Waiting for News on my Internship

So, I decided that this will be the official blog for my upcoming internship. I'm new to the blog world, but it seems like there is nothing wrong with writing your thoughts down for people to see. I find it easier to write here than a journal, maybe its the fact that I hate handwriting and find it much easier to type everything, anyway enough of that.

Back to the internship, I am currently enrolled in a Masters program at UC Santa Barbara which requires a six month internship abroad. Many of my classmates are just now finalizing their internship arrangements. Some will be traveling to Europe, others to Asia, DC and who knows where else. I am not sure if anyone but me will be making a trip to Latin America, but I am very excited to have this opportunity. The idea of traveling to far off lands where people have a better grasp on what it means to be human is very intriguing. Not that people in America don't have a sense of humanity, they do, however I feel that much is lost in the 9-5 world that we live here. We have been desensitized to nature, and in a way to our own humanity. Through this internship I hope to gain some of that lost humanity back.

Unfortunately for me, my boss who is supposed to set up my internship arrangement is lagging on his offer. So far he has told me that he would help me get an internship if I work for him during my six months off school. I hesitantly agreed, many of you know that this is the very same man who told me that he was going to send me to Colombia, Ecuador, and Argentina last summer and ended up reneging his invitation. This was an embarrassing set of events for me since I told many people about the trip that never ended up happening. To this day, people still ask me how my trip to South America went. I learned a valuable lesson. I will no longer say any of my future plans to any of my friends. If they want to know about them, they are just going to have to read them here.

So, here I am, this is going to be the first installment of my many adventures. I am about two months away from heading to I don't know where. Mr. Kerry (my boss) has not answered an e-mail that I sent him specifically for him to tell me what my internship will entail. What will I be doing? Where will I live? How long will I be there? How much will my salary be? These are just some of the questions I have asked him; he hasn't answered any of them. At this moment I am starting to get concerned with my precarious situation. From my current understanding, If I don't get an internship, my thesis will be very difficult to write, since it should be based on my experiences there.

What I am hoping that come out of this internship is a better understanding of the Third Sector. I am thinking of pursuing a career in the non-profit world, or perhaps in the Foreign Service, this trip should help me make up my mind. So, I guess I have a lot riding on it. Anyway, the best case scenario is one where I will be able to travel to different foundations and check out their development projects on the field. I would also like to get some free time, at least a few weeks to visit my family in Mexico. I have not seen them in several years and visiting them would be very exciting. I will try to keep this blog up to date with anything that has to do with this internship experience, which seems to be coming closer and closer.

I flushed my Keys Down the Toilet

No, the title is not a clever trick I devised to get people to read my blog. I really did flush my keys down the toilet. No, this is not an interesting story about me meeting a famous dignitary such as Madeline Albright or Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas; it truly is the story of how I flushed my keys down the toilet.

So last night at around 11 p.m. my roommates and I decided to go play basketball at the old gym. My roommate Miguel works in the gym so we get full access to the facilities after 11. Anyway, I decided to take my cell phone, a couple of dollars (for Gatorade etc.) and my house keys. Since I was running a little late, I decided not to go at home and hold it until I got to the gym, bad idea.

So anyway, I'm sure you just want to know how the hell I flushed them down the toilet. I mean, how can someone be so stupid, right? Okay, here goes. Whenever I play basketball I always wear my UCSB hooded sweater, it has a big front pocket where I put my belongings when I play. Anyway, so I got to the bathroom and start pissing in one of the normal stalls, not the urinals, I don't know why, don't ask. The first thing that came to mid when I saw the toilet was dang that's gross. The toilet was filled with yellow water and toilet paper, it seems someone else had used the toilet earlier and forgot to flush. Being nothing out of the ordinary in a men's bathroom I ignored it and went about my business.

As I finished my business I decided that I was not about to touch the flush handle with my hands. Like many other times, I decided to use my foot to push the handle and flush the toilet. As I lifted my foot to flush the toilet, my big sweater pocket opened up and my phone and keys fell out of my pocket. I still remember it all as if it was in slow motion. I managed to slap my cell phone from falling into the water, but as I tried to contemplate what had just happened I realized that my keys did fall into the toilet and that I had, in fact, flushed the damned thing. Being an industrial sized toilet, not uncommon in gymnasiums or other public places, the toilet had a strong flush. I managed to get a glimpse of my keys and without hesitation I put my hand in the flushing toilet. I almost had my keys. I missed them by several milliseconds. All I had was a hand full of yellow toilet paper to show for my efforts.

I was so embarrassed and amazed at what had just happened. I wasn't even mad, I was impressed. I never thought something like that could happen to me. In total, I lost my brand new 1 GB jump drive, I had just bought it Sunday night. Megan's spare car key, my apt keys, my bike key, several other small keys, and Gerry and Bob's key (they live in DC good luck making a duplicate). At the very minimum, that flush cost me a good $50, at most it cost me several years of key collecting.

Before you begin to laugh at my misfortunes just remember, life throws many unexpected things at you. Just when you think you have the rights keys to your life in your hand, you often end up with nothing but a wad of nasty yellow toilet paper to show for it. And if you're lucky, a good story to go along with it.