Sun and Snow

Nothing like Kalamazoo in April. Last Sunday was a beautiful day. I spent all afternoon in a tank top out on the quad in the sunshine doing reading. Last week was chilly, but not cold. I wore jeans and short-sleeved tops with sweaters. This morning I woke up and looked out my window, and there was snow on the ground. It wasn't just snowing and melting when the snowflakes landed--there was already at least an inch. By the time I finished my 8:30 class, there were about three inches and more was coming. By the time my 10:00 class was over, it had stopped snowing and all the snow was melting. At 4, when my last class ended, there was no snow and hardly any puddles. Michigan is confused.

On the bright side, it's been so long since I've been around snow that it's pretty exciting for me.

I love my college. I love that no matter where I am on campus, I will probably run into someone I know, we will be thrilled to see each other, and we will try to catch up. I feel like I always have things to do and people to see. I'm just so happy here. That feeling I had freshman year, when I would walk down Academy street and look up at the trees and brick buildings and just grin? It's still there, just as fresh as ever.

The circus performance last weekend went really well. The audiences loved it, and we collected over $250 in donations, which is going to SenCirk (the circus group I worked with in Senegal)! They were so welcoming and wonderful to me, I'm thrilled that I can do something to support them. I feel like they're deserving of the money because they let anyone join the troupe. They teach people skills and allow them to earn money in an economy with a 50% unemployment rate. It's pretty amazing, and they're a remarkably talented group. To top it all, they're warm-hearted, generous, funny, welcoming, and enthusiastic.

I'm loving my classes. I've gotten to a point in my studies of Africa where I understand enough that I feel like I'm looking at a jigsaw puzzle. I can see the pieces, and I feel like they should fit together, but everyone is so set on jamming the pieces in that they've gotten warped and broken. Thinking about what makes government fail in Africa literally keeps me up at night. It's sort of a cool feeling, to have developed a passion like that for my studies.

I'm so content with my life. Hopefully spring will come soon and make it even better.