It's been a grumpy kind of day

I am not in control of my life, and it is bothering me. Nobody cares that I am bothered, and that bothers me. Nothing is being done to un-bother me, and that bothers me.

I suppose I really shouldn't be too grumpy about today because some things were positive. However, I am not in a cheerful and optimistic mood right now, so I will use this opportunity to complain.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS WHINY, DISGRUNTLED, AND PESSIMISTIC CONTENT. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

1) Last night I really wanted to shower. It had been a while since I had showered, and I wanted to rectify that situation. Unfortunately, the bathroom was occupied. I gave up and resolved to shower this morning. I am perturbed about this for two reasons: 1) 5 people sharing a bathroom is kind of ridiculous. Every time I try to shower, there's always someone in there (in the mornings) or it's late and I don't want to wake everyone up (at night). Usually there are only 3 people sharing the bathroom, but extra people are visiting right now, and that bumps it up to 5. That also means that we've got people sleeping in the living room, which I also find annoying because I feel like I can't go to the bathroom or get a glass of water or anything at night for fear of waking them up. 2) Showering this morning meant I had to get up an extra 15 minutes earlier than I had planned. 5:30 in the morning is not the funnest possible time to get up.

2) I made it to the building where my (new) cartography class is at 6:50 this morning. I figured I needed the extra time because my class was supposedly in either the "computer lab" or room 422. I hadn't understood which day belonged with which room when the woman told me, and instead of asking her to repeat herself a 4th time, I decided just to nod and smile and figure it out in the morning. So at 6:50, I was waiting outside room 422 and the room I thought was the computer lab. There were quite a few other people hanging around too, so I figured I was okay. We waited, and eventually one or two professors came and took a classload of people out of the hallway. There was still a group waiting around 422 though, so I still figured I was okay. At 7:10, I kind of started to freak out a little bit that nobody was there yet to teach the class. I went and asked a professor in a different class, and he said, "It's in the computer lab" while he waved his hand in the general direction of the School of Geography office. I went and looked down that hallway, and I saw nothing that looked like a computer lab, so I went back and sat in the hallway with everyone else again. At 7:15, the person who I assumed was my professor finally arrived, collected us, and led us down the hallway and into a lab (NOT a computer lab). The professor gets out about one sentence, and someone else asks, "This IS the cartography class, right?" Um, yeah. It wasn't. You know "that kid" who packs up all their stuff and leaves after the professor announces "Well, I hope you're all here for [insert class]"? Today, I was "that kid." Thankfully the other person shared that honor with me, but I still felt like I had a giant flashing "LOSER" sign on my forehead. (What's new?) When we finally found the right room (which was totally hidden away in the farthest recesses of the hallway near the School of Geography office) we were 20 minutes late.

3) After cartography, I had to go figure out how to get a "key" to get on the computers. Thankfully the teacher was with me, because I never would have found it on my own. Apparently I need some sort of form that you get when you enroll in order to get the key. Um... I signed up for this class last-minute. They called me and told me I was enrolled in it. Where was I supposed to get this magical piece of paper from?!

4) Then I got to experience the joy of my Regional Geography of Costa Rica class. The professor started off the class by telling us that we were going to listen to a speaker who was doing some sort of conference in the building next-door. She said we'd come back at 11:30. I didn't catch every word she said, but I thought I understood the directions rather well, considering this is the class where I understand nothing the professor says. The whole class traipsed over there, and it was PACKED. I eventually found a place to sit on the floor right behind some students in my class who are from Germany. One other guy who I recognized as being in my class sat nearby and the professor was in front of me. The lecturer started talking, and I could not understand what he was saying, and the few words I did catch were not sufficient to hold my attention. Naturally, I drifted off to la-la land. La-la land was a nice place, but when I started paying attention again, the professor had moved somewhere else. Then the two German students got up and left. Then some other people around me left, and I didn't know if they were in my class or not. The one other guy I recognized from my class was still sitting there, though, and that was slightly reassuring. After another 15 minutes, at least 10 other people had left, and I was freaking out that I had misunderstood the directions about when we were going back and that I would return to the classroom to find everyone else halfway through a very important lecture. I only stuck around because the one guy I recognized was still there, and I figured at least I wouldn't be the only one looking stupid if I was wrong. It ended up that I had understood correctly and nothing bad happened, but having spent the first half the lecture not paying attention and the second half panicking, I have to hope that she doesn't put anything about what the lecturer said on the test.

6) When we got back after the lecture, the professor when around the room again asking everyone what their topics for the research paper would be. Last time she skipped me, but this time I was prepared with what I thought (and still think) is a very good answer. When she got to my name, do you want to know what she asked? She asked, "Are you enrolled in this course?" WILL YOU PEOPLE PLEASE STOP ASKING ME THIS?!! YES! NO! I DON'T KNOW? THIS IS YOUR UNIVERSITY AND YOUR STUPID ENROLLMENT SYSTEM AND YOU PEOPLE ARE THE ONES WHO CANNOT GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER ENOUGH TO TELL THE FOREIGN STUDENTS WHAT CLASSES THEY ARE ENROLLED IN BEFORE CLASSES BEGIN. AM I ENROLLED? I DON'T KNOW! YOU TELL ME!!!! I told her that my enrollment was "in process" and that it "wasn't finalized yet" but that "yes, I am enrolled in this class." She didn't look like she believed me, but she didn't say anything else.

7) After class, I went and talked with her to find out if there was a specific kind of map she recommended and to ask more specifically about the enrollment. I told here that my advisers (the program coordinators) told me that I was enrolled and that I should come, but we still weren't sure yet. She said a lot of things I didn't understand, but I did understand that I wasn't on her list of enrolled students, and that the only way I could get on her list was to fill out an inclusion form -- except that the inclusion period ended yesterday. She said we'd go to the Geography office and ask them if they'd gotten any updates, but she also made it sound like there was a way for me to still be included even though inclusion was over. There was something about her signing a form and she gave me her phone number, but I did not fully understand the process. Well, we went up to the geography office, and nobody was there. Stupid lunch break. I decided to go ask the grupo program coordinators because that was more productive than standing around the office and doing nothing. I walked all the way over to the grupo officina, and they were on lunch break too. Then I walked back to the geography office and stood around and looked helpless until a professor nearby took pity on me and helped me ask the secretary to look me up. I'm not on that list either, which means (I think) that I need to ask my professor to do something (even though the professor who was helping me seemed certain that I was out of luck). Interestingly enough, though, that professor mentioned that she had four exchange students in her class, and none of them were on her list either. Also, none of the other grupo students in the class are officially enrolled in their sections of this class either. Naturally, my professor was nowhere to be found, and I wasn't going to call her and bother her to come back and sign some form for me that probably wouldn't do any good.

What number am I up to now?) After that, I went to this T-shirt shop to pick up the sweatshirt I had ordered the day before. (They put the UCR logos on shirts right in the shop.) I told the guy yesterday I'd be back at 1:30 to get it. I was there at 1:26, and the shop was closed, presumably for lunch.

Whichever number comes next) Since the world was apparently out to get me today, I went back to the grupo office to wait for the program coordinators to return from lunch. They supposedly return at 1:30, but they didn't get back until 1:45. When I explained the whole snafu with enrollment, I was essentially told to calm down and not worry about it. Apparently, the geography office has not confirmed the foreign student enrollment with the main foreign student office, so the foreign student office cannot pass along any information to the grupo. CALM DOWN AND NOT WORRY ABOUT IT?!! No, I'm sorry, I don't think I can do that. As far as my professor is concerned, I am not enrolled in her class. As far as the geography department is concerned, I am not enrolled in her class. Inclusion is over, so I have no way of getting enrolled in her (or any other, I assume) class. I HAVE to have 4 classes. Without this class, I have 3 classes. NOW WHAT? This is my enrollment, my classes, my schedule, and if I want to be even more obsessive and melodramatic than I already am being, my life. It is messed up, and I have no power to fix or change it. I am at the mercy of other people to sort this mess out, and I do not like it. I do not like it one bit.

542) I really wanted a hamburger for lunch because I thought that would make me feel better. I decided that I wanted a hamburger from Burger King. I walked down to the mall and got a hamburger from Burger King, and it wasn't that good. I mean, it was okay, but it was not living up to the delicious image I had built up in my head. It was a major disappointment.

I would now like to apologize to anyone who actually read all that. Really, I am sorry that I subjected you to that, and even sorrier that you actually read it all. Perhaps you were hoping that there would be something interesting or hopeful in there ... but alas, no. Here, let me try to make it up to you:

TODAY'S POSITIVES:
1) My cartography teacher is really nice and helpful.
2) I have a nice new sweatshirt. (The shop was open when I went back at 2:00)
3) ...
4) Oh! I know! I am one day closer to Thursday!!

On Thursday, we are planning a trip to Puerto Viejo, a city on the Carribean coast just a stone's throw north of Panama. We leave Thursday at 2, and we're coming back on Sunday. The place we're staying at is like, $5-7 a night. It's not a luxury resort, but whatever ... three cheers for Central American prices! (We will refrain from discussing the prices of the tours and activities that we want to do...)