Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Jan 6, 2010


After many hours in the office this morning, I felt only slightly more accomplished. We had made a plan for our money exchange, we had printed our return tickets for our files, we had turned in our passport pictures, and signed up for our liberal arts classes, and had finally switched classes. This took a few hours, however, and by the time I was able to leave the office, I was headed to a completely new room of people, new professor, new subject… and all of this 45 minutes late.
            The classroom was cool and dark, a nice change from my other classroom, and there were groups of students working on different projects. The different project ideas were explained to me and the option for a personal project. Immediately assuming that everyone in the class knew a lot more than I about User Interface Design, I almost immediately signed myself over to work with a group. I was given a few hours, however, to explore and brainstorm in case I should change my mind, which I did. I browsed the FWA sites, Hook, and links our professor had put up, and talked it over with Aaron, who suggested I just work on survival, UI comes as a second priority. I thought I would do a website dealing with photo streaming, and then realized it is not the function of photostreaming that I am so drawn to, it’s the emphasis on the visual instead of the textual/informational that I am so interested in. I shut the computer and went outside to think and talk it over with the girls from my visual literacy class.
            While back at my computer, it hit me- I am studying for a minor in the programs for the environment, and I love learning about all the crazy, terrible trouble our world is in, I am constantly complaining about not being able to fix anything, so why would that not be the FIRST thing to pop into my head upon receiving a very open project? Excited, I got to work.
            We have been told to dream big, and have fun- I am doing both. I am very excited, and very scared to eventually try and learn to build this site. I have a lot of information that I need to organize and a lot of details to work out, which is why I will have to cut this a bit short.
            I was very nervous to be switching into a higher level class, (James has been complaining about how hard his 4th year class is, and is actually switching out) but right now I am just so happy to be learning something I actually want to learn. We are in a google group, which allows easy sharing of information, resources, and discussion, and the other students are very helpful and friendly.
            I am excited to actually start sketching these things out and working through how this system is going to work. I need to write up a number of questions to begin asking others about as well as start sketching.
            Tonight we go to the city! We leave at 5:30 and will be attempting to fit 8 people in a… 5 person little car… we may have to get an autorickshaw. We got an autorickshaw this morning, five of us- which was a crunch, but it got us to class in time to sit on the couch for an hour and wait for the faculty we needed to show up. We ate fruit this morning, fruit we bought last night in the market! Fruit that the man had wrapped up in a basket with colored paper, a blue basket and a bow! Everything was mini compared to home, considering it is real… delicious!
            James and I got delicious coffee and cookies while we waited, it made things much nicer. We have a short walk from the old campus to the new every day. It is busy, on the side of a street, it is dirty-my feet turn black and I am constantly surprised I am not impailing my feet with shards of glass, and it is… getting easier-to avoid the stares, and ignore the clarity of our distant home.


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