que increible

i would like to point out that it is june 27th. twenty seven of june. 4 days and it will be july. JULY. how did this happen? it seems like just yesterday my friends and family were crammed on the roof of my LA apartment, celebrating my graduation from UCLA. my dad wearing his 'riordan's pub' appron, holding a platter of chicken, threatening to start stripping if people didnt eat the food soon. my sister shaving her legs for the occasion. my little cousins-- all right, they are all much taller than me and perhaps more mature despite my being older-- looking all grown up. (apart from the vicious wet-willy war that we were waging against each other.) shooting the shit with friends that i have not seen since that summer... eating so much spinach dip that i felt ill. was that really last june? i refuse to acknowledge that i have been out of school for over a year. la la la la. not listening.

the past few years feel surreal. when i started university, i would never have pegged myself as a traveler, but 2 years ago this time i was boarding a plane for Australia to study in northern Queensland for 6 months. trips to the barrier reef, taxonomy and research projects in the rainforest, traveling in New Zealand. strategies for crocodile rolls and dingo hunting with andy, simon and darren. rugby world cup games, nights out with heather, emiley, jackie and ashlee. just hanging out and enjoying the company of amazing friends that i should keep in better touch with. the time passed in the blink of an eye.

living in Friday Harbor (San Juan Island) for 3 months doing a research in biological oceanography and pelagic ecosystem function, with yet another amaing group of people: wednesday night at herbs, the snake lady at halloween, the tommy thompson, cider pressing on the dock, nights out on the dock watching the bioluminescence from the dinos as they were swept into the posts. learning to drive boats. net tows and CTD casts off the back to the centennial in nasty WA November weather, getting blown around on the back of the boat, salt water and rain water managing to get up the nose. counting plankton and analyzing the CTD data while listening to david sederis on CD. my awesome roommate.

and i can hardly believe that i have been living in costa rica for over 4 months now. doing my own research in the rainforest. traveling to Panama and Nicaragua. i am not ready to go back to the US, but i'm not sure that i ever really will be. i cant decide whether i'm terrified that i'm leaving in just 3 months because i dont know that awaits me when i get back to CA. or because i really like it here, and i wish i could drop everything and live here for a couple of years. which is equally terrifying.

I'm just waiting to wake up from this exciting dream. to shake hands and meet this person who is leading my life, because it doesnt feel like me.