India Fest 2011

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.

August

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

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!

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. 

Autumn

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... 

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tumbleweeds: a little video

Hong Kong – Day 8

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

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

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

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

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 two in Hong Kong

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!

Raqas al-Beladi

رقص البلدي

A little piece of history:

The origin of the term belly dance comes from the Arabic term: Raqas al-Beladi which means "dance of my country." Westerners, sadly, have taken that phrase and mushed it up to be beladi dance, which then morphed into belly dance. Hollywood got it's filthy paws on it, it became westernized, glamorized, and is now looked down upon by most conservative folk. I have taken it upon myself to reverse the trend, support Arab culture, and promulgate the beauty (and intense fun) that is...

The Belly Dance.

It all began in a Persian restaurant called Sholeh in Los Angeles. I was a missionary with only a few weeks remaining before the end of my mission. My Persian friend took us out to dinner and was humiliated when suddenly, the lights dimmed, and the delicate clamor of finger-symbols could be heard in the distance... I turned to see a woman clad in gold (though scantily) perform an amzing belly dance routine. I'd never seen a belly dancer before, and although she was the type of belly dancer that many of us would disapprove of (including our poor friend that had brought us there... she really felt like she was corrupting our missionary minds) I could help but be impressed. I didn't know people could move like that, and I determined right then and there that I would learn how.

I started that night in my apartment, trying moves I could remember, but it was so hard. I decided to wait till I got home.

I got home. I went to the public library and found a DVD, it was a weird DVD. It was a workout / tribal fusion / belly dance dvd... not exactly what I was looking for, but it was all they had. Not a huge selection... Imagine that.

I practiced every day throughout the summer, and I found it to be so stress-relieving, such a good work out, and a really good excuse to listen to my collection of Persian songs all day.

I went to the middle east, where I learned that belly dancing's origins lie in Egypt. There are even carvings of some of the first belly dancers on some of the walls of the ancient Luxor Temple, as seen below...

(photographed by me)

and here they are up close:

It was here that I also found out that belly dancing is one of the highest paid professions in Egypt, and Egypt is very proud of it's heritage. Our tour guide talked a lot about belly dancing, telling us that everyone in Egypt belly dances: men, women, children and even grandmas. You don't need to show your belly, or any skin at all for that matter. He said his little three-year-old daughter is already learning how. (One day I will teach my babies).

If anything, this intensified my desire to learn.

A) I wanted to assimilate more and more into arab culture, and

B) I could make some seriously good money...

One of the highlights of my time in the Holy Land, and even in my life, I dare say, was the night before we hiked Mount Sinai.

I belly danced around a fire by a beduin tent.

It was so amazing. Probably a once in a life-time experience... well, actually, not if I can help it.

I stocked up on jangles and bangles and sorts of lovely things in Egypt, as I knew I'd need them one day, and I am certainly glad I did...

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self-portrait contest

you may have heard about his already here, but i guess i should advertise as well...?

there was a self-portrait photo contest a couple weeks ago, and i didn't plan on entering it, but on the night of the deadline i got an email from brooklyn with her entries, and her suggestion that i try it.

we sent a couple emails back and forth laughing kind of at the awkwardness felt of actually entering a photo contest with a picture taken of yourself, by yourself... it's a little strange... but i decided i might as well, right?

so i got home from campus around 1o (the photos were dues by midnight) and our power was out. i laughed as i lit a candle so my picture could have natural light instead of using a ghastly flash. i took several, and for some reason i look very forlorn in all of them. likely a result of my cold, dark house.

we were allowed to edit our pictures a little, so i made it almost black and white (it's was very red previously... remember, candle light). so i entered it into the contest, and she (the sussy) went and posted them all over her blog (much to our surprise and dismay...it makes you feel very vulnerable).

anyway, i guess the winner needs to get the most votes... so you should go vote for me. or brooklyn. or whoever's picture you like the best. some are awesome, some are funny, some are awkward. mine's probably awkward.

vote here.

or don't, but take a look at least. votes need to be in by midnight tonight!

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bulls-eye... well, almost.

(me & boy)

"do you want to go shooting?"

"shooting what?"

"GUNS."

"um, where?"

"in the mountians."

"...uh..."

"i'm not joking."

"...yes?"

"like right now?"

"well, okay."

and so we went. it was amazing. i had never even held a gun before (well, one that had bullets in it). i shot three different little pistols. my favorite was the silver one. i didn't hit the middle of the target even one time, but i'm okay with it.

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did you get dressed in the dark this morning?

yes. i did.

-

(our power's been turned off due to negligence {not on my part}. plus, it was twenty degrees colder than usual today and frankly, i didn't care how i looked).

cash money throw down!

Four hundred and eleven dollar bills were thrown off of the Joseph F. Smith Building at BYU today at 12:30 PM. They were inside pink balloons, some of which also contained bubble gum or coupons for local restaurants. There were over eight hundred balloons. It was beautiful.

I got one dollar, four pieces of gum and two coupons.

(you can watch it here)

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LA - the last of it.

my last two days in LA were lovely. 

when i started packing up to leave on wednesday morning, i felt like i had done everything i wanted to do, and seen everyone i wanted to see... and then some. it was perfect. such a good feeling. 

monday was super relaxed. i went shopping with my friend kelly in camarillo. she found some shoes, but i came away with nothing. we drove home on the PCH through malibu, and it brought back many great memories of my mission. that's my favorite drive... when there's no traffic. 

that night kelly and brooke (the lovely ladies that i stayed with) took me out for dinner at the Gypsy Cafe on westwood. i loved it so much! they told me it was mediterranean food, but it was just completely middle eastern! they had falafel, shawarma, baba ghanoush, even hookahs! they also had the most amazing tomato soup ever. they were playing arabic music too, which made me so happy, and to my joy and surprise, one of my favorite songs (Nour el-Ain) came on halfway through dinner. i couldn't have asked for anything greater. it was so fun being back on westwood, where there's so much middle eastern culture, especially now that i understand it so much better. 

so much of what's written on the buildings is in farsi script, and since it's just about the same as arabic script, i could finally read it! what a great feeling. 

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the next day i went downtown where i met up with some of my favorite people, morena and gilmar. they took me out for lunch at a little el salvadorian restaurant (that's where they're from). it was so good! i had forgotten how awesome pupusas, empanitas and empanadas are. 

about an hour later, even though i was so full, my friend jose (as seen in previous post) insisted on taking me out for lunch again. this time the food was honduran, like jose. he's such a sweetheart. he gave me a little english-spanish picture dictionary, so i can improve... yeah, it's gotten that bad. it was funny trying to communicate. my spanish got increasingly better as the day went on, but it seems to have gotten much worse. thank goodness for my new dictionary. he also gave me these pictures: 

he had them taken to send back to his family in hondruras, so he made copies for me and the other sister i taught him with. i think they're awesome. 

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that night i met up with jonas. he's awesome. we went out for ice cream and he told me all the latest ideas he's come up with. he graduated from film school a few years back, and now at the tender young age of 25, he's already writing scripts. he's got 2 or 3 completed, or nearly completed i think. they're all pretty good too. he's just writing and researching, and will make it big in no time i'm sure. he told me he'll take me to the oscars one day. and i made him promise to include me in his thank you speech when he wins one day. 

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well, it was sad to say goodbye to LA.

it was so nice though, to feel like i had had such a perfect trip. nothing went wrong, and all i had to be frustrated with was the horrible traffic on the I-10 as a result of the victory parade for the lakers on wednesday morning... i was a little sad to return to provo, but as i came into utah county, i was welcomed with beautiful rainy weather, and such a lovely rainbow. that made me happy to be home. 

i love that my mission is so accessible. i plan on taking advantage of that for the rest of my life. 

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