bethany jane.

2012

2012-01-16T20:18:00.000-08:00

In the last 59 days since November 19th, we have spent a total of 29 nights away from home and only 30 nights in our own home. It has been crazy. We have been living out of suitcases and re-locating like it's our job. We have packed up and filled our car to go somewhere else a total of 12 times.

It all started with that pesky fire, which left us homeless for fourteen days, and for the rest of the time we were at one of our parents' homes for the holidays or babysitting our cute nieces and nephew for 6 days (just last week). Our house has been in a state of disaster ever since the fire (with the exception of maybe 6 days when I got it looking great before we had to leave again. I even put up a christmas tree and decorated (minimally) for Christmas, but it was hardly even enjoyed. So sad. Since things have been so crazy, we have even put of our New Year's resolution making until this weekend. Tomorrow is our new start. We spent the first two Saturdays of this year in bed all day... relaxation bookends to the crazy, tiring week of tending three kids. I know it was ridiculously excessive of us to spend both of those days reading, watching movies, cuddling, and sleeping, but people keep telling us to enjoy this time before children, so we are. Shamelessly. In the few spare moments I had here in my home (especially my kitchen) I was able to scrounge together some Christmas gifts and treats for loved ones. I still haven't even finished one gift, and I'm thinking it will end up being a Valentine's gift (that's for you Alisa & Euan... so sorry!) Despite the frustration of feeling like our home isn't our own lately, it's been really nice to spend so much time with our families, and to spend so much time with Kimball. My husband and I have never not been able to spend a ton of time together since we got married, so that wasn't new, but it's still just as great as ever, and it deserves mentioning.

One of my goals for this year is to keep a better journal and to keep up on my blog. I have too much time on my hands not to... especially because all this time = lots of new recipes and crafts. So, even though I say it like every four months, I'm going to be blogging regularly again soon. I have a million pictures I want to post, too! Life has been great since we got married, but I have a feeling it's about to get even better. We just feel like things are going to start looking WAY up. This has potential to be the best year yet. Here's to 2012!!

Part Three (of the fire story)

2011-11-21T16:18:00.001-08:00

Why was there a truck on fire in our parking garage? Here the story as the cops have figured so far:

*I'd like to mention that as Kimball and I were discussing the possibilities and trying to figure out the mystery of the burning truck, I proposed what ended up being basically the exact truth. I think I need to try my hand at crime solving.

The truck, as it turns out, was a stolen truck. Some hooligans had stolen it to aid them in a heist. They robbed some place (a business it sounds like, not sure which one). They went and stored their goods who knows where, and (I assume) they were driving north by our place. They passed the first underground parking driveway next to ours, and then they saw ours and and saw their hiding spot. They pulled in, noticed an empty spot (which happened to be ours... still feeling guilty about this), saw a can of flammable stuff on the window ledge (this part is conjecture... there had been this canister of something dangerous and flammable on the ledge for the last couple weeks. I had noticed it, but thought nothing of it), and in an attempt to hide the evidence (or draw even more attention to themselves, or ruin an entire apartment building?) they decided to torch it.

So that's what happened. Pretty crazy, and pretty exciting. I spent today cleaning our bathroom, and it's really not as bad as I thought. It's tedious, but I don't mind it at all. Our landlords (a father and son, and really great guys) came today and said they'll help us out however they can. They took pictures and will talk with a restoration company today to see what they can and need to do for us. They'll probably do our carpets, walls, ducts, and vents. I just hope I can get the smell out. Any ideas or suggestions for really great air fresheners? I don't want anything scented, sit something to suck the chemical smokey smell out. Such a crazy, random experience.

At least it's a good story, right?

This is the car that was parked next to the truck. Their car was the only
one that was damaged. All the others were just covered in soot. Our car
(thank goodness) is clean as ever, but our apartment had the worst
apartment damage.

Part Two (of the fire story)

2011-11-20T23:56:00.001-08:00

(This is a continuation from the last post)

The firemen hard at work, we wondered how long we should wait. We had our car keys, and e knew our car was safe. Maybe we could just go over to Kimball's parents house and wait there. One of the police officers called us all over (there were maybe 40-50 of us out there now) and told us that they had reached a bishop in the area with keys to a nearby church (I love Utah). We were all supposed to go and wait there in the warmth, and they'd inform us when it was safe to come back. We decided to go with everyone, since it would be a little adventure, and in case they divulged anything, we would want to know what was going on, and when/if it was safe to go home.

We all walked a few blocks and met the bleary-eyed bishop with his family. We all crowded into the gym (some luckies got the foyer couches) and sat on the floor and metal folding chairs. The police man came in a after a while and told us that the Red Cross would be there shortly to help with anything we needed, and that they might start arranging hotel rooms for those whose places weren't livable. Kimball and I got pretty bored after a while, and decided that we'd just get our neighbor's number, figuring that their damage would be comparable to ours, and call them later that day from the comfort of Kimball's parents' place.

We walked back to our apartment, by now it was about 5:30, and saw that the firemen had successfully put out the fire, and were starting to pack up. We went and talked to one of them. We asked how bad the damage was, and he told us it would due fine, and that we should be able to go in. We went in, thinking it was over, and that we could resume our sleep, but we wouldn't be so lucky. I could see big black fireman foot prints in our entry, and realized they must have come looking for anyone still inside. They had even opened our balcony door and turned on our ceiling fan to start airing the apartment out. Despite their efforts, it smelled horrible. We decided to gather some clothes and essentials and head to the in-laws at least for the day. I went to grab my phone charger and saw that it looked as if the outlet had vomited ashes. This was a little disturbing. We puzzled over it for a while and decided to work about it later. We continued packing up, and as we got to the bathroom, we realized this whole thing was much worse than we had thought.

Pictures are needed here.

the outlet

I don't even know how this happened. It's like there was
smoke in our walls, and it just came out of every crack
it could.

Our bathroom floor... so gross. There had been a rug
where that foot is.

This is what the inside of every closed drawer and
closet looks like. I don't understand how the smoke
got in all the way to the back of closed drawers and
managed to oat everything inside.

We started to see that this was more than just a bad smell. We moved into the kitchen and found it to be almost just as bad as the bathroom.

We couldn't tell that the counters were dirty until we
moved a cereal box...

And then we noticed the floor. I'm so sad about my
pretty rug! I got it years ago at Anthropologie on a
major sale, and I don't know that it's cleanable. I
kind of like the new deeper hues though...

I was sad to realize that the 2 dozen pumpkin cookies I had made the day before were covered, but not very well with saran wrap. Maybe some were still okay, but we weren't brave enough to risk it. We were tired and didn't want to overwhelm ourselves too much, so we grabbed some clothes and threw our bedding in the wash and left. This was funny: we couldn't find any clean surfaces and we didn't know what to do with our pillows and duvet while their covers were being cleaned, so we stuffed it all in the clean dryer. We went to my in-laws and explained it all, they kindly said we could stay indefinitely, and then we slept from about 8 am till noon. We woke up, and decided to face the place once again. We brought huge tupperware bins and garbage bags with us. We basically threw out anything that wasn't worth cleaning or that had been contaminated: magazines, little notepads, our toothbrushes, dental floss, Q-tips, cotton balls, cookies, and tons of food that wasn't in an air-tight container (baking soda, cereal, etc.). I wish we could have thrown it all away sort of. The thought of scrubbing that whole place down, cleaning every book, article of clothing, appliance, dish, chair, the mattress (who knows how it's doing), towel, nail polish bottle, blow dryer, razor blade, and all my fabric and craft supplies... everything is so dirty! And this isn't just dirt. It's sticky, greasy, invasive, smudgy, stinky soot. We filled our clean tupperwares with clothes and stuff that we thought we'd need for the next week or so, took the pillows and duvet from the dryer to dry the sheets, and put them in clean garbage bags. We dried our sheets, turned off the furnace so the smokey residue would stop blowing in, and we left.

We would find out later that day what happened, and why that truck was burning in the first place. More to come.

*(Sorry I'm not writing more at a time! I'm tired, and we're busy starting Thanksgiving super early by playing games and having treats and watching Boy Meets World, because we just survived a fire!).

I'll post again tomorrow.

The Full Story (well, part one of it)

2011-11-19T23:09:00.001-08:00

Thursday night was a bad night. I was so tired, but as I got into bed and closed my eyes, my body refused to relax enough to fall asleep. I was tossing and turning for so long that I finally pulled out my phone and read for a bit. I don't know what time it was when I fell asleep, but I think I ended up getting about six hours of sleep. Kimball and I had been planning on going out on Friday, but I was so tired I didn't know if it would happen. I went to pick him up from work/school, and as we pulled up to our place we decided to park on the street, instead of in our parking stall beneath our building. The stalls are so narrow, so it's sometimes just easier to park outside, especially when we're just home for a few hours. We got settled at home, and both of us ended up falling asleep. Waking up from our little nap, we both felt groggy and decided to stay in... huge blessing... or huge mistake.

We ended up going to bed around 1:00 (I know. We had been tired, really.) There we were, snug in our cozy bed, with freshly cleaned sheets, and happy to be evading the snowstorm outside, when everything went crazy! The fire alarm woke us both up instantly around 4:15 am. I have no recollection of waking up, getting out of bed, or turning on the light. All I know is that all of those things happened, and then I was running through our apartment looking for the source of the smoke I could hear and see everywhere. Kimball and I, with our mussed hair and wide eyes seemed to just walk in circles for a while... or run in circles. My first thought was, "get outside now!"I actually first thought to go out on our balcony, but I realized quickly that that was a horrible idea. I thought back on all those conversations I'd had about "If your house was burning down, what would you grab?" I couldn't think straight, but I did think straight enough to yell to Kimball to grab our phones (who has phone numbers memorized anymore?) and our computers. I was busy looking for the fire. We thought it was for sure in our apartment, but then I saw the smoke pouring out of our ceiling vents. Shoot, it was upstairs! This was the moment of panic (really a moment... from waking up to getting outside was maybe a minute and a half, tops.) I ran into the bedroom and told Kimball, and started wrapping our huge bedspread around me. I knew it would be cold out there, and, confession, I was just in my undies. This was my moment of not thinking clearly. I saw Kimball pulling on jeans and a shirt, and realized that it would be a joke to go outside as I was. I grabbed some jeans and a sweater and got dressed faster than I ever have. We threw our electronics into a backpack, and Kimball grabbed his little bag of cough drops (this was his moment of not thinking clearly), and we ran out of our house. Not knowing if we'd see it again. Such a weird, panic-filled, confusing few minutes. The worst part was not knowing where the fire was or how long we had to get out of there. I thought our ceiling could have fallen in at any moment, or our wall would turn black and crumble to ashes.

We ran out into the rain to the front of our building. There was only one other couple out there. (I was proud of us for being so quick and smart - these guys were quicker, but they were also in shorts and had no shoes). The guy was looking into the parking garage, and when he saw us he yelled, frantically, "There's a truck on fire in there. It's seriously about to blow up! Oh man! It's gonna blow!" We laughed to ourselves, relieved that it wasn't the building, and at the fact that he earnestly thought the car would blow up. Too many TV shows. These guys also hadn't brought their phone, so they (frantically) told us to call the police. We did, but the cops showed up right as we got through, and before we had to a chance to see into the garage. I just wanted to know where the truck was, and how bad the damage would be to our car. We stressed about this for a minute with the other couple. What a huge pain. Our cars might be ruined, and the police have already taped it off. There's no way to even go get our cars to get away if we want to. This was the point that Kimball realized that he had his cough drops in his hands... I let him hide them in my backpack... my poor little sicky. Kimball turned to me and said, "Wait, did I park on the street last night?" My eyes grew wide with hope at this suggestion. I didn't know. I was delirious then, and I was worse off now. "I think you did!" We sat and thought and thought, and finally concluded that we had, in fact, evaded the flames! What a huge relief. The moment I realized it, I turned to cold-footed pair and proudly announced, "We just realized we parked on the street! Isn't that lucky?!" I immediately realized how horrible it was for me to say that. They looked, well, tired. I avoided them for the rest of the adventurous morning. People had started to pour out of the building in all sorts of funny PJs (robes, Harry Potter robes, shorts, too-short flannels, it was great) as the fire trucks showed up. We heard a loud pop, and guessed (correctly, as we'd find out later) that the windows were being blown out by the heat. I couldn't believe how many people came out without shoes on. (Isn't that the easiest thing to grab? They're just right there by the door!) We were told to move away as the firemen worked their magic. They also started going around to apartments waking those who's fire alarms didn't go off. There we waited, and here you must wait until I have time to write a little more. This is long and detailed, but it was such an adventure for us, I have to record it all, you know, for posterity.

Sorry to leave you hanging... just imagine how we felt!

Creamy Tomato Soup with Cheesy Croutons

2011-11-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was so blustery and cold! I didn't have a lot of food in the house, but I did have a large quantity of broccoli and a few cans of diced tomatoes. I really wanted soup, so it was either broccoli or tomato. I suppose I could have combined the two, but I ended up settling on tomato, as you may have deducted from the title of this post. Clever you...

It's strange to me that I decided to try tomato soup, since I've never really liked it, but after reading a few recipes and picking and choosing which ingredients I thought sounded good, I pieced together a recipe that sounded good to me, using ingredients that I already had. I was shocked at how delicious it was! It was amazing. Kimball and I both loved it, and it was surprisingly filling.

Creamy Tomato Soup:

Since I was sort of throwing it together as I went, I'm not sure of the exact amounts of certain things.

Add the following to a big pot:
2 cans of diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon of chicken bouillon
1-2 cups water depending on how thick you want your soup to be

(you can use chicken broth in place of the bouillon and water)
a teaspoon or so of salt
a teaspoon or so of pepper

While that's heating up, brown the following in a skillet with a bit of olive oil:

Half a yellow onion

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon of sugar

When the mixture's lightly browned, add it all to the pot of soup. Stir it in, and add the following, to taste:
celery salt (it's strong, so use a little bit and taste before you add more)
oregano (a couple teaspoons)
basil (a couple teaspoons)

You can use fresh or dried herbs. Be sure to taste it as you add the spices. If you add way too much, you can add another can of tomatoes to dilute it a little bit.

When the soup comes to a boil, turn the heat down, and slowly pour in some heavy cream. I don't know how much I used - maybe half a cup - Just be sure to start with a little, and stir as you pour. If you add too much you'll really taste the cream. Pour, stir, and taste until it looks and tastes how you want it to. You can also omit the cream altogether.

You can stop there, or, you can puree the soup. I used an immersion blender and partially blended it up. I wanted to make it a little thicker by blending some of the tomatoes, but I retained the chunky texture of the onions and some tomatoes. If you don't want to do this, but you want the results, you could use 1 can of crushed tomatoes, and 1 can of diced.

It seems like people love the combination of tomato soup and grilled cheese. I'm not a fan of grilled cheese sandwiches, but I improvised and came up with a healthier, easier, and tastier substitute. I call them croutons because of they're size and shape, but they're only delightfully crispy, not crunchy like the kind you buy. They were also surprisingly delicious.

Here are the directions:

Cheesy Croutons:

Preheat oven to 350F

Bread - I used regular whole wheat sandwich bread (1 slice per person), but you could use rolls, french, or other bread

Olive oil

Shredded cheese - I used mozzarella and asiago. Parmesan would be good, too

Garlic salt

Paint the bread lightly with olive oil, and cut it into squares. (If you're using rolls, you can cut them into cubes, and toss them with a bit of oil in a large ziploc bag instead of painting them. Arrange the bread squares on a tin foil-lined baking sheet (it's so much easier to clean up!). Sprinkle the bread lightly with the shredded cheese. Make sure the squares are close together, or even touching, so you don't waste cheese! Bake them at 350 for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese starts to turn golden brown. I didn't time them. I just checked periodically till I liked what I saw. Remove them from the oven when they look done, and sprinkle them lightly with garlic salt. Pull them apart carefully, so they retain their cheese. They'll get soggy if they sit in the soup too long, so just a few at a time when you're ready to eat.

I served our soup with these croutons, and a few sliced grape tomatoes thrown in. They add a really nice touch, and make it feel even more like real tomato soup.

India Fest 2011

2011-11-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

We (somewhat) recently had a lovely evening at Spanish Fork's annual IndiaFest. The curry was decent, the literature was inspiring (we lean vegetarian), the temple was beautiful, and the music and dance were fantastic. They had a stage set up at the bottom of a hill where we were able to watch Indian dancers, which was so fun. I love Indian dance, and if I could find a class in Provo, I'd take it. There were displays set up all around the temple to educate us on all things India, random caged animals, like parrots and llamas.

It was a little chilly, but luckily we were able to warm up in the overcrowded, incense-filled temple. I'm not a fan of incense (even though it reminds me of Jerusalem and all the old churches we spent hours in), but it was better to hang out inside anyway since that's where the music was. Actually the reason we were even at IndiaFest in the first place was to support the band, of which Kimball's former Kung Fu instructor of ten years is a member. This guy's not only a martial arts master, but he plays in a traditional Indian band and a traditional Irish band. Such diverse interests and talents! We actually went and heard him play with his Irish band the week prior at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, which we have no pictures of, sadly. It was pretty great though, and hopefully we can go back next summer. Anyway, back to India. In the temple, they were calling people up to bless them and put a red dot on their forehead, and the band had everyone get up and dance around in a big circle. Kimball and I just sat on the side, for fear of being converted unintentionally, but we did chant and sing the hare krishna songs along with everyone, one of which was stuck in my head for days. So cultural.

By the way, why have we shortened the word festival? Is it just me, or is it a great word? There are so many fests these days and not enough festivals. Timpanogos did it right. I don't care what people say, I'm lengthening it back out.

Thank you, India Festival! We had a great time.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (healthier...)

2011-10-31T13:57:00.000-07:00

I've recently succumbed to the enticings of Pinterest. (Facebook really doesn't do it for me anymore). I don't recommend Pinterest if you're busy, but if you're looking for a great recipe, hairstyle, decorating idea, or tutorial of any sort, I'd most certainly bypass a google search and head over to the picture gallery of inspiration, especially if you, like me, are a visual person. I don't like trying recipes if I don't have a picture of the outcome. Because I want to help people like me, I've started photographing some of the food I make in an effort to help you understand how great these recipes are, which brings me to the next trend I'm on board with: Instagram. I'm loving the way these filters enhance my pictures. I admit, I've gone over board, and there are now few photos which haven't been enhanced in this way. So, laugh if you will, but in the meantime, enjoy these pictures and these recipes. Oh, and by all means, feel free to pin them!

this recipe makes about 24 little cookies

I'm going to give you all a recipe that you all need. I don't think I've ever made pumpkin cookies before, and I'm so glad that the first attempt will likely be the recipe I use from here on out. These are the best pumpkin cookies I have ever eaten. Way better than store-bought. They aren't dry at all, and though they're sort of full of sugar, they are somewhat healthier than your average cookie. They have whole wheat flour, and contain no oil or butter! They are amazing. They're low in cholesterol and high in vitamin A (well, and high in sugar - omit the chocolate if that's a concern).

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

*recipe is adapted from this recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a cookie sheet, or simplify your life and use parchment paper or a silpat baking mat.

Combine:

1 cup canned pumpkin,

1 shy cup white sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1 egg

In a separate bowl, mix together:

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

a pinch (about 1/8 tsp) of each: nutmeg, allspice, & cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix the wet and the dry ingredients and stir in

1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 teaspoon of milk to make a paste

1 tablespoon real vanilla extract

Mix well, and add

2 cups (1 package) semisweet chocolate chips (this was a LOT of chocolate - you could use less)

Drop spoonfuls of whichever size you choose onto your baking sheet, and bake until golden brown and firm in the middle. I baked the little cookies for about 12-14 minutes, and the huge second batch (seen below) baked for more like 25 minutes.

And for those who are wisely trying to be more aware of what they're ingesting:

Posts are coming

2011-10-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

I have no excuse. I'm less busy than I've been in years, and I'm posting less than ever, but it's all about to change. November will be very different. So, prepare yourselves for some great recipes, book reviews, tips, projects, adventures with the family, and updates on my oh-so-captivating life. Oh, and maybe even some more wedding pics!

I'm back in your reader!

2011-09-15T16:34:00.000-07:00

You might be wondering why I'm showing up in reader again. Well, here's why. I used to be an open, publicly accessible blog, and then it sort of creeped me out that anyone could read it, so I went private. After a few months of this, I came to realize that I was just making it harder on people. I don't like having to sign in to friends blogs (they usually just go unread, because I don't think to check them.. reader is just sooo much easier) and I don't like having to sign in to read blogs. I figured, if I didn't like it, why was I inflicting others with it? So, I'm back to being not private. Welcome to my life, again.

confetti salad

2011-09-15T12:08:00.000-07:00

I've been lucky enough to be able to do a lot (seriously, a lot) of cooking lately, and I just have to share the things I've learned. This is becoming an amateurish food blog for the next little bit, interspersed with little glimpses into our lives. Sorry if that bores you.

* * *

Oh my goodness, this is tasty! I found this recipe on a delightful little food blog, Mel's Kitchen Cafe (I have made so many of her recipes... it's a little embarrassing how much I trust her), and set I about making it, only to realize that I was missing a few ingredients... so here's my version, adapted from this one. I used an orange bell pepper instead of red, and I use a red onion instead of green. I loved how colorful it turned out, and I love that it had purple and orange... not a common color combo in food, I think. I also used a blend of lemon and lime juice in place of red wine vinegar, which I didn't have. This recipe is pretty versatile, and I bet there are a million different ways to make it.

Here's how it goes:

Ingredients:
- 3 cups cooked rice - cooled
- 1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
- 1 can black-eyed peas, rinsed & drained
- 1 can corn, drained
- red onion, diced (I used about 3/4 of a small one - just depends on what you like).
- 1 orange bell pepper, seeded, cored, diced
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (once again, depends on what you like - add more or less if you want)

Dressing:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/8 cup or so lemon juice
- few tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chili powered
- 1/4 tsp black pepper

*I didn't measure on a few of these things - you really just need to mess around with it till it tastes good.

It's so easy, just throw everything thing together in a big salad bowl (it makes a lot of food) and mix up the dressing ingredients separately. Pour the dressing on, mix it in well, and put it all in the fridge till it's time to eat. It's best to leave it in there for a couple hours so the flavors get nice and blended.

*I only added about 3/4 of the dressing, and kept it in the fridge. This recipe makes so much, we had leftovers for a couple days. On about day three, the salad seemed a little dry (the rice just kept absorbing that moisture) so I threw the rest of the dressing on the remains of our confetti and it was delish!

Monthly Reading

2011-08-09T09:51:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in the previous post, I'm reading the Book of Mormon this month, in its entirety. I thought, since I wouldn't have time to go through footnotes and cross-references, that it might be fun to try reading it in a way that I had never tried before. When I was in Palmyra, NY maybe 7 or 8 years ago, I was at the little bookstore/publishing house where the Book of Mormon was printed for the first time. They sell copies of the Book of Mormon that are replicas of that first set of 500 books that were published in 1830. They have no verses, no footnotes, no cross references, and the chapters are even organized differently. It reads almost like a novel. I bought on, and it has been sitting on my shelf ever since. I decided that I'd use it for this month's Book of Mormon challenge.

It's been so interesting to me to read it, and to internalize the things I've read so many times in such a different way. It feels so much more continuous, and it flows together so well. It's also been interesting to read it as the early Saints read it. This is the way that my ancestors learned the gospel!

It's good for reading it quickly, but it's also making me seriously appreciate all the work that went into adding footnotes etc, and matching verses that match up to doctrine found in the Bible. I'm so impressed with the effort, work, and time it must have taken some very patient and well-read people. It's kind of amazing, actually. I've been loving my hour with the Book of Mormon every day, and I may just keep that up, as long as I have the time. I'll probably go back to reading my modern copy, as it has its pros, but I recommend trying out the old format if you haven't!

*Here it is on Amazon

August

2011-08-02T19:31:00.000-07:00

This month a few members of my family and I are doing a 30-day challenge of sorts. We all get to choose our own goals, but we being held accountable to one another, and encouraging each other to do what we've committed to do. My goals include drinking more water (3 liters/day), working out regularly, and more intensely (my new favorite app = Nike Training Club), getting all my thank you notes written (I'm overwhelmed with everyone's generosity, and because you were all so generous, it's going to take forever to write these all!*), going to bed and waking up earlier, writing in my journal, or blogging, recording my calorie intake and being more aware of what I'm putting in my body, reading at least a page of The Hobbit in Arabic (if I do that, I'll have finished it by the time the film comes out in December 2012... I know, it's slow) and, last but not least, reading the Book of Mormon before the month is out. That's 18 pages a day. A few of us are doing the Book of Mormon, and it was my sister's idea. I'm loving it so far! I just have to make sure I don't get behind... Luckily, I finished The Count of Monte Cristo last week, so I won't have anything pulling my attention away. I think this 30-day challenge will be a monthly thing, and I can't wait to come up with new goals for myself in the coming months. Suggestions?

*Some one gave us the most adorable gift. It's a pretty apron and some seashell measuring spoons from Anthropologie. Either there was no card, or it got lost. If you gave us this pretty little gift, thank you! Please identify yourself! If you know who it was from, please let me know. Thanks!

July

2011-08-01T22:42:00.000-07:00

The carefree days of summer are drawing to a close. Kimball and I have had such a fun couple months of being newlyweds, though, and it's sad to know it's going to get much more busy soon. I've become lazy with the camera, and even the camera on my phone, so I don't have many photos to show for the fun times, but the memories really are there.

We went camping a few weeks ago with some friends, and had so much fun! I did actually take some pictures of that experience, so please enjoy.

Our tent was so tiny, and so perfect.

Okay, I know it doesn't look great, and that burned spot of cabbage
looks like a nasty bug, but these are the best tin foil dinners EVER.
Cabbage, kielbasa, carrots, turkey meatballs,steak fries and so, so much
more... Seriously, SO delicious. We were in charge of bringing dinner,
and I knew couldn't fail with these little guys.

I love getting so dirty camping. My toes were nasty and black.

Okay, our tent looks big there in the foreground... see the picture below
to see the tent to scale.

Yes, it is oh so tiny.

campy me

It took us a while to fall asleep, because we kept laughing
at how funny we looked with our sleeping bags cinched
up around our faces.

So silly.

We have done many other fun things, and have spent time with some wonderful people, but have no pictures to show for it. We had some lovely guests from Scotland, with whom we hiked and went to the farmers market, we went to Syracuse for the weekend and enjoyed some amazing food and had so much fun with Kimball's brother and his family, we played with my family at the Roy water park, and had such a fun weekend in SLC with said family and cousins. We spent a fun evening in the canyon with friends and made chocolate peach cobbler. We went to our very own water park, which is right next door to our apartment building, attended a bunch of wedding receptions and showers, had some dear Jerusalem friends for dinner, house-warmed another Jerusalem friend's home, Kimball got a new job doing Internet security for Provo-based Qualtrics (good work, baby!) and Kimball and the guys at his other job (BYU's Computer Science Security lab) won a nation-wide hacking contest (good job, again, baby!) Such an awesome husband have I. He works so hard, and it kills me that he's working two jobs, when I can't even work one (being Canadian and without a green card... this will change in the next few months). Anyway, we have had so much fun, and we are just loving life. It feels like a vacation everyday... after Kimball gets home from work. This post is much too long to be enjoyable, but it's working as a journal for me, so I refuse to apologize. So, continuing on... Some other fun things I happen to have snapped pictures of include the following:

We made massaman (a thai peanut curry).
Yes, be proud.
It's complex, and so perfectly yummy.

I made fresh raspberry limeade, which was
just delightful. And I'm loving my little
pitchers from Brooklyn!

My new kung fu kicks

Explanation: My dear husband, a black belt kung fu master, convinced me to get a pair of these shoes. It's probably wise, since he'll be teaching me his martial arts ways. (We just finished watching "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" In every fight scene I kept asking if he could do certain moves. I'm sure he loved it). Anyway, the shoes are called Feiyues (fay-yous) and I'm not exaggerating when I say that these are the only shoes he has worn for about the last ten years, besides church shoes on Sundays, and flip flops he got for our honeymoon. He goes through about 2 pairs in a year, and always has new ones on hand. He has three brand new pairs in our closet right now, one pair he wears, and one he goes running/hiking in. They're apparently super popular in China (that's where they're from - you can see thousands of them in the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies), and among ninjas.

hc, jr.

The man in the blue shirt there is none other that Harry Connick, Jr. He was in Provo (who knows why?) and we ate at the same place (Sammy's) that night. I chatted with him a bit. Nice man. As for Sammy's (we had a groupon!)... won't go there again. Good food and pie shakes, but so unhealthy. It took many workouts and much water to feel good about ourselves again.

My new favorite toy! Thank you mama!

We got caught in a torrential downpour, and we are
soooo in love.

Assembled!

2011-07-13T11:16:00.000-07:00

It took about a while, but we finally got all of our Ikea purchases put together and put away.

It's too bad we were so tired of building, because the leftover cardboard boxes would have made incredible forts... or homes even.

We actually considered trying to find a homeless person to take our couch box. It was definitely livable.

It's no wonder they call it a month of honey

2011-07-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

Kimball and I have now been married for one month, and what a lovely month it has been. We cannot get over how great the timing of it all is: neither of us is in school, summer has begun, he can choose his hours (to an extent) at work, and I (unfortunately?) can't work due to being a Canadian citizen and waiting for paperwork clearance, etc. It's all a little bit too good to be true, so we're trying not to get too comfortable, because we're sure it won't last, but every day sort of feels like a holiday.

Our wedding day turned out exactly as we had hoped. Once we get our pictures back from the photographer we'll be sure and post a whole bunch about that. We couldn't have been happier at the end of the day. Our honeymoon was, in our opinions, perfect. All three hotels were amazing (one night in Salt Lake, two nights in LA, and 6 nights in Waikiki), and each offered tremendous breakfasts. Our Hawaii hotel was such a perfect little hotel, and so I'm dedicating a significant portion of this post to it. Forgive if this sounds like an advertisement, but we were just blown away with how fantastic our experience was with this hotel.

What we loved about Hotel Renew:

- it's a nice, new, non-smoking building

- extremely clean

- free wi-fi

- 20% off for honeymooners (which we didn't even need to use, because we found an even better deal online, and got 25% off our entire stay!), and a bottle of champagne, which they will gladly exchange for sparkling cider if you request it

- only 9 floors, not many guests (most guests seemed to be from france, which was kind of awesome, but made me feel frumpy...haha)

- located at the southern edge of Waikiki and thus, very quiet

- tons of beach equipment free for guest use (towels, mats, body boards, beach chairs)

- no pool (not the best) but, it's about a 40 second walk to the beach

- softest sheets I've ever slept on

- feather beds, down duvets, and many down pillows

- modern and minimalist design, which we love!

- a seriously good looking hotel

- really nice, clean, modern bathrooms

- nice lighting, and these amazing light switch control centers, where with the push of a button you can set the lighting to "night, bright, or just right"

- classy swedish soap, shampoo, and such that you actually want to keep

- amazing free breakfasts (granola, croissants with jam, pineapple juice, tea, fruit, yogurts, incredible muffins, toast, and the Wall Street Journal)

- super personable staff

- classy art on the walls, and art shows in the lobby, which were a little too hip for us, but fun

- four-and-a-half stars out of about a thousand reviews on trip advisor

It's not an extremely kid-friendly place, but if we ever go back, just us two, we hope we can stay there again.

Besides reminiscing about that little paradise, we've been busy looking for work (for Kimball), getting to know our new ward, which is a family ward full of young marrieds, like us (so fun!), writing thank you notes (but have yet to send any), assembling Ikea furniture, returning and exchanging duplicate wedding gifts, hanging out with couple friends and family, budgeting, planning for the future, getting used to sharing a bed, opening a joint account, buying health insurance, going on fun runs together, doing Insanity together, and just loving life. We've been busy, but it's all fun stuff. Things have calmed down this last week, and so I've been able to do more reading. I'm branching out and reading some new things that have come recommended by Kimball (Code, A Short History of Nearly Everything), some things that have been on the list for ages (The Complete C.S. Lewis), and The Count of Monte Christo, which I read ages ago, but I had forgotten much of. It's been wonderful reading in the little park next to our apartment building.

Life, as Kimball and I reiterate on a more-than-daily basis, is so great.

Tell your friends!

2011-05-15T23:10:00.000-07:00

I'm so proud of my darling Kimball! His first app was just released in the app store tonight! It's scripture golf (if you served a mission or even went to seminary, you probably played it sans iPhone). You just guess where a given verse is - first the book, and then the chapter. Each guess is a stroke - you want as few as possible, hence, golf. It's surprisingly addicting, and it's seriously fun to play (especially between meetings in church).

If you have an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, search for "Scripture Golf" or "BOMGolf" in the app store and take a look! It's the one that looks like the cover of the Book of Mormon (see above - this cover art took him a long time. Check out that realistic, leathery texture), and it says Kimball Germane above it.

(It does cost $1.99, but it's worth it, because it will improve your knowledge of the Book of Mormon, and that will eventually help in attaining salvation, right? Apple gave him a very limited number of codes for free downloads, so if you're my sibling or his, or a parent, you can have it for free. My apologies to the rest of you - we both have big families!)

He's been working on it all semester and this week it finally got approved. He is brilliant to me. I don't know how he made it so fancy. For example, when you want to quit a game, you just shake your phone, and it asks if you want to quit. We spent many a night over the last few months working on our own stuff, sitting there with our computers... I'd be gathering addresses for wedding invitations (send me your address if you haven't yet!) and he'd be figuring out how to make it look like the cover was slowing being turned back on the screen. I loved seeing the progress he was making, and I love seeing it there in the app store tonight! We're super excited about it, and he's already working on app number two!

Are there any apps/games you wish were in the app store? He may start taking requests! (I want one that tells me which isle things are on in various grocery stores, but Kimball doesn't want to take the jobs away from those who've learned those things, so I doubt I'll get it).

Let us know what you think and what could be improved so he can start releasing updates and making the next version even better!

Unrelated - this has been floating around facebook, and I think it's funny (it's been photoshopped - trust, me. I watched Cinderella enough as a child to know that some details are WAY off... but still, it's pretty good):

A day in the kitchen

2011-05-04T21:55:00.000-07:00

Today was fantastic. I must say, I truly love living in my own place with no roommates (no offense to my former roommates). It is so nice not sharing a fridge, cupboard space, bathroom, and dirty dishes with anyone else. I didn't cook a lot in my old place for a couple reasons: I was pretty busy with school, and all of the stuff in our apartment (including, actually maybe especially the oven and stove) was old, unreliable, and dirty. My new place is gloriously new and clean, and everything in it is my own! It's such a contrast. I decided that, since Kimball works all day, and I don't, and we only see each other for about 3 hours when he gets off work each day, that I'd start cooking us dinner.

I spent a good part of yesterday grocery shopping, menu planning, and recipe reading to figure out what we could have for dinner for the next two weeks. I'm very excited to finally do this. The stars have aligned perfectly. Since my mom is traveling her heart out right now, I've been lucky enough to borrow her car for three weeks! I've never had a car. Not ever. This makes cooking difficult. Previously, trips to the grocery store included walking for 25 minutes to and from the nearest grocery store. I'd walk there with an empty back pack, purchase only what I could carry, and what wouldn't break, and I'd walk home with about 30 pounds of food squished into my backpack and whatever bags I could carry. It was exhausting, and stressful. There were so many days where I'd get home only to realize I'd forgotten to buy toothpaste, or something essential for a recipe I'd wanted to try. It was tricky, but now with a car, free time, a fantastic little kitchen, and a hungry man showing up for dinner, the conditions for cooking are perfect!

Most of my menu selections come from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. It's a food blog that I am starting to love.

Today I made sweet & sour chicken, with baked brown rice (yeah, you bake it! So easy!) and broccoli It was such good meal! I take no credit; I followed a recipe.

For a little treat, I decided to bake a cake for Kimball to congratulate him on making his app (it's not out yet, but it will be soon). He LOVES chocolate, so I wanted to make the best chocolate cake there was. I recently got a lovely little cake stand from a friend as a wedding gift, and I have been anxious to put it to use, so I decided on this Unbelievable Chocolate Cake, and this Magical Frosting (the chocolate version).

It took me all day. And part of yesterday.

The frosting is very finicky, and you have to make it halfway, where you get it boiling, and then you have to cool it to room temperature - not too cold (which took all night... luckily I started yesterday). Next you mix in little chunks of butter (a lot) and mix them in completely, which was seriously a challenge by hand with a very unruly whisk (I do not yet own any sort of mixer), add melted chocolate, which has to be at room temperature (so tricky! You have to get it right before it hardens... I melted it down and waited for it to cool three times before I caught it in time).

Anyway, it was exceptionally complex compared to anything I've ever done. I'd never made a layered cake, but I figured if I was going all out, I'd better go all out. I don't own any cake pans either, so I bought three little tin foil ones. They were 8" pans, but my cake stand only caters to a 6" cake, so once they were baked and cooled, I had to trim them down to 6" using a little plate as my guide.

I also had to trim the tops to make the cakes flat. This would normally require a bread knife. As luck would have it, I don't have one of those either, so I used this handy little lettuce knife. It worked quite well, actually.

Mel suggested lining the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, (which I did have! and I'm so glad I did.) The cakes slid right out of the pans and stayed in their proper shapes while I transfered them to the cake plate.

I watched a tutorial on Martha Stewart's website on how to frost a cake (I know... I'm very much an amateur). I didn't have time to do all the steps she suggested, but it still worked out okay.

I couldn't be more pleased with my lovely little creation! It ended up looking like a real cake! I'm glad I did chocolate frosting... it makes it harder to detect all the chocolate cake-crumbs in there.

I put it in the fridge (because the frosting is basically chocolate-flavored butter, and it was beginning to get melty), and I saw a box of strawberries Id purchased earlier, so I decided to top it off. So cute.

Kimball LOVED it. He was so giddy, and happy, which made me giddy and happy. We ate our cake in bliss. It is seriously sooooo good! I wish I didn't know what was in it. We still have tons leftover for the next few days! (but we have to work out every day or it's strictly forbidden).

After cutting the edges and tops off my three cakes, I had SO much leftover cake, so I decided to make Cake Bites (even though I don't love them, and I think they're over-rated and over-priced) For those unaware, they're easy to make - you mix crumbled cake with frosting, roll the gooey mass into a ball, and dip it in chocolate. You can also mash up Oreos with cream cheese, and dip them in chocolate if you want your heart attack earlier in life. They're very intense and very rich. I made mine extra tiny, and after I ate one I had to have a full glass of milk.

I'm going out with a bunch of my lady-friends tomorrow, so I plan on giving most of them away. I have about 75, though, and I only had enough chocolate to dip about 30. I may freeze most of and save them for another day when chocolate isn't so plentiful in the house and I need a little sweetness.

What a fantastic day. I should have photographed the dinner - that sweet and sour chicken was quite involved as well. I spent about 7 hours cooking and baking and doing dishes today (I used all of my silverware and measuring spoons/cups at least thrice).

Call me crazy, but it was heaven!

what we've been up to

2011-05-02T14:09:00.000-07:00

Things are slowly coming together for this wedding of mine. I'm currently living in our new apartment now, working on my dress, and waiting for the invitations to be printed (if I haven't asked for your address yet, be sure and send it to me! I can't remember who I've asked already...).

our new place... the tiny kitchen, at least.

this was my bed until kimball and i went and got a costco membership!
we got a mattress, and life is much better for me now.

Things are busy, but since wedding-planning is all I have to work on these days, it's really not too bad at all. I had decided to grow my own bouquet... which was going well at first, but then Utah's weather decided to go turn back into winter, and my pretty little plants froze. I'm trying to revive them, but I will now be making my own bouquet, rather than growing it.

my cute little planter so warm in the sun in early april

just one week later, they had begun sprouting... now they're
all wilted and ugly.

Kimball's working full time at the security lab (in the computer science department - think internet security, not security guard) at BYU, and he's been busy creating his first iPhone app! (It'll also work on the iPad and iPod touch). We're super excited to submit it to Apple (probably on Tuesday), and he's already got a plan for app #2! I'm amazed, really. I can't wait for everyone to see it! It's already on my phone and it's so well-made! I'll post more about it once it's out, so you can all go be the first to download it. Look out seminary students...

please notice the leather-like texture... he
worked long and hard to make it look like
that. the point of the game is to try to guess
where in the book of mormon a randomly-
selected verse is. each guess counts as
one stroke.

Oh, I also graduated from college a week and a half ago, which was exciting, but it also meant that my campus job is over. I was working for BYU Independent Study developing the online Arabic classes. So, you should all go take those courses and let me know what you think. It was great, but it required many hours at a computer, which was a bit draining. I am now unemployed, and I must remain so until my green card paper work is processed (the earliest that will happen is October.) It's a little stressful, not knowing how I'll fill my time, and I'm really just hoping I don't go crazy (any suggestions?)

Until I figure it out, I'll just busy myself with learning the "don'ts" for wives. It looks like a useful little book, full of wisdom. (Thanks, Tiffany!)

It's been a long time

2011-03-17T20:17:00.000-07:00

I might start this blog up again. It might be sporadic. Pictured below is my dearest. We're getting married on the tenth of June. He and I were talking about my blog today as we ate Navajo Tacos on campus. He had read some of my old posts and it was weird to think that the girl he knows is the girl that doesn't blog at all. I just finished reading through my entire blog. What a great experience it was! I love this little record of me, flaws and all.

I've changed a ton since I started this blog, and I realized that my past entries are like little time capsules. Each post preserves little trends that I was going through: not capitalizing anything, using certain words or phrases too much, throwing in Arabic randomly as if everyone knew what I was saying, and posting pictures of myself that I thought were pretty. I was proud of some of my more shameless posts: taped faces, awkward and ugly pictures that would have otherwise gone unseen, and detailing things that I just happened to have pictures of.

Now that I've stopped blogging, I find that I've also stopped taking pictures. It's wonderful. I feel sort of free. I'm enjoying life instead of trying to record every detail. The downside to that is that I'll probably forget a lot of little things about this time, but I'm counting on the fact that life will continue to get better and better as time goes on, keeping me fully stocked with good memories and experiences.

Kimball (my fiance) and I will probably have a blog once we're a family, in like 84 days. He's such a great writer, and he always has such interesting things to say. I'm hoping that he'll be a regular contributer to the family blog. I'm kind of counting on it actually. I hope he reads this. (I love you, baby!)

On a side note, I have started a little blog detailing my current project: making my wedding dress. It's private, and I really just started it so my sisters all over the place could be involved in the process, well, and to keep me on track to finish in time. It's nothing exciting, and I'm not an excellent seamstress or anything, but if you're interested, I'll let you have access to it. Just let me know, and tell me your email address.

Obviously...

2011-01-10T14:47:00.000-08:00

I haven't made this blog private yet.

I have also grown tired of blogging. Maybe that will change... maybe not.

So, that's the update.

Announcement!

2010-10-21T10:07:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not engaged or anything like that. Sorry.

*Warning: This makes me look very cold-hearted. Please don't think less of me*

Even though I never write anything on this blog anymore, I have decided, just now in fact, that I'm going private! Isn't this exciting? If I don't know you, chances are you will no longer have access to this web log of mine. I really just want family (definitely including extended family) and dear friends to read it. So, no offense. I'm being selective.

For those who I know and love, I'll need your email addresses to keep you on as eligible readers. Don't expect anything fancy on here, although I may post more frequently now. I'm just privatizing cause I'm starting to get freaked out by how transparent our lives are all becoming. It's strange. I don't like it. I also don't like how much time is wasted by people reading about other people's lives, especially those that they don't even know. This is me taking a stand against the time spent in the blogging world which should be spent with real loved ones.

Email me, facebook me, or leave comment to let me know if you want in on this.

An unapologetic note: If you don't have my email address, or you aren't my friend on facebook, you likely shouldn't be reading about my life. If you're too embarrassed to come forward and admit that you've been reading this but still want in, then please realize that embarrassment is quite possibly an appropriate thing to be feeling. Take the time you would spend reading my unimportant thoughts and go play with your kids or hang out with your friends. This in your best interest.

That said, many of you actually are my friends. Chances are, if I've ever commented on your blog, or hung out with you in the last few years, I'm more than anxious to maintain a friendship with you.

Don't be shy. I love you.

Thoughts on sweets.

2010-10-02T23:42:00.000-07:00

Once of my all-time favorite things to do, is to buy a pint of Ben & Jerry's or some really over-priced chocolate (actually, it's usually worth what you pay...) and just savoring it bite by bite until it's gone. I love love LOVE ice cream and chocolate. More than a lot of things.

Despite all this, I'm not eating anything that could be considered a "sweet" (ice cream, chocolate, cookies, cakes, soda, or juice with added sugar - stuff like BBQ sauce, salad dressings, granola, yogurt etc. don't count.). I got the idea from my sister, Brooklyn. She and her husband have been successfully sugar-free for a long time now - since about the beginning of the year. I started feeling guilty around them when I would stuff myself full of unhealthy things, and I decided to just join them. Easier said than done, my friends... easier said than done.

Before you get all judgy on me, and think it's too extreme, you must know, I'm not doing this to lose weight. I started doing it as way to develop more self-control, and to just see what it would be like, for once in my life, to celebrate the holiday season (Thanksgiving and Christmas) with no ice cream, egg nog, chocolates, pies, homemade caramels, glass candy, advent calendars, sparkling cider, hot chocolate, ginger bread, peanut brittle, etc. Wow... I only just realized how intensely difficult this will be...What's Christmas without these things?!?! That's the point of this I guess. I'm going to find out. (I have a feeling it's a little more focussed on, you know, the real reason we have Christmas in the first place).

Anyway, it's an experiment, and a test of my will. It's interesting too; I have found that I'm becoming very aware of social customs, obligations and expectations... the findings are disturbing. America (and other places I'm sure as well... but judging by the chart below, I'm sticking with America) is a society that revolves around treats. (I might also add that I'm proud of Canada).

*source

It's been interesting to do this while still a student. It seems like every single social function I've been to, since I started doing this a month ago, has served junk food. Only. That's the only option there ever is. And the drinks are always some form of liquified sugar. It's strange, but I'm finding it's good for me.

My motivation for going to things like opening socials, reunions, career fairs, grad. school fairs, firesides, FHE, ice cream socials, dessert nights, and ward "break the fast" used to be, well, tied up in the fact that there would be something tasty and free that I could enjoy. Now I find myself still going, but I'm just there to simply be there, to socialize, be edified, and to practice self-control. It's not easy. Functions like these are often very awkward, not to mention the awkwardness of dating - have you any idea how awkward/painful it is to sit for an hour around a fire nibbling graham crackers while the normal kids are making s'mores?! Or telling a boy, after he tells you about the date you'll be going on, that he'll actually have to change his plan, "cause I can't eat donuts"?

I usually have to defend my decision to chocolate-covered faces, staring incredulously at me, bewildered, shocked, and almost offended. "That's a stupid idea!" is often the response I get. Maybe so, but I have every right to be the one who decides what goes into this body of mine, right? Why should I eat what's there, when I'm not hungry (not that these things even satisfy hunger), just because it's free? Or, even worse, just cause everyone else is doing it? I used to think peer-pressure died off after high school. Turns out it's alive and well in most of the adult world. People of the world: You don't actually have to do what everyone else is doing!

I have come to realize that people need a healthy option. From now on I think I'll be that one lady who always brings fruit and cheese, or bread, oil & vinegar, or gives out raisons at Halloween...Ok, scratch that. Raisons have NO place in Halloween.

My point is, I'm a changed woman. I think. And I feel fantastic. I usually get sick with the amount of sleep I'm (not) getting this semester, but I've never felt better. I can feel my immune system thanking me.

The down side: I feel great about the fact that I eat no sweets. So much so that I can now justify eating, well, anything else. I find myself giving in to salty-snack cravings and putting a lot more butter on vegetables and a lot more cheese on pasta. I even participated in a pizza-eating contest today (and won $50!) which made me sick (not physically, I'm actually doing quite well...) but just the thought of it and the feeling of all that grease all over my hands and face... (shudder). It was disgusting. Would I have done this if I hadn't been limiting my sugar intake? I don't know. But I think I'm really not too worried about it.

Once this is over, on January 1st, I'll return to candy land, but I'll proceed with caution. If there's one thing I've learned, it's the value of temperance and balance.

This has been a grand experience thus far, and I'm so glad I'm doing it.

...but I really cannot wait for January 1st 2011. This is killing me.

My suggestion? Try it. You have absolutely nothing to loose... except for those killer cravings, and maybe even a few pounds. Just do a month. Or a week. It's intensely empowering.

Autumn

2010-09-29T18:38:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are in my favorite season, and I'm afraid it's been passing me by at an incredible speed.

Luckily, Utah has warmed up in the last few days, and it's been feeling quite a lot like summer instead... which means that I get to experience that beautiful transition from summer to fall yet again! Lovely. I went to a wedding in Park City a couple weeks ago, and the leaves on the trees and on the bushes covering the mountains were the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I tried to get a picture, but, well, I dropped my phone, and was unable to retrieve it from under the seat till we got out of the car.

I recommend the drive though (Provo to Park City via Provo Canyon) to all.

It's been a fantastic semester so far. My classes are amazing, and my teachers are even better. The papers I'm writing are so interesting to me, and I really look forward to the reading assignments I've been getting. I'm also developing a strange infatuation with Middle Eastern politics. It's so fascinating! So complicated! I should be graduating in April, so I'm almost done here at BYU... unless graduate studies work their way into my as-of-yet-unclear future. That's a decision that needs to be made, well, now. I have yet to make it. Wish me luck. Any suggestions? I don't know what I want to do with my life.

Anyway, in honor of the thought of one day leaving this fine school, which I've come to love so dearly, I've decided to milk BYU for all it's worth. Well, not exactly all it's worth, but I'm just taking advantage of the incredible amount of (extra) education available through lectures, speakers, socials, forums, devotionals, galleries, and perhaps my most favorite, the International Cinema and the library's documentary series. It's all free and it's all fantastic.

So far I've only been able to seen two these films:

Devi (The Goddess)

Russian Ark

But I'm seriously looking forward to next week, when I get to see Blame it on Fidel.

Until then, I'll pass the time loving the view from my window of the majestic autumn-colored mountains, oh, and trying to plan out my next few years of existence...

tumbleweeds: a little video

2010-09-10T11:20:00.000-07:00

A Friendship is Born (A Funny Story)

2010-08-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

My teacher, Dil is brilliant. This man is so dedicated to what he does. He teaches Arabic, and he has become one of my favorite people. I feel like we became real friends in Cairo, which just makes me happy. As the director of our program in Cairo, he had to set and enforce lot of rules, and work very hard to keep us all engaged with Arabic. He worked harder than all of us, and that’s saying something.

Dil

Anyway, great man.

This is a story about how our friendship began.

The Hedayet Institute, where we all went to class, was a great little institution, in some ways. One way that it wasn’t very great was in the fact that the A/C was pretty questionable, and was only in the classrooms. The lack of cool air made studying between classes pretty unbearable. Dil and Jason (the directors of the program) lived in beautiful, air-conditioned apartments just around the corner from our school, and had opened their homes to all of us (which I thought was immeasurably kind) for studying and just hanging out, napping etc. all day. I was there one day and Dil happened to be there as well. He was just sitting there working on his computer. I noticed his shoes. They were plastic-y-looking slip-on sandals, worn over socks, with a sort of x shape over the top of the foot. I thought they were fantastic. I noticed that they were torn on one side.

“Dil, those are great shoes,” said I.

Dil laughed (If only I could convey the way he laughed with words).

He told me that they were his house slippers and that he loved those shoes more than any other shoe. He had purchased his first pair in the 70s when he first set foot in Egypt, and had purchased a new pair every time he had been back since then.

“But these ones are clearly falling to pieces!” I lamented, “why have you not yet purchased a new pair?”

A look of sadness came over him as he explained that he had tried. Boy had he tried. He couldn’t find them anywhere, and feared they had lost their appeal to Egyptians. They were no longer available, and it was something he would have to come to terms with. I felt a little bit sad for him… and maybe thought about it too much.

Jump to the next morning.

I awoke, realizing that my dream had been incredibly vivid; something so real. I delayed properly waking up so I could lay there trying to recall my dream… and then all at once there it was…

I was walking briskly, excitedly toward Dil’s office. I pushed open the door and said, in the sing-songy voice I sometimes do, “Oh Dilllll! What do you think about these shoes of mine?” I smiled at him, in very self-satisfied way, raising my eyebrows and extending my foot, toe pointed, so he could see the Dil-sandals that I had recently acquired. He gasped, “Where did you find those?!”

And that was it. That was the dream.

I laughed as I got out of bed, excited to report to Dil that he had made an appearance in my dream. I did tell him, at school the next day. He laughed (again, I wish I could convey his laughter).

About two months later…

A few friends and I were down at Khan al-Khali, sweaty and tired after a long afternoon of haggling and pushing our way through crowds. There’s much to see, but you’re often better off ignoring the invitations to look at goods. Sometimes though, my eyes would wander down to the ground, where blankets or tarps would display random collections of things for sale: massage oil, scarves, belts, underwear. I glanced down and stopped in my tracks as I saw, though it were the holy grail, a solitary pair of the sandals Dil loves. I bought them as quickly as I saw them. They were the only pair, so I hoped they were the appropriate size, but decided since they were only about eighty-nine cents, that it would be a great gift even if the fit was off.

The next morning at the school, I stood outside of Dil’s office door and slipped the new shoes onto my feet. I opened the door in a Kramer-like fashion… I said, in the sing-songy voice I sometimes do, “Oh Dilllll! What do you think about these shoes of mine?” I smiled at him, in very self-satisfied way, raising my eyebrows and extending my foot, toe pointed, so he could see the Dil-sandals that I had recently acquired. He gasped, “Where did you find those?!”

The famous shoes on my feet, moments before revealing them to Dil

I told him how I had stumbled upon them and he was astonished. I asked if he was jealous. He was. I took them off of my feet and handed them over to him, informing him that they were a gift. He took off his other shoes, explaining that he was going to put on the sandals right then and wear them everyday. He was overjoyed. I apologetically asked if they fit, and what size he wore, and told him I didn’t really have many options. The shoes were size 11, as was Dil.

“And they’re blue!” He said in awe, “that’s the color I always get!”

I reminded him that I had dreamt this exact scenario, and we spent the next little while discussing the fact that I had, in fact, dreamt the future—no easy task—and thus, a friendship was born.

A very happy Dil, at his desk, immediately after receiving his new shoes

*I have since dreamt that Dil was kidnapped by a pretty tough-looking guy, and in an attempt to spare himself, Dil buddied up to his captor by wearing a black leather jacket, growing out his hair and filling his face and ears with piercings. His tactics worked, and he was released. His wife, worried about the rumors that were spreading about her husband living on the wild side, promptly took him to the salon where his hair was washed, dried, and curled in a very feminine 40s sort of way.

Needless to say, Dil and his wife are worried about the future.

Swimming in the Suez Canal

2010-08-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

The day-trip up to the Suez canal should have happened before we were all completely spoiled in Aswan. It was a disappointment. We rode a smelly bus for four hours so we could cross the “Japan -Egypt Friendship Bridge” which goes over the canal and take a picture from the window. We weren’t allowed to get off the bus.

It was hard to get a good picture, as the bus was moving...

We still had high hopes though, because we were told we were going to be able to swim in the canal too, which sounds amazing, right? Well... the bus dropped us off at this “resort” full of Egyptians. I think I’ve already mentioned the outrageous amounts of attention westerners (especially women) get over there… just imagine how that attention intensifies when there’s a group of fifty of you, in swimsuits.

It took a long time for me to build up the courage to lose the towel and just go for it… and not just because of the hundreds of eyes. The water was, well, disgusting. Think floating band-aids, plastic bags wrapping around your ankles, long hairs catching on your hand as you swim… disgusting. And yet, I had to do it. How many people can say they’ve been swimming in the Suez Canal? I refused to get my head wet, and I think I screamed/laughed, and almost cried the entire time.

Once I’d had enough, I went with some girls to find the showers… ha. The one I ended up using was just a big open faucet that poured water down so fiercely I just laughed more and got out as soon as I got in. Shower fail.

And that was it.

Back on the bus for the four-hour ride home.

We entertained ourselves by photographing the things out the windows, like so:

And by staging a classic banana peal slip:

Oh, I forgot, we also got to stop in the town for some koshiry. That was the highlight, as always.

Nubians & Elephantine Island

2010-08-12T21:24:00.000-07:00

Down in Aswan there’s a little boat you can get on that will ferry you across the Nile to Elephantine Island.

It’s so far away from the typical things people go to Egypt to see, but when I go back to Egypt, insha’allah, I really must make it all the way back down to this magical place. There are a few things to see there: a museum, an archeological site and the nilometer, but the best part about this place for me was the interaction with the people, followed closely by the beautifully painted buildings and homes.

This is the museum. It’s very small, and the building itself might have been my favorite part.

And then there was the archeological area, so clearly pointed out on this sign:

This is the view from the archeological sight. It was beautiful up there.

This is the nilometer.

It was used for centuries by many different conquering peoples to measure the level of the Nile, which would then determine what sorts of taxes should be imposed.

We had free time after leaving the museum to explore and experience the island, so Adam and Will and I started doing just that. I fell in love with the homes and the colors of the buildings.

We saw another member of our group, Sean, with some little boys who were playing soccer in a big dirt field. Adam and Will joined the group and I took pictures and basked in what a beautifully remarkable experience it was… down in the southern Nubian-inhabited edge of Egypt, on a tiny island with all these little boys having the time of their lives playing with two big American boys. And the best part was, we could communicate with them.

I loved every minute of it. In fact, I loved it so much, I was moved to make my first souvenir purchase of the summer: a scarf from a little weaver’s shop.

Supposedly the scarf was made right there on the loom… I tend to disbelieve that, but I love it nonetheless.

Luxor & Aswan

2010-08-10T02:28:00.000-07:00

I decided to try to catch up. This is old, but pretty good.

One thing I truly wasn’t excited about this time around was the night train experience along the Nile from Cairo down to Luxor… about 9 hours maybe? I don’t quite recall. It was a good thing my hopes for this night on the train were so low, because it ended up being one of the most fantastic and relaxing nights I had experienced in Egypt.

(This is a picture I took on my phone as the train sped passed us, on it's way to slowing down. I think it's such a cool picture. My camera is getting increasingly jealous of my phone.)

We were all assigned to our sleeper cars, which opened to the neighboring car, if you unlocked the door and allowed that to happen. Our neighbors were Sean and Adam. (Sean and I served in the same mission in LA and go way back. Adam and I were about to become great friends – partly because he threw a dinner roll at me… more on that in a bit).

(This is me, well my feet, as I lay relaxing on my top bunk watching Egypt pass by)

About an hour into the journey our light conversation was interrupted with a knock at the door. It was dinner. I must say, in the year and a half since I was here last, things seem to have improved slightly. I ate most everything. Except for the dinner roll. It was pretty stale, and I stated thus over dinner. Breakfast wasn't quite as satisfying.

dinner:

breakfast:

I noted how the dinner rolls didn’t seem to be edible, but that they would be perfect for throwing at someone. When I awoke the next morning on my top bunk, there was a knock at the door. Hannah, on the lower bunk, opened it up, and there was Adam. He threw his roll from dinner at me and ran away. I’d like to say that that was the beginning of our friendship...

Anyway, we proceeded on to Luxor where we explored the incredible Karnak and Luxor temples. I took some pics, but not a ton, since I took something like five hundred pictures last time I was in Luxor... I know, a little over the top. Luxor was amazing though all over again.

Half of our group of about 60 went home to Cairo after a few days in Luxor, but the other half of us that opted for the “long trip” stayed behind. I’m so glad I did. We went all the way down to Aswan.

The "short-trippers" all left on Sunday afternoon, at which point exhaustion took over and I decided to take a nap. It had been a long day already, as we’d had to wake up at something like 5 am to see everything before it got to hot outside (I’m just trying to justify what happened next). So, I took a 9-hour “nap” waking up at midnight. I changed into jammies, checked my emails and went back to bed till it was time to wake up again at 5 am, board the bus and sleep for two more hours. I don't think I'd ever been so well-rested. I felt great!

We saw more temples which weren’t as old, but were really neat to see cause the art styles had developed and was a little more realistic… rounder bellies, fancier faces and things. We stayed at a fancy resort there right on the Nile (which I actually saw advertized in the airplane magazine on my way out of Egypt... see the middle picture in the ad below...)

My friends Will and Adam and I had koushiry at this one little restaurant, complete with the classic metal dishes, for the three meals we were to have there. It was quite possibly my favorite part.

Me, Adam and Will. We were practicing crying on command.

I can see already that this post is getting much too detailed. I have so much catching up to do that I really must do.

Well, the next day down in Aswan we were up at 2 am and on a bus headed for Abu Simbel. This was incredible.

It’s right on Lake Nasser, and there’s a lot of history to all of this that should be understood, but I’m unapologetically leaving the explaining to Wikipedia.

Lake Nasser

So all in all, these are the temples we saw:

Luxor

Karnak

Kom Ombo

Philae

Philae is on an island. We had to take a boat to get out there.

Abu Simbil

Edfu

And then on top of that we also saw the following:

Valley of the Kings

Valley of the Queens

(Pictures were not allowed... well, they weren't allowed at Valley of the Kings either, but I snuck the one above. Maybe one day I'll write about the crazy story that followed...)

the Rameseum

Colossi of Memnon

Hatshepsut’s temple

I wish I had time to write about each one individually, but then what would be left for you when you go and see them for yourselves?

Next up: Elephantine Island and the Nubians...

I could get used to this...

2010-07-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been almost a month since I've posted, which I regret. Life here is getting more and more busy and crazy every day. I'm leaving Egypt in just over two weeks. I wish I had more time to update this blog and write in my journal, cause I'm having some incredible experiences. I don't know if I should try to make up for lost time and go back a month trying to catch up, or if I should just pick up from today and move on. Final exams have already started and I think things will just get busier... we'll see though. Blogging could be a good break from the studies...

For today, I'll just say this: I could really get used to this... In fact, I AM getting used to this. Lately I've realized that there's so much to life in Egypt that takes getting used to, but once you're acclimatized, and you take a step back, it all seems really funny.

Anyway, here are some things I've become accustomed to as of late:

* (some things are welcome additions to my life... others... well, they're okay) *

cooking from scratch almost every day

cooking everything in our one pot... even scrambled eggs.

amazing frozen yogurt

buying water everyday

storing water in case our water stops working

storing food in the freezer out of fear of bugs getting into it

egyptian peanut butter or zabadi fool sudani (so good)

this 100-foot tangle of cords that runs through our house to supply us with the internet

(luckily for me, the wi-fi works in my room only!)

wet roads - they're always wet... and dirty.

the sun

the lack of sun when there's too much sand and pollution

hanging and seeing laundry outside

the money, and how far it goes... I will really miss the outrageously low prices

the smell of this elevator - it used to be horrible

the entry way to my apartment building

hanging out with egyptians all day... and, i should add, the way they dress.

60 cent koshiry, with condiments in little plastic bags

these beautiful yellow trees

seeing people with impeccable balance carry things atop their heads

raw meat hanging out in the open covered in flies

awesome bicycles

even more awesome cars (i want them)

sitting through 4-6 hours of class with my cool teachers, Arwa (Libyan political refugee) & Sayyed (very Egyptian, and very funny).

the crowds

the way women carry their kids on their shoulder... try it.

talking to loved ones on skype (love this girl!)

tiny kids playing in the street, often without shoes

internet sites refusing normal access because I "appear to be in Egypt"

looking around at my surroundings in awe, and realizing that soon I won't be...

* * *

and then there are the things you never get used to... like seeing a child flying a kite atop a building.

he's the tiny figure on the right.

I'll miss this place.

another sneak peak

2010-06-24T02:53:00.000-07:00

I hope to get some more posts up this weekend detailing my amazing trip 800 miles south to Aswan (that's about 15 hours by train). We also stopped in Luxor for two days, which is about 600 miles south of Cairo. One of the many highlights of the trip was the time I spent on Elephantine Island amongst these precious kids. They speak Arabic, but are ethnically Nubian. This picture was taken by my friend Sean in a little scarf shop. They weave these scarves with a big old-fashioned loom. The scarf I'm wearing in the picture was purchased here. It's the only thing I've purchased so far in Egypt (besides food and school supplies etc.) I couldn't resist, just because of how much I loved it there. I never want to forget it.

real live mummies.

2010-06-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

This is my 100th post on my blog.

In other news... I've been enjoying some incredible things here in Egypt.

I went to the Egyptian Museum finally a couple weeks ago. It’s something anyone visiting Egypt should do. I came last time I was here and I remember being bothered that we had to listen to a tour guide for most of our time there. This time was different. It was much more relaxed, but just as impressive. This place is huge. It’s a bit overwhelming too, since many things are unlabeled, labeled in Arabic, or just labeled poorly. You kind of have to know what you’re looking for. Last time I came to this museum I remember being in awe at some of the things I was seeing and wishing so badly that I could show my friends and family.

Cameras aren’t allowed inside, but this time I was sneaky and used my phone. There was no flash, so no worries, I wasn’t destroying anything. Although, I am slightly curious… does a camera with no flash still do damage? A man I was talking to was adamant that it still ruins things. He couldn’t explain how. He just said “because of the UV rays” which made little sense to me…

Anyway, here are my forbidden pictures. Enjoy. It was risky. I did this for you guys.

ancient fabric (plaid?)

the dome just inside the museum

the exterior

the museum is huge and is just lined with cabinets like this

mummy - kind of byzantine-ish

and the exposed mummies...

statues of akhenaten

more ancient textiles... i'm a sucker for this stuff

That's only a fraction of the wonders this place holds. And this is only a fraction of the fun I've been having! Up next... pictures from Luxor, Aswan and the Suez Canal... in that order.

stay tuned...

2010-06-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

I've been very busy. I have so many things to post, and I promise I will soon! Until then... here's a little sneak peak at what's to come.

Yes... this IS the infamous gold mask of King Tutankhamen (Tut).

(The picture's not very good because pictures are forbidden in this museum... but that never stops Bethany... as a result of my determination to photograph things that aren't to be photographed, you will soon see some very cool pictures of mummies!)

Also, please note, I used my phone to take these pictures, which has no way of damaging anything, as it has no flash or whatever else it is about cameras that harms old things.

my hair.

2010-06-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

Well, it's slowly fading... into a weird copper-ish tone. I don't know how I feel about it. It's hard to see the true color in these pictures, but in the sunlight, it's definitely different.

The roots are also coming in nicely... as was strangely and awkwardly pointed out to me by a guy at my school... "Hey, look at that! You're roots are coming in!"

Yes. Thank you.

The last time I died my hair (and the only other time besides this time) I used the same color, and it took about 5 months to fade out... but it faded to my natural color exactly. That was, however, in the winter. This time, my hair is exposed to a lot of sun every day. It's fading quicker and the hair that's growing in is growing in very sun-bleached. I feel like I'm going grey.

I'll be honest, I was sort of just hoping that my hair would grow in dark... Yeah... not likely. Can't wait to see what it'll look like in two months!

PS - one of our rules here is that we aren't allowed to wear our hair down in public. I'm soooo sick of it.

Oh, and thank you again to Brooklyn who dyed my hair for me (twice). I'm very grateful for the lack of attention I get here compared to last time when I came as a blond. It's brilliant.

clotheslines.

2010-05-28T07:44:00.000-07:00

So, I love doing laundry here. It seems like I shouldn't when I actually think about what it requires, but some how I still rather enjoy it.

Our washing machine takes about 4 hours to run a full cycle. Not a lot can fit in that little machine, so I usually have to do two loads a week (I only brought enough clothes for a week... and they're always so dirty at the end of the day from all the dust etc. in the streets that I can't bring myself to wear them more than once.) Once the clothes are done, I have to hang them all out the kitchen window to dry. They don't all fit on the line, so I made a second line in my room. They dry pretty fast cause it's usually very warm and breezy - like a big blow dryer. When everything's dry, I go and collect it, careful not to drop anything. Everything feels a little starched, which is weird, but I love the crisp, clean, white sheets so much! I've learned to hang stuff up inside out all the time, as it often comes off the line with either dust from the line itself, or other random stuff... drips from the laundry hanging from the apartment above us, or bird poop.

-looking out from our kitchen-

I think the reason I love it despite the hassle, is that it reminds me of being little and playing house. All the Disney movies I watched as a little girl showed laundry on a clothesline, and somehow that image has stuck with me as being sort of fairy-tale-ish, and old fashioned. It might also have to do with the lovely view out from our "balcony" (it's only about a foot wide).

Maybe it's good that I'm only here for three months, cause I know the novelty of this all will wear off and I'll want the perks of a dryer back (i.e., elimination of wrinkles...).

Oh, and I'm very grateful I don't have kids to do laundry for... I can't imagine. You mothers living over here are saints.

one month.

2010-05-25T13:37:00.000-07:00

-it was really sunny, don't mind the squint-

I can hardly believe it, but I've now been living here in Egypt for over a month! It's so crazy. It makes me a little nervous, cause that means I still have a lot of Arabic to learn. I only have a little over two months left!

power outage

2010-05-23T07:15:00.000-07:00

Our power went out the other day.

Not just ours, but the whole street. It had been a really windy night and I think that's what caused it... Anyway, it was kind of creepy, cause our building is really old, and unfamiliar to us. We had no flashlights, no matches or candles, and no internet. All the street lights were out too. Sarah and I took it as a sign that we were doing too much homework, and that we needed a break. So we headed to Road 9 (the hip little street with everything from chic internet cafes to dead animals hanging in butchers' doorways). We decided on Pizza Hut for dinner mainly because it was air conditioned, and had comfy booth seats. By the way, Pizza Hut here thinks it's pretty fancy fine dining... doting waiters, mood lighting, and the like. It was nice just to relax for a bit.

I got lasagna, which ended up not being lasagna. It was good, don't get me wrong, just not what I was expecting. It had no trace of lasagna noodles, but rather, fillo dough (the stuff you make baklava with). It tasted like turkey stuffing, so that was kind of fun.

On the way home we saw this tree that had fallen in front of three stores...

I'm glad all I had to endure was feigned lasagna.

ew.

2010-05-22T07:04:00.000-07:00

I found this little guy the other day. Yes, it's a huge cockroach. Luckily he was dead. The next day I found another. Also dead. I'm hoping the cause of their deaths was a result of someone spraying for bugs before we arrived...? if not, it could be a very long summer.

al-Iskandariyya

2010-05-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, we went on a little excursion to Alexandria. I was told this was a two hour bus-ride from Cairo... but it ended up being about four with traffic etc. I was very tired of the sound of our busses horn by the end of the day.

Alexandria is in Lower Egypt... but don't be fooled! It's actually on the north coast of Egypt... on the Mediterranean Sea. It was such a pleasant and relaxing day, and since I felt more like a tourist there than in Cairo, I actually took some pictures.

We all rode up there on two separate busses. Thankfully I was on the bus that WASN'T singing Disney songs and the like the whole time... we were all sleeping and studying mostly. It should be known that one of my absolute favorite things in life is traveling (whether by bus, car, train, bicycle, airplane, boat or animal) and watching everything I pass, whilst getting completely lost in my thoughts and listening to good music. My music of choice on this trip was Beirut on the way up, and Kings of Convenience on the way down.

These are some of the things and people we passed on our journey to and into Alexandria:

Our first stop upon arrival in Alexandria was the palace of King Farouk. I think this was actually the women's castle on his compound. Pretty, but we weren't allowed inside, which was too bad.

We mostly enjoyed the view of the sea.

(These are my roommates, Sarah & Hannah - I was not prepared for the picture. Obviously).

Next was the Citadel of Qaitbay, which very much resembles the Crusader fortresses I saw in Israel.

(It isn't a Crusader Fortress. It just resembles one.)

I was nervous this guy cleaning the light was going to fall. He didn't.

Looking out to sea from the Citadel

Next up was the Roman Theater.

There are tons of these in Israel as well. The cool thing about these theaters is that there's one spot on stage (the ground in the middle) where the acoustics are incredible. Our teacher wanted to demonstrate this so he asked if anyone knew the song that goes like this:

Rose Rose Rose Red

Shall I Ever See Thee Wed

I Will Marry At Thy Will Sire

At Thy Will

Since I knew the song, (shout out to Leah... haha) I joined him in a duet (laughing to myself and thinking of Leah, once again).

Next up was a thrilling lunch at Muhammad Mahmoud's. First of all, the power was out. It was dark, and very very warm. That didn't matter though, I was starving. I was at the same table as my teacher, Dil and his wife and he just ordered everything, which was good. He knows what he's talking about. We got like ten plates of food or something, between four people. I ate till I was stuffed, and the best part of it was that it cost $7. Total. I ended up paying $2 (including the tip). Oh man, and the food was sooo good. There was this amazing lentil soup and tahina, hummus, omlette, fool, tamiya, and so many yummy pitas. The lights came on after a bit, and so did the AC, and the meal just got better.

We had some free time, so a few of us decided to follow Dil to a fancy peanut shop. Yeah, sounds funny. We took the trolley, which looked like it was built about a hundred years ago. It only cost about 4 cents to ride. I now know why. We were only on there for maybe ten minutes, when Dil informed us we would never get there on time going that slow.

(some friends on the trolley)

(pretty tree-lined street, as seen from said trolley)

We got of the antique train and started walking (faster than the trolley was going, I might add) to our next stop: the Alexandria Library. No, not the original one.

This library was built within the last 15 or 20 years, and it is incredible. It has room for 8 million books, but only has 1 million. I would say it's more of a fancy, modern museum with books, than a library.

We spent a lot of time in there and saw so many cool things, including old Arabic texts, local Egyptian art (which had nothing to with Pharaohs or pyramids, which was refreshing), and even the clothes in which Anwar Sadat was assassinated.

(Sadat's clothes, with bullet hole and blood)

This is a piece of the Kiswah... so cool. Here's a little more about it for those who are unsure:

Kiswah is the cloth that covers the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Every year the old Kiswa is removed, cut into small pieces and gifted to certain individuals, visiting foreign Muslim dignitaries and organisations. Some of them sell their share as souvenirs of Haj...The present cost of making the kiswa amounts to SR 17 million [U.S. dollar = 3.75 riyals]. The cover is 658 sq. metres long and is made of 670 kgs of pure silk. For embroidery 15 kilos of gold threads are used. It consists of 47 pieces of cloth and each piece is 14 Mts. long and 101 cms broad.

(thank you wikipedia)

We had no time to swim, so hopefully I'll et to go back sometime this summer. Which reminds me... On the way out of town I noticed that so many of the women that were swimming in the sea were fully clothed, hijab and all. I couldn't help being impressed. That's religious dedication for you.

Thank you Alexandria.

I had a lovely time, and hopefully I'll see you again.

Still alive... somehow.

2010-05-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

The other day was... well... interesting. Let's just say I'm glad to be healthy, alive, and in Maadi where it's safe...er.

My friend Kelly (studying Arabic in the same program) called me on Monday and asked if I wanted to go with her to her Egyptian friend's house for dinner. She had hung out with her several times and assured me that she trusted her and her family and that it would be awesome... plus, I need to get at least two hours of solid Arabic speaking in every day, and I knew it would be a great opportunity. I consented, and off we went.

We rode the metro from Maadi (see below... 10 stops from the bottom - red line) all the way up to Ain Shams (third from the top... about a 45 minute ride).

(FYI I live right between the Maadi and Hadayeq El-Maadi stops)

To be fair, I don't think Kelly knew quite how far away this was... We got off the metro and I realized right then that we shouldn't have gone all the way out there alone (without a guy). Had we known the area we actually wouldn't have even gone with a guy. I'm pretty sure no tourists EVER go there, and I'm thinking it's very rare that they see any Americans, judging by the way they were looking at us.

We were waiting for Aisha to come pick us up, and I asked Kelly if she knew what social class Aisha belonged to. I know, a weird question. There's totally class-distinction here and it's a little weird, but it tells you a lot about a person if you know. I had assumed she was really wealthy since she would be picking us up from the station... I assumed that meant a car. She said she thought Aisha was really upper-class. We would soon learn the opposite.

Anyway, we waited at this SUPER sketchy train station for about half an hour. It was so crowded, but hardly any women, which isn't a good sign. Just tons of young guys who were not discreet about checking out the foreign girls. Luckily two local girls walked by, noticed the group of guys talking about us, and when the guys finally approached us, the girls came over and told them to "Imshii!" (get lost). There were a few older people watching out for us too, some shop-keepers and things, but I'm pretty sure if our program director knew where we went, he would not have been happy. But, since we were there, we decided we'd make the most of it.

Aisha finally came and walked us through this extremely poor village, full of donkeys and children playing in the dirt. She finally helped us on to a minibus. Now, we have actually been advised not to ride these mini buses, since they don't stop. You need to just kind of tuck and roll to get off. We really had no choice since it was that or a donkey, or walking for who knows how long, so we boarded, and lived to tell about it.

(FYI, a minibus is a dirty little van with no doors, and about 15 people inside, and 6 or so hanging on for dear life outside. It's driven by a skilled young man, usually has loud Arabic music playing, is filled with cigarette smoke and sometimes has a pretty decorative little fringe around the ceiling).

We rode that little demon for about 15 minutes. At this point I had no idea where we were. We were somewhere in the belly of Cairo and our phones lost reception. We walked along a dirt road lined with abandoned-looking buildings until we got to one that looked particularly empty. Aisha banged on the door, and yelled "Ahmed!" I looked up, cause she was looking up, and there was a little basket being lowered on a rope. Aisha gabbed it, smiled and said, "al-muftah!" (the key!) and the basket went back up. She unlocked the heavy iron door and told me to go in. I went in and it was pitch black. No lights. There were stairs so I went up two levels where Ahmed (her brother) was waiting at an open door.

At this point I was basically thinking we were doomed.We had no idea where we were, we didn't know our way back home and there wasn't a taxi in sight. Not even a car. Some families here will try to marry you off to their sons, and if you go into their home they'll keep you there till 3 am, so, needless to say, I was nervous. Aisha led us into their humble apartment and I just got more nervous, this time about my physical health. These people were so poor. We walked into the bare room and there was Aisha's father in a dirty dark brown galabiya (egyptian man-dress) and a small white scarf wrapped around his head. He was sitting on the floor with his two sons eating dinner off of a big tray with their hands. There was nothing in the room except for a threadbare rug - Concrete floor and walls.

We went and waited for them to finish eating in another small dark room. Eventually Aisha's mom came in with another huge tray full of food for us.

This was third world at it's finest. I wish I had my camera, but not really, cause I would have felt guilty having it around these people.

I was SO nervous to eat any of the food, but it was all really hot, so that helped to calm my nerves. We had chicken with "salt" (reddish spicy powder with a little salt...) rice cooked inside a variety of things: grape leaves, little squashes, peppers, and eggplants. Then there were pitas, which I couldn't make myself eat. It looked good, but on the way to their place I had seen someone selling pitas. They sell them out in the open air, just sitting out on a table all day. There's usually flies all around (cause of all the donkeys...) and I had seen a bunch of pitas fall into the dirt (and donkey poo), and the owner of the stand just picked them up, and set them back in the pile. With that in mind, I left the pita where it was. Then there was this...soup? I don't even know. It was oil, and melted chicken fat, with some green stuff... maybe parsley, and other random chunks. The consistency was just slimy. I took one spoonful, and I felt as though I had just ingested someone else's saliva or the stuff that slugs and snails are covered in. Like seriously goopy. Just disgusting. Worst texture ever. I thought I was going to throw up. I asked what was in it, and one of the ingredients (that I understood the Arabic word for) was garlic. I faked a garlic allergy, and said I would get really sick if I ate anymore. That part was actually true.

The scariest part of the night was dessert. The sweet mother made us juice out of melons, but it was made with Egyptian water... who knows where it came from, or what was in it. No one drinks the tap water here, but these people did... and so did we. They're SO into welcoming people and being hospitable that there's no way to turn them down. It's so awkward, and so hard, especially when they're so poor. It was a big cup, and one of the only two cups they owned. I don't think she washed it after she drank out of it at dinner.

Once we had started eating, I changed my mentality completely. I decided to just enjoy myself. After the first bite of chicken I realized that I would likely get sick, and I might as well just go for it whole-heartedly. I relaxed a little and just enjoyed the conversation. None of them spoke english, and I'm really grateful that my Arabic is getting to the point where that really doesn't matter. It's so cool to be able to communicate with someone so different from yourself in their language. It was so funny too, they asked if I knew the Surat al-Fatiha (the first chapter of the Quran, which I happen to have memorized in Arabic). I recited it for them, and it was seriously so cool. When I memorized it I didn't even know the words I was saying, but I could see as I said the words that it meant so much to them.

We only stayed two hours, and made up some story about a curfew and having to rush home. It was still hard to leave, but finally their dad was like, "it's dark, this area isn't safe! they need to go!" I was grateful for his insistence. I have to say, despite all the strangeness of the night, they were the sweetest family in the world. I would trust them with my life after that night. They're amazing people. We talked a lot about religion and how we differed in our beliefs, but then they automatically went off on how all of us believed in God and Adam and Eve, and they just continued to find every similarity they could between us. In the end, Ahmed said, "Ihna Ikhwaan - entu ikhwaati " (we are siblings - you are my sisters).

Luckily, Aisha and her brother Ahmed walked us back/took us on the minibus (and paid for us! hey refused to let me pay - even though it was only nine cents I think). They walked us all the way to the door of the metro. Oh, and on the way there Ahmed even stopped and bought us Twinkies.... and proceeded to try to get our phone numbers... haha.

On the metro, I saw two little kids all alone. I smiled, waved, and then threw a twinkie at each of them. Not at them, but to them. Haha. They refused to take them for about 10 minutes. I finally showed them that we had more, and insisted that they eat them. They looked so happy, and ate them so slowly. The girl motioned for us to come sit next to her. We went over and talked with them for the whole ride home. They were so cute. They had school books, so Muhammad, the little boy, and I went through his book together. He would read a sentence out loud, but he was still learning to read, so I would read it with him, and then he would correct my pronunciation. It was so fun. He was precious.

The whole night ended up being a great experience, but I'm very content in Maadi at the Maadi Club and Shariy3a Tisa3a (more on those next time - they're quite the opposite). Ain Shams shall never see my face again.

(Oh, and I didn't even get sick! Prayers are answered! Seriously, that's a miracle if ever I've seen one.)

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T05:15:00.000-07:00

Me and mom

Since I won't have access to the Internet for a while, and I don't know how to send timed emails... I'm posting this for Mother's Day! Specifically to mom, but also to my sisters, Grandmas and aunts. I hope you know how appreciated you are. And if you don't, you really are appreciated.

Me and Grandma Hartley

Me and Grandma Olsen

Pictures from the last week or so...

2010-05-08T08:12:00.000-07:00

I finally have some pictures to show you all!

I'm currently sitting in an internet cafe called "Beano's" which I find kind of funny. It's a very hip american-style cafe. Like an orange & brown Starbucks, but they also sell sandwiches, crepes, smoothies and shakes. I had an Oreo shake, which was sadly unsatisfying. Much too runny. It was 25LE ($4.50), and the falafel I had for dinner just before was only 1.25LE (23 cents). How can you not get dessert when dinner's so cheap? I really will miss the cheap food of Egypt when I leave.

So, here are some random pictures from this last week or two:

This is a beautiful mansion in my neighborhood that I want to live in when I come back to live in Egypt as an old woman.

This is one of the guys in my program who brought his wife and baby. They get so much attention over here with that child. Most people here have never seen a white baby before (not many people bring kids to Egypt), and everyone here is really cautious about letting their babies get cold. They wrap their babies up in blankets like it's wintertime, even in 110 degree weather, so to see a little white, half-naked baby is shocking to them... especially since it's just hanging out in a backpack. Very very weird.

This is how all men walk around in Egypt. Young and old. My male American colleagues are all gradually getting used to this... some take it better than others.

These are some cops (in white) just strolling down the street. We were following them for a long time before we realized that they each had a criminal handcuffed to their hand. Kind of funny, no? (Getting this picture was risky, hence, not the best picture).

This is me on my new bed! My feet are always very dirty at the end of the day and must be washed thoroughly before I stick them in the white sheets that I'm very grateful I brought.

(click on the pics to enlarge!)

Egypt may have redeemed itself…

2010-05-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I feel like I’ve been trash-talking Egypt a little bit lately, and tonight I have to say, Egypt really surprised me. I hope I can adequately explain what happened in this blog post. Sarah, my roommate, and I went to find an ATM to draw out a lot of money so we could pay for sha’itna gadida (“our new apartment”), and then we went to get on the metro to go back to school to wait till we could meet our landlord. I already had a ticket, but Sarah had to buy one. She got her wallet out of her backpack and paid (and then left her backpack open, which she didn’t realize at the time). I was walking ahead of her, and didn’t notice till we were back at the school that her bag was open. She looked inside, saw that the wallet was gone (could have fallen out… likely it was stolen) and she freaked out a little… I tried to calm her down, and it just got worse. It went like this:

Me: “Okay, it’s Egypt. It’s likely long gone. This is lame, but not the end of the world. We can cancel your cards, even though no one here really uses those except to withdraw cash, and for that you need a pin number. At least you just got 2000 pounds out of the ATM ($400 USD) so we can still pay for our apartment.”

Sarah: “The cash was all in the wallet.”

Me: “Dang. Okay, well, it’s just money. At least it was just your driver’s license and stuff, all you really need is your passport to get home and your fine.”

Sarah: “Yeah, my passport was actually in there as well.”

At that point I was all out of consoling words. I had nothing to offer. The weird part is that my other roommate, Hannah, lost her debit card just the other day, so I’m the only one of my roommates with access to any money (which means I’ve been buying a lot of metro passes… good thing they’re only twenty cents). Well, it was a long day for us all. We arranged for them to borrow money from our teacher and then to get money wired in from their parents, and it’s all working out nicely…. Oh, Egypt still hasn’t redeemed itself…

So, we met up with Ridda, our real estate genius, and he brought us to our apartment to sign the contract and pay the money. At this point I was the only one who could be trusted with filoos (“money”) so I had the hugest wad of cash on me… I was a little nervous. We had a great conversation with Ridda on the way over, and learned that he has two wives, one here and one in Morocco, so, that’s… lovely… and he’s looking for a third, so, that’s nice too… Anyway, so we’re paying the rent and signing stuff, and the lady’s like, “we need a copy of one of your passports.” We explained that Sarah’s had just been stolen, but she had an extra copy, but we really needed it back cause it’s all she had… we kept signing stuff (it was all in Arabic… I don’t have a clue what it said) and then Ridda’s phone rang.

This is where it gets crazy and where Egypt becomes a land of miracles once again.

Ridda answered, chatted for a minute in Arabic and then said, “Sarah, they found your passport! We need to go to my office!” Yeah… we were super confused. Who was he even talking to? He has nothing to do with anyone in our program; he’s just a random guy they chose to help us get apartments. Without much of an explanation, we hurried and finished signing, exchanged numbers with the owner and seriously ran out of there following Ridda. We got in his car, and it was feeling pretty sketchy. We didn’t really know this man, and we were all getting into his car, cause supposedly someone he knew had her wallet… looking back on it, I can’t believe we were all so willing to just follow him. We had two friends (guys) with us, or else I never would’ve gone.

We stopped and picked up this guy on the side of the road named Muhammad (like the fourteenth Muhammad I’ve met today). He jumped in the car… now there were four of us squished in the in the back seat and three in the front. This was a little car too. So Egyptian. So Muhammad hands Sarah her wallet, which was missing the 2000 pounds, but had everything else. So crazy. Impossible in Egypt. Yet… apparently not. How did it all happen?

Well… Ten days ago Sarah went with Ridda to find an apartment. He brought his friend Muhammad. They didn’t find anything, but Muhammad gave his card to Sarah. She put it in her wallet, next to her passport. (Her wallet’s more of a little make up bag, just a zippered pouch basically). Tonight, while Muhammad was just walking down the street he noticed a young guy flipping through an American passport. He looked closer and saw that his own business card. He went to the kid and offered him 50 pounds (like $10) for the wallet and passport. The kid gave it to him, and Muhammad called Ridda, who was with us signing our contract, and asked if he knew anyone from America named Sarah who had lost a passport. We just happened to be in the same room as him at that very moment. Coincidence? I think not.

It also happens to be Sarah’s birthday, and when we told them that they stopped at a flower shop and bought her a little bouquet. They stopped down the street and bought us all drinks too. Then, instead of having to take a taxi, they offered to drive us all the way home, which we refused three times, as is customary in Arab culture, and then accepted graciously. Such good people. He wouldn’t even let us repay him the 50 pounds he paid to get the wallet back.

At least that’s what they told us… Bear with me as I offer an alternative ending (as in the feature film classic, Clue).

Perhaps… just perhaps, Ridda had Muhammad following us all day, as he knew we were about to make a huge payment, and would be covered in cash. Muhammad followed us on the metro (we never would have recognized him) saw Sarah with an open bag and couldn’t resist… He made 2000 pounds, so the story about the 50 pounds, and not accepting when we tried to pay him pack, and the whole let-me-buy-you-flowers-and-drinks-and-drive-you-home thing was completely worth his while… BYU will be back in Egypt and if they make a good impression now, it could really pay off for them in the future. So I guess Egypt really hasn’t redeemed itself. I’m just as leery as ever. My story is just so much more likely in my mind. Oh well. Maybe I’ll never know. I’m okay with that. I have an apartment. We move in tomorrow afternoon… and I’m still assuming I’m excused from homework... not sure really, but I’m thinking it’s a safe bet.

I’m glad things are finally calming down. I was about to go insane.

new home...

2010-05-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it!

We found a new apartment! Umma Ridda (the owner of the place) is the sweetest old woman. She has no teeth. The apartment is so Egyptian… not like Pharaonic Egyptian, like real, typical modern Egyptian. The furniture is all fancy and grandma-ish… like fancy Victorian formal stuff, and rugs everywhere. I’m living with two girls, Hannah and Sarah and we’ll each have our own (huge) room, and we have two showers, a big kitchen with fancy china (not actually fancy, but it looks nice… if you’re into that sort of thing…). There's a big dining room/living room area and it has AC and is in a superb location. Really close to the metro and the Maadi Sports Club, which we’re all members of. We’ll see about the Internet there… we should have it set up soon. Until then, I’m using the school’s wireless. I need to take more pictures. I will though, as soon as life calms down… haha, actually that may not happen till I’m back in Utah. I'll try to take more tomorrow.

I’m so exhausted. And I’ve eaten the same thing for the last five meals, just cause it’s been busy: pita, a little cucumber, peanuts, two plums and some crackers and lots of water. Pretty exciting, huh? That’s exotic Egypt or you… haha.

Hmm, what else… I bought my first Arabic newspaper today! Wait, I lie. I bought one in Jordan two years ago, but this is the first one I’ve purchased with the intent of actually reading it, and the capabilities (sort of) to do it. It’s a big step.

Oh, and other good news! I think I might be able to use my own phone here… probably not for a week or so... We’ll see… stay tuned.

Please feel free to laugh at my life. It's kind of ridiculous, no?

a little bit of chaos...

2010-05-03T00:25:00.002-07:00

Life in Cairo is a little bit crazy. Actually, completely crazy. The rules of this program make it even more crazy. We finally secured an amazing apartment through the real estate agent assigned to us by the head of our program, and then three days later, we were told we had to find a new place cause it was too far away... such a pain. This place was seriously amazing. It was on the 18th floor of a pretty run-down building right on the nile (like 50 feet away) so the view was beautiful. You could see the pyramids on the horizon and it was big enough that I even had my own room. The landlord and his wife, Salah and Rana, were too kind and had bought us everything from baklava to toilet paper, and even wrote us a list of places to shop and eat etc. It would have been a perfect situation, but it happened to be on the border of a pretty sketchy neighborhood, and was a twenty minute walk from the metro station. Not ideal for a group of 7 girls who are coming home late at night I guess. It's pretty lame, and I really wish they would've told us about our location and things before they sent us off alone to find a place to live, and before we signed a contract, paid a month's rent and deposit, paid the real estate guy, and before we'd moved in and got settled... that would've been nice. But it also would've been convenient, and living in Cairo just isn't convenient. So we've (luckily) been excused from homework for two or three days until we find a new place and we need to go out looking again. We'll likely move in tonight or tomorrow, and it will probably be a lot smaller and older and have bugs and just be like every other Egyptian apartment. But it will be safe... insha'allah?

Besides that, things are good. I've been grocery shopping now, and got some fruit and veggies finally. I haven't gotten sick from them yet. Hopefully I won't. My poor roommate Hannah was throwing up all day yesterday. I don't know what happened to her or what she ate, but I'm glad I had packed my lunch instead of eating out with her. Poor girl.

Classes are going well too. It's so nice to be able to give Arabic 100% finally. I did that last summer when I was taking the second class and it was such a good time for me, Arabic-wise. I pushed myself so hard and learned a ton. I don't know why, but they put me in the advanced class here (there are four classes - all of us are from BYU). It's pretty random though, none of the actual best students are in class 1 with me, so I'm not getting a big head about it. They based class placement on midterm grades only, and my grade was 58%... Anyway, the point is, I'm in a hard class. They expect a ton out of us and it's really funny at times cause our teacher will ask if we know a word and we'll all say no, and so he'll go on for ten minutes explaining it and writing sentences using it on the board. Then he'll ask if we understand. We all kind of blankly nod really hesitatingly and glance around at everyone else. So then he'll say (in arabic of course... all english is strictly forbidden in this building!) "Can someone use this word in a sentence?" And then it's silence for five minutes. Finally he calls on someone, and they try. They fail, and he caves and just says it in english... ("strictly forbidden" in Egypt means forbidden unless it's inconvenient, then do what you have to... maybe offer money, that usually helps things along.")

Im getting a better feel for what's expected of me here, and thank goodness. It's hard not knowing what's going on. We're in class 4 hours a day. We don't get homework in our classes (at least not yet) and they are all taught by local Egyptians. We have to spend two hours a day talking to people on the streets (we found some super cool girls yesterday and talked for a long time with them... so fun! and funny, and then we need to read in the daily newspaper for two hours every day. We also need to study Fusha (pronounced foos-Hah, which is Modern Standard Arabic) and then another hour studying Amiyya, which is the Egyptian colloquial dialect: two very different and distinct languages. We read and watch news in Fusha, we talk in Amiyya.

I'd better get back to work... even though I technically have the day off for homework, it's just going to get me behind if I don't keep up.

I'm starting to fall back in love with this language. And, as difficult as it is, the head of our program is amazing. I'm really excited to put myself into this program he's designed and see the magic happen. Haha, we'll see...

A little bit of Cairo... my first week.

2010-04-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

I left Salt Lake last Friday, and the week between now and then has been overwhelming and absolutely insane. I arrived in Cairo with the same feeling in my stomach that I had when I first arrived in LA as a missionary. I stand out here like I did in downtown LA (even with my brown hair) and I sometimes just have to laugh as I look around at these hijab-clad women and mustache-bearing men… somehow I’m expected to talk to them. Not just talk to them, but engage in meaningful conversation with them. I’ll be able to do it by the end of these three months, and hopefully sooner, insha’allah. As I said, right now it’s all a little overwhelming.

This week, we’ve been staying at the Maadi Hotel with two roommates. They're awesome. We have a pretty crowded room... 3 beds in a room for 2.

Our main objectives for this week are to:

1. Get over jetlag

2. Get accustomed to walking, riding the metro and taking the taxis (not as simple or normal as they sound…) and in doing so, finding Arabs to speak with

3. Finding apartments

4. Getting used to the food

So far I’m doing okay… let me elaborate…

Jetlag:

It’s not so bad really, besides the fact that I feel like it’s 3 am at every time of day. I can’t figure it out. I’m not the only one either. The other day I was studying in the hotel room with my two roommates. It was 11 am and we had only been up for two hours. One minute we were all studying, and the next thing I knew, it was 2 in the afternoon and we were all waking up. We had all managed to doze off and wake up really confused about three hours later. We have no problem getting to bed though either. We’re just always so sleepy no matter what. Hopefully we can get over that soon.

Transportation:

The metro is awesome. Especially since we’re not supposed to talk to men (or even make eye-contact with them) this is a great place to talk to the women. They have a women’s car (thank goodness) and I plan on only using that car while here. There are rarely women out in the streets, or in shops. Even in women’s clothing and shoe stores, it’s men who work there. I don’t know exactly why this is, but I think it might have to do with having to wear the hijab (head scarf) in public. They don’t wear them at home. Seeing as it might be a bit of a hassle to put it all together (some are so elaborately worn) I can see why some women would stay in as much as possible. Anyway, I’m not sure why, but all I know is it’s always a party on the ladies car. They get such a kick out of us speaking Arabic. I’ve made a few friends and hopefully I can talk with them for practice in the future. One thing I didn’t anticipate was the level of skill that it takes to communicate with a woman in a full niqab (head scarf that covers everything but the eyes). I was talking this dear woman, Umu Ganna, and I couldn’t believe how hard it was. So many barriers to communication… the metro was noisy, I was a foot taller and had to keep bending down and putting my ear by her face, there were no facial expressions and there was no lip-reading. Let’s just say there was a lot of nodding and smiling, and asking her 9 year old twins what she was saying. Any ideas of how to find women and girls to talk to are more than welcome… so far I have the women’s car and ladies’ underwear shops.

The taxis are a more expensive option than the metro, but not by much. The metro is 20 cents to ride as long as you want, and taxis are about 20 cents/minute. The good thing about a taxi is despite how tiny they are, you can squish up to 6 students into one (not pleasant, but possible) and split the fare. Also, it’s quite like a roller coaster, but less safe. So if you like adventure, it’s the way to go for sure.

You wouldn’t think that walking here would require getting used to, but it’s possibly the most dangerous mode of transport. Sidewalks in Egypt aren’t used for walking. People park cars, set up tables for their ‘restaurants’ set out items for sale, or park their donkey. It’s much easier to walk on the road, and once you get used to it its not bad. The hardest thing is getting used to moving your eyes around fast enough. You need to be looking down to avoid stepping on or tripping over broken glass, stray (or dead) cats, random steps or concrete blocks, children, sewage filled puddles, pipes and tubes and trash in general. At the same time, you need to be cautious of cars, bikes, busses and animals. There are lanes drawn on the roads here (sometimes) but it’s just a big waste of paint. No one stays in lanes ever. It’s just a free-for-all. You honk to communicate anything. As a pedestrian, it’s important to note that the honking isn’t angry, it’s just a warning that you will be run over unless you move out of the way quickly. No one will stop for you when you go to cross the road, you just need to go and time it just right so you don’t get hit. It’s kind of fun actually. Maybe I’ll film it one day. That would get me a lot of honking I’m sure. Even if there’s only one car in sight, and you’re trying to cross the street, that single car will come as close to you as they possibly can before swerving at the last minute to avoid you. Once you get used to that you just don’t notice. I doubt they actually hit people very often.

Food:

(Some take out we got - falafel with a side of fries... big mistake. That fry was stuck on the box... gross)

The food here is pretty good, but hard to handle. I’ve eaten more meat, cheese and white bread here in a week than I think I have in the last year in Provo. Fruit and veggies are scarce (on the street at least) and can be pretty sketchy. If you’re eating off the street, which hotel living merits, you’re better off with thoroughly cooked meat than a salad. I’ve had more than my fill of shawarma, falafel, fatira, and koshiri. I finally got sick of it and bought myself strawberry yogurt, guava juice and crackers. That’s my Sunday meal… (and by Sunday, I mean Friday. We do church on Friday here). Basically I can’t wait to get into my apartment and start buying actual groceries. Don’t get me wrong. This stuff is good, just too much of it can kill you.

Shawarma is like a pita full of yummy meat that’s cooked on a huge rotating spit thing. They usually throw some other random stuff in there. For example: I had a chicken one the other day that had mashed potatoes and pickles in it. These can also resemble burritos, all rolled up. They’re super tasty.

Falafel is ground up garbanzo beans, usually made into little lumps, and deep fried, thrown in a pita with tahini (sesame seed sauce) or other various sauces, with onions, lettuce, fries sometimes, and other things. Also good… and only about 20 cents.

Fatira is like a huge pizza, but the dough is like filo dough (the stuff they make baklava with) and everything is inside the dough. They stretch the dough out really thin, make a pizza in the middle or the dough, and then fold the extra dough up over the pizza. They cook it on both sides, slice it like a pizza, and throw it in a pizza box. It’s also delicious… they make desert fatirs as well with custard, nutella, butter and sugar, or whatever you want really. See? This stuff can kill you.

Koshiri is interesting. I’ve only had it once, but this is what it was like: They bring out this bowl of a variety of little pastas covered in very dry-looking spices and herbs, kind of reddish. No clue what they are. You pour some tomato sauce on top, and then there’s this ancient-looking bottle of vinegar with spices at the bottom on the table. You pour that over the top and moisten it all up, mix it up and enjoy. It’s so good, and really filling.

(my first koshiri!)

There are also fresh fruit juice stands all over the place. They’re really sketchy. Who knows if they wash the cups… probably not. But it’s worth the delicious juice if you ask me. You just have to shut your mind off completely to things like that when you’re here or you can’t possibly enjoy anything. If you’re looking for a cushy, luxurious trip, avoid Egypt like the disease it will give you. If you want chaos, heat, good food and a lot to laugh about…

Itfadalu! Ahlan w’sahlan fi Misr! (Please come! Welcome to Egypt!)

Finding apartments

We did okay here… I have yet to move in, so I’ll just say what I know. I’ve been there, so I know the following is true too…

We’ll have 7 girls in our place (two bathrooms, 4 bedrooms… I get my own room too! Yeah, they’re angry at me, but someone had to take it, right?)

We’re on the 18^th floor, right on the Nile (incredible view or Cairo, the Nile and of the pyramids of Saqara… you can see the famous Giza pyramids on the horizon if you lean out a window). We have been blessed with brand new furniture, a microwave (very rare here…!), a washing machine, nice beds, hardwood floors, high speed internet, an awesome landlord, no TV (which I’m happy about), oh, and a hobbit doorknob. That’s right… a big brass round knob in the center of our awesomely old-looking front door. Don’t be too jealous… I move in tomorrow!

I start classes on Sunday… I’m sure I’ll have a lot to say about that along with pictures in the near future. Until then, Ma3sallama! (the 3 is the sound that is made when you constrict your throat and moan in a Gollum-ish sort of way. I’ll happy to demonstrate if you see me in person.)

oh, and by the way... the pyramids were awesome.

Update:

2010-04-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

As you have surely noticed, I just posted a ton of stuff about my most recent (well, not even most recent, but recent none the less) adventures. I blogged all about my time in Hong Kong so that I could continue blogging sequentially and continue on to blogging about being here in Cairo... Cairo, you ask...?

I arrived in Cairo a few days ago, and I’ll be here studying Arabic until the beginning of August. Subsequently, the next three or four month’s worth of posts will be revolving around my life here. Some posts may be lengthy and boring, while others, I’m certain will be full of dramatic pictures, funny surprises and other things that will keep you on the edge of your seat! We’ll see… but it should also be noted that this, for me, is a journal of sorts. I may include details that no one will care to read about but are important to me. May you experience a bit of Misr (Arabic for ‘Egypt’) through me.

Hong Kong – Day 8

2010-04-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

I felt little numb for this whole last day. It was hard to hold back tears most of the day, and eventually I just gave in. We all went to church in the morning and came home and had lunch and got me all packed up and ready to go. Mason’s sweet parents loaded me up with provisions for the long journey home. I had LemSip, which I may have become addicted to... Kleenex, chocolate, dried mangos, and so much more. It was so kind of them, and it made my long flight so much more enjoyable.

Mason and I left for the airport, and the minute I stepped out of the apartment I just lost it. I think I cried/laughed at myself for being so ridiculous for about four hours straight. I know. Such a baby.

Mason waited with me in the airport until the very last moment, when I had to finally make myself go through security. I had to run all the way to the gate, and I came really close to missing the flight… I may have kind of wanted to just miss it and stay in Hong Kong...

The flight was long, and I got no sleep. I got back to Salt Lake feeling so sick and tired and totally worn out. My sisters informed me that they wanted to have a girl getaway the next weekend, which I initially said ‘no way’ to. Eventually I changed my mind, decided I could miss two more days of school, and I just went. You can read about it here on my sister’s blog.

Just a week and a half later I would be on my way to Cairo… details to follow... and pictures.

Hong Kong – day 7

2010-04-27T11:32:00.000-07:00

My last full day in Hong Kong was just as amazing as the rest. We had lunch with Mason’s parents in celebration of Mason’s dad’s birthday. We went to a quaint little Middle Eastern restaurant, which got me all excited for Egypt. It was so tasty...

Mason and I just hung out around town and we got me a new wallet (since mine had been lost and/or stolen earlier in the week). We had a laid-back afternoon cause I had packing to do, and then we went with Mason’s parents to a dessert bar… It was incredible! I had a goal to try everything, but after my first round of treats I had to change my mind. It as funny, cause I was eating all of these amazing things and drinking bitter LemSip medicine on the side. It was pretty gross. My favorite thing here was the Mango ice cream, and also the white chocolate truffles... mmm, so tasty.

After a week of amazing eating I’m afraid Mason and I both felt that we’d gained a little weight… most of our pictures from this last day kind of show it too, it’s kind of pathetic.

It was a good last day, but it was also hard, cause the reality that I was leaving so soon was beginning to sink in. It was frustrating to see time disappearing so fast, but at the same time it was hard to complain because the week had been so amazing.

(pictures will come!)

Hong Kong – Day 6

2010-04-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

We headed back up to China on this day, but not before stopping off to see the beautiful Hong Kong Temple!

We didn’t go in, merely passed by, but it was so cool. The temple was actually closed, so we just went and saw the mission office and sat outside in the rain for a bit. The rain was awesome. It was warm and more like a mist that like rain. We spent about twenty minutes in the metro station looking for hot water at every shop (for my blessed LemSip) but had no luck. Although, we did pass a vending machine which was selling umbrellas! Of course, we bought one. It was right next to another vending machine selling ink cartridges… pretty random. Upon arrival in China, we ate at McDonald’s yet again, and then headed to an art village. For some reason it took us about an hour to find a taxi, and then about another hour to get to the art village.

I should’ve taken more pictures here, but alas. (Once again... these will be posted later). There were countless little art shops, some really amazing and some, well, not so much. We got to witness a little mass-production, as these guys would go by about thirty canvases, painting the same detail on each and then moving on to another detail. Pretty funny. There were also tons of kids playing badminton in the streets, which struck me as funny, mainly because my childhood friend, Tammy, whose parents are from China, was obsessed with badminton. I think she was even the national champion for her age group for a while in Canada.

As we were leaving (for another super long taxi ride) we stumbled upon an old man with a one-armed monkey on a leash. That’s all. Oh no wait, there’s more.

After China, we met Mason’s friends for a very late Japanese dinner, which was amazing. So much good food on this trip… just incredible. Not to mention, Mason's friends were super cool. I was super sleepy at dinner, which made me sad, cause I wanted to get to know them better.

We eventually made our way back home on the bus. And I slept.

Hong Kong – Day 5

2010-04-27T11:26:00.000-07:00

My Aunt and Uncle, Gale and Chris, just so happened to be in Hong Kong when I was there. They were picking up their recently adopted baby, Eve. Sadly, as I had been feeling under the weather, I didn’t even risk getting close to her, let alone holding her. She’s so precious and looked so cuddly! I wish I could’ve played with her, but alas.

It was so fun to meet up with them and spend most of the day with them and little Eve! We all had lunch (yummy Thai food) and then had some amazing gelato… oh my, I love that stuff! We strolled a little bit through the market, watching shrimp try to jump out of their little selling-bins, and seeing all sorts of fresh fish ready to be sold… my personal favorite was the fish that had been chopped in half, whose tail was nowhere to be seen, and yet somehow, he was still breathing. Very weird. A little disturbing. We all took a ferry – the famous Star Ferry – across the water and beheld the magnificent view of Hong Kong’s finest buildings.

Little Eve was ready for a nap, as were Gale and Chris, and they were kind enough to let us use their hotel pool… Mason and I swam a little, hot tubbed a little more (it wasn’t the warmest day ever…) and then reclined all, covered up in towels (trying to stay warm and dry off) by the side of the pool. It was so much fun! Especially because we were given these awesome white plastic slippers, which I wore proudly. I think it may have embarrassed Mason… (Thanks Gale and Chris for the use of the Marriot’s really nice pool!)

We met up with Gale, Chris and Eve and Mason’s parents at the Peak and ate dinner at Café Deco, which was awesome. Delicious food, incredible view, good company. Mason and I shared our meals – a pizza, and this lamb dish… both were amazing, as was dessert. We all took the cable car down the hillside and went home. So much fun!

(Pictures to follow within the week... I promise)

Hong Kong – Day 4

2010-04-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

This day was also amazing. Mason and I went to see his mom’s quilting class (which was at this incredible mansion… it happens to be the largest home in Hong Kong… very big, and very fancy) and then headed over to Mason’s old high school. It was so fun to see, but I started feeling so sick. Luckily Mason took good care of me – bought me a Panini and made me some LemSip... this hot medicine drink akin to Neo Citron, for those of Canadian origin...

Seriously, LemSip saved me in Hong Kong. I was so sick with a horrible cold, but about every six hours I would drink a hot glass of this stuff and I would feel so much better. (Thank you Mason for being so on top of finding hot water for me every six hours!)

After the school, we went to Disneyland! That’s right, Disneyland. Hong Kong Disneyland isn’t as elaborate or as big as the one in California, but it does have Space Mountain. One of Mason’s friends got us in for free (thank you friend!) So it made it extra fun. There’s a train you take up there that’s all Disney-ed out. I love the fairytale-ish feel of Disney land. It’s just so charming. I love it. When we were done with rides and fireworks, we headed out and decided to get dinner at one of the hotels there. I don’t know why I thought this was so magical (probably because it was magical) but the walk up to the hotel was so awesome. It was still warm outside and it had just gotten dark. There was this really long, tree-lined road that was completely empty except for us, and they were playing all the romantic Disney songs they could muster. It all led to a heart-shaped archway and some fancy stairs up to the hotel. Dinner was good, and I enjoyed some more LemSip, naturally. After dinner, we went and saw out the window none other than a maze made entirely out of shrubbery! We raced around it (Mason won) and took some pictures, which I may add when I have a stable internet connection... not one from this sketchy Egyptian hotel...

All in all, another AMAZING day.

Day Three in Hong Kong

2010-04-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

Oh what a great day!

We woke up late and kind of took our time getting out of the house. Mason made me a tasty breakfast, and we headed into town. We met up with Sunny and Jonathan again and had lunch together, at this place called Rice Paper, where I enjoyed duck yet again. It was so tasty, but not quite as tasty as their desserts! The banana thing was amazing! And that tiny scoop of ice cream in the back was served on a little leaf. So quaint!

(I stole this picture from Jonathan's FB page)

Mason and I said farewell, headed the MTR station and left for China!

It was about an hour on the train before we arrived at the border. We got me a visa, and tried to make sure I wasn't looking too sick (I had caught a cold by this point, and there's this guy at the border who stands there with this thermometer gun thing. He points it at your forehead to make sure you're healthy enough to come into China. Kind of funny.) I passed the temperature test, and we went into Shenzhen! Our first stop was a little shop where we tried to find a new squash racket for Mason. He was trying to exchange his recent purchase cause it wasn't quite good enough... too heavy. We couldn't find any that were good, so Mason exchanged it for a tennis racket instead. A funny little conversation followed:

Me: You play tennis?

Mason: Not really. Do you?

Me: Not really.

Mason: Do you want to?

Me: Yeah, I think I do.

Mason: Me too. Let's make it our sport!

Me: Okay!

So Mason bought a second racket for me. I can't wait for us to be able to try them out!

Our second stop was Mason's mom's tailor, Rosie. Such a funny lady, and such a sweetheart.

(Me and Rosie)

She measured me and told me how much fabric I would need for certain pieces of clothing that I liked from an Anthropology catalogue, and then Mason and I went fabric shopping! I wish I could have has a week and a half there or more. It was so overwhelming! Fabrics like you would not believe. Endless rows of silks, satins and wools. It was beautiful. Mason is so patient. I finally decided on some things and we brought them back to Rosie so she could copy the designs that I liked, and then we went back out and found some more fabric!

(Me and Mason in Rosie's shop. *Side note: Mason is so awesome. It was so fun to get his opinion on fabrics and stuff. He actually cares about these things, and has such good taste! I loved it.)

After all the shopping, we were hungry and tired. So we decided to have dinner and get massages. Such a great idea...

So, I really dislike McDonald's. I haven't eaten there since I saw the documentary, Super Size Me. That was maybe 7 years ago? I don't know. It's been a long time. Anyway, our options were McDonald's and this amazing Kung Fu fast food place. So funny. See below.

(Once again, these pics are from somewhere online. I don't know I just googled it)

Yes, that is Jackie Chan all over their stuff, and yes, they will likely be sued one day. I thought it was so funny, and I really wanted to eat there, until I looked at the menu... Instead of pictures of burgers and fries they had pictures of chicken feet and mysterious-looking soups. I think Mason sensed my queasiness, and he suggested we go to McDonald's instead. Good call Mase!

(For the record, China has chicken nuggets that are obviously actually chicken. They are very tasty).

(very happy to be eating fries and chicken meat, instead of chicken feet. The peace sign is in honor of being in China)

Next up was the massage... we walked into the building for our massages (after wandering through all these cool tea shops) and I seriously couldn't stop laughing. We walked in and all the ladies in the lobby said something to us in Chinese in unison. They were all wearing very professional-looking matching red outfits and looked so excited to see us. Mason talked to them for a long time in Chinese, while I just had this stupid look on my face, trying to act as though I understood what was going on. Kind of a half smile with big eyes and raised eyebrows. (You just tried to make the face huh? Haha, admit it...) Finally this lady walked us over to this room, where she handed us keys and asked a question. Mason looked at me and asked if we'd like to take showers before our massages. I just laughed so hard. All I could think of was me getting lost in the girls shower area, loosing my clothes and not being able to understand anything. I said that I was good, and we could go straight to the massage, at which they handed Mason and I matching white shirts and shorts and showed us to our room. Haha, oh man. This was my favorite part of the trip I think.

Mason and I went in the room, which just had two little massage beds and a little table. They told us to change and that they'd be back shortly. We just looked at each other and laughed. We took turns changing and just laughed so hard at our little outfits.

The two ladies that would give us our massages finally came in and kindly took a picture for us.

We were massaged for about an hour and a half (which was heaven... especially the head massage...) For the first hour or so we were on our tummies with our faces in the little hole in the bed. I was a little bit sick, and my nose was so runny. I kept sniffling, and it was rather uncomfortable. Mason was just chatting away with the ladies and every now and then he would translate what they were saying. It was so funny. They thought I was really young, and one of the girls was so intrigued by "the foreigner's" light complexion. That would be me. So funny.

After a while Mason asked if I needed a new paper towel for my face. I was a little confused... not really a question I get all the time. He said the my masseuse had asked if I needed one because, as she said, "your girlfriend's face is leaking." Haha, oh man, the laughter, just overwhelming, especially cause I was trying to hold it in. I sat up and she got me a kleenex. It was so funny to me. After a while they left and came back with watermelon and this delicious lemon, ginger tea. It was so amazing. It was super sweet and had the thinnest little slivers of ginger floating around in it. They said it would help me get better. So sweet of them.

We got home late and I finished some homework that had to be emailed in that night (I love technology by the way) and we went to bed very content.

Day two in Hong Kong

2010-03-31T17:15:00.000-07:00

My second day in Hong Kong was amazing. I was completely spoiled. It started with sleeping in (which was almost a miracle considering jet-lag) followed by a delicious breakfast in bed made by Mason. Since I'm taking a whole week off of school, it was inevitable that I would have to spend at least some time doing homework on this trip, so I worked on a paper for a couple hours, and then we headed out for lunch (me, Mason and Mason's mom).

This lunch was so awesome! Such a fun experience. It was a cooking school, and it was seriously awesome. First thing when we got there, they checked all of our temperatures to make sure we wouldn't contaminate everyone I guess. They led us into the dining room and it was awesome. All the students were wearing these bright green aprons and their teachers were wearing suits. Everyone was wearing little masks covering their mouths - little clear plastic ones held on by strings that went back around their ears. I wish I had taken pictures at this place, but alas. The food was really good, and I actually surprised myself by eating just about everything (there was lots of seafood!) We had chrysanthemum tea, and then tons of little tiny courses, almost like little samples of food. They just brought out one after another. I wanted to just laugh so many times though at the attentiveness of the students. The would like rush over after every sip of water or tea and ask you if they could fill up your cup or little teapot. It seemed like there was always a group of five or six students standing about ten feet away watching our every move. Some of them were so nervous too. So funny.

We came home and I spent a little more time working on my paper, which I finished and emailed to my teacher, and then we headed out to meet one of Mason's friends, Theresa. We went to the IFC mall, where we sampled and purchased fancy chocolates and frozen yogurt and sat outside over looking Hong Kong.

IFC's balcony - I just found this picture online, we were there in the daytime.

We were meeting some of Mason's other friends, Sunny and Jonathan, for dinner so we rode over to the Peninsula hotel on the MTR (Hong Kong's subway that we take everywhere). The Peninsula is this amazing old victorian hotel, and according to Mason, it's the nicest one here. It really was beautiful.

I didn't take these pictures... all from random websites

Sunny and Jonathan are here on business from LA, and it was funny cause I actually served in their ward, just a few months before they moved in. I also had even been to Sunny's parents house. She works for her parents business, which happens to be Sunrider (a family favorite).

We had an incredible meal at the Felix Restaurant.

Our view was amazing! We were seated right next to the window overlooking the city. It was such a fancy restaurant too. I went to use the bathroom, and there was a little lady in there who went and found me a stall and got the door for me... a little awkward, but whatever. Then when I went to wash my hands, she was standing there by this fountain thing (it was actually the sink, but it looked like a really fancy fountain/waterfall thing) and she like pumped my soap for me and dried my hands and everything. Kinda funny.

The food was so good. I had this really cool salad. They had cut out a slice of a head of iceberg lettuce about and inch thick, and then put the other ingredients on top of it. So tasty! For the main course I had this amazing duck with pumpkin and fois gras and four very artistically-placed green beans. It looked so fancy, and it was SO good! We were going to et dessert, but all of the 10 or so dessert items had alcohol in them, so we went elsewhere for our sugar fix. I ended up with a plate full of fresh watermelon, mango and other fruit, and Mango ice cream. Such a treat! Mason and I eventually made our way back home on the MTR.

I ate a lot of really good food, and was spoiled immensely. It was seriously such a fun day!

the journeys begin...

2010-03-30T18:24:00.000-07:00

What's this you ask? Oh, just the view from the window next to me. I'm in Hong Kong, staying at Mason's parent's apartment. I've been here for only three days so far, and so far, I'm having the time of my life! Due to jet lag, I woke up really early today, which is good, cause it gives me some time to blog about my current adventure.

We'll start with last week... It was kind of horrible. I had to take tests early, write papers very quickly, and stay up really late to do my homework that I'd be missing whilst abroad. I was under-rested and overworked, and really just couldn't focus due to intense levels of excited anticipation.

I finally got out of a class that felt like it would never end on Friday morning, ran home, finished packing and getting ready for 24 hours of travel. My mom came to get me and bring me to the aiport (thanks so much for everything mom!) and then we met Brooklyn and Brittany, my lovely sisters, for lunch, which they provided (thanks sissies! love you!) and then I was off to the airport! That whole day is a bit of a blur. I was exhausted and still a little bit in shock I think that I was actually off to the other side of the world. Just didn't seem real.

LA, my city!

I flew into LA, and at Mason's suggestion (thanks Mason!) I spent about 6 hours there. LA is where I served my mission, and I have a lot of love for that place and those people. My dear friend Farnoosh picked me up and brought me to her apartment where she had prepared a feast!

Farnoosh and I

It was amazing! We had fish, and persian rice (with tadig!) and tons of little treats: pistachios straight from Iran (sooo good!) little pastries, and delicious fruit. After dinner we sat and visited for hours drinking this amazing Persian blossom tea (herbaland talking about everything from dating and Persian weddings to Iranian politics and underground movements.

The Persian feast

She eventually brought me back to the airport where I waited for my 1:00 am 15-hour flight. The flight was good... good food, and decent enough seats. I've discovered why sleeping on planes is so hard for me... it's because I always sleep on my side or my tummy, and if I'm on my back, I really just can't sleep at all. The means I can't sleep sitting... Despite all this, I was able to get about 8 hours of less-than-quality sleep, but it was fine.

When I got to the airport, I'll admit, I was a little nervous. Well excited/nervous. I had no reason to be though, cause as soon as I saw Mason all the nerves left and I was just purely excited! It's so good to see a familiar face in a crowd of strangers.

We went to the Victoria 1st branch for church (the Hong Kong LDS chapel is so beautiful!). It was fun to meet some of the people there (Mason's parents included!) I was super tired and was still lugging around my luggage. I had changed in the bathroom at the church into somewhat wrinkled church clothes. After church Mason and I went on a walk and just kind of looked around. We caught the bus and went back to the apartment for lunch - super yummy fajitas. This apartment building is so cool by the way. I love the front entrance and the way it's all designed. I'll have to get some pics later.

Later in the afternoon we went to the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Museum. It's this beautiful old mansion that the LDS church owned for a couple decades and then sold. Now it's a museum. Obviously. Mason used to go to church at this place, and even baptized his little brother in the font which remains near the front entrance. It was so cool to see how they'd restored this old building, and super fun to have Mason pointing out little details, and explaining how it used to function as a church. That evening we went to the Peak - which provides a lovely view of Hong Kong. We took this little trolly car thing up the hill and hung out for a bit up there and took a cab home.

At the old church building/new museum

I was exhausted by the end of the day, but it was such a fun day that I didn't even mind. Hopefully before too long I can write about day 2!

One day!

2010-03-25T15:46:00.000-07:00

In just 24 hours (exactly!) I'm leaving Utah and heading to Hong Kong! I can't wait, and I can't focus on the paper I'm supposed to be writing. It doesn't help that I'm studying in the "Asian Collection" section of the library...

an old embarrassing story

2010-02-04T21:27:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine recently asked me about embarrassing moment in my life, and as I thought of this story I just laughed and laughed. It's maybe more ironic and sad than embarrassing, but I thought I'd share it anyway.

So, I was in first grade in Mr. Hadden's class at Prince of Wales Elementary school in Calgary. There I was, an extremely shy child... like painfully so... sitting at my little table. I got up to ask if I could go to the bathroom, and Mr. Hadden (who was probably only 35 or so, and the handsomest man I had ever seen) obliged. I left the safety and comfort of our classroom and walked out into the hall, which was still kind of scary for me, and made my way to the nearest bathroom. I noticed there was a huge sign on the door. I looked at it for a while... I was still just learning to read... and wondered what it said. I walked into the bathroom which was empty, and suddenly I realized that the sign on the door was probably an "out of order" sign. Thoughts of exploding toilets, and flooded hallways filled my mind as I paced back and forth, and examined every stall. Everything looked fine, but what if I flushed a toilet and somehow flooded the whole school?! I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I tried to think of what I could do instead... there was another bathroom somewhere on the other side of the school that I had heard rumors about, but I knew I would get lost trying to find it. There was also one in the "sixth-grade hallway" but there was no chance I'd wander over there with all those big kids hanging around. So I decided that I would just wait. We had P.E. in about 15 minutes which would last only 30 minutes, and then I would run home for lunch. We lived right across the street. I went back to the classroom after what must have been a long time. I sat down and waited for what felt like forever, but was probably only a few minutes. I approached Mr. Hadden a second time. "Didn't you just get back from the bathroom?" "um, yeah, but I have to go again." Out I went again.

This time I stood in front of the door for a very long time, trying so hard to figure it out. Nothing. I went in again and paced around some more. All the walking around sort of eased the urgency, and I decided, yet again, that I could hold it. I went back to my little chair, and moments after I sat down, I just lost it. I let it all go. I love thinking of my thought process at this point... "okay, this is embarrassing, but I can hide it. When we line up to walk to PE I'll just stand at the back of the line, cause Mr. Hadden always stands at the front, and then when we start running laps around the gym, i'll just keep my back to the wall and kind of run sideways, and then I'll just sort of stand off to the side for the rest of the class, and then I'll run home and change a lunchtime. Mom won't even know."

The bell rang and everyone stood to march off to class. I just hung out in my chair till everyone was lined up. I took my place at the back, and then to my horror, Mr. Hadden came to the back of the line! He had never done that before! We started walking and shortly thereafter I felt a hand on my shoulder, and Mr. Hadden said, "Bethany? Did you have a little accident?" Oh the humiliation! Mr. Hadden, of all people! I just said yes all sheepishly and went to the principle's office while they called mom to tell her what had happened. She came quickly with dry clothes and asked me how in the world it had happened. I told her all about it and showed her the sign. She read it to me.

It was an ad for an up-coming school activity.

An auction.

I would just love to know what Mr. Hadden was thinking as he saw that after two trips to the bathroom, I had still managed to pee my pants. Luckily I didn't have to face him again that day, since dear mother let me stay home and miss the afternoon classes.

tape faces & large poultry

2010-01-14T18:52:00.001-08:00

well hellooo....

the other night my roommates and i went a little crazy. we'd been studying too much and we had just had it. we threw down our books in disgust and... well, that's not true. we were just sitting around the table catching up on each others' lives, and there happened to be some tape on the table. So, naturally i picked it up and made myself a pig-nose. it got such a great reaction from my roommates that i just kept going. sadly, i don't think they'd done this before. i taught them how, and then we all kinda went crazy.

first we taped our faces up all screwy, and then we dressed up like large poultry and had a race down our hall.... it was weird and oh so fun.

___

we didn't get any pictures of us standing, but try to imagine it, it's very funny. oh, but you can see it in the little video down below.

it was extremely tiring. seriously.

the race:

shall i make it permanent?