Updates!

It has been exactly 3 weeks since the last time I blogged!!! As usual, I've been busy with stuff that keeps on piling up, mainly HOMEWORK (I can't seem to get rid of it...urrgh!)!

Here are the updates of things that had been going on during these 3 weeks:

1. UTEP lost in the first football game that I went to :( it was 35 vs. 38...so close, man! they even played OT but they still lost! During intermission, the UTEP Band performed and did a formation! It was so cool!! Brings back old memories of the times I used to be in the MGS band...hehe! But their band is definitely da BOMB! The have so many members and they even had some performers doing some tricks while waving the flags on the field... I'm thinking of joining their band...we'll see!

2. I went for a Career Expo at the uni...it was so cool coz we had to dress up professionally and bring tonnes of resumes. (My career counselor told me to bring 20 copies but I wasn't so kiasu lar...i brought 15 copies...lolZ). Anyway, I gave away 9 copies of my resume to potential employers... It was so exciting, man! The rep. from major companies like General Motors, Applied Materials, etc conducted a short interview with us on the spot! My goal is to get an internship/co-op... basically good working experience!

3. Finally, I got a part-time job on campus!!!! woohoo! they're paying me quite well..the minimum wage here in the US is $5.15 per hour, but this job is offering me $6.75 per hour! If I convert to RM, it'll be RM24.98!!! lol! But, that's excluding the other tax that they'll deduct from my paycheck lar... But it's cool! I'm so glad that I got a JOB! I'm working for the Special Events Dept on campus. So basically, i can no longer watch those football matches liao...Instead, I'll be working! Oh the surprise is that since I'm working for special events rite, I'll also be working during the Rolling Stones Concert in Oct too! It's gonna be held in our uni's stadium. The cheapest ticket is $60 but I get to go for free, but of course, I'll be busy working most of the time lar!

4. I'll be going for Michael W. Smith's Concert on Oct 5 at the Plaza Theater. Since it's a Christian singer, our church youth committee is sponsoring the youth and they'll be paying for the tickets! So I save $32!! Yippie!

5. I joined the UTEP PRAXIS. They are funded by the Wesley Foundation and their task is to help students to find agencies to volunteer in and then, they'll inform our professors once we've completed our 20 hours of volunteer work. So I chose to volunteer for UTEP Women's Resource Center. And my first project was the Clothesline Program. We hung T-shirts with different colors representing various kinds of victim abuse. Majority of the T-shirts we hung were white ones and they represented the victims that died because of the abuse they suffered. It was so touching and yet so sad to read what the family members of the victims wrote and drew on the T-shirts. Most of them mentioned the names of the victims and one even had a name of a woman together with the words "unborn child", meaning two lives were brutally murdered during the abuse. Why do we live in such an abusive world?? And some of the victims were very young children...sigh... Anyway, last Wednesday, we had "Take Back the Night" Rally, in conjunction with the Clothesline Program. Some of the victims of abuse came and testified about their horrid experiences as well as to encourage all of us to stand up and report any abuse acts. Most of us cried when we heard how their husbands/boyfriends abused them...But they are courageous and brave women! Some managed to escape from the abusers and got help from the authorities. One particular lady even spoke about her sister being shot by her sister's husband and she regretted not doing anything before that to prevent her sister from being killed.

6. Okay lar...I think it's getting rather depressing, talking about abuse, death and all...I better stop now before I ruin your day! Besides, I still have my pile of homework staring at me right now, as I'm blogging!!! Guess I gotta get back to my never-ending homework!!!

Have a great week, peeps!!! Ciao!

Here are some pictures I took at the football game and some from the "Take Back the Night" Rally:

Me? Camping in the Wilderness???

Hey people! Sorry for not updating the blog for more than 2 weeks but I've been really, really busy with university life and also the camping trip last weekend! Yupyup! I went for a camping trip with the church group and it was F.O.C.!!! (free of charge la...) lol! they had excess funds in church, so everything was paid for! Ain't that cool? I mean, this was the very first church camp where I don't have to pay a single penny...hahaha!

First things first, uni is huge compared to college but I'm getting used to it...got lost a couple of times in the uni but now, I bring along a map of the uni with me! kakakaka! uni life is pretty cool but rather torturing to me since I have an engineering class at 7.30am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays! Since I take the public bus, I have to get up at 5am, and catch the bus at 6am (I have to take two buses to get to the uni)! To make matters worse, the time of my classes are scattered around, and so, my last class only ends at 5.50pm on those particular days! So I only get back home around 7pm...sigh...I'm dreading it and I can hardly wait for this semester to be over!! But on Tues and Thurs, life is more relaxing since I only have a Matrix Algebra class at 1.30pm to 2.50pm...then, I head home! hurray! I love those two days!!!

Okay...enough of me whining and complaining...now, on a better note, I can't wait to go to my very first football game this Saturday at my uni....it's us, UTEP vs. Texas Tech Uni...And it's the first game of the season! I'll be going with my classmates and once again, I got the free tickets to the game! yay! I'm looking forward to it! I'll post pictures of the game next week!

Now, a report on the camping trip. We went to Camp Chimney in Cloudcroft, New Mexico. Well, we actually went for a "modern" style of camping la...the 21st century kind..hehe! no tents and mosquito bites! We camped in cabins, fully equipped with all the basic necessities such as an air-condition, a fridge, a microwave, a stove with oven, a toaster, a coffee maker, pots and pans, kitchen utensils, a sink, a bathtub, and a toilet with flush and all lar!! woohoo! the beds even had comforters, man!




We brought food along and we cooked there since they have everything! We had sandwiches and chips for lunch. The weather was just great! It was very cooling, even cooler than Cameron Highlands! Shortly after lunch, we went hiking! unfortunately, it rained the night before, so it was muddy but nothing was gonna stop us! I just regretted bringing my new pair of shoes! it was white but became all muddy and brown! I had to wash my shoes there... Lesson #1: don't bring new shoes especially white ones for camping! But we did have fun hiking until it started to pour again! So, we had to hurry back to the cabins and for the next few hours, we were quarantined in our cabins...boring!

Anyway, then it was time for the children's program and we, ladies started cooking a storm! Boy, we had a feast fit for a king that night! We had Italian sausages, beef brisket, salad, toasted garlic bread, baked beans, and watermelon for dinner! It was delicious! After dinner, the adults lingered at the table to talk and have fellowship while the kids were up to something! They quietly sneaked out fo their parents watchful eyes and low and behold, one of the boys found a mud trail near the cabin. Before we knew it, all the kids were in the muddy trail, playing with mud and getting themselves all muddy! Yuck! But they had a jolly good time! Very adventurous, I must say. Later in the evening, we had a campfire, sang some songs and had devotional time. The kids toasted marshmallows and they enjoyed themselves.

One thing about the American culture is that they train their children to sleep early, so at 8pm, we went back to our respective cabins, and lights were out by 9pm! The next day, we had milk, hot chocolate, orange juice, yogurt, cereal, pancakes and bacons for breakfast. After that, we packed our stuff, checked out, and headed to town. We went to the United Methodist Church at Cloudcroft for Sunday Worship. Coincidentally, they were commemorating their members (about 28 couples) who were celebrating their 50 and more golden years together! Can you believe it? And the icing on the cake had to be these two couples who were celebrating their 65 years together! Wow! The ironic thing was that the pastor was preaching about divorces that day. Oh well, I guess these 28 couples are living examples that if they can stay married for such a long time, so can all the other married couples!

I think you guys had enough of me rambling on and on... Now, you guys can FINALLY feast your eyes on the more photos...lol!




Glorioussss foooood!!!


Swimming in the mud pool???


"Who's the muddiest kid?" Competition!


I believe we have a winner for the muddiest kid!! Way to go, gurl!



Campfire and fellowship time!


Our cabins




The magnificient view from our cabins


Goodbye, Camp Chimney! (Snapshots taken on the way downhill)








We reached downtown and here's a picture of a restaurant called Texas Pit Barbeque (even though it's not in Texas)


A cabin-style grocery downtown!


A picture of some of the couples who were celebrating their golden years at church