Packing: Boxes, Bins, and Suitcases

I wish I had bags like this!

I've always dreaded the act of packing. I think it has something to do with having to physically place my life in boxes. Those horrible cardboard boxes.

Some boxes get filled, while others don't. I start thinking that the empty space in those boxes are really just representations or reminders of what's somehow unfilled in my life. But then I argue with myself and say that maybe the space is what has yet to be filled so I should really just be excited. Then of course my senses actually set in and I tell myself that I probably shouldn't have stolen boxes that big from behind Publix.

Of course you have to be careful how you pack because you don't want the boxes and suitcases too heavy  to the point where you can't lift them. Here my mind wonders again. Do I have too many boxes, to much stuff for a 20 year old? Am I the equivalent of a bag lady?

I recently moved into my new apartment complex (the last one for the rest of my undergraduate career).  I started to sing the theme song from the movie Rent while inserting the fact that I measure my life in the boxes.

Another thing packing always seems to highlight is the releasing of what you don't need (unless of course you're a hoarder). By the end of my Rent singalong I had five large suitcases, a trunk, three boxes full of books, five reusable bags full of kitchen crap, and mounds of trash.

BUT the ordeal is over with! It's only another four months until I have to do it all over again....

Looks kind of clustered, I know.

This photo reminds me of my childhood I Spy books. There is so much going on!

I needed a bit more space, so the top shelf of my bookcase is a suitcase.

Check out my Nike running shoes.

My tea mat of the floor endured my trip back from Tanzania.

 Will work actually get done here? Only time can tell.

New read: Black Feminist Archaeology.

Ever tried kava root? It's amazing.

Afro Outdoors

Out on the lake  kayaking

With a heat wave running through this country my friends and I decided that it would be the perfect time for a outdoor fun in the sun day. Don't worry we had tons of water and sunscreen.

Lake+kayak+rock wall = sore body the next day
pictures below!

Reje is a little scared of nature sometimes,

 but when you're kayaking in a river with GATORS I guess its a valid reason.

my sweat crew before the rock wall climb.

from left to right: Tiff, me, and Carine

the dooms day rock wall!

practice makes perfect! Me climbing the the practice wall before strapping up

We KILLED that climb! I'll have to do a side that is a little more challenging next time.

My climb only took about ten minutes tops, but my legs were killing me after!

That's me to the right and Tiff on the left.

Reje at the end of the climb! 

I'll be sore tomorrow

Love: One Girl, Two Weddings

This past summer (although summer isn’t technically over yet) I attended two weddings. The first was my friend’s wedding in late June. She is my mentor and a woman who for the last three years has been my rock while in college. The second was my oldest Aunt's wedding in early July. She looked so stunning in her dress that it brought my cousin to tears.

Before those two weddings I had never attended a wedding in my entire life. Not only had I never attended a wedding but I was dreading going to both of them because I was skeptical about the concept of marriage and for that matter eternal love. Something changed. I would say that it might have been when my friend walked down the aisle with her shoulders back and her head held high to the man she was about to pledge her undying love to. Maybe it was when I saw my aunt jump the boom with my now uncle-in-law. I’m not sure, but something in me changed. I smiled and my eyes watered, because there at those weddings there stood a couple ready to spend a lifetime with each other. It was beauty. It was love. The feeling was something unlike anything I had ever been in the presence of or would even know how to conjure inside of myself.

Needless to say I love weddings now.

Here are a few pictures to share

My Aunt and Uncle during their first dance

my cousin Bry and I during the rehearsal dinner the night before the big day

 The triple threat!

My breathtaking baby younger cousin 

 My best friend and I at the wedding

The beautiful bride and I 

Friends

Tanzania A Month Ago...

am I on top of the world?

There is something gratifying about having touched the soil on the continent of Africa for an African American student.  Few get to experience the emotion of having landed and being grounded on a landscape covered with histories told and those still waiting to be uncovered.  This past summer I boarded a plane to Tanzania for a study abroad program that focused on the historic preservation of one of the earliest iron foraging sites in the world located in the city of Bukoba.  The goal of the project was to enhance community empowerment through cultural heritage management.  With trowels, compasses, and notebook paper, my peers and I were archaeologists, historians, and ethnographers for six weeks.  We literally uncovered the history of a people, layer by stratigraphic layer, so that the village of Katuruka could construct a museum to include in their already established tour that brings about economic empowerment and historic preservation. 

It has taken me forever to try to put into words my experience in Tanzania. Even now, a month later, I can only muster up a paragraph. I thought instead of writing a essay, I'd write a list of the words that describe my experience.

1. Love
2. Beauty
3. Home

-peace