Cleanup time.

Wow oh wow oh wow I don't even know where to begin. In eight days, I will have been in Santa Cruz for two months. It has been the most amazing experience here, and I cannot wait for the things that are about to happen to me. I feel like I'm at summer camp. I love the people here, I love the environment, I love the fact that on my walk to class every morning I can't count on two hands the number of deer I see. I love that no one has any preconceived notions about me, I love the liberating feeling of not worrying about what to wear to class because people here REALLY don't care. I love being embraced and uplifted because my skin is brown, and I'm homosexual, and I'm artistic. This place was exactly what I needed.

So, what have I been up to for the last month? I was cast in a show called Sissy in an organization called Rainbow Theater, which specializes in ethnically based plays and performances. It's basically a chance to get the voices and stories of each of these groups heard in ways they may not have been able to express in the past. I have so far had a pretty good experience meeting people and being a part of it. It obviously is not going to be anything upscale or superb, but it's really not about that, and I think that is something I really need to remember when I get frustrated with unorganized rehearsals or bad communication between the staff. What Rainbow is there for is to reach out a hand to underrepresented groups in theater and say, "Hey, you do matter. We want to hear your story." So, it feels really empowering to be a part of it because there are so many people involved in it that NEVER thought they would be part of an organization like this. The show opened last night to be totally and completely embraced by everyone in the audience. It felt so good to A) be performing again, and B) in a different kind of context. The playwright was actually in the audience and told us how proud he was of the production we put on. It felt really good to be a part of it.

In other news...

And I guess the most exciting news of all, I am currently pledging the "frarority" Delta Lambda Psi. Let me explain. In 2005, five UCSC students came back from the Western Regional GLBTQQIA Conference and wanted to increase the population and acknowledgment of the queer community on campus. They became the alpha class of Delta Lambda Psi, which began as a fraternity, but very quickly morphed into something else. They soon realized that gender is not a necessarily defining factor in someone's life, and that many people don't identify with their biological "genders" or even either gender at all. So they combined a fraternity and a sorority and DLP was born. I am really excited to be a part of this and have something to really care about and believe in. THIS is why I came UC, for experiences and opportunities like this. I can't imagine myself anywhere else right now. And although there are definitely nights when I'm sitting in my dorm room missing Carissa and Marcus and Karsyn sitting in the Amador Lakes living room eating pizza and drinking, I feel so glad and proud and privileged to be where I am today. And I promise I won't leave another two month gap in blog again. Ever. <3 :)