Then there's badminton. I played in the Connaught Juniors Tournament up in Sligo two weekends ago, and placed second in the singles (losing to my teammate from UCC, so it's ok). Last weekend I was up in Dublin for the Irish Juniors, and really didn't make much of an account for myself at all. It was disappointing, but we all have our off days and our less-than-shining moments. So be it. This weekend I'm off to Limerick for the ISBT competition. Oh! I did get a badminton scholarship from UCC though, which means that this coming week I've fitness testing and have to go speak to a nutritionist and other such things. But yay for money (hopefully it will be enough to cover the cost of badminton, which is already at around E250 for this year).
I've also been really involved in the International Development Society. I was on the planning committee for our Diversity Week Event. The day we were asked to cover was on Race and Religion, so we put together a booth, a panel of speakers on discrimination, and a multicultural food gathering for it. I myself developed a survey on discrimination that we distributed, baked loads of challah, and helped set up. Below, you can see my challah baking extravaganza:
I was really worried that the day would veer towards the meaningless "Let's celebrate diversity!" kind of thing. It definitely could have been more substantive, I felt, but it wasn't too bad, and there was actual content about racism from the speakers. Of course, on the same day that I was devoting to anti-discrimination, my home state was busy voting to discriminate against gay people. So that was devastating.
In a small but hugely symbolically important windfall, at least Obama won. Watching him, Michelle, Malia, and Sasha walk on the stage for his acceptance speech was the biggest thrill. Knowing that these were the faces of the people who would represent our country for the next four years--it made me feel proud to be American for the first time, really. Don't get me wrong. I understand that, as he said, "this victory alone is not the change we seek, but only the opportunity for that change." Shark Fu (of Feministing but more well-known for AngryBlackBitch) puts it more colloquially, but no less aptly: "So I shall cherish this moment and rest my tired ass feet for a spell, for we have miles upon miles yet to walk..."
So yeah. I'm doing my best to stay active, both in a physical and political sense. And to resist the urge to just curl up and watch a DVD while wasting hours away on Skype. But the latter tends to win out. ;)
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