How Not to Save the World

Over the last week, nothing too terrible has happened. I've begun taking up Judo- I found a teacher who's willing to work with me for free. I've realized yet again that small town livin' really isn't my tea cup, and that I'm definitely ready to start moving forward with my life. Where is forward? At this point, I'm really not sure, but I am relatively sure that staying in a small town is not what I want to do. Unfortunately, I have a hard time articulating why this is to people who haven't had my similar life experiences. So, I'm going to try again.

I'm coming from a place where everyone around me either has or is working toward a four year degree. Everyone graduated high school. I'm coming from a place that is relatively liberal, and people tend to hug trees. People carry pepper spray and smoke cigarettes. There are parties in people's basements, and the houses tend to be relatively expensive but shitty as all get out. People are like minded. There's a cinema with several screens, coffee shops that are open later than 6 pm, and often more to do than sit around or go to a rodeo. There's some culture, and actual diversity that goes beyond the type of spurs or cowboy hats people have.

Here, in Montana, the cinema has one screen, and it takes weeks for movies to get here. People chew their tobacco and carry around their shot guns. Four wheelers are in fact street legal, and 15 mph is the common pace that people drive at. Most people here don't even dream of going to college, and often don't see how it can be beneficial. They're often ranchers or their parents didn't go to college and did alright, so they believe that they can make it. There are still one room school houses. Everyone here is white, and tends to be republican. I am the town "greenie", or "granola"- the town hippie. It's not ok for guys to have long hair. And while people pride themselves on being straight forward, they're often not. I'm not trying to make it sound all bad. People here are relatively nice, and I feel safe leaving my door unlocked when I'm not around. I don't have to worry about getting jumped or robbed, and my car won't get broken into. (I've met people who leave their car keys in the ignition here.) It's just really different than the place I'm coming from, and I'm really kind of uncomfortable with it. I don't like that everyone knows who I am. I strive to return to a bigger city, where I can bike or walk and not fear that I'm going to be run over. I want to go back to being just another face in the crowd, as opposed to being a person that everyone knows everything about.

Haiti (once more), Obama-rama, and Adventures

I promise to keep my rants about politics and natural disasters to a minimum this post. While on that note, I wish there was more we could do to help Haiti as individuals (despite a lack of funds) or help Obama figure out what he's going to do now that Ted Kennedy's spot has been filled by a Republican. But, I suppose there's not really a lot I can do from a small town in Eastern Montana, where rental car centers don't exist and public places with internet access are hard to come by. I'm sure the world will go back to being a decent place at some point, right?

Things here haven't been too bad comparatively. Kind of boring, sure, but not bad. I spent most of last weekend in Terry, a town of about 500 roughly 30 minutes east of Miles City. I've learned, after spending three days there, that I'm quite grateful to live in a town that has a Wal-Mart (despite the fact that I dislike shopping there), multiple grocery markets and a cinema. I also enjoy the notion that we have Great Grains and several hippies. There are people who walk places (despite the fact that people think we're weird for doing it). Living in a town any smaller might drive me insane. At least there aren't any people riding around on their horses now... But, Beef Breeders are coming soon. Apparently, Main Street sort of shuts down, and cows are fenced in so others can come and bid on them. Mmmm, the life of a rancher. I'm begining to enjoy the small town living- it's so completely different than any other place I've lived in before. Some of my friends still have to explain how things work, but it's not so bad. I also theoretically get to learn about taking tractors apart this weekend, which should be exciting. There's so much to learn!

Only one more small chunk of my college application to get in, and hopefully I should get accepted! I won't be able to finish it up until early Febuary, but I'm sure everything will work out. It always does, right?

Haiti

Once again, commentary on how to save the world. I'm quite sure you've heard enough of this from your local news, cnn.com , or wherever else you get the news from. So earlier this week, there was an earthquake in Haiti, killing thousands, injuring many others and knocking over lots of buildings, including schools, hospitals, and government buildings. Many of the injured still aren't getting services needed, and the hospitals are running low (if they're not already out) of supplies. Obama and several European leaders have promised to send aide to Haiti, but it's (apparently) not getting there fast enough. Since the airport in Port au Prince was also affected by the quake, it's also quite hard to send help. Personally, I think the right things are in the process of happening. People are trying to help, and the Red Cross has so far gotten tons of donations, and is sending $10 million to help. American Troops are also being sent to help. Meanwhile, there are some others who claim that Haiti deserved the quake because they made a pact with the devil years ago. I think this is kind of funny, as Haiti isn't the only country that has had political unrest (think the A merican Revolution or the Civil War). If I had the opportunity, I'd totally be the first to jump on a plane and attempt to help out with broken French and band-aides, (brand names become a common thing, eh?) and find a way to spread the "it's a natural disaster- how is this devil related?" word. If you're a praying person, or even just a reflexive person, please continue to remember those in Haiti, and how much better off we are for living in an "industrialized" country where our buildings aren't as likely to fall over as a result of earthquakes. We also are a large country with loads of great hospitals and doctors and social workers and others who can help save the day with their mad saving the day skills. Haiti, on the other had, has limited resources at this point in the ball game (if you will). If you're in a position to help, do it! Donate, volunteer, do whatever you think is necessary to help out, even it's something simple, like giving others a reminder that in reality, we're quite lucky, and others are in dire need of help.

Check out the links below for more relevant info.:
Fund raising in Interesting Means for Haiti
Efforts to save orphans
Violence and a need for water...
NYTimes has some pretty... interesting pictures and is also offering up to moment info.

Homelessness and this coldness.

So, as I'm sure you've noticed by now, it's quite cold outside. It's been at least -20 when I've woken up for the last two days and my car has frozen itself something solid. This kind of sucks for me, but I have a place to live. I have resources, like friends or family that I can turn to if I need help. Think about the people who prefer to sleep outside than visit a homeless shelter because they feel safer alone. Or the full and often under-prepared shelters. Think, for three seconds, about how much it would suck to either be the homeless person, or the person working at the shelter sending people away. Cnn.com suggests ways to help homeless people if you encounter them. (Check back for a link later...) I thought these were interesting, and they helped to change my perspective... While I sit in a local cafe, I find myself often taking for granted the luxury this really is. I have a house and a few extra bucks to spend on good food and delicious, warm drinks. My apartment is heated, and has running water. I don't need to worry about burning coal or wood that I find on the street to keep myself or my apartment warm. I have a cell phone. I own my own car. So... if you too have these luxuries, think about things that you could do to make the world a better place. Maybe volunteer at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter. Get involved.

I got into a discussion today with an older friend here. Mostly about getting involved, and potentially why more people don't. He suggested that, while we're living in a democratic society, many people chose not to get involved or consider that they have the ability to make a difference. Often, we're too caught up in making a dollar. I'm not saying that money is not important (we need it to survive), but becoming rich often takes the place of trying to become involved and do something to make the world a better place. We're too caught up in having coffee from a local cafe (versus, say, Folders) or the shiny new BMW. The friend suggested that, in the middle and high schools, teachers should teach more about involvement. How to become involved, ect. Do it. Become involved. Change the world.

So this is the new year...

... And I don't feel any different.

So I feel like I need to get back to the initial point of this blog: discussing the quirks of eastern Montana as compared to central Wisconsin (from a mid-western point of view, of course). I've been using a lot of short sentences and bullet points. I need to get back to the longer winded posts.

I have had several exciting adventures. I'll start in a psuedo-chronological order. Alex the Texan, Susan and I went to Billings for the New Year. It was kind of exciting. We went to the cinema, and saw "Up in the Air". It was an interesting movie about a guy (George Clooney) who gets hired by bigger businesses to fire people. He winds up meeting this woman who he believes has the same paradigm that he has- flying and spending most of his life on the road, so to speak. They wind up having an affair, and he falls in love. That is until he decides he wants to become serious and give up his travels that he has previously enjoyed so much to spend more time with her. He eventually shows up on her doorstep, only to discover that she's got a family, and is happily married. Her perspective was that they were just having a happy affair, the end. He thought she actually gave a shit about him. Woops. Anyway, it was a decent movie. We also hung out with some of the Billings VISTAs at their house, and played a rousing game of Truth or Dare. We eventually hunkered out, and returned to Miles City, cowboy capital of the world.

Later that weekend, Susan and I got bored, so we decided to take an adventure to the ranch in Terry. It was quite delightful. We wound up going sledding with Cowboy and Megan on some of the smaller hills on the ranch. The cows kind of hung out and didn't really do much to my surprise. I hoped that they would do something cool- or at least moo- but they just stood there all content and watched us. Oh the life of eastern Montana cows. How nice it would be. Save the lack of barns thing. We later played Rock Band and enjoyed coffee and Baileys. Yum. I've become quite partial to the ranch- it's kind of a neat place to be. (Yes, it's a ranch. I've learned recently that farms are more agriculturally based- they grow corn or hay or soy beans and occasionally have a few animals. Ranches, on the other hand, tend to be more animal based and less likely to grow crops. Sure, they might have a few acres of hay or whatever to feed their cows, but the cows make their money.)

At any rate, these are my recent adventures. It's been great.