I Love Words!

will-o'-the-wisp (noun):

1 : a light that appears at night over marshy ground

*2 : a misleading or elusive goal or hope

*=Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence):

Example: Though her friends think she's chasing a will-o'-the-wisp, Alexis is determined to quit her job and follow her dream of becoming a pop music star.

Cool Facts: The will-o'-the-wisp is a flame-like phosphorescence caused by gases from decaying plants in marshy areas. In olden days, it was personified as "Will with the wisp," a sprite who carried a fleeting "wisp" of light. Foolish travelers were said to try to follow the light and were then led astray into the marsh. (An 18th-century fairy tale described Will as one "who bears the wispy fire to trail the swains among the mire.") The light was first known, and still also is, as "Ignis Fatuus," which in Latin means "foolish fire." Eventually, the name "will-o'-the-wisp" was extended to any impractical or unattainable goal.

Teachings of Jesus

Excerpt from Jaroslav Pelikan's "Jesus Through the Centuries":

"Asserting that not reason but faith was the foundation of "our most holy religion," he concluded with the argument that faith was itself the greatest miracle, and indeed the only miracle:

'On the whole, we may conclude that the Christian Religion not only was at first attended with miracles, but even at this day cannot be believed by any reasonable person without one. Mere reason is insufficient to convince us of its veracity: And whoever is moved by Faith to assent to it, is conscious of a continued miracle in his own person, which subverts all the principles of his understanding, and gives him a determination to believe that is most contrary to custom and experience.' " --David Hume

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In a world dominated by the importance of science, cold-hard facts, and reason, I find myself looking more enviously on those around me whose faith is strong enough to not be rumbled by the question of "evidence". I think that is what makes faith such a beautiful thing. It is the ability to believe in something unseen....to be certain of something without evidence....to commit yourself to a cause that you will never be 100% sure of but in your heart you know it will bring you divine happiness. My best friend Megan told me in Chile one morning which we were stretching together that she understands that she can live without religion in her life...people do it every day, and both she and them get up each morning and go to bed each night after a long day. But then she said to me: "I could live without it...but why would I? Doing everything with the love and support of Jesus makes it all so much more worthwhile."

I challenge you today to think about where you are with your own thoughts on faith in this very moment. I, personally, am still on the journey from naive believer to skeptical college student to theologically-educated adult. It's been a journey of almost 22 years, but I thank the lord that he has patience and that he has put such strong believers in my life to guide me through. If you read this and you want to share your thoughts with me, send me an email at roselinehan@umail.ucsb.edu. And have a blessed and enlightened day! :)

Pictures from my fun weekend

Leigh Anne, I am posting the last of the pics from this weekend on here because my email is so moody and keeps canceling the uploads. Enjoy!

My Last Weeks of School & Studies

A little photo montage of Rose's
last few weeks of school and
special study projects...

Yeah....I wrote a LOT of really long papers
while I was here...and in Spanish too. Craaazy.

The coolest school in the whole world

My mentor for my special study project with the Gastronomy class. This is Paola and she was my first friend at the school. She is also the school nurse and a completely amazing person. When I said goodbye to her, she put her hand on my heart and said that I have a good heart and would be blessed in my life for being such a caring person. What a lovely lady....

This is Mariela who teaches English and
speaks it like perfectly! We're gonna

hang out when I get back to Santiago
in December after my big trip!

Tomas who was one of the patients in
my study for Medical Anthropology

with his psychologist Patty
who I interviewed for the final paper

Me with Tomas and his mother
Paulina who works at the school

My goodness....that investigation was a lot of
work but it was also SUCH an opportunity. Wow.

Me and the occupational therapist Erick
who I worked with for the investigation
for the past 3 months!

Maria Jose, the other patient in the
study who was Blanca Nieves
at her Halloween party :)

One of my absolute proudest moments during my time in Chile...This is me with my teacher Michelle Sadler who taught me about a branch of Anthropology that I knew nothing about before: Medical Anthropology. As you can see, this was before I gave my 20 minute presentation about my investigation with the two kids at the school. It was all in Spanish. I am very proud of myself. Bring on the next challenges, Life. I am SO ready after all I have done in these 5 months.

Michelle is 2 months pregnant! We were all so happy for her when she told us the news. I love this picture because she said she was going to hold her guatita and I said: oh ok I'll hold mine too. My Chilean guatita. haha Guata means stomach...guaton is pot-belly...guatita is a little something extra. Not gonna lie...knowledge is not the only thing I have gained while I've been in Chile. haha Come back to me Santa Barbara!!

After my successful presentation...another moment of victory that I had to capture. Little by little, I am closing all of my chapters in Santiago...getting everything done. Now I only have one more test for my bioarcheology class and then I am finally free. I LOVE victories...especially after how hard I have pushed myself during my time here. Rock star material. hehe

SUCH a feeling of relief! After this, I took my favorite walk to the bus from the school. Every time I have made that walk, I have always felt so accomplished... whether it was just for attending a class with all Chilean students and remaining poised through it all OR turning in my 15 page bioarchaeology research paper OR doing a 20 minute presentation in front of my classmates. I will feel this same feeling tomorrow when I make the walk for the last time.

Wish me luck. I am going to go study. With hard work comes great rewards. I have to remember that. Lord give me strength. I love you guys so much!!! See you December 28th!

This made me smile...

Thanks for the entertaining email, Dad :) Proof that all Linehan's--and not just me--are goofballs:

Howdy Young Lady,

Fun Day in Dog City.

"Hot Dog's" were not on the picnic menu.

No "Collar'a outbreaks" observed.

Ma and "Paw" had a great day.

Mom and Dad

i have chilean friends....and gringo friends too!

So I am trying to finish up my work and when I finish these essays, I realize that I need someone to look over them because there are bound to be mistakes. I didn't have anyone look over the 15 page bioarch one but I ended up getting a B+ so that was lucky. For my medical anthropology paper of 15 pages, my friend Cris who is a Chilean from Starbucks told me that he would help me read it. I went over to his apartment yesterday and he read through it with me and he was so nice! He told me he was totally hooked into the story and couldn't wait to finish it! He even told his friends that night all about my two case studies and the interesting program at the school where I did the research. Then I remembered that Meg's chilean roommate Sandra had totally saved me by helping me listen to the audiotracks from the interviews I had done with the mothers of the patients and the psychologist because it was so hard to decipher what they were saying. She sat with me for like 2 hours helping me with that. And then my friend Pablo just called and asked what I was up to and if he could come by and visit me and Megan. Oh AND I am writing my paper for my investigation with the Gastronomy class at Puente Alto and I emailed Mariela who is the English teacher at the school and a dear friend. I asked if she wouldn't mind reading through the paper and she just emailed back and said it would be no problem! Plus I'm just happy because last night while I was at Chris' house I got a call from Anna who wanted to have a movie night and Gary who wanted to hang out! I just feel loved amidst all of this school stuff that I still have lingering over me. And as I lie here on my best friends bed in her comfy apartment and think about how Gary, Meg, Sandra, and I enjoyed a lovely breakfast this morning all together, I am filled with peace.

A Salute To Our Armed Forces

This is a forwarded email that I received from my best friend Meg for Veteran's Day:

The following is a lesson that should be taught in all schools including, or maybe even especially, in our colleges. In September, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher did something not to be forgotten. On this first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor; she removed all the desks from her classroom. When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks. "Ms Cothren, where are our desks?' She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk."

They asked, "Was it our grades?"

"No", she said.

"Was it our behavior?'

'No, it's not even your behavior,' she told them.

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom. By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her classroom.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, "Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you."

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) War Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into the classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall... By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned..

Martha said, "You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it."