September's first "Friday's Fave Five"

Happy “Friday’s Fave Five” blog, hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story. This last week was full of things that tickeled by fancy (more to come on that later), so it was hard to choose only 5. Click on the linky to see what has been tickling the fancy of other bloggers.

1. INT 210 - Introduction to Development Theory
I have 5 classes this semester, and I think this will be my favorite. I'm not only interested in the course material (international community development) but Dr. Jolly is also one of my favorite professors.

This course explores the theories and practices in social and economic development of communities on a local and global scale. It includes an overview of the history and impact of globalization, the impact of global population growth and migration patterns, and the growth and impact of transnational corporations on societies. It also introduced a few major multinational bodies such as The World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, and World Health Organization, as well as development activities of governmental and non-governmental agencies.

2. Alex Ramirez Santana
Despite a pretty significant (yet progressively lessening) language barrier, Alex really is one of my closest friends. I wrote a blog about Alex back in July 2009 (HERE) and our story is pretty interesting.

Anyways, we went to dinner at La Charreada and hung out on Monday night. The night was filled with awesome conversation about immigration, and the differences in culture between Mexico and America. He told me that what he really appreciates about America is the laws; in Acapulco, MX (yes, he's from Acapulco!) he can't walk on the streets because people aren't persecuted for driving drunk. Also, 12-year-olds (and younger) may drink, smoke, and go to dance clubs without a second glance from the police. He's been in America now maybe 1.5 years, and of course he misses his friends and family the most.

I wish I could visit home with him, but I'm sure that's not a realistic dream. I would love to see Mexico through his eyes, and meet everyone and see everything that I have heard so much about.

3. Taste of Marion "Because everybody likes free stuff!"

This is an annual event here at IWU (Indiana Wesleyan University) and it's amazing. It's later today from 2-5, so I haven't actually been yet, but I know it will be a highlight of my week. How do I describe it? It's like a community fair in the intramural gym with about 80-90 booths hosted by stores, restaurants, churches, organizations, etc. in the Marion community. There are tons of free giveaways for coupons, pens, frisbees, magnets, coffee cups, smoothies, athletic bags, and also drawings for large gift certificates, a fridge, a Wii, a RipStick, cds, etc.

4. Anti-Human Trafficking

I'm not sure what to say about this, how to explain it as something that tickled my fancy this week, except that on Wednesday night I attended a StAT (Stand Against Trafficking) Community Forum and it was very powerful. The event was hosted in main by Wesleyan Women, and it was good to hear JoAnne Lyon, the General Superintendent of the Wesleyan Church in the US, who also founded World Hope International and has been involved in anti-human trafficking efforts all over the world, a woman who has been an inspiration to me for three years now. There were also 2 powerful testimonies of 2 local women who were victims of human trafficking.

While human trafficking isn't my biggest passion, it is one, and it is a huge injustice issue in Cambodia, where the biggest piece of my heart is.

5. My living room

This year my friends and I decided to, after two years, move to a different dorm. We are living in Kem Hall now, which is in my opinion the "Taj Mahal" on campus, because it really has the best living space. Behind every hall door there are either four or six rooms, and I live in a four-room suite with four other girls. There are two bedrooms, a small bathroom, and this living area. I share a room with Traci, my roommate from last year, and my twin sister has two roommates in the other room. We have quite a few frames hung, but they are all empty waiting for an evening when all five of us free to take pictures, which we will then print in black & white to match our pink, black, and white motif. The color palette isn't my favorite (prefer Earth tones), but I'm really pleased with how it looks! Unfortunately I don't have pictures to show you TODAY, because I just realized I brought the wrong camera connector from home, but I will have those (and more) up soon!