOMING WEEK!!!!!! Whoot whoot!

Now, as a freshman, I am not even really sure what all homecoming entails. I know that the sororities and fraternities (and any other student organization that wants to) compete in a bunch of different events for... something. I have no idea what the winner gets.

Well, since we decided not to actually compete, (my sorority) is participating in two of the events and then just going to the other events to support the organizations that are competing.

That being said, we are doing Lip Sync. Sorry, but I can't tell you anything about it until next Friday after it's over, but I promise the video will go up on my Facebook!

I can however tell you that we have rehearsed for Lip Sync every night this week from 10-12. Now, don't get me wrong, I am NOT complaining. In fact, the rehearsals are so much fun and I am loving the opportunity to bond with my sisters. All I'm saying is, man is my sleep schedule messed up! I love Lip Sync, but it will be nice to sleep again!

This past Friday, which feels both like yesterday and a month ago, was my first official day of work! I am working at Rehearsals Grill; it's a new restaurant that is right on the corner of campus. It's brand spankin new, like we-open-on-Monday new! I am really excited to get started.

Anyway, so Friday I was running food.

That was the end of that story.

I'm just jumping around in my story telling today, sorry! Ooh! I remember what I was going to tell you!

So in my Play Analysis class, my teacher made us watch this movie which is based on a play. At first I was like, "Oh cool, I like movies!" Then I looked up the movie on IMDB. The movie is called "Bug" and was made in 2006; the link is below if you so choose to look it up.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470705/

Now, for those of you who don't know me as well, I'm just going to go ahead and let you know that I have an overactive imagination. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. It's great for acting! It's not so great when you teacher makes you watch a Rated-R horror movie!

I fully understand why she wanted us to watch it and I took some valuable information out of it, but I couldn't do it. I could not watch the movie. I hid my head in my knees and tried to ignore the fear generating noises.

I probably cried at one point... but there is a reason why I choose not to watch movies like that, and even just listening to it was not fun since my mind was having a lot of fun filling in what my eyes were missing. It is not a bad movie, and there are a lot of people who like it, I am just not one of them.

Speaking of movies, guess who bought her ticket for the Ender's Game premiere? THIS GIRL!!! Do you see me pointing to myself? Yeah, that's cause it's me who bought tickets! I am so super excited! But I can't rant all about it right now because I'm tired and really should sleep while I have time. Good night all!

As Zombified As Always,

Ali 

As Back-From-The-Dead As Always

So... yeah! I'm not dead!

It's been a while hasn't it? Um... Buonasera! Come stai? Ali è abbastanza bene, grazie. Non parlo italiano, ma capisco un po italiano.

Yup! That would be (bad) Italian. Why am I speaking Italian you may ask? For absolutely no reason other than I can! And it is far more fun to return from awkwardly long breaks in a different language.

What have I been up to since August 1st? A whole heck of a lot! So, since there is quite a lot to say I'm just going to jump into it and start from the beginning (it's a very good place to start) which will most likely make this a rather lengthy post... sorry! Oh, and please excuse my lack of pictures, I'm too lazy to find them right now!

Well! So after Mind the Gap ended, I had a wonderful friend of mine drive me to the airport at 5:30 in the beautiful (far too early) morning. I will admit that I was pretty much scared out of my wits to go through security and board a plane and whatnot by myself, but I did it! Balloons and confetti for Ali! Thus, I made my way to Florida!

The reason we went to Florida (we being my family and I) was to visit some awesome friends of ours who we have not seen in far too long. I will not bore you all with the details of the fabulous time I had with some of the greatest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and will instead skip to what I know everyone is curious about: college!

As I've said, I am attending Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma as a BFA: Acting major. I initially auditioned to be a Music Theatre major, but I am so happy that God has led me to this particular program because it is everything I could ask for and more. I love it so much!

Anyway... my first week here was actually rather depressing. Why you may ask? Because I didn't have a roommate. And see, I thought that was great at first, but then I realized how lonely it actually was. I hated it! Sure it was nice to have the peace and quiet, but I needed some human interaction!

Ergo, I ventured outside! I know, scary! During our orientation week, there were a lot of events that were open for students to go to, and when I wasn't rehearsing for my audition (which decides your roles for the entire semester) I was meeting new people. And man am I so happy I did!

I now have three great friends (and three other friends that I hang out with a little less often) who I treasure dearly and would not trade even for a really good cookie. NOTE: I have not in any way replaced any of my high school friends. I'm not naming any names, but you know who you are, and you have no reason to worry because I still love you! :)

As for the roommate situation, I now have a roommate! She is actually pretty cool, although we don't interact too terribly much. I don't think we're ever going to be best friends or anything, but I certainly don't loathe her. 

Moving on, I start rehearsals for It's a Wonderful Life: The Radio Show tomorrow and I'm super excited! I already have gotten to work on one show: 9 to 5: The Musical. I did props which was a new experience for me, and I actually ended up having a lot of fun. I'm not actually in the cast of Wonderful Life, I'm just a preshow entertainment thing, but it will still be cool to work on a main stage show... especially since one of my good (new) friends is one of the Assistant Stage Managers.

Now, I'm sure you are all curious about what exactly an acting major studies. I'm sure you want to know what my classes are like. I'm sure you want to know if I have written tests. I'm sure you want to know if my parent's money is being put toward a worthy education. Well calm down! I'm going to tell you! Jeez, you eager beavers!

First of all, I do not have class on Fridays! Yes, be jealous! My Monday/Wednesday schedule consists of Freshman Actor Workshop, Stagecraft, and LAS: Local Legends. My Tuesday/Thursday schedule consists of Play Analysis, Stagecraft Lab, and Acting 1. On Wednesday I also have a Voice Lesson, and scattered in there I also work in the MSA Office.

I will explain more about these classes at a later date when I have pictures and/or funny stories to accompany each.

Here is one picture just because I'm nice!

This is a picture of me interviewing the sculptor David Phelps for the Remembering Ralph Ellison Project which is being supported by the Oklahoma Humanities Council, the Oklahoma History  Center, and Oklahoma City University.

Random story that I have to share: So I was walking back from class last month, back from Acting 1 to be exact, when I heard a strange noise. This noise sounded like a male playing guitar and singing. Normally, that would not be strange; except on this particular occasion, I could not seem to find any sort of male holding a musical instrument of any sort. He was not on a bench, he was not sitting in the grass, he was not frolicking, there was no male to be found.

As the music persisted, I ventured a glace upward. And there, in a tree, was the male. Normally, this would not be strange either, except the first limb of this tree was almost 15 feet off the ground. After this occurrence, a friend of mine even tried to prove the tree could be climbed by attempting to climb it and he could not.

Now, one can only wonder a few things: first, what possessed this male to climb in a tree with his guitar? Second, how did this male climb into the tree? Third, how did this male climb into the tree with his guitar? And fourth, how does this male plan on safely climbing OUT of the tree?

So many questions.

I know, I know, I told you a story about a boy in a tree instead of telling you the one thing you've been waiting to hear about. Well, fine! If you're going to be pushy and impatient I guess I might as well just tell you!

I joined (my sorority)! Yup, you read correctly! Ali joined a sorority... actually it's technically a women's fraternity since it was founded before the word sorority came into existence. But that is so beside the point right now.

I want something to be completely understood before I move on: I did not pledge (my sorority) because I wanted to be in a sorority, I pledged (my sorority) because I wanted to be in (my sorority). I would not have even considered it if I had not fallen in love with (my sorority). That is the full and honest truth.

Did you understand that? Are we good? Good!

All I am going to tell you as of right now is that I get initiated Nov. 9 and I am super excited!

Other random things:

1. I went to the State Fair with my family and ate a lot of amazingly fried food.
2. Speaking of food, the food here sucks!
3. Speaking of sucking, I need to work out more. Luckily, there's a smoothie bar/fitness place down the street that does free metabolic exams and classes are free... if you buy a smoothie or shake.
4. I got a job! More on that later.
5. I love my church!
6. My friends and I do Friday Night Dinner every week since one of my friends has a full kitchen and I like to cook. We just watch movies, play games, and hangout and it's fun! :)

Um... I think that's about it for now. I promise to update more frequently, it was just hard to get back into the rhythm of it.

I love you all and I promise that next time my posts will be more amusing, I just had a lot to get out there this time!

As Back-From-The-Dead As Always,

Ali

Oh! And I almost forgot, I crocheted the cutest hat last night! Pictures will be up soon!

As A+ As Always

So... guess who got an A+ on her midterm? That's right! This girl! I realized that I actually like studying because it means that I get stinkin awesome grades. Why didn't anyone tell me this before?

So my midterm was last Thursday then my final was the Tuesday following it! That's so soon after! We were all freaking out!



Aren't those awesome pictures of Isaiah and I bowling? Oh wait... no! We're not bowling, that's us studying for our finals at the bowling alley. Great job planning mandatory events there Kyle! (And by the way, I got a perfect score on my final! My boycott of bowling paid off!)

So, remember that poem I told you about? You do! Well, I performed it today! Here's the video of the excerpt I did for our presentation, then after that is the full poem that I wrote.

We had to do something that related back to our scholarships so I wrote mine about discrimination of Mexican immigrants and reverse discrimination It is entitled "Why Does Color Matter (Products of America)".

Never mind, the video doesn't want to upload, so it's just the poem!

Why Does Color Matter (Products of America)

By: Ali

Summer heat,

cold drink.

See the sweat

drip.

Suburban life,

born white.

I am a product

of America.

            Dark night,

            cold sand.

            Feel my hands

            shake.

            Frightened, desperate

gunshots, “Pah!”

            We just want a

            better life.

Dark skin,

shifty eyes.

They’ll never be

American.

Illegal immigrants,

border hoppers:

go back to your

own country.

            Tan skin,

            brown eyes.

            I’m not like

            them.

            I’m happy –

            being me.

            Will this ever be

            my home?      

New boy,

from Mexico.

He doesn’t fit

in.

My fists,

My message.

Why the hell are

you here?

            Sister dead

            at border.

            Grandfather is in

            jail.

            Father can’t

            get work.

            Why the hell are

            we here?

I’m strong,

he’s weak.

I like this

feeling.

Why stop?

It’s too fun.

He’s not even a

real human.

            I scream,

            no reply.

            They won’t help

            me.

            Why won’t

            they, “STOP!”

            I cry, but they

            only laugh.

Moved schools,

no whites.

I’m the only

one.

Oh no,

he’s here.

Please Lord don’t let

him remember.

            Moved schools,

            no whites.

            This could be

            fun.

            Oh look,

            he’s here.

            Thank you God for

            this revenge.

Taste copper,

bloody nose.

I’m trapped in

hell.

How is

this fair?

I’m sorry for everything

I did.

            He’s weak,

            I’m strong.

            Now he knows

            pain.

            I’ll beat

            him blue –

            Wait… when did I become

            the monster?

I’m sorry

I hurt you.

            I’m sorry too.

            How did this happen?

We’re all human.

            We all have purpose.

So tell me,

Why does color matter?

 

Anyway... throughout this summer, we've been doing community service work at the Boys and Girls club every Monday and Wednesday morning. Well, this past Wednesday was my last day with all the little munchkins and I'm going to miss all their bright, shining faces... even the obnoxious ones.

It was really fun being there because the little girls were just in love with all of us girls. They wanted to braid our hair and sit in our laps and stuff: it was so adorable.

I tried my hardest to entertain the kids. So I found my inner Brookhill Counselor and taught them all of the games I knew from Hodge Podge. Their favorites were Ships & Sailors and Mafia. The boys especially loved Mafia. They were always adamant about playing and would even go ask all the other kids to play so they would have a big enough group for it to be fun.

I got roped into numerous games of tag, volleyball, kickball, pretend, pool, Foosball, etc. and loved every minute of it because I knew the kids were happy I was there.

And some of my little artists are even so talented that I plan to display their masterpieces on the wall in my dorm next year. They were on display in the room I'm in now, but I had to take them down when I packed everything up.

Here are a few pictures of them. I didn't get to take pictures with the little ones, but hopefully I'll be able to go back and they'll still remember me!

So, today is Thursday. This is my last night here. We had our ending ceremony this afternoon so a bunch of people left already, but we're trying to make the most of our last time to be together.

It's going to be weird not to see all of them everyday; I know it's been less than four weeks, but it feels like it's been an entire semester. Whether they believe me or not, I am going to miss every single person in this program and I will treasure every moment I get to see them next year.

I wish them all the best in their endeavors.

Well, I'm hopping on a plane tomorrow so they next time you hear from me I'll be in Florida! Whoop!!!

See you there!

As A+ As Always,

Ali

As Technologically Savvy As Always

Having fun with computers!

... I might've accidentally killed it, oops!

Moving on, I visited the Buddha Mind Monastery yesterday and did a lot of manual labor- oh! I mean "working meditation". It was not worth it!
  
We had to go for our religion class and it was cool to see their culture even if there was no way they were gonna get me to bow to Buddha! They fed us a vegan lunch too. It was ok. Personally, I wasn't all that impressed, but that may just be because I'm more of a steak and ribs girl myself!

Overall it was an interesting experience, but I don't think I ever want to go back! (Sorry cute little bald nuns)

I fixed my computer!!! Yay!!! I will never again watch TV on sketchy sites again because that was way more confusing than I ever thought it would be. Thank you daddy for helping me!

There's really nothing else to say, I had a lazy weekend! I literally did not even get out of bed at all on Friday. :D

As Technologically Savvy As Always,

Ali

As Collegiate As Always

 

Yes, this is the beautiful picture of a girl who took her first ever college exam yesterday. That's right folks, that attractive girl right there took her Religion midterm and survived with only slightly major injuries. Yay! Studying in my forlorn corner of the library paid off!

 

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!

I only have two real days of classes left! Huzzah!

 

Short update, haven't done much! Sorry guys!

 

As Collegiate As Always,

 

Ali

As Poetic As Always

So... hey! It's been a while, how've you been? Good, good, glad to hear it! Me? Oh! I've been great! I'm just really wondering about something right now... you wanna help me figure out the answer? Ok!

So I'm trying to figure out which of the following just drove out my roommate and her two male visitors:

A. My disapproving glare
B. My silent brooding
C. My sarcastic smile
D. All of the above

You think it's D.? Me too!

I'm not going to comment any further on what just happened, but can I just say, "Oh darling."

So I'm studying for my midterm right now, but I got a little bored so I figured I would write to all you wonderful people who miss my beautiful voice... my writing voice...

Can I just start off by saying that my mom and dad should be so proud of me! Not only am I actually studying, but I turned down the offer of being emailed a "cheat sheet" (completed study guide) for this exam. I'm either going to know the answers on my own or I'm not going to know the answers on my own. Someone else's study guide won't help me figure out what I need to review.

Speaking of my World Religion class, the class I have a midterm for, I found it fairly entertaining today when, for entertainment, the girl next to me counted how many times out Professor chuckled, said "Fascinating", or said, "Isn't that interesting." Chuckles got up to 193, fascinatings got 46, and interstings got 71. The theme here: Professor May is a very repetitive man.

UPDATE: I'm sure you're all wondering about what happened to the cockroach. Yes, anyone? Well, I'm happy to inform you that the cockroach was meticulously split into seven pieces by our very own Jake and was promptly disposed of! Yay for dead cockroaches! I have yet to see another one, but I have my poison trap things ready incase the cockroach population comes seeking revenge.

So I wanted to post pictures of our awesome trip to River Sports, but Sydney hasn't put them up on Facebook yet so I just have to tell you about it. Basically: 6-Story Ropes Course. Not only that, but at the very top there was this perch that went out that had hay directly underneath on the ground, so naturally we all had to take Assassin's Creed/Batman pictures on the perch! I will post the pictures here after I bully Sydney!

Now, the meat of the post!

We had to do this... project. It wasn't for a grade, but serious bragging rights were involved. We had this awesome poet called Q (because no one could pronounce his name) come and teach us about poetry with the intention that we were going to create a piece about a historical event that related to our scholarship. That means that us Clara Luper Scholarship people has to relate it to underrepresented groups, discrimination, leaders of movements, etc.

Now, I hope to get someone to video me when I read it for our presentation, if so I will post that video. Until then, I am going to tease you with the first stanza of the poem I wrote. It's nothing spectacular, but I'm proud of it! Here goes:

Summer heat,
cold drink.
See the sweat
drip.
Suburban life,
born white.
I am a product
of America.

That's just the first stanza and I will post the entire thing soon!

Oh! Random! I got to watch Spirited Away for extra credit in my World Religion class. That was awesome! One of my favorite movies AND credit for a class, so there!

Until next time my friends!

As poetic as always,

Ali

As First Posty As Always

So... hello! I'm honestly not too sure about how to do this, so please forgive me my mishaps or boorish nature. I mainly decided to start this since I figured my family would probably want to know what I'm doing and I'm not a Facebook freak. I do like to write though and while I initially wanted to just do a video blog cause I knew I would talk a lot, I believe this really might just be my niche.

Now, for everyone who's been living under an abnormally large rock for the past month or so, I'm at college! Yay! I'm actually at the end of my second week at Mind The Gap and have two more weeks before vacationing and starting real college. Can I just say, this is really weird. I feel like I'm in some foggy, vertigo-y limbo where nothing actually works the way it will, but it's still new and different to little Ali.

Currently, I am here:


View Larger Map

This amazing place is called Oklahoma City University! Yes, bask in its awesomeness!

Well, I'm not going to bore you all with the details of the lack-luster food, the classes that barely hold my interest, or the intriguing dorm situation and am instead going to tell you about all the fun stuff! Say it with me, "Yay! Fun stuff!"

It's really late so I'm only going to share two adventures (don't cry, there will be more soon!):

Adventure Numero Uno:

Last Friday (July12th) we (my Mind the Gap peeps and I) went to the Chickasaw Cultural Center. I posted all the pictures on Facebook so you can look at them there, but I forgot my camera and was only taking pictures with my phone so there's a lot of stuff that could've been there that isn't that I, in my infinite wonderfulness, will now tell you about.

It was about an hour and a half drive out there which was fine with me cause I got to listen to my awesome book: Ender's Shadow for the win! When we first drove up I noticed that the complex was BEAUTIFUL! The Chickasaw spent a lot of time and money to make sure that this place looked good and did it look good. All the buildings were made out of natural materials so it was all stone, wood, and steel and looked really well designed.

They also had all this open space between each building where incredible gardens were grown, each with a purpose and symbolic meaning. There was also this water feature that ran through most of the complex and I... found these steps that went down into the water and I really wanted to stick my feet in but I knew I would probably get yelled at and I didn't want to cause issues so I didn't get to, but I wanted to!

After participating in some stomp dances, we went down to this area where they build an accurate village like what the Chickasaw used to live in. They said that on weekends they would have their ladies down there making breads and clothing like the Chickasaw ladies normally would which would have been so cool to see.

We were also introduced to a game called Stickball. To me it seems like an early form of Lacrosse. This game was invented as an alternative to war. Basically, there's this big wooden pole in the middle of a field and all guys (5 on each team) get two sticks with nets on the end. They have to scoop and toss the ball and try to throw it up to hit near the top of the pole. But, there an no boundaries when it comes to hitting with the sticks. As long as someone has the ball, you are allowed to hit him as hard as you want...

Before I continue I would like you all to know that I just stood on my roommates bed at three o'clock in the morning attempting to trap a cockroach under our trashcan. He is still of the loose and I'm having a mild heart attack, I will keep you updated on my progress.

Anyway... Stickball! Coed games are particularly entertaining because the females do not use sticks, they get to use their hands to grab the ball and can claw, bite, scratch, kick, punch- do basically whatever to the guys to get the ball without fear of the guys hitting back because even then they knew not to hit a lady.

Although we did not get to play, it was really cool being there and getting to go through their museum and everything and I would very muchly like to go back someday and see the village when everyone's in it.

Adventure Number 2:

I got to go into the city for the first time since I've been here! It's been difficult to make friends since most the kids... adult people... fellow scholars are doing stupid stuff. No, I don't want to go to the club with you. No, I don't care for Casinos. No, drinking so much alcohol that I throw up and can't remember a thing in the morning including where my license is doesn't sound fun. No, I really don't want to go to a Hookah Bar...

Our power just went out. This is seriously freaking me out right now. What if someone tries to break in... What if the cockroach comes back? Unh... I'm just going to keep typing and ignore the scary, silent, imposing, foreboding, enclosing, pee-my-pants freaky darkness...

Heh, heh... where was I?

Ok, so all those things that I've just mentioned are things people have already done that I've heard about or things they asked me to do with them. You can see my dilemma. I've made a few friends and tonight I went into the city with them to Marble Slab.

Downtown Oklahoma City is super pretty. There are all these different districts in OKC and our university is kinda in the Asian District, but mostly in The Paseo. We drove to Bricktown and parked at the end of the River Walk so we could walk and take pretty pictures and stuff.

It is so nice down there and I loved it! After we got ice cream, some of us were walking and this tour boat full of people went by. Sydney (a musical theatre major) and I decided we were going to act like Disney Princesses and wave and say hi to the people in the boat and stuff.

Why? Cause we're weirdos! So this lady in the boat so thought we had been drinking which we all found very ironic all things considered.

Anyway, there's this square that's just super pretty. There's a really big fountain and an awesome looking movie theatre and all these swanky restaurants and stuff and a sit down Sonic! It's in the middle of the city so there's no place to drive-up at all, it's all inside. I found that so strange.

The good news though is that those cool people want to do more cool, non-harmful and stupid stuff and invited me! YAY!!!!!!

When Sydney puts the pictures she took up on Facebook, I will put them up here for all you people... or something like that!

I have no clue how often I'm going to post or anything, sorry. I'm going to try to post at least once a week, but then you might just sick of me! :D

Until next time!

As always,

Ali

UPDATE!!! Not only did we finally regain power, but the cockroach reappeared with a vengeance; he came charging out from underneath Abbie's bed and I'm so happy my feet were not on the floor or bad things might've happened. He is now successfully trapped underneath the trashcan and numerous heavy things are ensuring that he will not escape anytime soon!