Winter Break

Picture of me on my first trip up a ski lift... Big Bear Mountain, California.... January 3rd, 2010.


Winter break was wonderful. I spent lots of time with my family and friends and realized how badly I needed to finish this damn dissertation and get out of NC. The American Historical Association's annual conference was in San Diego this year and some of my fellow historian colleagues began to ask me, "WHY DID YOU LEAVE SAN DIEGO?!" in a slightly exasperated manner. I have no answer other than I *thought* I could find better in the world. I have found a lot of beauty by leaving San Diego.... the beauty of Mexico City with its hustle and bustle combined with AMAZING history.... Cuba, in its state of ruins and filled with a past I never even knew, and through some good friends I have met along the way.... Naomi, Monique, Luis, Roshan (when he doesn't piss me off).... but I have also learned that San Diego really is fabulous.

Between Abuelita making hilarious comments and my mother nagging me about the obvious, I returned to an empty house in Chapel Hill and just thought.... wow, being a grad student is a lonely, quiet -- too quiet-- existence.

Here is a funny quote from my abuelita where she talks about how lucky I am to even walk straight based on the genes I inherited from my father's side of the family-- you need to speak a very proficient spanglish to understand:

“Mira, gracias a dios tu puedes caminar derechito. Durante tu bautizo, yo estaba en la casa de tu madrina…. Y tu tía Ana estaba ahí y teníamos que quedar juntitas en un cuarto. Cuando fuimos preparando para dormir tu tía se puso a cruzarse, de repente estaba clapping and putting her hands up to the sky! Estaba esperando algo, de verdad, como estaba esperando algo!…. Y yo quieta en la cama. No quería dormirme ahí… pensé que el cielo me iba a caer encima. Tanta brujería de una señora que parecía tan normal. Ay, Clarisita, gracias a dios tu puedes caminar derechito, solo dios sabe lo que estaba haciendo la señora esa. De ahí vienes tu, gracias a dios tu eres normal...”