Explanations and Pink Dolphins

Al Abroad has been on a bit of a hiatus.  This is due to two things:
1. Grad School is hard.   Really, it is.  This semester kicked my ass.  12 hours of classes + teaching + tutoring hours + eating/sleeping/taking care of the dog.... There just aren't enough hours in the day.
2. My perspective is off.  The easy thing about blogging from France is that everything was so novel.  There was always some quirky or annoying or bat-shit-crazy thing to write about. Plus, I was always on the go, meeting new people, seeing new places.  Louisiana is also quirky, sometimes annoying, and definitely bat-shit-crazy.  But it also looks, in a lot of ways, just like home. And I go about my day-to-day much like I would at home.  Recognizing, processing, and analyzing the aforementioned quirky/annoying/bat-shit-crazy stuff can fall by the wayside.
However, I've been following more blogs than I used to, both those by friends and total strangers, and reading those blogs has reminded me that writing in a non-academic way can be really fun.  My friend Crystel recently mentioned how it's a different kind of creative outlet that really gives her a break from her job in non-profit.  And reading Elvynia's blog makes me nostalgic both for our time as tea-chairs and traveling.

There are definitely things I can share about Lake Charles and my day-to-day experiences.  I could talk about the people who want to tell me everything about their lives while I'm standing in line at the store, or I could write about all the fascinating books I flagged for "weeding" in the reference section of the library.  I can complain about the humidity, rather than the cold.  Or recount the absolutely absurd moment I experienced in the American McDonald's.  Or I could share this bizarre image, which I found in a Google Image search for Lake Charles:

Read about this pink dolphin here.