Snow!

With only two days left I woke up to the most amazing beautiful snow this morning. Everything was covered in white and it has been snowing since last night; I have never lived somewhere that snowed so I am very excited!

I also dyed my hair last night, which I have never done before! I decided I should take advantage of having a friend here who is a cosmetologist and try it before I leave. Its just a couple shades darker but I really like it! 

Everything is starting to wind down here, finals are over, schedules are less busy and people are already starting to leave. I am very lucky to be in DC for a week without anything I need to do, we have been to the Christmas tree near the capitol and the one by the white house. We have been on adventures around the city and trying to take advantage of our final days here. I leave on Saturday and my friends start leaving tomorrow. It is crazy to think that our time here is almost over, it almost doesn't seem real. Just as it did not sink in when I was leaving AZ to come here, it does not seem like I only have two days left here in DC. I have really enjoyed my time here and would not trade this amazing experience for anything. I have a lot of exciting opportunities to come home to, but I will definitely miss both the hearing and deaf friends I have made and the community (and beautiful campus) here at Gallaudet. 

So now I am just trying to enjoy my last days at Gally and in DC. I really like the city, especially the public transit. There is so much to do and see that after four months here I have yet to run out of things to get excited about. 

Here are a few pictures of my last couple days here:

waiting for the shuttle bus I think

Jill, Reema, me, and Sarah in front of the national christmas tree by the White House

Daniel and I in the snow! (not today)

Jill, me and Reema "workin it" on the way to Eastern Market

Reema, me and Daniel 

I will write another blog entry next week updating you all on my flight home and my adjustment to speaking life. I will also try to post some pictures of the snow from today, there were about 2 or 3 inches! So do not worry, this is not the end of my rambling blog entries. 

Thanks for reading!!

Kaleena

new sign of the week: impressed/impressive

most used phrase of the week: what are we doing tonight?

Two weeks...

Yes, I am a bit late in posting this entry, things have been pretty busy after Thanksgiving break. I only have two weeks left here at Gallaudet, and only one week left of classes so things should definitely start winding down. It is crazy to think that I have already been here for so long, and I will be back to constantly warm Arizona shortly. Speaking of temperatures, it is in the 40s every day here, which is definitely cold for me but I really hope it snows before the 18th! I love the snow and would love to live somewhere (even shortly) where it snows! And my friend Reema just told me that it might snow tonight, a 30% chance :)


It is hard for me to think back to before I was here at Gallaudet. I have matured so much through this experience and am so grateful to have had this opportunity. There was a time when I was, of course, afraid to travel to a new city, be immersed in a new language, and not know anyone around me. Proving to myself that I am able to survive and thrive in this situation has allowed me to learn a lot about myself and what I am able to do. Being at Gally has shown me just how important ASL is to me and how much I want to incorporate it into whatever I do in the future. 


Something that I realized when I was at home for Thanksgiving, is that I really take for granted the environment here. It is a unique opportunity to be able to constantly communicate in the language you are trying to learn; you pick things up more quickly, and are constantly forced to practice with every conversation that you have. In fact, I learn so much so quickly here that I didn't even realize how important that was until I went back to Arizona for Thanksgiving break. Although my family and friends fully support my interest in ASL, they do not know the language and I feel like once I return, I will not be able to have conversations in ASL that are constantly challenging and expanding my knowledge of the language. Although anything will be vastly different than the all day every day practice I have here at Gallaudet, I hope that once I get back to ASU, I will be able to find people in the deaf community who I can just have conversations with to help maintain and further my skills. 


Since I will be back so shortly, I am trying every day to take advantage of the opportunities here, and will keep you all updated on my last weeks at Gallaudet!


Before publishing this post I realized that I don't have any pictures or videos from this past week to upload to keep your interest! So...I will post this picture of Lost. I just recently started watching this show with my friend Angelica (who has seen it before), and we're pretty obsessed. If you like mysteries I suggest you check it out, there is always a lot of crazy stuff happening!

Thank you for reading :)
Kaleena


new sign of the week: a new sign for 'jealous'
most used phrase of the week: are we going to the Rathskellar (a late night bar-type restaurant on campus)