I can't believe I ever complained about not being busy!!!

This week has been a whirlwind of fun! Let me try to recap in as few words as possible for y'alls sake...

~Wednesday night I went to the first Campus Outreach program of the year. I really enjoyed it. The CO leader and his wife are a young couple that go to Christ the King (the same church I attend) and there are like 8 other interns working with them! CO is a ministry that just started on State's campus last semester (although, has been worldwide for quite some time) and it is just really chill and laid back.

~During the day on Thursday we had a booth set up in the Brick Yard (campus "commons" area) to promote Destino. We had candy, drinks, information, and upcoming events calendars. It was fun to get to talk about the group to people stopping by.

~I had my first exam on Thursday in my RA class. It was no fun. But, at the end of the exam I got back my first paper in the class (1 of 3) and I got and A+!!! I also had to turn in my first Spanish Literature paper on Thursday afternoon...I'm GLAD it is done and turned in!

~All day today (Friday) I was in training with the NC State's Women's Center so that I can be an Advocate for survivors (aka: victims) of sexual assault and rape. As advocates, we will be working shifts throughout the year on the "Molly Hays Glander Survivors of Sexual Assault and Rape Response Line" which is basically a 24 resource hot-line for victims. The training was great and very informative, and I am excited to officially be a trained Advocate. The training also might come in handy as an RA (but hopefully I won't need to use it!).

~Friday night I attended Alpha Omega Chinese Christian Fellowship. (YES...I am still studying SPANISH!!). Two of my new good friends and co-RA's here at State are both Asian and involved in AO. I also invited one of my Chinese residents to join us, and she did. I had a great time!!! AO is a mix of State, Chapel-Hill, and Duke students and each week the meeting location rotates between the schools. After the meeting we played volleyball and ultimate frisbee until midnight! ...I did however stand out at the meeting!...A LOT!

~Saturday I am going to the NC State vs. ECU football game!...and then to Virginia for the night. My mom and aunt will be in Virginia at my grandparents and I am going to join them.

....I'm sure I forgot something, but I sure what I did remember was more than any of you wanted to hear! Thanks for reading!

Margaritas!!!

Today is a rainy day!!! I LOVE rainy days. I am always so productive because I feel good about being inside (as there is nothing to do outside!).

Sunday night I played in my first Intramural Soccer game. We lost, but it was really fun! The games are 7 v 7 (7 players on each team) and only 6 people showed up for my team, so we played a man down. There were some Africans (who are really, really good at soccer) watching us play and after our game one of them asked to be added to our team...of course we happily agreed. He is a grad-student at State and ended up being from Jamaica...he has a really cool accent.

Because Monday was the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month; and the Independence Day of Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador; three other RA's and myself had planned a special program (event). We had virgin Margaritas and then were planning on attending Salsabor (a combination of "salsa" referring to a form of Latin dance and "sabor" meaning flavor). The problem was all of NC State's campus was power-less for about 3 hours and Salsabor was canceled; we still had a good time drinking Margaritas!


Sarah, Jeremy, Me, and Allison (RA's)Some of my Residents!

I go to school and I study a lot!!!

This past week was actually a pretty sweet week...academically, I mean. Not too hard. I am finding that living on campus as a junior has left me with only my underclassman friends to hang-out with...aka: I have LOTS of time to work on my homework because I don't really have that many underclassman friends! Basically I am always ahead on my homework/studying!!!...and maybe a little behind on my social life...sad. Also, attributing to this is the fact that Caroline (past do-basically-everything-with-roommate) is now attending UNCA and Hillary (past-go-out-salsa-dancing-buddy from UNC) graduated and is now living in Asheville.

So, this weekend I have been in the dorm studying for an exam next week and for three exams in two weeks (man, I am sooo far ahead!)...how lame am I? Yesterday I ate lunch with some of the International Students and then went to the mall for an hour or so with my friend Marcela. I was also planning on going to a friends birthday party last night, but the party started at 11pm and I fell asleep around 10pm (oh well!). I am also planning on going to watch UNCA Bulldogs play NCSU Wolfpack in Women's Volleyball tonight here on campus! A girl I played volleyball with in middle and high school (Dana Rice, for you Rocket fans) plays for UNCA and I am excited to get to watch her play collegiately.

I was not so lame this morning and ran a 5K called "The Running of the Wolves" (...get it? we're the Wolfpack!); and I did enjoy my first official race!

My friend Kristen was also running!

WELL BACK TO STUDYING AND DOING HOMEWORK THAT IS DUE IN A FEW WEEKS...IT'S MY CURRENT LIFE!!!

class schedule and extracurricular activities

My Classes:
~Intro into Education: I LOVE this class and it is soooo practical and relevant to my life!!! My teacher is this sweet grandma-age woman with lots of spunk and personality...we call her Natalie. We basically talk about how to be good teachers; how to relate to students, what to do with troubled students, what methods work, what methods don't, ways to engage students, the importance of learning about each student's culture and background, etc.... Also, as a part of this class I will be observing a Middle School Spanish teacher in action for a minimum of 2 hours each week!

~Early American History: I LOVE this class. I have NEVER had a teacher that kept me so engaged in a history class. Professor Susanna Lee (yes, she is Asian teaching us American History!) is a late-twenties gal that keeps us involved, doesn't just lecture, and let's us discuss a lot. Her class goes by so fast because she makes history come alive! Also she does NOT use a textbook, but rather gives us first hand accounts from diaries and poems written by colonists or slaves and then teaches us from those. She also challenges us...but in a good way.

~Resident Adviser (RA) Class: LAME and a WASTE of time!

~Early Developmental Psychology: I originally did not like this class, but it is starting to become more interesting as we have progressed into the material. Recently we have been talking about the pre-natal stage and the effects of the mothers actions and habits on the babies development in the womb. This has been interesting and also relevant to my life (...well one day!).

~Interpersonal Communications: I personally feel this class is pointless for the most part and is making a big deal out of nothing....but I really, really like my teacher. She is a mid-thirties mom and makes everything seem relevant and relates all the concepts on personal levels. She has a good sense of humor and is histrionic.

~Spanish Literature: Probably my most dreaded class. I don't like the literature we are reading, I don't like the way the text book is set up, I think the class is too big (only 25 people...but not good for this particular class), and the material is just plain hard!

~PE: Run Conditioning: I like it as much as to be expected. We run, we do push-ups, we do sit-ups....we sweat A LOT.

Extracurricular Activities:
This morning I made a tough decision to give up my spot on "Sube Ritmo" (State's Latin Dance team). I tried out last week and made it, but had not yet decided if I was going to commit. This week at the Mi Familia meeting (Hispanic Organization on campus) two Campus Crusade representatives came out to support the start of Destino (Destiny, in Spanish) which is a Hispanic Bible Study created by Crusade to target Latinos (its really popular in Texas and California). I was a part of Destino last year. It came down to deciding between Destino and Sube Ritmo, because they both meet on Tuesday nights....I have decided to stick with Destino. Please pray that we will know how to reach out to the Hispanics on campus and how to serve the already Christian Hispanics well.

THIS IS PROBABLY WAYYYY MORE THAN ANY OF YOU WANTED TO KNOW....BUT IT WILL MAKE MY MOM HAPPY!!!

happenings....

I started Friday off by going to hear some missionary speak (related to Crusade). One of them worked for a Global Translating Group that translates the gospel into tribal languages and then goes on "excursions" to take non-power operated record players to the tribes! It was really cool!

However, the rest of the weekend I was on duty which meant I had to stay in the Triad (including my dorm and the two next to it) from Friday 5pm till Saturday 5pm, and then within 15 min of campus for the next 24 hours! It was actually good for me this weekend because I got TWO papers done!!!! We were on hurricane watch this weekend, and the best part was the RA supervisor brought me a Mop and Bucket, and told me in a serious voice "it's just a precaution...hopefully you won't have to use it." ....I guess if we had a flood I was supposed to mop the building or something. haha!

Saturday night my Spain study abroad group had a reunion! It was so fun to see everyone.




I went to Christ the King for church this morning and I thought the service started at 9am (they had planned to switch to this time), but apparently last weekend (when I was not here) they decided to keep the service at 10am....needless to say I was REALLY early for church this morning!

This evening Zach, Amy (Zach's girlfriend), and I went to Fiesta Del Pueblo, the annual Latin festival in Raleigh and then the three of us and Ginny Davenport (who traveled with me and my family in Spain) joined us for dinner at a Mexican restaurant!




I would say it was a successful weekend!!!

I can't believe I am doing this......

So.....I have been debating this blog thing for forEVER and I just did NOT want to add one more internet thing to my life. But after MUCH pressure from several other bloggers (...who said it was not fair that I could read their blogs, but they could not read mine) have guilted me into telling about my life's happenings on the WWW. Entonces, Me voy......

The Name: La Risa (meaning "The Smile" in Spanish)
Yes this is cheesy...but at least let me explain. So I really like names and meaning, and my name (Lara) comes from the name Larisa. I was ever so pleasantly surprised to learn recently that Larisa is from Spanish origins and obviously means "the smile" (la risa...larisa...get it?). So, "Lara" means simile/cheerful as opposed to "laurel crowned" (from Laura)...mucho mejor, no?

Also I have recently been working on "smiling" as God continues to do things to my life that were not part of MY plan. I know they are for a purpose, but I am working on living through 'them' with a SMILE when I find it hard to see HIS purpose.

All this to say....It's just cheesy, but I like it (and could not think of anything better!).