when i say "condor", you say "ca-caawww!".

that happened a lot this week as i tried to keep the attention of my cabin of 5th graders. the school i worked with this week sent 115 students...which means a lot of kiddos running around the woods.

all in all, the week went smoothly. i had a few diva queens in my cabin, but overall, the girls were really fun!

there was one point when they started talking about goof balls, then goof sticks, then a sticky ball and then added a monkey into it. needless to say, the other instructors around and i were cracking up but had to let the conversation continue. interrupting it to tell them it was borderline inappropriate would have opened up a can of worms none of us wanted to deal with.

i've decided to have monthly focuses from now on for my entries during the rest of the spring season at high trails. i feel like i'm finally getting used to my job so that there aren't as many exciting day-to-day things to reflect on, so having an aspect of life here to ponder about might spice up the entries.

here's what i came up with:

february - the people
march - the land
april - the food
may - the road ahead

in other life news, i'm about 95% sure i'm going to return to high trails in the falls, so i've started applying to summer positions. i want to do something fun, exciting and outside.

ALSO! i went english country dancing last weekend in LA and stopped by hollywood! pretty exciting : ) there's a jane austen themed dance in vegas coming up in may. i'm pretty set on going. i even found out that wild asparagus (my favorite contra dance band) hosts a dance week in hawaii in march. there's no way i can afford to go this year, but i'm going to start saving my pennies for 2012!

is it really 90 degrees in january?

the view from my cabin.

yes. last weekend when i went to visit my best bud from middle school who lives north of LA, it was 90 degrees. in the middle of january. slightly unbelievable.

up in the mountains, the temperatures have been in the 60s during the day and cooling off to the 30s and 40s at night, but this is still a type of winter i am not used to at all.

when i returned from break, i found out i had a sinus infection. i was working in the kitchen, so it was refreshing to be away from the kiddos and do really methodical work (lots of chopping vegetables and doing dishes). i had a nice break in the middle of the day to rest and felt much healthier by the end of the week.

this week, i worked in the field. the foot of snow that graced camp over break only remains in patches, but the students were still quite excited to play in it. i had a good week in the field. some of the students were awesome, but i could tell some others didn't like me for not letting them throw snowballs at each other. oh well! as a whole, my field group had a lot of energy. they loved singing songs and playing games, which was good for keeping them warm!

so many dishes!

in other work news, i've switched project areas, meaning the area of camp i'm in charge of keeping organized. i was with teacher housing...which is basically like being a housekeeper. but now i'm working with the project boxes (our experiment materials, books, library, beads, etc). i really like the switch.

in general, i'm enjoying life up in the mountains. i adore my cabin in the woods and love my work. the adjustment to working in the snow had been challenging, but i can't wait for more snow so i can finally bust out my snowshoes!

san fernando valley (n. los angeles).

made a list of goals for the year including trying a new recipe once a week, working out 3 times a week and saving at least half of my paychecks through june. so far, so good!

usa rail pass: anatomy of a cross country train trip.

3 weeks.
7 destinations.
1 backpack.


that was my mission on this trip. i packed for the trip strategically and used everything in my backpack except for my little black dress (which i intended to wear on NYE but wore sweatpants for the occasion instead). the only items i am still missing are mini umbrella and a pair of gloves, but those are easily replaced. i packed extra totebags for carrying the food and other souveniers along the way (including a octopus stuffed animal i plan to send to a friend). i had enough extra items to keep myself entertained, and i didn't have to strain myself over having too much stuff.


the trip certainly presented its challenges with train and car accidents, major delays, losing loved ones and sketchy bus rides. despite everything, i had a good time. i didn't sleep as much as i wanted and could probably have used a break from my break, but considering all of the friends and family i visited, it was a good use of my time and money.


over my 3 week break, i spent nearly 170 hours on a plane, train or automobile. almost one fifth of the total time of my break. golly gee.


here are some photos i didn't get a chance to post:

bear outside the state capitol in sacramento.

final sunset on the train. somewhere in central CA.