last night in colorado
Tuesday, September 25, 2007 by Sanam
This is my last night at Boulder, Colorado. I came here on Friday to visit my aunts. One of them lives here and the other two are visiting her from Switzerland and Iran. This was a chance for me to visit these three amazing women after three years, get some energy and support, and remember how great it feels to be surrounded by family. I had lots of fun. They cooked me lots of delicious food, gave me tips on how to cook Persian food better, and made jokes about past memories. I saw the campus of University of Colorado at Boulder. It was amazing. The exterior of the buildings is made of red stones. Some of the buildings look like the mountains that are surrounding Boulder. The campus was totally different from any other campus I’ve seen in the US (see a slideshow of the campus here). The students certainly enjoy the beauty of their campus. (Perhaps I should consider this school for PhD! Imagine if I write in my application’s statement of purpose that I want to study at this school because I love the beauty of its campus!) We also went to a casino and gambled for five hours! It was my first time at a casino. I first won $50 and then lost all of it! Now I know I probably should never go to Vegas. It’s dangerous!
The only sorrow of the trip was seeing how old they have become. One of them has cancer, the other one has Parkinson, and another has a heart problem. I went to Colorado three years ago for one of my aunts’ surgery and saw all of them. Now I can see how older they have become in these three years. They are all above 70, and it’s not unusual for someone above 70 to be sick. But they are full of energy and desire to live. It’s sad to see that they are increasingly getting older and sicker.
It was a bit crazy to take a few days off in the middle of all the work I should do for school, but it was worth it. I feel much better now, ready to “finally!” kick the semester off and start working on my thesis. I’m sure my advisers are a bit angry at my laziness and depression!
I have never been to Colorado, but I have seen many pictures of the mountains there. It is certainly a very scenic state!
I have never gambled at a casino before. If I went, I would probably try card playing at a table. With a machine, rolling dice, or betting on a roulette wheel, the outcome is all random chance. There is certainly random chance in cards too, but with a game like blackjack, at least you can choose to take another card or not. Perhaps that is only an illusion of control though. The odds always favor the house.
I watched my grandparents grow old, suffer illnesses, and finally pass away. It was sometimes difficult to see them declining. At least they all lived to very respectable ages. Three lived past 90, and one up to 80. I hope that your aunts will continue to enjoy life for many years to come.
Good luck with your thesis!
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Lady Sun: Thanks David for your nice comments. On the casino part, you are so right. I found it almost impossible to win their machine pokers. Thanks for sharing your memories of your grandparents.
hi dear sanam can i have your mail address?i need some information about tesol.i live in iran but i sont acsses to the source of info.
thank u very much
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Lady Sun: My email is: khoshid at gmail.com But I don’t know anything about tesol!