Day 3: IOWA.

We'll start with the big news today-- IOWA Caucus. Obama for the Democrats and Huckabee for the Republicans. Wow. If you want to know how this whole caucus thing works in Iowa, go here, I watched it yesterday and it was helpful. For some reason, this year I feel more baffled than ever before by the fact that Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina are the big campaign states and pretty much decide who gets the democratic and republican nominations. Why those states? How are they in any way a reflection of how people in the U.S. really feel? Is this a consulation prize for living in Iowa, the most boring state in the nation? (kidding, Iowa. I've only driven through you and you had some lovely cornfields. And Liina and Jarom said you were really, really cold). Are there any big cities in any of those states? Not to question our democratic process, but.. okay, i am questioning it a bit. It just doesn't seem like all that rationale of way to choose candidates. In any case, after months of campaigning, Iowans can now rest easy knowing that it'll be another few years before the candidates and media come knocking down their doors again. There are more pigs than people there-- do you really think they enjoy the media circus? One interesting statistic though-- only 10% of Iowans actually showed up for these primaries. You would think that with such an important job, more people would show up. Let's hope that more come out for the presiential elections to determine who gets their two electoral college votes (I'll hold off my comments on THAT topic until November. Good grief.) Anyway, Obama and Huckabee. New Hampshire will be interesting. I have some friends thinking of going up to campaign for Obama, and think that would be pretty cool. Now, as for Huckabee, he is one odd cat, and I kind of hope he wins the Republicn nomination just because I think he would be easier to beat than McCain (although none of them haver really stood out in the pack). I'm going to stop being apolitical pundit. And leave that to Emily-- she has a great theory about Huckabee trying to be the white, conservative Obama and suddenly all about change.

On to other news...
As much as I would've loved to have gone to another museum today, alas, i did not, although April and I did have tentative plans to go see the mermaids and dragons exhibit at the Natural History Museum (but the cost was prohibitive). Instead, i lay in bed curled up with my electric blanket for a while doing some reading, and then got to work. It has been an internet day, and not too productive (starting lots of things). I was checking out my schedule for next semester and got a little bit stressed out about it-- Public Economics and Finance, Intro to Policy, Multiple Regressions, and Program Evaluation. i mean, i am excited for it, but can see a long winter spent in the library ahead of me. And that part stressed me out a bit because I was kind of hoping to find a part time job-- student loans, while incredibly helpful, have their limits. but I won't worry about that- education really does come first and I am not willing to sacrifice that. So then I spent some time looking at scholarships and seeing what I should apply for. Looks like I'll be spending time writing some essays about poverty. Also did some research on UNIFEM for my NGO position as a UN representative-- but more on that later! It is kind of a dream come true and I think I may still be dreaming it up.

After being all studious, i decided to get some groceries before I get scurvy and die, and then headed out with April to a fabric store so I could pick up some material and thread to learn how to SEW. Yes! I got a sewing machine for Christmas (thanks, Santa!), and am so excited to learn. We went to this fabric store somewhere deep in Crowne Heights, owned by a little Puerto Rican man named Juan who called us lovely girls and asked if we had boyfriends. April told him she was married and he made comments about her learning to sew clothes for her babies. He told me not to worry, I was pretty and someone would want me (it's gotta be true coming from him). This shop was amazing-- there were incredible party press shiny fabrics (though nothing appropriate for curtains) and ribbon and trim of all sorts everywhere. It was amazing. Amazing. Once day, once I learn to sew and come up with a suitable project, i am going back there to buy that brown trim with glitter emroidered flowers. it was fabulous. We came back to my house, ate cookies (yummy, thanks mommy April), and April sewed a bag while I managed to sew long lines of thread into a piece of cloth. Now I at least know what all 25 stitches look like. Productive. The evening concluded with eating Indian food with Emily and listened to NPR and wondering how many Indian restaurants there were in Iowa (we guess not too many).