Oh, hello there, Karma

As I so astutely predicted, Karma has paid me a delightful little visit. We got our Cartography tests back on Tuesday, and I got a 77 on it. I'm surprisingly apathetic about my grades in that class, although I think that's because I've figured out that my teacher is impossible to please, and that I will be getting a B in that class no matter what I do. We also got back the grade on our second lab assignment, and I got an 84 or something on that -- and at least part of the reason was because I didn't use colors that were "pretty enough." (Did I mention she's impossible to please?)

So, on this test.... Part 1 had three questions. I missed a point each on two of them because I "lacked a little more detail." The third one I missed completely because I assumed "datum" meant "data" and made a mini "data base" (apparently "datum" is the points where the line of the earth's "geoide" and "eliposide" are tangent. Go figure.) Part 2 was defining words. There were 11 words to define, worth 2 points each. I got the full two points on four of them, with my general fault being that I didn't write enough. (Me, not write enough... I know, right?) Part 3 was drawing scale bars. Despite the fact that she picked the most ridiculously small scales and insisted that we make all of them in kilometers (like, seriously, why would anyone write ".075 km" when you could just write "75 m"?), I got full credit on all of these. Part 4 was essay-ish questions. I got full credit on one of them, and lost a total of 4 points on the other 3, again because I lacked detail or certain points that she was apparently looking for.

Part 5 is the most ridiculous though. We went over in class today how to do this part, and I was not pleased. Basically, she had copied a section of a topographical map, including the map line coordinates (based in meters/km). There were two points, and we were supposed to find the coordinates of these two points. In class, we learned that you do this by figuring out the scale (how many meters are represented by a mm on the map), then by measuring the distance from nearest line to point, multiplying that by the scale, then adding the distance to the product to get a coordinate. I performed what we did in class perfectly, yet I only got 5.5 of the 10 points. Why is this, you ask? It's because she BLEW UP THE MAP TO PUT IT ON THE TEST. This completely destroyed the scale that I was using. She told us that she messed up the scale, and she told us to just use what it was supposed to be (1:50,000). Well, that's what I thought I did. I used that number to figure out how many mm are equal to how many meters, but that apparently wasn't what she was trying to get us to do. Apparently, we were supposed to supposed to not measure or something, and do some sort of crazy "Well, if the distance between these two lines is x, then halfway would be .5x, and halfway between that would be .25x, and if I know x = y, then .25x must be..." and figure it out that way. Come on, really now? Don't teach us how to do something if you're not going to do it that way on the test. I'm kind of mad, but I also kind of don't care.

Because Karma loves me so much, it also decided to make me feel horrible and sick Tuesday morning. I left Cartography early to go home, which means that I missed lab time, which means I have to go to the lab outside of class hours to get my stuff done, which is something I really don't have time to do right now. I also completely skipped my geography of Costa Rica class, which means I didn't get my test back to see how bad it was (Karma round two will be next week, just wait for it), and which means I didn't get to verify my presentation topic with my professor. I've finally narrowed it down to problems with transportation in the metropolitan area; I have sources and I'm working on fleshing out an outline. I e-mailed her today to verify it that way, however, I'm completely terrified that she's going to e-mail me back and say that either I can't do that or that someone else already did the same thing, so I have to find a new topic. I also still have no idea how or what to do about the last homework assignment in that class, but I figure I can ask her about that after class next Tuesday when I'm not totally freaking out about this paper/presentation.

To add fuel to the fire, I have a presentation for World Geography next Wednesday. This is supposed to be a group presentation, but I was the only one from my group who showed up for class today. I don't have their e-mails, so I have no way to contact them so we can come up with a plan for our presentation. The guy in the group has my e-mail, but he's never used it, so for all I know, he lost it and has no way to contact me either. I did talk to the professor after class, and he was sympathetic. He said something kind of jokingly about irresponsibility being a cultural policy in Costa Rica (cultural policy and policies of culture was something we talked about today in class, although beyond that I don't remember much because it was really boring), and that I should just do what I can. He also said that they might try to contact me at the last minute or something, because (apparently) that's what Ticos do sometimes. He told me just to be ready to present my part, and the way he said it makes me just about certain that he would not penalize my grade just because my group doesn't have their act together. This class is so boring and I hate all the readings, but for some reason, I still like it... That could have something to do with the professor being fair and understanding, and for generally giving me good grades when I write a bunch of nonsense though. The good news: I finished my last reflexion in that class, so all I have left is a presentation and a final. Wohoo!!

So, life in general... it's pretty horrible right now. Perhaps the last sentence of the previous paragraph made you think that life is good, but overall, it's currently very bleak and depressing. I have a whole paper to write and a presentation to make by Tuesday. This presentation is, from the get-go, going to be a fracaso estrepitoso (spectacular failure). I am going to present to the Ticos about problems with transportation in the area where they've all grown up. They are all 500 times more familiar with this area than I will ever be, and yet I am going to get up there and talk about it. This is just a bad bad idea. Life would be looking up after that presentation, but the next day I've got my "group" presentation, which I will almost certainly be making the night before it's due. After that, assuming my professor remembers to tell us that we actually have to do it, I will have a third presentation due not this Monday but the one after. I also get a take-home test the day after that, and have my final cartography test the day after that. Then the Monday after all that fun, I have my Evrn. Management final, followed on Tuesday by my World Geography final. Then occurs the moment I've been waiting over four months for -- being done with classes and more ecstatic that I will have ever have been previously in my entire life. Thinking of this moment gives me much joy, until I realize the mountain of work I have to dig myself out of before I get there. And then I'm just depressed again. I know that the time will pass and the work will get done, but it's the "how" part that's perplexing me right now. I'm sure that when all this is said and done, I'll be glad for this experience, but until then, I have a few things I wish I could say to this experience, and none of them are very nice.