Victory is sweet...

First off Happy (belated) New Years and whatnot to you. I apologise for my delay in writing but this past week was the first week of the Spring semester here at JMU. To all of my Terps who are reading this (you know who you are) I am extremely jealous you have another month of relaxation and I miss you all madly.
Anyways, this semester should prove to be a challenging one as I attempt to tackle Calculus, Genetics, Chemistry, and Ornithology... the number of classes isn't as large as last semester but I also am participating in "Biological Literature Research" with my favourite professor of all - Dr. Keffer. It is more or less and investigation of the Evolution of Religion and is pretty much my favourite hour or so of every week. Anyways, more of that to come once things settle down and we start meeting again. I am also very excited about Ornithology as we get to participate in field identification of various birds found in the area and also assist in field research of behavior and tagging of specimens! Sure it involves that I spend from 7am - 11am on Wednesdays in the field (then followed by a two hour break prior to another four and a half hours in Burruss - the Biology (and some Math) building) but being in the field is on of my favourite things so do so it is totally worth the early mornings.
*Note: This past week had beautiful weather and felt more like Spring... next week however, it may be back to Winter weather and so consider yourself forewarned if I whine next time (I really do love it though).*

So why write now? Other then the fact that I know you all are absolutely dying to hear from me, I am continuing my search of items to check off of the long list of things I need for South Africa. Current prey: Mosquito netting.
While looking online at travel stores and similar websites I was shocked to find that mosquito netting is upwards of $40! Yes, I understand that this is something incredibly valuable and worth finding one of good quality but come on! I'm a college student - and a very poor one at that! So I did what all good college students do when they can't afford something and it is impossible to download it on Limewire....
EBay.
First of all, EBay is one of the best inventions ever. When the campus bookstore only wants to give me $20 for that $130 GWIRT (general writing) textbook at the end of the semester I can always rely on some poor kid to buy that textbook back from me online if I make it only $100. Sweet. Second, wherever you can get a $50 leather iPod case for $5 - simply because the seller forgot to put a minimum bid setting - is a wonderful place by my standards.
So I take my self to this site in search of the elusive (inexpensive) mosquito netting. A ton of hits come up - some of which have no bids on them.... and even some of those with only 30 minutes left before closing.
*insert happy dance here*
That previously $40 mosquito netting I just "won" for $0.99. Plus shipping and handling it's about $6 (give or take a penny). Victory is sweet.
Now to remember what else I need for this adventure to see if I can get some more wonderfully inexpensive items on my favourite shopping site ever.
Alright. Time to hit the gym and tackle some calculus work. Lovely.
~Mia

PS- Apparently the word of the day is "favourite". Don't ask me why, I just write this mess.

And so it begins...

First off Happy Holidays and Merry New Year.
I'm not quite sure how you stumbled along this little page but I thank you for stopping by. I decided to use this as a method to journal my preparation for, and journey to, South Africa this summer... hopefully. The "hopefully" depends on the available electricity and internet access at the base camp but I shall try my best to leave weekly updates of my misadventures to family, friends, and whomever else may happen to read this, so they will know I have not been "eaten by a lion" or "stolen by some tribesman" as my mother insists.
Another reason for creating this blog is that I, to my dismay, did not chronicle my previous summer at the Wildlife Center of Virginia. As a Wildlife Education Preceptor I was able to travel all around the state of Virginia (and parts of West Virginia) teaching children about native Virginian animals. The pictures I have only tell a fraction of the story of my summer in Waynesboro and perhaps one day I will be able to record it in some fashion or another - but I do not wish to make the same mistake for this summer.
So why start now?
Mostly because I have recently taken to reading blogs of friends and so it seemed convenient to create my own.... but you know you would not want to miss the wonders of an Aichmophobic person (one who has a fear of needles) getting a Rabies vaccination. Oh Joy!
I do hope you stop by occasionally and leave a message, I will probably ramble on about whatever bio research I am doing as well as any interesting animal behavior articles I stumble across - and perhaps a bit of personal stuff as well. So ignore the bad grammar (run on sentences are my trademark), horrendous spelling, and over-all innane behavior I tend to exhibit, and enjoy.
Now I'm off to call the doctor and see if they offer the sadistic mydraid of shots required.
Happy New Year if I am not back before then.
~Mia

ps- If you couldn't tell Mia Luce is a pen name - it means "my light" in Itallian and is much easier to write then Potnia Theron ("mistress of the wilderness" in Homer's Illiad) which is that of my email.
pps- No, I do not speak Itallian. I lack the talent beyond a few pieced sentences.
~M