Now that's what I call customer service

Dell may not make the best computers (or so says my brother), but what they possibly lack in construction, they more than make up for in customer service. And for that reason I'll probably always remain a Dell girl. Now, I've encountered more than my fair share of problems in the three years I've owned this laptop, but each time a Dell customer service rep has patiently walked me through how to fix it, whether it took thirty minutes or two hours.

A Dell contractor just left my house after replacing my monitor, whose left speaker hasn't been working for the past few months. While those five minutes were nothing but routine for him, my eyes were wide with trepidation at the way he was ripping out parts and yanking out wires. It was kind of like watching your child undergo surgery. I mean, both are treasured, indispensable and store a lot of memories, right? Anyways, for someone as computer hardware illiterate as I am, the speed and precision at which he was moving left me pretty amazed. Of course, the only thought going through my head while he actually was at work was "Please God please let that not have been the wrong...ooh I didn't know my keyboard was that floppy."

But, I'll assure you the ending was indeed a happy one, and now my volume meter can sit comfortably lower on the scale, instead of permanently at the top as it used to. Plus I now have a brand new, fingerprint-free monitor. Let's see how long it actually stays that way though. Too bad Dell doesn't also have a special home cleaning service.

Holiday Weekend

For someone who claims to enjoy writing so much, I sure as heck don't do enough of it, as evidenced by my failure in updating this blog. I promise you, it's not because of a lack of topics; I've got a list about two miles long of cosas...er, things, to write about (one of which is how it feels to leave Spain behind.) But, I figure, enough with coming up with excuses, because my thoughts aren't going to write themselves, and just about every vacation's memories have been lost due to my laziness.

For the first time in two weeks, I am faced with a day sans obligations. Last weekend we were on vacation on Chicago, and this week has been full of work and socializing in the city. Not that I'm complaining, of course. It's just that I've learned to appreciate much more the prospect of sleeping past 10 a.m. that is greeting me once I finish this entry.

My birthday was just amazing. Our office treated me to lunch, and as I bit into my half-pound sirloin burger, I realized I hadn't done that in quite some time. The interns got off around 2:15, so Megan and I were touristy and just walked around snapping photos of the Capitol and the Supreme Court before meeting up with the office for happy hour, where I underwent the rite of passage of being carded (and passing, obviously.)

That evening brought us to a tapas restaurant where me and 12 friends snacked and sangria'd the night away. Not only was I so happy to see and celebrate with the friends I hadn't seen in half a year, but two of my newer friends, one from Spain and the other intern in my office got along swimmingly with everyone else.

The next day brought us to America's birthday, and this year some friends and I finally decided to ring it in in the heart of it all - the nation's capital. So we wandered the city until we finally made our way down and secured a spot on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, three hours before the show was to begin. And although I knew the whole time that I was doing this mostly just to say I had, there were moments when I was seriously questioning my sanity (right around when my butt went numb from sitting on a ten-inch wide marble step with my back and legs getting soaked from the water droplets dripping off our umbrellas.) And after some near flare-ups with angry people around us yelling at the crowds to move out of the way, the fireworks began and any resentment was pushed aside.

Despite the fact that a huge cloud or smoke plume was blocking half the fireworks, they were still pretty impressive. I never knew fireworks could be that humongous or that loud. I do think the entire thing would be more worth it if the weather weren't so wet and you came with a picnic meal, and gave yourself more than three square feet of space in which to spread four people, but hey, I did come out with a story to tell.

Today Jenna and I met up with our friend Mary from Spain. After lunch it was back to the Mall, where we saw the Vietnam, WWII, Jefferson, FDR and Lincoln Memorials. (Just a friendly reminder: When walking around D.C. in the humid summer months, no matter what, keep a water bottle handy.) After Mary left, Jenna and I watched the pilot episode of West Wing, a show I can't believe I didn't watch before and am excited to dive into.

That's enough of the "Dear Diary" business for now. Tomorrow I promise I'll have something more substantive to write about, but for now, all I can think about is finally closing my half-drooping eyes and not opening them for another twelve hours.

Birthday Wishes

Getting a phone call from family on your birthday isn't out of the ordinary. But when it's your younger cousins calling from a phone booth 7,300 miles away and 10 hours ahead, you realize how nice it is to have people who care.

Exactly one year ago, I was celebrating my 20th birthday with my relatives in India, who I hadn't seen in four years. My cousin Sumegha, whose birthday is two days after mine, and I had a joint celebration, and low-key as it was, I couldn't have wished for anything more. And even today is shaping up to be another pretty good birthday, that phone call has just made the birthday smile etched onto my face a little wider.

Tim Russert

The news of this legendary journalist shocked me to to the core today. Here is the succinct reflection I submitted to the Post Web site and the local news station.

As a D.C. area journalism and politics student, the news of Tim Russert's passing has shocked and saddened me deeply. Tim Russert represents the gold standard in the field, and his passion and thoroughness are what my classmates and I aspire to embody. My dad always says that Russert and his little white board are what demystified the American electoral system for him. What a shame to have lost him so young. I know he must be chewing God out right now for taking him before November 2008. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

Russert defined the field I want to go into, but it isn't just students and professionals that can learn from him. He made politics engaging and interesting to everyone in America. He will be missed sorely, especially in the wake of the most important presidential election cycle in recent American history.

Online Free-for-all

Didn´t I tell you I was skeptical of this whole blogging thing.

This is why I haven´t put up pictures on the blog so far, and now I probably won´t.

I heart Internet access

FINALLY! I have proper internet access again!!!!!!!!

In the past few days, I've realized that it´s not so much that we take the internet and cellphones for granted (although we do), but that we take having immediate access to them for granted. If nothing else, this is what I've learned in the past four days. How am I supposed to keep up with my life without immediate internet access?!?! I guess we'll find out, though now that I've started classes and the university´s library is open all day, I guess it'll be easier. And, luckily, there's an internet cafe right across the street from my apartment.

I'm in Spain now, (if you hadn't already guessed) and despite all my last minute jitters, the trip over was fine. I exchanged money before leaving the US, found my connecting gate without any problems, and the taxi ride went smoothly, and as was even cheaper than I thought. Strangely, the trip went by extremely quickly, which doesn't usually happen with me and plane rides. I don´t really know what I was feeling on my way over; "me da igual" is the only way I can think to put it, which basically translates to "I don't care."

I'm in the library of my university and I can't even begin to explain how good it feels to just be on a computer where I don´t have a time limit and I don't have to pay for access.

I've begun chronicling my actual time abroad on another blog - La Vida Madrileña, so I won't repeat everything here. Obviously, I'll be updating that as regularly as I can, and I´m not sure what I'm going to be putting here, but I don't plan on abandoning this one.

Bueno, vamos a ver...

Election Results and Last-Minute Jitters

Well, there you have it. More than a year of campaigning and the real thing has begun. Obama and Huckabee are rejoicing at passing their first tests, while Romney, Clinton and the others will have to figure out what they did wrong and how to fix it.

And just when things start to get interesting, just when I finally start getting really into the whole thing, I have to leave the country. Yup, the day has finally (almost) arrived. Twenty-four hours from now I will in the air headed for my Spanish adventure.

While I was glued to the T.V. watching CNN's coverage of the caucuses this evening, I realized that for all the other primaries, I'd have to resort to checking the Washington Post's home page when I wake up the next morning six time zones away. I'm going to be sleeping through our electoral process!

While I should be excited about this trip abroad finally beginning, I can't help but, well, not be. I was relieved to find that Supraja went through the exact same thing before she went to Paris last year. Every time I see a commercial about the People's Choice Awards airing later this month, or the movie 27 Dresses coming out in theaters, or even how the New Hampshire primaries are coming up on Tuesday, my first thought is Oh, I'm not going to be here for that. Not that I'd even watch the People's Choice Awards or go see 27 Dresses, but the idea that things are still going to be happening here while I'm gone is strange to me. I know that sounds like an arrogant thing to say, but it's true.

And I'm reverting back to my old habit (which I get completely from Mom) of worrying about things. Like, freak out type of worrying. Am I taking too many pairs of jeans? Will I have enough space to bring things back? Will I be able to find the gate for my connecting flight? Will I find some place to exchange my money? How will the cab ride to my host mother's house go?

I keep telling myself that things are always so much easier than you think they will be and I need to calm down and chill out. After all, didn't Supraja and Karen and Nancy survive abroad? Hell, didn't I myself survive going to Luxembourg alone last year?

But then it's also the same uncertainty of not knowing anyone and having to make friends all over again. Not that I even have a problem making friends or getting used to new things. It's strange, sometimes I think I operate in two very distinct mentalities. My mind constantly worries and analyzes and overanalyzes and tries to formulate a game plan for every situation, while my body just goes and does things. For example, when trying to talk to someone new, my mind will go over what to say initially to them, what their response might be, what I'll do if they say this and what I won't do if they say that, while my feet just walk over there, my mouth opens, and I introduce myself. As simple as that, I tell myself afterwards.

Finding my connecting flight in Paris last spring - I worried and worried about navigating an airport on my own, but once I got there, it was just as Papa said. You follow the signs and it's as easy as that. Seriously, no need to worry at all. Despite that, I still can't help but worry about everything. I know I shouldn't just wish time away and want it all to be over and for me to be settled in there, but I just can't help it.

Oh well, at least packing was a whole lot easier than I thought. I'd like to know how many points my blood pressure increased as I spent last semester worrying and worrying about how I'd pack for this adventure.