It's blustery and cold outside; the rain beats against my window and the fierce wind threatens to de-leaf the nearby trees. La Jolla generally isn't stormy, but the timing couldn't be more perfect. I'm forced to stay inside with my hot tea, George Winston and piles of notebooks as I study for finals. Exams start in two days and I'm not ready yet. There's so much to know, so much to memorize, so much to write and regurgitate...I wish I could just pause time and pound it all out.

Another problem is major curiosity which generally is a good thing, but it's turning into a serious distraction. I've spent the morning studying Latin America for a final on Monday and I get carried away with researching all the policies I don't know about. I needed to define ALBA (the Boliviarian Alliance for the People of Our Americas) and instead I spent almost an hour discovering the details and history of it, the proponents, controversy, and social impacts of its implementation. It's fascinating and I knew nothing about it! So now I'm rather in love with Hugo Chavez, but progress in terms of finals studying is depressingly slow.

Oh well.