Bangalore 2nd Branch

It was that time of year again, the Bangalore 2nd branch activity. It was decided that we would go to Yellagiri, a "mountain" about 150 kilometers away. Since 150 kilometers is about 90 miles, you would think that it would take about 2 to 2.5 hours. We got to the church at 6:30am to get packed into the buses and start the drive out of Bangalore. Much to my discomfort, the bus didn't have air conditioning and 5 of us sat on a bench made for 3. 3 adults and 2 8 year old boys on our laps. The young adults sang Indian songs, the teenage girls payed excessive attention to the missionaries and the children ran up and down the aisles.
6 hours after we left, we arrived at the park. Yes, that's right. 6 hours. Either I can't do math or someone is under the delusion that 6 hours is an acceptable amount of time to go 90 miles. But, we arrived. I was covered in sweat, but I was there.
We ate lunch, which consisted of some unknown meat and 5 cups of rice...for each of us. If I had any foresight, I would have taken an eating utensil. Instead, I ate with my hands and become one with the people. There were activities and Bollywood dancing. There were families and children and stray dogs. There was even a cow living at the park, but I didn't approach it due to my last experience with such things.
We finally got back to the church at 10:30pm. For a couple hours there, I was sure that I had died and that this was my hell. But, then we made it back the church and back to my air conditioner. Even though it was a day of heat, sweat and eating rice with my hands, it was great to be with the ward members. The kids are so cute and the women are hilarious. Only 4 more weeks with them.

Fights

so in my month of travel here in Europe I have been a witness to a number of fights. There was the fight between the bus controller and the Italian man as to why the man hadn't stamped his bus ticket and whether or not he deserved a ticket. There was a fight between a woman and a Greek couple on the ferry because the woman thought the couple was taking up too much room on the bench. There was a fight between the 2 boys of the family we stayed with in Sardinia about which cartoon to watch. There was a fight between a Spanish woman and a taxi driver because she thought she was overcharged for her taxi ride. There was a screaming fight between a couple in Greece that I have no idea what it was about.

But none of these fights compare to the bull fights I witnessed last night (none of my pictures of the fight turned out, so this is one from the internet, but it's exactly like what we witnessed). After seeing it, it's not a surprise that this sport hasn't caught on like soccer across the world, however it was quite an experience. Maren and I found ourselves in a rather large stadium surrounded with men, mostly in their 60s smoking cigars and chewing on sunflower seeds. We saw a total of 6 bulls be killed. I found myself at one time almost cheering for the bull to buck the matador.....I don't think it's a fight I really want to witness again, but it was fun to be part of a Spanish tradition.

Compete with this!

I love my life. True, it'd be even better if I were independently wealthy and Erin W., Sarah, and I could just sleep out on the back deck on love sacs and grill salmon and go for Harley rides every night, but as it is, it's really great and I'll take it. There's not a whole lot going on with me--just getting ramped up with the old HP and still pulling all-nighters. Oh, the good times we've had.

But the best time so far this summer was tonight...when I was at Ann Taylor and the super nice lady who owns Classy Cuisine next door came over and brought us two sandwiches as a gift to our friend Susan who happened to not be at work this evening. Luckily for me, the sandwiches were pulled pork. Even luckier, my friend Juliet who was working with me is a vegetarian. I used to be one of those things. And then I got very lazy. Even most luckiest of all lucks for Sarah, the pulled pork fanatic, was that she was on her way to Provo as I was taking my first bite of my two sandwiches I had just been given and as I bit into the lusciousness of a pulled pork sandwich from Classy Cuisine (the nice lady who owns it is Brett's aunt, by the way), I decided to text Sarah and to tell her to come by the good old AT.

Sarah stopped by after a 3-hour bike ride. Seriously, Sarah always looks beautiful, but for the sake of the story, let's say she looked like she'd just gone on a 3-hour bike ride. She stopped in, I gave her the sandwich and her face lit up and she said, "I'm so glad you thought of me!" For those of you who have spent time with Sarah recently and have seen her eat three pulled pork sandwiches on three separate occasions and then also saw her make "pulled chicken" for BBQ chicken sandwiches, you know what my answer was. "Who else was I going to think of?"

So while we were in the store I convinced Sarah to try on some clothes. Ever the efficient one, she tried the first one on over her long-sleeve t-shirt. The next item wasn't as conducive to this method, so she stripped off her t-shirt and tried the next item (which was a silk shell) on over her sports bra, pausing to take a few bites of her sandwich as we talked. Sarah is normally the picture of sophistication and professionalism, so I loved the opportunity this gave me to envision Sarah's youth in the double wide. It was awesome. Work out pants, sports bra, silk shell, messy ponytail, sunglasses on her head...and a pulled pork sandwich.

This, my friends, is my life and I love it. Sarah, Erin W., and I have had some good times lately. We've watched a couple of really lame movies, slept out on the deck, hauled love sacs up and down stairs, gone out to dinner, barbecued, had awkward moments with ex-roommates, had anatomy lessons courtesy of the internet, gone on long walks at the base of the mountains, talked about bike rides (some of us have actually gone), ridden on Harleys, made oreo-pudding parfaits (tell me that isn't blog worthy), and learned to see Katherine Heigl in a new light...our lives are so normal. And so fabulous.

Hong Kong

I like it here. We went to a movie last night and got out after midnight, the city was still as alive as it was at 7pm. It has quite a character about it. We're staying in a room the size of a queen size bed, not bad, not bad. Only a few days left.

It's hard to compete!

While you are all in Thailand, Egypt, Ghana, India, and who knows where else, I have chosen to spend my time in the thriving metropolis called Cedar Hills, Utah... ever heard of it?

While you are helping orphans learn how to read and write, Erin and I have been planting flowers and building rock walls in my back yard to get my house ready to sell.

While you are helping develop innovative and sustainable self-help solutions to the fight against chronic hunger and poverty, I've been watching expensive horses race around a track and rubbing elbows with women wearing hats that probably cost more than women in some countries make in a year.

All of this is enough to make me realize, there's someone in South America who will never have the opportunity to come to the BYU MBA program, but I did. So I should find a way to get out of Cedar Hills and give back to those who are less fortunate.

Thanks for the updates on your lives, as it's the only way I stay in touch with reality.

Miss you all!!!

More time with kids...

(after one of the trips to the internet cafe today)

(watching the soccer tournament at school last week...with about 4 kids on my lap)

(some of the girls in their room)

Today was a holiday...but I think I'm more exhausted today than I've been since coming.

Brother Johnson met with Frank and me this morning. I gave Frank a Book of Mormon last night, marked some scriptures. When he and I met this morning, he'd already done a lot of reading. We had a great discussion. He asked good questions, and I answered the best I could. Then Brother Johnson was ready to talk. We talked for a bit, then he gave Frank a blessing, then gave me a blessing. Amazing. Frank and I left, both of us in awe and feeling really blessed and humbled. I'm not sure how to describe.

It was a holiday today, so I thought I'd capitalize on the free time to take the kids to the internet cafe. We took 8 last week, and more wanted to go. I found out today that it's been almost a year since the kids have been out of the orphanage and into town. Big thanks to Casey for sponsoring their trips. So eventhough it was a holiday, Frank came with me so I didn't have to take the kids by myself. It was exhausting as it was, so I can't imagine doing it by myself--nice of Frank to give up his day off. We took 17 kids in 2 trips. This was their first time on the computer, so it was nonstop helping kids. They absolutely loved it, but it took all day, and all my energy. I loved when we got in the first taxi, all the kids were piled in the backseat. I looked in the rearview mirror, and they all had their heads bowed and one was saying a prayer, asking a blessing on the driver, and giving thanks for their opportunity to go to the cafe. It was just really cute.

I did spend a little time at the orphanage between trips. Emanuella (my fav) is upset and won't talk to me. I finally grabbed her, gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek and told her I loved her. When I let go, she ran inside. She came back out about 2 minutes later drying her eyes with her dress. Yeah, that broke my heart. The only words I got out of her today were her saying that it was her last day. :( Can I bring her home? And her brother?

I'm not going to be ready to leave on Thursday. In fact, I'm really sad just thinking about it. There's so much more I want to do.

Paradise

We've just been kickin' it in paradise this past week. Seriously, it's great. We never know what time it is, we spend all of our time on the beach, in the water, or in a restaurant. You can walk anywhere within like 10 minutes, beach can be seen in almost every direction. It is unbelievable. The water is so warm and so clear. Nanette teaches us her synchronized swimming techniques after wh ich we see how far we can throw each other by standing on each other's shoulders and shooting up into the air. Granted most people do this kind of thing with their 8-year old children, but since we're on vacation this is allowed for us as well--even if it does turn heads.

We saw 3 sharks while scuba diving! Apparently they're not dangerous, but still, slightly alarming. We also saw a harlequin shrimp, which apparently people dive for years looking for. We saw two our first day! Our guide is the only one in the shop that knows where they are. When we were on the boat the other insturctors were asking him to show them and he was laughing and telling us there are like 6 people on the island that know how to find them, and they keep it a secret...and then he showed us. I don't know why he wasn't concerned that me and Mallorie would navigate our way back and share his secret :)