Peru Pow-wow

I finally met the third member of the Peru party!  We had our first official meeting tonight and things are finally coming together.  Oh crap.  I can't believe I'm going to Peru.  I don't speak Spanish.  How the heck am I supposed to do this?!?!?  We decided to put an ad on the school bulletin board for a Peruvian friend.

Uno, Dos, Tres...QUESO!!!!!

Papas Locas

Prepare to be disgusted...but I figured since I'm going to a foreign country I need to learn how to try foods that completely gross me out.

This concoction is from Mexico.

 First, take a bag of chips and crush them up.  I used Baked Lays but I hear Doritos and Fritos are the best kind.

 Add worcestershire sauce.

 Add soy sauce.

 Add lime juice.

 Mush together.

Eat like a push pop.

Enjoy??

A Luncheon of Utmost Importance

Today I had an awesome opportunity to represent the university at a small luncheon.  There were five students in attendance.  We met with one of the vice-presidents and multiple representatives from BAIN consulting and The University of South Texas at Dallas.  The University is fairly new and is working with BAIN on new innovations in education.  They came to BYU-Idaho to learn how we operate because there are so many things that we do different from other universities.  I'm sad the meeting was only 45 minutes because I don't feel like I really got to say as much as I would have liked.  A lot of the questions they had were in areas the other students were more qualified to answer (the sports program and online learning).  I did get to make a few comments that I hope were helpful though.  How they got my name from the 15,000 students here, I have no idea.  I'm glad they did and I even got free lunch for it too :)

Divorce

Weird topic to blog about, I know...But it's been on my mind the last few days so I'm putting it out there! 

It all started with me leaving work...or trying to leave work.  I was on my way out the door when a coworker asked me if I ever thought about divorce.  I told him that I didn't.  I figure you can't go worrying about divorce because if you do then you're just waiting for it to happen or waiting for something to go wrong...even if it probably won't.  You have to expect the best out of situations, not the worst.  If I expect the worst, I will eventually get the worst.  Does that even make sense?  I'm not oblivious to the fact that people get divorced but I'm not going to go into a marriage worried that mine will end that way.

How did this subject even get brought up?  A single mother of two came into the office wanting to get back into school because she was going through a divorce and needed a way to support her two daughters.  When she got married I doubt she ever thought she would end up a single mother.  She probably thought she was going to live happily ever after.  Now her life has turned upside down.  How does a marriage get to that point in such a short amount of time?  I obviously have no idea.

Then we started thinking about all the divorces that happen on the BYUI campus.  I doubt ANY of those couples think they'll end up divorced in a few years.  They think they're completely in love and will be together forever.  And yet, something goes wrong.  I want to conduct a study.  I want to see what the predictors are, if any, for a BYUI divorce.  Is it the length of time a couple knows each other before marriage?  The length of engagement?  The age of the people involved?  The number of past relationships?  I have no idea.  I just think it would be interesting.  I also wonder what ends the marriages up here.  Money?  Misscommunication?  Ignorance? 

It was an interesting conversation.  Then my roommate and I talked about it for another hour at home that night (procrastinating homework).  It was fabulous! 

Home, Sweet Home

Remember this post about me wishing I could see Eli play football his senior year of high school?  Well my wish came true!!!  My mom called me last Monday wondering if I would like to come home for a weekend and I was sooooo excited.  I packed my bags Thursday night and went to SLC where I stayed the night with a friend.  Friday morning I flew to Detroit where my mom picked me up at the airport and headed to Lima.  I got to see Eli play football and Meredith and Seth play in their soccer games.  I also talked to old friends, got a massive hug from my band director, saw the band, went shopping with Eli, ate way too much Panera, and almost played Monopoly with Seth.  Here are some pictures from the weekend.

#42...I didn't get any good pictures of him actually playing...

Couldn't go to a football game and not get a Shawnee Dog!!!

A Homemade Pile of Leaves

I've already blogged about fall being my favorite season.  I actually really like to rake leaves and it's one thing I miss a lot being in Idaho.  The other night we had some visitors come to the apartment and bring a bag full of shredded newspaper to play with.  It was surprisingly fun!  I had never met these boys before and them coming over was completely unplanned.  I was beyond confused when they said they had a present in the bag for us and this is not at all what I expected.  If I'm ever forced to live somewhere where leaves don't fall in the fall, I am going to remember this.

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission....

To PERU!!!!

I've already got my Spanish Book of Mormon and am honing that Spanish vocabulary I thought I left behind in my early high school years.  

Okay, okay so I'm not technically serving a mission...there's that age thing that's just not in my favor at the moment.  But I am going to Peru!!  I'm going with two lovely ladies from BYUI and we're going to have an adventure.  We will be there from the beginning of January until the end of March.  We will be working in an after school program in a small town in Cajamarca (see map above).  We'll be in the jungle roughing it without hot water BUT we will have wifi...so blogging will continue.  I knew you were worried about that.

Details will be forthcoming as to what exactly I'll be doing but basically the kids that come to the program are with us for a few hours each day.  They get a meal when they arrive so we will help with the meal preparation in the morning and then we help them with homework for a bit and then do some sort of activity with them.  There aren't any interns there at the moment so we're really hoping to get some things established and get this program running again!  The other girls are studying Communications and Recreation Management and combining that with my Health Science should make us a killer team!!...minus the fact that none of us speak much Spanish.  It would be a huge blessing if you would start including us in your prayers as we work to learn as much of the language as we can between our schoolwork.

I am so excited for this opportunity I have to go experience a completely different culture and help people out who don't have as much as I do.  I am also excited to attend the ward there and have church in a different language!  I know I'm completely minimizing the fact that I really can't speak Spanish and I do not expect to be fluent by the time I return, but I know it will be an extremely humbling experience and something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

I will...

-get lost

-eat--interesting--food

-be frustrated

-cry, a lot

-be cheated out of money since I'm a dumb American

-shiver in the shower

-struggle to talk to anyone

-have problems buying groceries

-not get my point across

-see some amazing scenery

-learn to love more

-become more accepting

-try new things

-step out of my comfort zone

-sing in Spanish

-make a new friend...or two or three

-work hard

-discover new talents

Whatever I end up doing, I will do it with a smile!! (unless I'm having a breakdown because I don't know what anyone is saying to me...and I expect to have at least 2093475293845 of those...)