spring fever in september

many of the people im close to have it...

target

i like target, and i love supertarget. such stores are designed for a college student. they have a variety of cute yet practical items, and their prices are extremely affordable. i think i enjoy a purchase from target almost daily.

this morning i enjoyed the pillows that i got on sale for $7 a piece! i woke up to my cell phone buzzing under my pillow and my roommate looking out our window so that she could decide what to wear today. i snuggled under the warmth of my covers and rolled over onto the pillows that line the right side of my bed. i thought about how i should not have stayed up until 2:30 watching greys anatomy with my roomies, but i almost simultaneously thought about how i had probably never been more comfortable in my life. granted, i think that thought a couple of times a week, but the pillows and our central air conditioning never fail to be some of the most fabulous aspects of my days. and there is my proof that target is a source of bliss.

well, brittany picked out a very classy pair of jeans, black heals and a long sleeve red shirt because its a bit overcast today. we both know it is too early to rain in riverside (hence the heals), but we were excited that the weather would be bearable and, dare i say, pleasant. i, on the other hand, chose a gray pullover sweater, capris and a pair of flip-slops. not quite as put-together as britt (which is never a shocker) but much more comfortable than the outfits that i have to wear for my tuesday/thursday job. hopefully i will get off work early today and will either visit the beach or Dland this weekend... ill probably go to target as well :)

FOCUS

if you didnt know, i am a FOCUS Leader. technically, it is a job, as i do get paid, but i am pretty sure i only get about ten cents an hour if you even everything out. In general, the Focus Leaders help run the student orientation for freshman and transfers (which happens a week before school starts) and we teach an orientation class once a week. Every leader has a partner, and the partners are in charge of a group of freshman. I am focus group V and my partner is Daniel.
Being a good focus leader has more stipulations that one might assume...
1. Be cheerful, especially when you are moving people into the 3rd floor of the dorms in 107 degree weather, when you are with them all day long for a week straight, or any other time you see them on campus.
2. Be willing to start or invade conversations.
3. Bake or buy treats so that your class will pay attention to you.
4. Remember the names of all your focus students, their friends, roommates, crushes, boyfriends/ girlfriends, and ex-boyfriends/ girlfriends.
5. Visit your students in their rooms, eat lunch with them or invite them to your apt. so that you can get to know them better and hear all of the stories about their friends, roommates, crushes, boyfriends/ girlfriends, and ex-boyfriends/ girlfriends.
6. Plan fun events that will entice every person in your group (note: events that are expensive or slightly dangerous seem to be most commonly suggested by the average student).

Being sarcastic does not always make you the best focus leader, but it is definately necessary sometimes during this process. Focus really has been such a great experience, though. I have been able to meet tons of new people and the position is a great ministry opportunity. However, the position is extremely time consuming, so please make me keep in touch with at least the blogging world during this semester. accountability is key.

drab...

i have started three entries, but have deleted every attemt to entertain or enlighten you... im boring.
i have a 7 am running class on tuesdays and thursdays, i got a job in graduate admissions today, i spend 2 1/2 hours on accounting homework this afternoon, i did the dishes 1/2 hour ago, and the only thing i have left to look forward to is reading for macroeconomics.
im starting to chuckle to myself because i sound so pathtic... i really am in a fine mood, and my day wasnt bad... im just rather annoyed that i have nothing of interest to write about. i think i am going to go read everyone else's blogs. maybe ill get ideas for an entry tomorrow.

the first day...

im back in cali, as you all know, it is blazing hot ,and today is the first day of school. i will update you all on what has been going on, but during these few minutes that i have between classes, i would like to express my gratitude for the new sushi bar in our caf. i know it sounds sketch, but our caf is actually really really good, and you watch them make the california rolls...its all fresh!
hopefully i will get better at using chopsticks ;)

deer heads and chocolate fountains

i love summer.
i love having time to spend with friends instead of with mr library, and i love warm nights and ice cream and being busy becuase of fun things.

last weekend i went to Bear Lake and went boating with some friends. we did a little wake-boarding, listened to some music and just relaxed on the boat.
pic: sarah grosgebauer and me taking a break after being in the water...







sunday i went to lunch with the gerstheimers and ahrenstorffs, and then to Weber State to save a spot for that evening's event... Pioneer Day Fireworks! its a pretty big deal here, as the 24th of July is the day that the Mormons found utah (or something of the sort). well im not too concerned with the history, i just think its hilarious that the fireworks are better than on the 4th and people seriously plan for this holiday. but dont think im poking fun, i love it too. now i dont set out blankets the night before, that is for the truly committed, but i definately set one out early, bake cupcakes, and arrive at least three hours before the show starts. this year we were able to watch the firework display on Claire's lovely blanket. i should have gotten a close up shot so that you could fully appreciate the moose/ deer heads that are all over the thing.
pic: whitney, claire, and kelly, looking excited about the deer and fireworks







and this week was full of wedding fun. one of my best friends, naomi, got married yesterday, at the top of Snowbasin. bachelorette party, rehersal dinner, and a full day of prom hair and pictures (and a chocolate fountain, horray!) it was pretty amazing if i do say so myself. she looked beautiful, i didnt trip in my heels, i didnt get stung by the bees that were swarming those of us holding boquets of real flowers, and the groomsmen werent so bad either ;)
pic: sarah, me, liz and emily right before the ceremony







ill post more pics when i get them, but im pretty impressed with the variety of visual aids in this post if i do say so myself...

shopping spree

my mom, sister, and i ran some errands today, and sarah and i found these sweet visors.
it was extremely warm and sunny today, so we thought it would be a practical buy...




i know, when got back to our air conditioned home and looked in the mirror, we were just as shocked as you are that we paid money for those things.

prep for the big day

i decided i have not enjoyed blogging as much because i dont have pictures. i mean, part of the reason is cause i am slightly boring. i go to bed early, i go to work, and then i take a nap. even pictures couldnt make that exciting.
but i am going to try to take pictures of the slightly entertaining things that i am doing with my summer, after all, i am a visual learner. for now, though, ill just keep explaining events...
for example, today i learned about the air conditioner. a lady i worked with told me that she would be a little weirded out by my job because she doesnt understand the parts, and i have to do alot of communication with the techs and our "parts" guy regarding the pieces of an a/c. really though, i am full of B.S. i know tons of parts that your cooling and heating units need, and i know the basic issues and warning signs for problems, but... i get the condensor and the compressor mixed up all the time, i just found out a week ago that orfices are small screw looking things (which i for some reason pictured them to be larger circular structures), and the only reason i can explain things to customers is because i listen to what the techs say and i just parrot their responses. like i said, visual learner. so today Rich and Mark showed me a couple of air conditioners, a furnace and their parts so that i knew what everything looked like.

also, on a completely different subject, i played speed scrabble on the 4th because it was stormy, and i had so much fun. it is much more riviting and fast paced that the normal game of scrabble. maybe im a dork, but i stayed entertained for hours.

and im in a wedding in two weeks. i have to wear brown, strappy, kitten heeled footwear. i dont have feet that fit comfortably in such shoes, so to try and ease possible pain on the big day, i am wearing the shoes during my free time so that they will stretch out and mold to my feet. this is one thing i will never take a picture of because i look like a lunatic walking around in the kitchen wearing sweats or jeans or soccer shorts and my pretty brown heels. but i heard that if you shower in your heels, it can really help break them in and make them more comfortable... who knew?

its a he

i clocked over 50 hours this week.
i have taken evening naps two days in a row and still been able to fall alseep later without any hesitation.
i dont have to work tuesday (fingers crossed).
congratulations to kimmy, whose boyfriend flew to California from Turkey to propose to her... i believe the correct term is "romantic."
and, we have a new addition to our family... a toyota camry... HE has a sun roof.

ok thank you

i know i know, ive been embarrassingly pathetic about blogging, but i have been repremanded a couple of times, so i figured i would update.
well as you know, in the last month i have been in Africa, California, Colorado and Utah.
it would take too long to sum up what all has happened, so i think ill just let you in on the current.
as you may know, i work at a heating and air conditioning company as a dispatcher. it sounds super serious, as if i am dispatching coppers that are saving peoples lives or something, but its not that eternally influential. however, as angry as some customers get when you dont meet their agenda, price range, and schedule, you would think that keeping their house at a comfortable 76 degrees is a life or death matter.
and though on occasion, i do get told where to go when i die, i also get to deal with alot of really nice people. i work with jeremy bair's sister (i know, small world), some hilarious technicians, and some customers that are quite polite and/ or comical.
my personal favorites are the old ones. every couple of days i get to talk to older gentlemen that call me "missy" or "sweetie" and tell me how nice i am and what a great job i am doing (hey we all need a little affirmation sometimes). and then i get to talk to the ones that are utterly deaf. i can tell when they switch the phone to the other ear thinking that they will be able to hear out of that one better. but they dont. they ask me to repeat things a million times, and when they get tired of that, they just say "ok thank you" over and over and try to hang up. i end up having to basically yell while everyone in the office gets a kick out of my inability to communicate the fact that i will have a technician to the customer's house between 1 and 3 pm!
im sure this is not very funny to you, but if you could see/ hear me, im sure you would laugh; everyone else does. and if you were the only one in the office with three people on hold at 7:30 am, you would be writing about the fact that conversations with the elderly are the highlights of your day :)

im it

o i think i got tagged a while back (or i just read about other people getting tagged and now i am crashing the game) but here are some random facts, not in great detail, but important nonetheless...

1. when i get in bed at night, i start out laying on my left side. then when i flip over to my right side, i know sleep is in the near future...

2. i really hate using body wash. i only feel clean if i use actual soap. im pretty sure most body washes say nothing about killing germs, so i just feel more safe using soap.

3. ummm im bad at the game of tag... im more of a hide-and-seek girl (which explains why most of my random facts are lame).

4. i dont like cats. i really dont like their hair that gets all over, or their creepy eyes or the way they smell. i usually just appease people because telling someone you dont like their cat is like telling them you think they have an ugly child. just know that i will never own a cat.

5. i hate using a nail file. i get the chills when i use one, and i dont like the white dust from my nails. therefore, i just would rather have uneven, unattractive nails.

6. i think tomatoes are disgusting, but i will eat ketchup, salsa, spaghetti sauce etc. i just think that regular plain tomatoes (texture, taste and smell) are repulsive. but i do like a nice banana :)

the real world

im not completely back in the real world yet. i am still not sleeping in a bed that is mine, i have been living out of a suitcase for over a month, i am not working and getting paid, and in the real world, i am a faithful blogger. i mean, i dont always blog or even comment, but i do read blogs regularly... daily. and i am so out of the loop. not only have i not seen peoples faces, but i also dont know what is going on in the real world.
ill be home (the utah one) on Monday. so can i please see my favorite bloggers asap!

reverse culture shock

so i didnt really get that o my heavens i cant handle africa and the people and the food and the bugs and i need to go home right now feeling ( i had a second of, my focus is not here, but definately no tears and panic breathing).
coming back though is more when i got the "culture shock." it was not too dramatic, but i landed and was not excited to be back in America, much less the fast paced, traffic filled (and dare i say less attractive) state we call California. thank goodness for my ipod, cause i was able to listen to some favorites while driving back to school. o i missed my ipod! i love music.
k that was random, but i am doing much better today. i love erika and have adjusted to having fast, easily accessible internet, a hot shower, a sink to brush my teeth with, an abundance of cold drinking water and erikas fabulous bed that does not creek!
so just give me some time to get caught up on the blogs and phone calls (cause i am still in the k lets relax for a second mode). i love you all and cant wait to see/ talk to you!
o big blessing, did really sleep at all on the way back, so i dont have jet lag. i did have really swollen feet and ankles though.

"the sun keeps looking at me" -- Pacs

Thank you for the comments. i got a little teary, but it was definately a good thing.

well, praise, im feeling alot better. still a bit stuffy in the mornings, but my head doesnt hurt anymore and i have more energy. i think that not feeling well was a big factor in the longing for home (or at least a nice shower and bed). i spent some good time with God saturday and sunday, and of course, in his faithfulness, he has helped me be completely in Rwanda. it is seriously so beautiful here, and those of you who know me (especially the me in Utah), know i love nature and gods creation. well he is so evident and glorified in his creation here! today Christie and i were taking a break standing outside in the sun, eating the figs we had picked, looking at the banana trees and clouds, and i only wanted to be here, in Africa. that is the quickest example i have of being content, but the last few days have been particularly enjoyable.

we are doing different stuff at the house now, such as painting and painting. its really nice to have a change though. the paint splatters all over us, so now we get even ,ore stares when we walk to lunch or back home. the kids are always facinated with our white skin, and they realized a week ago that the white could not be rubbed off, but we have gone back to being petted, as they all try to rub off the paint. im going to miss the kids... Our relationships witht the workers are growing each day as well.

im not sure i mentioned this, but it is not really that hot here ( i mean its hot, but not unbearable) but i am developing a nice farmers tan. i also might have forgoten to say that they are really modest here, so we definately are not wearing tank tops. the other day though, Christie (aka Pacs) and i were getting hot while painting and she just stopped and exclaimed in annoyance that the sun kept looking at her. i thought it was really funny, and it could have just been the paint fumes, but i was amused. and laughter like that is very important when you are in a foreign country.

sorry for the randomness, i have so much that i want to tell you but so much needs more background info and more internet time. i do want you to know how muchs it means to hear that you are praying for us. i have been learning alot about prayer. and even though i know that we pray for one another all the time, it is particularly co,forting when you are half a world away from the world you love.
prayer requests:
no one else gets sick (a few people have had stomach aches and Christie did actually throw up a couple of times this past weekend... shes feeling better though)

lots of energy so that we can get alot of work done in the next two days

o my heavens, two days (one more cold shower) and we are going back to kigali... so weird... it will be alot more difficult than the cold shower. pray for our hearts then i guess

and just travel safety in general...we fly back sunday.

"the point"

its been a week since i last posted but the time kind of seems to run together. That is partly because we do (and eat) pretty much the same things every day and because of the way life is here. people have said that "Americans have watches but Africans have time." People arent as rushed here; they are not as bound by strict time limits or schedules ( examples: church is 4 hours long and dinner is served when the people here finish preparing it). But the week has been good.
We went to a Pentecostql church last sunday and today. Ill have to devote a post to that later, but you might like to know that the 3 inch wide piece of wood that we sat on today was less slanted than last weeks; therefore it was slightly more comfortable.
As for the week, we continued to work at the house, doing lots of digging, cleaning, hoeing, and planting. on tuesday we basically finished the transformation of a vertical dirt wall into a set of stairs. it was really exciting to see all of us, white, black, child, teen and adult, walk up and down the steps a few times to break them in.
Then on Friday, we got to go to the opening of an art museum and to see the Kings Palace.We were really blessed to see a "ballet" which was basically traditional African dancing (soooo cool!), art, the palace (which is a neat grass hut), get food (including goat)... all for free!
As you can see, the trip, thus far, has been very amazing and rewarding, but there were also times this week where i kind of flirted with "the point." Its thqt place where my attention is not completely focused on the moment, on the task for the day. See, im not fully over my cold, sleep is usually interrupted by weird dreams or a creeky, uncomfortable bed, we take very cold showers, and my food usually tastes best when all mixed together. K, i sound really negative, but lets be honest, there are moments where those facts invade my thoughts. Thankfully, God, my team, and Rwanda are fabulous. So even though I have been at the point once or twice, I am still in Africa. I have no desire to fly home tomorrow, and I am learning and loving differently every day.
I do, hwever, want to tell Jenni and Robin that they are wonderful, i miss them, and I will be praying for them while they are in Turkey. I would like to tell anyone who will see me with in about two weeks of my return to the US that i have no great desire to eat spaghetti, white rice, plain potatoes, or cooked bananas. I will welcome a fresh salad, cereal, and ice cream, though.
keep leaving comments (cause they make me really excited, and Christie is beating me), check out her site (shes a good writer and has the school s link to the ISP update page), and if you think about it ever, call my phone and leave me a message ( i would love to hear your voices and blessings when i get back).
thank you for your prayers... I am so blessed!

communication

the email thing is very flakey, so im just going to use this to say, Happy Mothers Day mom! just know that i love you and i think about you when i look at the beautiful flowers and greenery here... you would love it. i hope you have a wonderful day. you are amazing!

actually the communication thing in general is tricky. most of you know that im attatched to my phone and i love to blog. it has been weird to not be able to talk to people or even text them little inside jokes or let them know what im thinking or feeling. i cant call people and my team is teasing ,e because i write down everything (including planned blog titles) so that i dont forget. warning: i will blog about this like crazy when i have fast internet and a normal keyboard. on top of being slightly out of touch i also dont know either of the two main languages here... o by the way... but im learning.

okay, ill fill you in a bit on the daily routine here in Gitarama. we are staying at a shelter: hostile type place. we walk to work and everyone stares at us. we are building a house and it wILL be used as a shelter/ training center for Muslim converts. we mix cement, carry buckets of water and have cleared ground for a garden. all of those are alot of hard work and we are feeling it. i love our assignment though. a bunch of children watch us work and play with us during breaks. they love to just touch our skin, hair and my nose ring. they are soooo beautiful. we have been trying to teach each other our languages, which has been very fun ahd helpful.

yesterdqy it poured rain on the way home but i think the people that stare at us everyday when we walk to the restaurant for meals and then to work got a bit of respect for us as they watched us walk home soaking wet (normally people come outside to see us and we hear them blatantly just call us white people, and though its a different language, we were smart enough to figure that one out). its just a cultural thing though because they are very friendly and nice for the most part.

blogging is hard because i have so ,uch to tell you. ill just give you a short list of some of the thoughts ive had while being here...

i wish i at least knew French

i wish i could adopt

i wish i never had to use the restroom

i wish i didnt constantly smell of a mixture of purell and deet (occasionally i mx it up with some sweat though)

i wish all the images that are being stored in my had could be transmitted to film

i wish you were here so you wouldnt have to see film to understand

i wish i could carry massive baskets on ,y head

i wish there were more old people here... i wish there was no genocide...

i wish i was not out of internet time

well thanks for reading and praying. check out my friend and teammates blog at
www.christieinrwanda@blogspot.com

dinosaurs

you know when people type but dont know where all the letters are, so they finger peck... yeah the keyboards are different here so i look like a raptor when i type. youll have to forgive me for the typos because i am staring at the keyboard and trying to not run out of time.
i have so ,uch to tell you and not nearly enough time (or patience for this process, which is extremely ironic considering the people and culture are very laid back).
it took us two days to get here with the layovers. i hardly slept, which actually helped me adjust to the time difference (which is nine hours ahead of cali, eight for utah). we stayed in kigali, the capital, for two days with everyone (thats about fifty five white people...) now its just me and my team in gitaramq.
ill post ,ore later, but for now just know that it is a beautiful country with beautiful people.
i would email if i could but its not working, so until then... i love you

Africa

so i leave today for Africa. it sounds so weird.
ill try to blog while im there, so check it every once in a while.
pray for us...

sit on it

i might have to do a little "forcing" if i want the suitcase to close, because though im trying to condense and bring only necessities, its not too much space ( i just took a trial run).

one at a time

at summer camp, everyone leaves at basically the same time on the same day. tears flow, addresses are exchanged and then you go back to the same life you were living the previous week.
college is nothing like that. we are a bit more mature about the moving on process, but its hard to be really upset when you have to just hug one person goodbye, and then in a few hours do the same for another, and then in a few days, still be in the process of saying goodbye to people. its not very real at all to me. not until i sit in my room with all the white walls and boxes and think about what that hug and goodbye just meant. its a bit more emotional then...
i think its tricky too becuase im not going to my other place of familiarity (the place that i havent seen for 4 months that is). instead i will put stuff in the mail, put stuff in storage, and take my backpack and small, carry-on size suitecase that hold my life for the next 3 weeks to the front of campus on sunday.

i just said goodnight to the boys that live across the street the same way that we do everytime we hang out in the lobby until 2 am. i just wont do it again for 4 months.

while i sound completely depressed, i am quite the contrary (but i was a bit 24 hours ago...). i am so excited that finals are over and that i was able to actually sleep for more than 2 hours last night. yes, due to my procrastination and desire to see people before they left, i pulled an all-nighter... even after the 7/11 night. i got an A on the project though. 10 (not consecutive, not between the hours of 9am-1am) hours of sleep in 3 days ladies and gentlemen. i think i am close to having everything packed, and i am going to spend time with 3 of my favorite people tomorrow, so im looking forward to that as well.
sooooo... 2 more days, and then im going to peace out...