Hello from New York!

I'm staying in New York with my friend Alex for a day before we head off to Kenya in just a few hours!!!

I haven't ever spent much time in New York, and it is quite an incredible city. I got a tour of the city going from the airport, and we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art today. Simply spectacular. We saw impressionist art, as well as life-sized Egyptian buildings. We had lunch at the museum cafe, and Alex's family is really nice! We even visited his grandpa in his apartment looking out over central park. (Picture #1)

However, I've got to say, the snow was probably my favorite! They had just had a blizzard, and there was over a foot left. I have never seen so much snow except for in the mountains. Just walking around was difficult, and sledding was amazing!! (Picture #2)

See you guys in London on our layover to Africa!

Goodbye!

I'm off to New York tomorrow and from there off to Kenya! It's going to be a great adventure. Today I packed and said goodbye to my family, and to the dog :(

I love my family, but I'm super excited for Kenya, so I've decided to teach you all a Swahili word. The word of the day is Hujambo (Pronounced who- jahm-bow). It is a greeting literally meaning "no problems" to which the correct answer is "sijambo" meaning "no problems.

Hujambo?

Sijambo!

Isn't Swahili great?

I'll try to keep this blog updated with exciting pictures from the orphanage, but with less internet, posts will probably be less frequent.

Bye for now, and a happy new year! I'll be flying as the year changes over, so I thought I better wish you all a happy new year now :)

And now for only $19.99...

This was a wonderful Christmas. I got a Kindle from my brother, and it is really cool! The screen is amazing, and you can highlight sections and even take notes in it, which automatically upload to the internet for easy viewing and use. Plus, there are tons of books you can get for free! All the old out of print books like Little Women or Robin hood are free for instant download, and they do promotions where new books are free too. It even has a translator where I can read spanish and I can scroll to a word I don't know and it will translate it for me. I can't wait to use it in class. And, if you buy one now for only 5 payments of $19.99, we will throw in a free Rubber Knife, now even duller. Ever been cut on a knife? Well, with the Rubber Knife, no more!

Anywho, before I sound too much like an advertisement, let me tell you about my other favorite present.I got a camera, a really nice digital one, so I photographed some birds to show off my awesome zoom!

Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays!

I arrived home to a wonderful family and a big white fluffy dog named Misha. My parents are fostering her until she can find a home, but it is pretty funny because my dog growing up was named Meshka, and she was also a samoyed, so the resemblence is pretty amazing. I love dogs, and I definitely miss pets in dorm life.

I keep this blog mostly for my Mom and Dad to keep in touch, and my Mom keeps one too! (Pretty cool, huh). So, it has been fun to have my family give me suggestions of what I shoud have in my blog while I'm here, like a picture of Misha. We also took a family picture. Here it is! Note Matthew's sweater vest! (He has taken to wearing a pocket protector too).

A Photoshopped Christmas

It is snowing, and the whole world seems to be in the Christmas mood. I even saw one of Santa's little helpers walking through campus (Picture 3). Yet I am definitely ready to come home. Here's a little poem for you.

The snow softly falling on the cold Cambridge ground

Yet Harvard is quiet with hardly a sound

Most everyone has already flown home

And the remaining students study alone

Out the frosty window we stare

And shiver as we reach for our old teddy bear

Wishing we were home with Mom and Dad

And we can't help but feel just a little sad...

Cause the Christmas season seems a bit repressed

When instead of baking Christmas cookies

You instead have to take a test :(

Adventures in holiday pictures

My roommates and I have an incredible tradition of taking silly Christmas pictures next to an object that is not a Christmas tree but which resembles a Christmas tree.

For example, last year we decorated a floor lamp with lights and ornaments, and this year we decorated our plant, who is named Harriette (Yes, with that spelling).

So, HERE THEY ARE! We have the nice ones for the grandparents and relatives and then our silly one.

Merry Christmas to all!

Ivet's Birthday

Ivet was my roommate freshman year, and even though we don't live together anymore :( we are still really good friends, and TODAY WAS HER 18th BIRTHDAY! (Yes, that does mean she was 16!!! when she started college. So, we all went out to eat to celebrate.

Freedom:)

It's finals week at Harvard. Students have stopped eating. They have stopped showering. They have begun living in the library (actually).

However, one Laura D'Asaro is well-fed, clean, and getting a good 9 hours of sleep a night. The way my exam schedule worked out, I have alreay taken most of my finals, and I only have one more on the 21st, Thus, I have a whole week left to just enjoy myself, and try not to bother all my studying friends. So, she has been doing things like painting her face with the Kirkland shield, making gingerbread men that look like her roommates, and decorating the common room.

:)

My life in a Closet

As you recall, I live in a closet. It was the only way my roommate Miriam and I could de-bunk, and it has actually turned out to be quite handy. It's cozy inside, and since we have very different schedules, she can have the light on in the main room while it can be dark enough for me to sleep in my cute little nook. And, I can have the light on at 7:30 in the morning and study there without waking up Miriam.

But anyway, this last week, I found a new use for my closet! If I fold the mattress up, I can close the door to the closet and have a tiny room of my own to hull myself up in and study. I had a huge paper due today for my African studies class about how food aid can act like any other natural resource and can be stolen and used to feed violence and war. So, I brought my laptop and all my books inside, taped all my ideas all around me, and just didn't come out of my closet until I was done with my rough draft.

I'm procrastinating at the moment, but come 5:00 PM tonight, I will be officially done with all my classes except for one final in statistics!

Now a week of freedom lies in front of me! What ever shall I do?

I heart you, closet :)

Secret Santa Part 3

Here is the final book in amazing saga of magic and wonder that is Secret Santa Week!!!!

First, we made my roommate Miriam into the Skittles girl by making a rainbow in the basement, and then blindfolded her, kidnapped her, and dragged her away from studying, and thew Skittles at her to let her taste the rainbow!!!! (Picture 1)

The same day, I returned to find my room (closet) full of balloons! (Picture 2).

There were so many, and I am scared of popping balloons, so I just slept with all the balloons the last 2 nights.

My roommates even made a skit for me, where they dressed in African clothes and read off the "7 best things about Laura" in Swahili using Google Translator (It was terrible Swahili but I love them anyway)!!!

Last night was the dinner and dance for Kirkland, with beautifully decorated tables, wine, and speeches. It was very fancy, and I love this picture of my roommates and I all dressed up! (Picture 3)

Then after dinner we got to find out our Santas!!! Here is a picture of me and my Santee!

(Picture 4)

Kirkland house has a tradition called "Incestfest" where everyone goes to a big suite in Kirkland, where the only decoration is mistletoe, and well... there is a lot of people holding mistletoe above people's heads and kissing... AND every year they come up with the top ten people to kiss, and I was #2! I had already decided I wasn't going to kiss anyone, so I was a little scared... But I kissed a lot of people on the cheek and my guy friends protected me :)

What a crazy amazing week!

I have one 10-12 page paper for Africa Studies, one Spanish essay, one final for Swahili, one paper and one final for Statistics, and then I'll be done!

Secret Santa Week Continued

This week is so amazing. SO stressful, and just like nothing else I have ever seen. Imagine highly motivated and capable students putting all their energy into creating skits, making movies, filling rooms with balloons, creating crime scenes and puzzles and scavenger hunt and so much more! At every dinner this week, there have been almost constant skits, which consist of theater or dance or music etc. for a person! So much fun.

Today we had a surprise glow stick party for Rose, where her santa bought hundreds of glow sticks, and we even had a strobe light!

Then, I walked into the bathroom, and this is what I found!! One of my fantasies has always been to swim in jello or slime, and I walked in to find the tub full of slime!!!!

I'm going to take a bath in it tomorrow. I'll post more then.

:) :) Plus, I'm ALMOST DONE WITH MY FIRST SEMESTER! I took two finals this week, and I only have 3 classes left :)