Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas, everyone! This year, down here in Venezuela, I'm making snow angels in the copious amounts of packing paper littering my apartment -- my stuff has arrived!!! I also got to go to a Venezuelan friend's house last night for Noche Buena, and the family treated me like one of their own, I had so much fun. We ate, sang, danced, exchanged gifts, and watched fireworks at midnight. It was slightly reminiscent of New Year's, except instead of shouting Happy New Year, we shouted Ha Nacido El Nino Jesus! (Baby Jesus is born!).


The other fun thing about Christmas this year has been having THREE Christmas trees! Doesn't quite make up for not being home with the family (love you guys!), but it's still pretty cool.

I'd love your votes for your favorite "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree. Which one do YOU think is the Charlie-Brown-iest? (Go ahead, vote on the side bar :)

The 7-footer plastic tree?

The palm?

Or the plant-your-own-mini-Christmas-tree-in-a-pot that my mom sent me!?

It's GECKO, not Geico!

Sorry it's been awhile. That phenomenon happened where you put something off and put something off, and then more and more builds up of whatever you have to write/clean/study/whatever. All of sudden, I realized I still needed to blog about Thanksgiving, my car arriving, my Canadian accent, my house gecko, AND keep you up to date on how the job is going, and it was all too overwhelming to think about putting into one blog post. But *deep breath* here I go.

Thanksgiving: Some really awesome folks from the embassy invited me over -- and most of the other invitees happened to have specific Celiac/allergy/vegetarian needs. The dinner was AMAZING!!! Yet again it has been proven that necessity fosters creativity which fosters genius! The Celiac-friendly cornbread stuffing was definitely my favorite, though the mushroom gravy was pretty dang good too.

My Car Arriving: My JEEP is here!!! And I haven't gotten lost yet, which is the real miracle. Don't worry, I'll have a story about that soon enough :) Driving here is actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. I just do the opposite of what I think the rule in the states would be. If I usually yield to cars in the roundabout, here I enter the roundabout with the right-of-way. If I usually go through an intersection, here I yield to the car turning left. If I usually signal, here I don't. Just kidding, I still try to signal. Running red lights is all the rage here too, though it's actually a safety issue, if you're stopped at a red light and there are no other cars around. Better to go than to get robbed. I'm going to be a terror when I start driving in the states again. Running red lights and speeding into roundabouts. Woohoo!

My Canadian Accent: one of my applicants recently told me that she has a granddaughter in Canada who speaks Spanish JUST like I do. She kept looking at me and shaking her head. "Just like her, you sound just like her." I said "Ma'am, are you telling me I have a Canadian accent?" I wanted to throw some "Eh's" and "loads" in there, but I wasn't sure she would understand. Pretty funny.

My house gecko: So one night, I walk into my apartment, and lo and behold on the kitchen floor is the tiniest lizard I have ever seen!!! Of course my immediate thought was "Grab the camera and take a picture for the little sisters!" Priorities, people. So right after I snapped the picture above, the little bugger scurried under my washer. Dang it. I spent the next hour trying to fish it out, and researching online to figure out if it was friend or foe (i.e. if it was going to crawl on me in the middle of the night and kill me with newt poison or something). Turns out, it was a house gecko, which are friendly, eat cockroaches (yeah!) but are capable of killing a full-grown human if they fall into your soup while cooking. And if you eat the soup. That's the fatal part.

Anyway, I gave up, went and did more research (which is hard, by the way, have you ever tried to google a lizard?), read that they can get fairly big (I haven't confirmed that, by the way), and that they make loud kissing noises (super), and decided I didn't want a loud gecko in the house, even if it did eat cockroaches. I went back to the kitchen, and there it was! I caught it in a tupperware, and ran outside to ask our building's guard where I should set it free. I got down there, and although I had just been googling "lizard" in Spanish, I was totally at a loss for the word. I held up the opaque tupperware and said "guess what I have here!?" This time, he was at a loss for words. I said "It's a....you know......you know.....it's a reptile!" At least I remembered one word in Spanish. His eyes got kind of big. "No no no, it's not a.....a......" (now I had forgotten the word for snake). The guard later told me that he totally thought it was a snake. Finally I told him I would just set it free and he could see it. I'm not sure he really consented, but I let it free anyway. The little guy scurried away, and the guard laughed. "Largatija!" he shouted.

The Job: Well, work is going OK. I'm still probably the slowest officer on the line (right now I'm getting up to about 75 visas/day, NOT GOOD ENOUGH!), but I know what I need to do better and I'm working on it. Among other things, I talk too much to the applicants, but really, who would have thought I'm verbose? I mean, look at this blog post, it only took me twenty-five lines to tell you about a house gecko. :) Less is more, Shannon. The work is super interesting to me, and I think once I'm doing better speed-wise, I'll really enjoy it.

So that's a wrap! I'll try to be more regular so you don't have to scroll down for five minutes to read the whole post.

Tapas, Flamenco, Gaitas, y Jugo de Melocoton

Last night, a couple of us went to a Spanish restaurant here in Caracas. So cool! They served tapas, aka Spanish appetizers. The name comes from how they used to "top" their glasses/bottles with bread while eating, to keep out the flies. Then I guess some genious decided to start piling more food on, and you get tapas. Mmmmm.

Then, about 10pm, the flamenco dancers arrived. The YouTube clip above is from the same restaurant, and the same flamenco group, but a different night and different dancers. (I forgot to bring my camera yet again, thank goodness for the internet). The live music was great, and the dancers were amazing! I knew flamenco was all about the hands/snapping fingers/castanet moves, but I didn't realize how much was going on with the feet. It was like Riverdance, Spanish style! The clip above is pretty long, but see if you can find the part where their feet are going like 100mph. Wow.

After the flamenco dancers left, the Gaitas came in. Gaitas is a local kind of music they only play in December, for the holidays. Except it isn't holiday music. It's just.....Venezuelan music. Sounds Latino, but they use African instruments (there is actually a good bit of African cultural/musical heritage here, especially along the coast).

Here is a picture of the instruments they use, courtesy of gustavonavarrete.com.ve. They have a four stringed guitar called a "cuatro," not sure if it's in this picture, some cool African drums, and my favorite instrument that is like a big stick stuck inside a drum.

And....jugo de melocoton. They make the best fresh juices here, and melocoton happens to be PEACH! Just had to throw that in as one of the highlights of the night.

And....things are going well in general. Work is still busy, but good, I'm slowly meeting more people, and getting to know my way around. I found my way to church today! There was a "maraton" this morning, so all the streets were blocked off, meaning my ride couldn't come get me. These Sunday morning races seem to be a regular occurrence in Latin America, and they often made us late to church in Mexico too :) Anyway, I headed to the shopping center to find a taxi, and when he said he had no idea where the Mormon church by the Burger King was, I took a deep breath and said "Well, let's see if I can find it, and if not, you can just bring me back here." (For those of you who know anything about my complete lack of inner compass, you know this was a big step for me :) 15 minutes later, and after only ONE almost missed turn, we made it to church! Huge confidence booster, I think I'm *almost* ready for my car to get here. Almost.

YMCA!

Yesterday, I went to Valencia (2 hours away) with a couple of co-workers for a ceremony at the local YMCA. One of my co-workers was there to represent the embassy, give some remarks, pin buttons on people, etc. etc. Us other'n's were just there to tag along :)

The ceremony had three purposes: 1) To prepare for the Annual Soapbox Derby being held the next day, 2) To inaugurate a new building at the school, and 3) To honor the American who helped found the YMCA and set up a very successful exchange program between YMCA Valencia and a Y in Tennessee.

The Soapbox Derby here is a national competition, and kids were coming in from cities across Venezuela to compete. I'm so sad we couldn't stay! We were

present, however, for an entire Mass and the blessing of the "pilotos" that were going to drive their cars the next day. After the blessing, and right in the middle of the cereomny, one of the Venezuelan boys walked right up to one of the kids visiting from Tennessee and said "Next year, you can come up and be blessed too so you can be in the race." Of course, the-boy-from-Tennessee had no idea what he said, but it was still really sweet.

My favorite part of the whole day was sitting in the middle of this pile of Venezuelan kids, trying to translate so they could talk to the-boy-from-Tennessee. They were so excited, they started plowing through sentences like.....well, like Venezuelans, and I had to hold up my hands and say "Slow down!" So....after.....they......started......talking.......like.......this.......we.......could........continue.

First, the most important thing they wanted to know was whether he had played Mortal Kombat, and if he had committed a fatality. Next, they wanted to know if he had ever been to an American football game. He proceeded to tell them how horrible a team the Titans were, and they responded that the only sport in Venezuela (worth playing, I guess) was baseball. So we talked baseball for a minute, and then they wanted to know if he had a computer. And if he had an e-mail address. And right before my eyes, I was watching penpals in the making, as 20 Venezuelan kids clambered to find a piece of paper and a pen to write down the-boy-from-Tennessee's address. That was so cool.

The man the YMCA (or "im-ca" as they call it here) honored has traveled the world setting up and helping run different YMCAs, from Jerusalem to South Africa. Who knew it was so worldwide? I grew up right down the street from a Y in Cary, NC and I had no idea there were Ys in other countries. Anyway, he also set up an exchange program for kids from Venezuela and America, and has had hundreds of Venezuelan kids come visit him in Tennessee, and has changed a lot of lives while at it. His stories were amazing. And there was such a bond between several generations here and this man who had touched all of their lives. He got to cut the ribbon for the new building, and gave some very tender remarks. All in all, it was a very cool day.

Afterwards, us three co-workers went out to eat at a steakhouse (the name was literally "the farmers assosciation steak house" or something). We drove through a couple of pastures to get there, sat down at the table, and when I looked up, this is what I saw:

Mooooo. I must admit, I think I ate more avocado salad that night than beef. I did have a lovely cut of punta trasera, and though I'm not sure of the exact translation, I do believe it has something to do with the rear of the animal. 1) Due to the root of the word "trasera," and 2) Due to the look our waiter gave us when my co-worker asked him to explain exactly which cut of meat it was.

Pelicans!

I spent the weekend at the beach! One of my awesome Venezuelan co-wokers invited a couple of us to go with their family -- it was great. I love the beach, and I loved spending the weekend with some Venezuelans! In just 2 days, I learned so many new words, a few more Venezuelan sayings, and had some great food. Arepas! The Venezuelan version of a fat tortilla/pupusa/thing. Mmmmm. Drank a lot of papelon con limon (kind of like lemonade made with molasses.....so good). We also ate fish (pargo, I think it was red snapper), tostones (fried green plantains), and coleslaw on the beach. Then we swam in the ocean a bit, where I learned the word for seaweed (algas). It was heavenly, really tranquil, in this little cove, where the jungly forest backed right up to the beach. Sorry, no picture, my fickle camera decided not to work at that moment.


Luckily, it decided to work at the marina, where we went to buy some fresh fish. One of the primary reasons for going to the marina was to see the pelicans, which our Venezuelan hosts said were the most orderly birds they had ever seen. "They line up and wait in turn for scraps of fish! Every time!" Now, not to be a skeptic, but my experience with pelicans and any other seabird has not been "orderly." So we went to see the pelicans.


As you can see above, they DO line up and wait. It was amazing. However, rather than going one at a time to receive their scrap of fish in breadline fashion, the following takes place:



Maybe you can't see it too well, but as soon as the first piece of fish flies, they all crowd the edge of the marina and start fighting over the scraps. See the one in front taking a nose dive? A couple of them started wacking each other with their bills and chewing on each other's throats, trying to win a scrap.


This led me to think about lines in general, and different concepts of waiting in line. Please brace yourself for vast over-generalizations.


In America, we love lines. Many a time, I have ended up in a spontaneously formed line that didn't actually go anywhere. But we see people standing in line, and assume that we should too. And cutting in line? Tsk tsk tsk. Not to be done. If you're one of the maybe two people in America who has never felt even a twinge of guilt for cutting in line, you have probably at least received over a hundred crusties, and maybe even a few death stares.


How about The Rest Of The World? It strikes me that lines aren't a concept much thought of there. On a work trip last year, in Rome's Fiumicino Airport, I spent a good 10 minutes at the very back of a "line" where I had been there the longest. I honestly couldn't figure out what was going on, until my boss walked up and said "No, you have to do it like this." He shot a few glares, nudged and elbowed a bit, until we were standing at the counter. Who knew?


Anyway, the fact that the pelicans were perceived to be orderly in Venezuela is probably not far from the truth. They waited.....until the fish was thrown, and then it was every pelican for himself. Or herself.

A wonderful-all good-very nice day

I had a great day today, and just thought I'd share. It's been a pretty grueling week (my first full week on the visa line), but this afternoon we had a training/team-building/morale boosting.......VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT!!!

I could play volleyball every day till the day I die, and still not get enough. I love it. Plus, we had burgers, great music, American and Venezuelan employees alike calling plays to each other and having a great time, and we were playing on the grass right outside the embassy. Let me explain why this location was so wonderful.

The vista was incredible. It looked something like this (but not exactly, since I didn't have my camera with me today):

Then in the foreground, a giant American flag was blowing in the breeze, and I thought to myself: "Wow. I work at an American Embassy." It's totally crazy, how did I get here? I am LOVING it, I feel so lucky.

Then, of course, I went out to eat tonight with a couple of friends, and then went to the grocery store, and kept getting snubbed by some local Venezuelans. The lady at the cash register, the waiter, the lady walking down aisle 5.....sometimes here I feel like no matter how nice I try to be or how much I smile at people, I get NOTHING back. Sigh. But then, as I was buying my one loaf of bread at the super-fancy-pasteleria-for-rich-people-shop-with-the-pyramid-bigger-than-me-made-up-of-wicked-expensive-ferrero-chocolates, the Venezuelan guy ringing me up asked me how I was doing. I looked up at him, smiled and said "OK. How are you doing?" He answered some witty response, (uninteligible to me, of course, because I can't understand anyone here). And then, to my surprise, he looked at me, said with a smile "You are too skinny, here, eat this." And handed me a ferrero chocolate. It totally made my day!!! I almost cried. Almost.

The View From Saturday

Finally, pictures! Sorry I don't have more, I haven't felt very safe having my camera out in public, even though it's a piece of junk and is being held together with electrical tape. But I did snap these beauties from my apartment window! By looking at the one above, you may think I live in a bungalow. I did that on purpose -- I made sure to zoom past the buildings next door when I took the pictures. Caracas is actually a sprawling city in the midst of very green hills and mountains. It looks like someone just picked up a bunch of houses, apartments, hotels, shanties, and flung them all over the mountain jungle. Flung them? Does that even make sense? You can kind of get a feel for it if you look off into the distance in the pictures below.

That's all for now! I forgot to put my queso fresco away from my market trip this morning. Gotta go!

Foreign-land-ia?

I am hoping that my blogging will become a bit more prolific now that I have....INTERNET AT HOME!!! Pictures are still on their way, I apologize. Baby steps.


So....what's to tell....I went to church for the first time last Sunday. It was neat! There is an LDS chapel and an LDS temple as well, not too far from where I live. The people there were really nice, and were all really surprised when I said I was staying for a couple of years, not just a couple of days.

And everyone at work has been great too. There are definitely some hardships here (i.e. difficult to get an i.d. card, therefore difficult to get your shipments/car here, and difficult to exchange money). So there's this wonderful sense of "we've all been there, let us help you out." I can't tell you how many people have offered me rides and money. Accepting over and over is killing me -- I can't wait till my car gets here and I can return the favor!

One last thought for you all. There was a "joke" I loved when I was little: "Why do we park on a driveway and drive on a parkway?" Well, I ask you: Why do we cook foreign food in America and American food in Foreign-land-ia? This hit me when I realized how often I cooked foreign food while living in the states, but every time I go abroad, I end up making American food. Rationally, it would be much easier to make each where their own ingredients are.

In Mexico, it was apple pies. My host family wanted me to bake an apple pie SO BADLY....so I made the first apple pie of my life. Three, actually. And they were pretty dang good. It only took me a couple of days to figure out what "shortening" was in Spanish, and to find it in a store. Manteca.

Here in Venezuela, it has been pretzels. Why start making pretzels now when for the past four years (after working at Auntie Anne's) I've been telling myself I should give them a shot at home? Go figure, but I made them for the embassy's "German Night." And now everyone is asking me for the recipe....wait, I guess pretzels are German, not American, so maybe this destroys my theory...but it still took my about 2 days longer here to find all the baking soda, yeast, and sugar (which I had to borrow from a neighbor, shortages, you know -- that will be my next blog post) than it would have in the states.

I'm sorry if you're still reading this, I'm kind of rambling. I think I missed having the internet too much. To sum up, I am having fun here, getting to know the wonders and quirks of Venezuela, and....if you have any questions, please comment and ask me! Then maybe my next post will be a little more focused.

Woohoo, I'm here!!!

Hey everyone, just a quick note to say that I've arrived in Venezuela and started work yesterday! I am having a great time so far -- the folks at the embassy are REALLY friendly, work will keep me busy (which I like), I live RIGHT next to a grocery story (even Crystal City, with all it's conveniences, couldn't get me this close), AND.....they have GREAT sushi places here. Mmmmm, I'm set for two years.

Of course, there are the expected (and unexpected) hassles of moving: living out of a suitcase until my stuff comes, trying to figure out the shower, not being able to open a new kind of raspberry jam jar, you know. But other than that, I'm settling in quite nicely.

Today I went with some embassy folks to a glass factory, and we watched a glass-making demonstration! Against EVERYONE'S advice for first-tour officers, I went ahead and bought several TRINKETS. Yes, heaven forbid, trinkets! I got a couple of little glass birds and geese. I got a practical vase too, much to the relief of everyone else, but c'mon, I have to have at least a few trinkets from my first overseas post!

Also, you would not BELIEVE how beautiful it is here. Very green, but very mountainous, and the weather is perfect -- never above 90, and low humidity. Wow. Well, peace out, and more later!

Beauty Tips

(photo courtesy of the Audrey Hepburn Childrens's Fund)

(Poem by Sam Levenson, often quoted by Audrey Hepburn)

"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone."

I've been on an Audrey Hepburn kick lately -- My mom shared the poem with me awhile back, so I thought I'd toss it up on the blog. Thanks Mom! And thanks for doing all of the above!

El Fin! (de mis clases de espanol)

So, I tested out of Spanish today! Meaning I had my final exam and.....passed. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's super easy to freak out about it. If you don't pass, you could end up in another several weeks of Spanish, which pushes back your other classes and your departure date, and it can be a mess. And if you can't pass EVER, you get reassigned to a different post. So PHEW.

In other, related, news -- I finally had a dream that was more than 5% Spanish! I dreamed that I was in Spanish class, and the teacher had put me in the back of the room, and we were watching a movie, and I kept thinking "Bugger, I'm the worst in the class 'cause she put me in the back!" But then she turned to me and asked me to do a presentation because she knew I'd do it well. Because I knew how to "brake" and slow down when speaking. It was nice to wake up after having a confidence-building dream! When does THAT ever happen before a test?

Fotografia de Quito

Yes, I am straddling too continents. Wild.

THE equator.

Don't worry, I enjoyed it while it lasted.

This is a lake found in a crater of an active volcano. There are over 35 volcanoes in Ecuador, at least 12 of which are active! At least, if I understood my cabbie right.

La Mitad Del Mundo!

I´ve walked on the Equator!!!! We (my Ecuador school group, which consisted of me, Gwen, a Swiss, a Dane, and a Minnesotan + an Israeli group that added on) visited this little tourist site just south of Quito, and we LITERALLY walked on the Equator line as part of an experiment. We had to close our eyes, stick out our hands, and walk the line, like a DUI test. I couldn´t go more than a couple feet, it was SOOOO hard...something about the centrifical forces pulling you one way or the other. You physics majors will have to chime in on that one.

We also did the famed drain experiment....no toilet though. The thing with the toilets is they´re mechanized now so the flush doesn´t really show what hemisphere you´re in.....but a regular old sink will! We put the sink right on the equator and watched the water go STRAIGHT down. No spiral. Nothin´. Then a couple feet to the south.....it swirled clockwise! Then to the north....it swirled counterclockwise! Trust, no fancy tricks, it was just a rusty old tub with a hole in the middle.

Then the final, toughest experiment. Our guide showed us how she could balance a raw egg on a nail head hammered into a board.....no way, we thought. But she did! Then we all got to try! Out of our group, only me and this Israeli lady got it!!!! And we each got a diploma. And the weird thing was, we got it at exactly the same time and they both fell off the nail at the same time.....one of my classmates got a picture, so don´t worry, I have proof!

All in all, a really cool day. I´ve now stepped into the Southern Hemisphere!

Quitititititito!!!!

Hola a todos, estoy en Ecuador! I´m down here for a few weeks studying Spanish so I´ll be ready to hit the ground running when I get to Venezuela in October. It´s been great so far -- I had a huge lunch today of beans, chicken, rice, fried plantains....for $3.50! And the weather is perfect! Still getting used to the altitude (9,000 feet plus). Hopefully I´ll have some pictures and more stories soon. Hastas!

P.S. The Harry Potter reading (in Spanish) is still going well -- I´m on book 3! And I FINALLY had a dream in Spanish the other week. Pretty lame -- I tried on a football jersey and asked some local ladies wherever I was if it ¨worked¨in Spanish. Two words. Oh well, it´s something, right?

Ya ne govoru po ruski

Just wanted to report (since a few posts ago I was telling you all about my boring dreams)....

I have STILL not had a dream in Spanish! However, I did have a dream the other night in Russian......RUSSIAN? I don't even speak Russian! I can say "I don't speak Russian," as you can see from the title. And I can say "Hello, how are you?" which is pretty much what I said in my dream. C'mon, brain! Throw me a bone, I want to dream in Spanish! Haven't I earned it!?

Reading Aloud

Here is a cool article from the NYTimes. Read it if you get the chance: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/opinion/16sat4.html?_r=1&em

I've started reading Harry Potter outloud in Spanish for pronunciation practice (I have to trick myself into studying -- it's working great!). It's actually WAY too much fun, I get really into it, doing the voices and all. No British accents, though.

Anyway, I agree that reading aloud is a bit of a lost art, but since it's not very commonplace, it seems REALLY awkward when you're doing it. I glance up from my bench at least every few minutes to make sure no one's listening to me. Usually just a couple of geese and the occasional squirrel. And a groundhog once. He gave me a funny look.

One Trip Kinda Girl

-- OK, this first part is unrelated to the title and the rest of my post, but can I just say that I think my family is hilarious!? I went home for Mother's Day, and the highlight of Mother's Day the past couple of years has been talking to my brother on the phone (we get to talk to him on Mother's Day and Christmas). So we put him on speakerphone and sit around and chat.....for a few minutes, until Amy goes stir-crazy and starts bouncing up and down, and Kristi starts giggling, and Rachel and I roll our eyes at them, and Dad sighs, and Mom keeps asking us if we have any more questions for Michael so she doesn't have to hang up. It's sweet, funny, classic Epps moment.

Oh, my brother's serving a church mission in San Jose, CA, in case you didn't know -- I've been accused of talking about my little sisters so much that some folks don't even know I have a brother! I LOVE MY BROTHER!!!! And I'll be excited when he comes home in August. I think my Dad's even more excited to have another guy back in the house....even the dog's a girl :)

Last funny thing: Amy gave Mom an "I SPY" book that she wrote herself. I SPY seashell, a boogie board, a volleyball (this is all fully illustrated, by the way). Then came the living room page -- I SPY a television (it has a commercial illustrated into it, which says "Mothers Day Sale -- Get Your Mothers Here!"). We all crack up. Then it says "I SPY a remote." Mom yells out "Dad has it!" Oh man, hilarious.

Anyway, all of this is totally unrelated to what I was going to blog about. Welcome to my stream of consciousness. So....

I'm a one-trip kinda girl. Grocery shopping, you know. If I can't carry everything up from my car in one trip, well, I don't know what would happen. It's never happened! I hate making multiple trips. Same thing goes for the actual grocery shopping -- get everything in one trip. Which is why I CAN'T understand how people go to the grocery store and only get ONE thing. How can they? Don't they look down the next aisle and think "Oh yeah, I should go ahead and pick up a loaf of bread while I'm here."

So, I usually finish shopping before my roommates, and I sit on the ledge at the front of the store and watch people go through the self-checkout lines. It's one of my favorite things to do. This week, I watched specifically for one-item folks. Here's what they were:

A guy with a can of Pam
A girl with a small tub of sour cream
A guy with a box of kitty litter
A lady with a can of RAID
ANOTHER guy with a box of kitty litter

Oh well, different strokes for different folks. Though I'll bet they got home and realized they needed some string cheese or something.

The problem with being a one-trip kinda girl is that I'm SO stubborn about it, that I end up doing ridiculous things. Like the time we came back from Costco, and instead of walking the groceries a couple at a time from the door to the kitchen, I decided to take them all at once. You can see the consequences below:



I still haven't learned my lesson. Grape tomatoes wash off pretty easily. Maybe if they had been smashed into the carpet, I'd be more inclined to take two trips next time. Then again, maybe not.

La telenovela de mi vida

Actually, my life is pretty much anything BUT a telenovela (soap opera, if you don't habla). I'm OK with that. But what's really funny is that my dreams are even less of a telenovela. They are more real-life than my real life. Here are some examples:

The dream where I finished my homework. And turned it in.

The dream where I forgot my homework. And didn't turn it in.

The dream where I went to work and....worked.

The dream where I was late to my training class.

The dream where I hung out with some friends.

The dream where somebody said something to me in French and I didn't understand them. Wow, that one's kind of out there.

OK, and a couple weeks ago, I had a dream that I met the President. But that was it. We shook hands. That's it. Yes, out-of-the-ordinary, but aren't dreams supposed to be where you shake hands with the President, then he asks you to follow him to the Situation Room, where you proceed to launch a massive attack against incoming mutant eggplants?

At any rate, everyone in my family seems to have been having dreams about me going to Venezuela except.....me. But this week I finally had one!!! Not too crazy, but slightly interesting compared to my usual dreams, so I thought I'd share.

It started out with my standing near the peak of a mountain with some girl I didn't know. We had just hiked up there, and were overlooking the valley below. It was beautiful -- the random girl pointed out all the major sites in Caracas. Then we headed down to the valley, and I saw all of these triple decker buses driving around, running over bikes and parked cars and such. Don't worry, nobody died. But I thought "Wowza, I'm going to have to drive here with all of these crazy buses."

That's it.

Speaking of telenovelas, I love them. I'm currently addicted to Destilando Amor, got hooked on it in Mexico. If you've never watched one, but don't really speak Spanish, you've GOT to check out Que Hora Es? It's short, you'll love it. It's for people with only 3 weeks of Spanish in the 4th grade.

Muddy Buddies (and their roadie)!!!

This weekend was Kate and Kara's Muddy Buddy Race down in Richmond. I was the roadie! We stuffed a bike in the back of my Jeep and headed down south.

Now, lest you question my non-participation (I questioned it, the race looked so fun!), let me explain that it was not the mud that had me worried.....it was the bike riding. Kate and Kara took turns biking and jogging different legs of the course, and making their way through obstacle courses. The biking was through these crazy, twisty, turny paths in the woods. It would have meant certain death for me.

Then came the grande finale.....THE GIANT MUD PIT!


Pretty crazy awesome. The best part was seeing some of their fellow competitors dressed up like giraffes, the Mario Brothers, pineapples, and ladybugs. All crawling through the mud. Sweet.

Great job, girls!!!

I haven't had that much fun watching a movie in a theatre in a LONG time!

So....since odds are most of you haven't seen "State of Play" yet, I'll do my darndest not to spoil it for you. But can I just say that if you live in D.C., you MUST see it (at some point in time -- you have no idea how hard it was for me to spend $10 on a movie. If you wait till the DVD, I won't hold it against you).

Most of the movie is set, if not filmed, in D.C. So much fun to watch! And if you're a true local, you'll catch the inaccuracies, which is kind of fun as well.

And the best part? The two most suspenseful scenes were set in CRYSTAL CITY!!!! Yes, that's right, one of the scenes was filmed a block from my apartment. I probably won't sleep well tonight, but it was SO worth it. Without giving anything away, let me give you a play-by-play:

Someone on the phone in a deep, dark voice: "He's in Crystal City."

Kara and I look at each other and mouth "No way!"

Russell Crowe is driving.....and drives right down the Route 1 off ramp onto 15th Street! Kara and I start screaming and pointing at the screen as they show a shot of the Americana Hotel. "Aaaaaaahhhh!!!!" Yes, it was embarrassing, but awesome because everyone else was doing it too. Well, maybe not everyone, but seeing as how the theatre was just a few miles from Crystal City, it was practically everyone.

P.S. My favorite part about the Americana Hotel is that more often than not, most of the lights in the sign are burnt out, and it has been known to read: "ICANA HOT". Love it.

Anyway, I'm sure you're all waiting for my endorsement of the actual movie, instead of my ramblings on Crystal City's moment in the limelight.....but.....oh, come on, just go see it if you love political thrillers with Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright-Penn, Jeff Daniels....need I go on?

She dreamed a dream....

OK, so I know you get fowards and youtube clips all the time from folks. BUT....well, just watch it. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Susan Boyle:


And if that didn't warm your heart enough, check out this flash mob in an Antwerp train station:



OK, admit it, there are some really cool people in this world. I'll never sing like Susan Boyle, but I have GOT to get into some of that flash mob action!

Happy Easter

Here's an Easter thought for the day, in case you were looking for one. Elder Holland spoke about Christ in the most recent LDS General Conference, a week ago, and he shares a great message. This YouTube video has some music and scenes added -- kind of neat. If you want to read the full talk, you can go here. Happy Easter, everyone!

CARACAS, VENEZUELA!!!

I don't think there's much more to say, except that I'll be leaving in October and I'm REALLY excited!!! Great timing, since my lil bro gets home from his church mission in August. I'll spend the summer in D.C. learning Spanish and getting job skills training, and then I'm off!!!

I met President Obama today!!!

April fools! :)

But....I did get to go on a West Wing tour -- pretty sweet! I don't know how often these chances come around (I just knew somebody that knew somebody), who knows if I'll ever get to do that again. My Dad always tells me the story of when he and my Mom were dating....she offered him a spot in a West Wing tour, and he turned her down and I think still regrets it to this day. Lucky for me, they still got married :)

Pictures are forthcoming (the one above is from the White House's website).

I love living in D.C.

MBTI + 3 days in the middle of nowhere = WAY too much introspection

So I just took that Meyers-Briggs-Tsomething-Isomething, and I also just spent 3 days in the middle of Nowhere, West Virginia. What it all boils down to is this:

Contrary to somewhat-popular belief, I am an extravert. I've long known this about myself -- I LOVE being around people. It doesn't ever get old. It doesn't mean that I love talking all the time, nor does it mean that if you stick me in a car with someone who drives me crazy that I'll thank my lucky stars....but generally I think me + people = good times. Friends, strangers, family, co-workers, doesn't matter -- I don't need much alone time, which is good because I don't usually have any. For this reason, I love big cities. Always something to do and someone to do it with.

But.

When given alone time, I love it too! I love jogging for hours on my own, visiting museums by myself, reading a book in a park alone, spending time in nature just....thinking. In fact, I've just spent the past hour sitting here in my room thinking about this, and loving every minute of it. For this reason, seeing all the little homes in the middle of Nowhere, West Virginia gave me country-folk envy. How would it be to live that slower-paced lifestyle? Would I get bored or frustrated after a few days? Or would I find value in the time I had to myself, or the time I spent making deeper friendships with my neighbors? Would I focus on and appreciate things more, without so many distractions? I think I would like it.

Personality assesments are nice because they give a frame of reference and identify tendencies or preferences. But I think the MBTI struggles to take into account my strong sense of liking-whatever-situation-I'm-in-and-adapting-my-approach-to-whatever-needs-to-get-done.

If I live in West Virgina, I'm going to like it. (Note: this is note even a remote possibility right now. I'm just sayin'.) If my boss wants me to think "big picture" and come up with big ideas, I can shuck my "S" here-and-now-factual tendencies without too much trouble. If someone wants to level with me in a logical "F" fashion, I'm good with that. Tell me like it is. If a friend invites me to spend the weekend, and we don't have concrete "J" plans, it doesn't kill me.

I like to think I roll with the punches. Put me somewhere, and I'll like it. And, in case you were wondering, what this all comes down to is........I don't think I'll ever be able to decide whether I want to be a city girl or a country girl. Can I be both?

First Day!

So, I was about to start complaining about a bunch of things (it was kind of a long day), but then I realized that's the thing about some FSOs that drives me the craziest. And I figure, at least on my first day, I can try not to fit the complaining-FSO profile :)

So, I will tell you the part of the day that was hilarious: riding home on the metro, we stopped in the middle of the tunnel. I wasn't feeling so good. And felt even worse after we stopped. The metro driver came on the PA and said "Train in front of us, we'll be moving shortly." A few minutes later he said "There are actually two trains in front of us, we'll be moving shortly." The next announcement was "So, one of the trains ahead of us is having door problems, so we may be here for a few minutes. But then we'll be moving shortly." He paused. "I know I've said that several times to you, and, um....we're still sitting here." Too funny. His candid comment made my day.

Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change. --Thomas Hardy

Last day at work. Although I am going on to my dream career, I really will miss the office I've been working in for the past 3 years. I mean, c'mon, we're talking about the girl who gets nostalgic about middle school. Who even likes middle school, much less wants to remember it!? Me.

As I'm going through all my stuff at work, I've realized that I have a lot of things to bequeath. So here we go:

• To Mary, I leave my (almost empty) bottle of eye drops, a toner cartridge, and a whole bunch of vouchers I've been meaning to give you. I know your birthday's coming up -- I'll give you something more fun then (wait for it!).
• To Matt, I leave your Czech coin that rolled under your desk and somehow ended up on mine.
• To Jason, I leave one of my favorite gifts-that's-been-passed-down-from-person-to-person. It's a pity gift. So are the two front row tickets to see Bruce Springsteen.
• To Joel, I leave the only surviving copy (besides Don's) of the "Zian Leadership Tenets" (I made an extra). Hope they're good for a laugh now and then.
• To Amanuel, I leave my clappers and my purple Mardi Gras beads. I don't care if you hide them in a drawer somewhere, but you BETTER be wearing them when I graduate from ConGen.
• To Brian, I leave the X-Wing Rogue Squadron book. I don't need it back 'till my brother gets home from his mission in August, so take your time. It's the least I can do, considering I'm leaving you alone with folks who don't even know Boba Fett's father's name or what planet Wookies live on. Or what TIE stands for in TIE fighter.

(Guys, all this stuff is in the cabinet just to the right of my desk).

I've also been reminiscing a lot about the past 3 years, and all the fun times I've had working here.

• Role plays, role plays, role plays. One time I had to play three people at once during a crisis simulation. Crazy! And my fellow intern pretended to pass out in the hallway. Yeah, we got some weird looks.
• Most of my internship (as good as it was) consisted of me falling asleep (that's what happens when you work full time and you're a full-time student and tourist. I fell asleep during a brown bag with an Assistant Secretary (with only 15 people in the room), and I fell asleep during a Q&A with Secretary Rice (with only 100 people in the room). Oh, and I fell asleep on the bus every morning while I was trying to write school papers.
• I had to box EVERYTHING in our office, move it down the hall, and move it back, when our suite was renovated. And I actually enjoyed it. Sometimes doing things that take no brain power are rather nice. Ah, the life of an intern.
• I watched several "flag days" where people got their "calls." I saw one girl cry (not for joy) when she got called to Abuja, Nigeria. I realized, it doesn't matter how much you want to go to a certain place, you need to be ready to go anywhere. And to be surprised about it without crying. I've had my friends practice calling out posts to make sure my reaction isn't tearful when the big day comes (April 10th, by the way).
• Football during lunch. I have a mean spiral.
• Playing a State Department spokeswoman in a CNN mock news clip. And I still had braces. Awesome.
• Giving a tour of Arlington Hall to folks who had worked there with Army Intelligence when SIGINT cracked the Japanese Purple code. That was really humbling.
• My internship farewell with ice cream cake. I literally could not believe that my coworkers would do that for me. Ice cream cake!?!
• After I graduated from Intern-ness, I kept on having a great time in this office. One of my favorite moments was getting an unexpected award for creating a wicked (awesome) PowerPoint slide. Hopefully I'll get to see it one day when I go through training!
• Dressing like Kate for Leadership Day. Definitely a highlight.
• Going through all our zany purple decorations with Cathy, grateful to find another person who likes spring cleaning.
• Winning the women's division in our eating competitions. 30 pieces of sushi, baby!
• Watching 'Airplane' for Ed's farewell. And having my coworkers walk up and down the aisle, offering beverages. Hilarious.
• Touring the Ben and Jerry's factory in VT with our workshop participants. And getting the bus driver to come with us. Fantastic!
• Being sick as a dog during the conference I was supporting in Tunis, but being able to go to the pharmacy by myself and get the right medication (all in French! The pharmicist was kind of concerned, though, when I couldn't understand what she said the price was. She was like "do you understand how much to take? Do you understand!?").
• The farewell Kate threw for me, and the hilarious fly-away kit my co-workers put together for me, complete with water purifying tablets, Immodium, a flashlight, and "words of wisdom." Priceless.

• And of course -- meeting all the spectacular people who work/have worked in this office. Just awesome. I can't think of one person who I haven't learned something valuable from and who hasn't changed my life for the better. Now I'm humming the song from Wicked. But I digress. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
  

Stand Up, ChiTown, Stand Up!

I spent President's Day Weekend in....CHICAGO! My first time visiting since I was four. It was all very spontaneous for a not-so-spontaneous person, but I figured with a new career on the horizon, I'd better sneak in one more I-love-discovering-American-cities trip before I get swept off to who knows where. So I went to visit Brian, my awesome-friend-from-college-who-goes-to-UChi-Law-School. Luckily, my local Chicagoan guide was not so spontaneous -- he planned out a fantastic weekend, I can't believe how much of ChiTown I saw.

The first thing we did was head to some of Brian's friends' apartment, where there was a Battlestar Galactica party going on. Awesome food, crazy episode (tough one to jump in on if you've never seen it before), and his friends even made me a "welcome/congrats on the FS" sign! Made me feel right at home.

Other highlights of the weekend:

• Went out for tapas. We ordered a suckling pig. The waiter came by and grunted* one word: "Pig." He then tossed the pig down on the corner of the table and left. *(no pun intended)
• On the way up the Hancock Tower elevator (the second tallest building in Chicago), the recording said "You are now going up to the top of the Hancock Tower, THE MOST recognizable building in the world." Um, can anyone think of a building more recognizable? Without qualification, THE MOST recognizable? How about the Pyramids? Eiffel Tower? Sydney Opera House? Empire State Building? THE SEARS TOWER!?
• I guess Chicagoans have a habit of exagerating the facts about their buildings, because in a comedy skit we went to, Mayor Daley mentioned how the Sears Tower is the tallest building in the world. It was a joke, but after visiting the Hancock Tower, it was even funnier. More funny. The skit was about why Chicago should host the 2016 Olympics. One of the major draws is that they won't have to build a swimming pool -- Daley pointed out that Chicago already has Lake Michigan.
• The aquarium had poison arrow frogs. So cool.
• I rode the El!
• Food was a definite highlight -- we ate at Medici's in Hyde Park (Obama eats there! At least, that's what all the waiters' shirts said), we had the deepest-deep dish pizza I've ever seen, we had cupcakes on the north side of town (no, sprinkles aren't vegan, the guy in front of us asked), tapas at a Spanish place, Indian (awesome!), frozen yogurt with Capn' Crunch on top (at a place like pinkberry...but not), french toast skewers and eggs benedict on the north side, then bubble tea and a bubble milkshake in Chinatown. Mmmm.
• I can't think of anything to top the food, so we'll move on to the pictures next.

We visited the University of Chicago campus, and I even got to go to a law school class! I sat in on Evidence with Brian and his friends. It was fascinating, but I'm not sure I could do it every day for three years. We learned about hearsay and what is or isn't admissable or relevant. Wow!

Then we found a snow sculpture festival. This is Brian with O'Leary's cow and the Chicago fire.

Here I am with Max and a Wild Thing!

And OH MY GOODNESS, WE FOUND THE MYSTERY MACHINE! Yes, I started singing the Scooby-Doo theme song.

No weekend in Chicago would be complete without visiting the Art Institute. We saw (in true Ferris Bueller style) Sunday Afternoon on the Grande Jette. We also saw a FANTASTIC Edward Munch exhibit that juxtaposed his painting with paintings by artists who inspired him. Very, very interesting.

This is Cloud Gate (aka the Bean). Need I say more?

And of course I had to stop by Wrigley Field for my mother, the ultimate Cubs fan.

I would tell you how freezing it was, but I've conveniently blocked that part of the trip from my memory (still not sure if it's due to lost brain cells or denial).

Awesome weekend! Stand up, ChiTown!

A Super-Cool-Random-Tag Post

OK, so you may not learn anything about me from this "tag" post, but thought it would be funny, so here it is (thanks, Becky :). "Go to Google and type in your first name and the phrase given. Copy and paste the first sentence/phrase you get that makes sense." The quotes under the pictures are of my own creation.


1. Type in "[your name] needs" in Google search
Result: "Shannon needs help."

"I've fallen and I can't get up!"

2. Type in "[your name] looks like" in Google search
Result: "Shannon looks like a bum."

"A ski bum? Hm, I'm sensing a theme here...."

3. Type in "[your name] says" in Google search.
Result: "Shannon says 'that the ultimate information-carrying capacity of a band-limited communications channel varies in proportion to its bandwidth and also as a function of the SNR within the channel.'"

"Huh?"

4. Type in "[your name] wants" in Google search
Result: "Shannon wants Ottawa to help fund Aqueduct."

"Did someone say Aqueduct? It just so happens that I've seen enough ancient Roman toilets to last me for a long time."

5. Type in "[your name] does" in Google search
Result: "Shannon does Carmen."

"Yes, yes I do."
That was for Halloween in 2005. Totally awesome.

6. Type in "[your name] hates" in Google search
Result: "Shannon hates to be left alone."

"Too true."

7. Type in "[your name] asks" in Google search
Result: "Shannon asks where has Judge Judy been on alternative energy all these years."

"Um, I don't have a picture for that...."

8. Type in "[your name] goes" in Google search
Result:"Shannon goes wild in Vegas."

"I DO have a picture for that....Las Vegas Bowl 2006. Go Cougs!"

9. Type in "[your name] likes " in Google search.
Result: "Shannon likes 369 but not 248."

"Um, I don't have any pictures involving 369...."

10. Type in "[your name] eats " in Google search
Result: "Shannon eats more burritos."

"They actually don't have burritos in Mexico, but the DO have flan! (It's really hard to get the sticky carmel off the plate.)"

11. Type in "[your name] wears " in Google search
Result: "Shannon wears her sunglasses at night."

"No, but I should have the night of the 4th of July -- the fireworks were so bright!"

12. Type in "[your name] was arrested for" in Google Search
Result: "Shannon was arrested for kicking and punching guards and officers during an altercation that began when Shannon allegedly became disruptive during the taping of the show."

"You wish you could see a picture of that :)"

I don't really tag people, but if you think this is fun and have some spare time, knock yourself out! You don't have to include the pictures, but it was kind of fun to find some random ones I hadn't seen in awhile. Can you believe I don't look at that Carmen Sandiego one every day?

My Favorite Groundhog Day Story

On Groundhog Day in 2007, I was working at Sugar N' Spice in the BYU Cougareat. I had been in such a rush to get to work that I completely forgot to check the news to see if Phil had seen his shadow. But I figured, customers have to be good for something, right? So as I scooped their ice cream, I asked each customer if they had heard whether or not the groundhog saw his shadow. Purely selfish, not trying to make polite conversation or anything. (I'm trying to be sarcastic, is it working?)

Most folks had forgotten it was Groundhog Day. Eh, no biggie, I told them. Just curious. But inside I was seething. How could people forget about Groundhog Day! That obscure little rodent up in PA was going to determine the course of their lives for the next six weeks, and they didn't even care? C'mon, people! But then the unthinkable happened....

As I scooped her Raspberry and Cream Cheese scoop of ice cream, I asked the next girl in line if she knew whether or not the groundhog had seen his shadow. She looked at me blankly. It can be hard to hear in the Cougareat, so I asked a little more loudly. Still no answer, but now she was starting to look confused. I asked her if she had seen the movie with Bill Murray. No. So I decided to be a little more clear (Groundhog Day can be a bit difficult to understand). I said "Oh, you know, once a year up in Punxsutawney, PA, the groundhog named Phil comes out of his burrow and and if he sees his shadow, we'll have six more weeks of winter. They have a big ceremony and everything!" She stares at me, then says "I'm sorry, I don't follow that sort of thing."

What!? I gave her the benefit of the doubt, and let her have a few more seconds of small talk so she could prove she was a foreign exchange student. Unfortunately, she was not.

I had to have one of my co-workers ring her up because my eyes were tearing up from trying not to laugh. I didn't have the heart to ask anyone else the rest of my shift.

Think about it, though -- if you had NEVER heard of Punxsutawney Phil, and this girl starts asking you all these random questions about groundhogs and Bill Murray. What WOULD you say?

I GOT THE CALL!!!

Actually, it was an e-mail, telling me that....

I'VE BEEN ACCEPTED INTO THE FOREIGN SERVICE!

I'll start training on March 2nd here in Arlington. That's when I'll get the list of possible embassies or consulates where I could be posted. After that....who knows!?!?!

Just as a little background -- I first took the written FS exam in April 2006. I passed, but failed the oral exam the following January. Then I took the written again in September 2007, passed, and passed the orals in January 2008. I've been waiting for a call since then. I thought I might be getting close the past couple of days, and I think I've gone cross-eyed from staring at my gmail inbox for so long.

WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I've got a new boss...

And you can't see her in this picture, but you can see me! Look right below the black camera being held in the air horizontally. No, not the old man! Yes, can you see the top of my head? Right in front of me is one of my co-workers, who got to shake Secretary Clinton's hand. Several of us decided to go join the masses today, welcoming her to her new job. It may look like we're all trying to attack her, but we're actually just waving.