My own parallel universe

The first two weeks of the semester have come and gone. I am starting to gather information and ideas for my thesis. Whenever the thought of loggerhead shrikes enters my head, excitement fills me and bubbles out like an test tube experiment in a high school chemistry class.

In the kitchen, a friend told me, "I have never met someone who is excited as you about things.

I couldn't believe that there I was, standing opposite of her in the kitchen on a late summer's eve, with tears slowly filling my eyes. I wanted to avoid moments of that nature. The opinions of my adviser and my two office mates (and the other grad students and faculty) matter to me. I do not wish to convey the impression that I do not want to be here in Texas.

I suppose I knew it would be a challenge, but the rewards are great.

The following is difficult to write, it is a glimpse into some of my most inner thoughts. The workings of Erin exposed for the blog world to see. Arrogance is feared. Lately, my appearance has garnished much attention. This is where the aforementioned fear comes into play. I do not intend to brag. Just to report my life happenings. I felt slightly ashamed for wearing shorts to teach my first labs.

"If you were my TA, I would have a hard time paying attention." Giggles and smiles followed.

I do not wish to abuse this new found power of an hour glass and the letter D. Perhaps the fear of seeming arrogant prevents my acceptance of myself as a sexy woman. Or something like that.

I miss Minnesota. For unknown reasons that night, I was longing for Minnesota. I felt slightly glum and had a difficult time controlling my emotions. This experience has been full of highs and a few, very slight, lows. I often have simultaneous feelings of excitement and anxiety. Do not misread this, I very much enjoy residing in San Marcos, TX. The school is wonderful, the people in the department are interesting and engaging, and there is this great synergy between the graduate students. I cannot believe I actually just typed "synergy".

But, I expect that it is normal to miss the life where I was comfortable. Texas feels like a different world. A sort of parallel universe, one that is similar to my world in many respects, but in other ways, it is dramatically different. The money, federal laws, and the language are common ground. The rest is like I fell into an alternative universe. A place where things are almost the same, but they are not quite right, something is off. For example, the roads still have yellow and white lines and we still drive on the right side (obviously) but something is different.

This universe has breakfast tacos and H-E-B. Tropical storms are a concern here. The rain is falling from the sky with no end in sight. At least for the next 24 hours. Thank you tropical storm Hermine. The water pools on the roads due to the limestone just below the surface of the Earth here. I learned an important lesson recently in this parallel universe, do not drive in heavy rains. You may drown.

However, it is an amazingly exotic and dreamy world. As mentioned above, people think that I am exotic and exciting! The idea is ludicrous and amusing!

I will admit that I absolutely love it.