Update from Cusco

We've been hiking all over the Incan ruins around Cusco. Yesterday, among other places, we went to Sacsayhuaman, which is (kinda) pronounced Sexy Woman. Today we went to several places including Tipon, which was absolutely amazing. It's agricultural terraces way up on the side of a mountain. I'll try to upload some pictures later.

We did a little bit of shopping today-at most of the sites there are women who dress up in traditional Peruvian costumes and sell handicraft stuff. You're supposed to bargain, but I felt bad because everything was already so cheap and the people are so poor. So I did bargain, but not a ton. Anyway, for around $30 I got 6 pairs of earrings, 6 ceramic bowls, 2 bracelets, a necklace, and a little whistle for my niece. As we all know, I enjoy shopping, and I have to say, it's a whole lot more fun when things are really cheap.

One thing I'm noticing is that they put the English translation on the restaurant menus, but they apparently don't speak English very well. For example, tonight for dinner I had baked piglet, and my mom had trout from river to grill. It's kind of fun to read the menus!

More later . . .

Hola mis amigos!

We made it to Peru and already I'm finding lots to blog about. For example, we went to some Incan ruins called Pachacamac and saw what is possibly the ugliest dog in Peru. It's some kind of hairless dog:


We (obviously) have internet in our hotel in Cuzco, so there will be more to come!

Hasta luego!

I'm headed to Peru in the morning, so no posts for a while. I'm sure I'll have much to tell when I get back.

Hip hip!

I'm done with finals!

Also . . .

This problem isn't just on Facebook. Anytime I see someone out in public, I never know if I should say hello or not. This fear was validated the other day when I went to the movies and a girl from high school pulled into the parking spot next to me. We met eyes, so I couldn't pretend like I didn't see her, so I said hello and sure enough, I don't think she knew who I was. Nice. Either she really didn't know who I was and thought I was a freak for talking to her, or she did know who I was but was "too good" to talk to me. That's pretty much how she was in high school. Also, I felt especially lame because I was going to the movie by myself, and I was going to see The Mummy 3. She was taking her little boy to see Wall-E.

BTW, The Mummy 3 was as I expected-fairly entertaining, but pretty dumb. It wasn't as bad as Journey to the Center of the Earth though.

Facebook dilemmas

Lately, as I've been avoiding studying for finals, I've been checking out the friends of all my friends on Facebook. Here's my problem-I'm finding tons of people, especially from high school, that I want to ask to be my friend, but I always worry that they won't remember who I am. You see, I have a really good memory for names and faces* (this also applies to celebrities-ask anyone who watches t.v. or movies with me-it can get obnoxious), but I know not everyone else does. Plus, I'm pretty good at blending into a crowd. I tend not to be noticed (which is a bonus because I'm privy to all sorts of info I probably shouldn't be), so this adds to my paranoia that no one knows who I am. So do I ask these people to be my friend and take the chance that they won't know who I am? Am I a complete loser for even worrying about this?



*I have been stumped once in my entire life and it still haunts me. A few weeks ago at church a lady came up and talked to me like she knew my whole family, but I could not for the life of me figure out who she was. She isn't in my ward, but I think maybe she used to be in it. I don't know. Anyway, weeks later it still bugs me that I can't figure out who she was.

LOL!

I love this blog post.

At least the shirts are sleeveless, though, so we can still see them flex as they look at their watches. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please go watch Top Gun.

Last day of classes!

Whoohoo! Another term down. Well, almost. Finals are Wednesday and Thursday. But still-hurrah!

Wow!

Did everyone watch the men's 4x100m relay last night? If not, click here and the video is halfway down. And holy crap, did you check out the the muscle-y arms of Michael Phelps at the end? He's like the Hulk! Check it out:

I heart the Olympics!

I'm so excited it has finally arrived! I don't really get into the Winter games, but I love Summer! The Opening Ceremonies, while a bit long, were spectacular, and I'll admit it, I got slightly teary-eyed at several points during the show. I've always had this fascination with China and I'm so excited that they finally get to show the world what they can do. Now that's not to say that everything about China is perfect (i.e. the government), but for the regular, everyday person, I'm happy that they get a chance to shine. They've been through so much during history, and it seems like things are (hopefully) getting better for everyone. BTW, if you familiar with Chinese history, especially regarding women, you should read "Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China", "Red Azalea", "Life and Death in Shanghai", or if you prefer fiction, pretty much any Amy Tan books, and "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan". Also, the book "Wuhu Diary" by Emily Prager is an awesome book about a woman who takes her adopted daughter back to China. It focuses more on what China is like now. If you or anyone you know has adopted a child from China, this book is a must read.

O.k., I got a little sidetracked there! Back to the Olympics! So here's what I'm looking forward to during the Games: Michael Phelps, Dara Torres, gymnastics, track and field, Michael Phelps, diving, beach volleyball, tennis, and Michael Phelps.

the election

I've been reading up on both of the candidates, trying to decide who to vote for. That's a novel concept, isn't it--actually researching the candidates instead of just basing your decision on what party they're affiliated with or what false email forwards say. I agree and disagree with both of them on certain issues, so I don't know who to go with. I think it'll end up coming down to the Iraq war and the vice-presidential nominees. I'm really leaning towards Obama right now, but if Hillary is chosen as the VP nominee, that will most definitely change. If John McCain goes with Mitt Romney, I may be persuaded to go that way. No, not because he's Mormon, but because I think he could really help the economy. Ooh, I know! How about we really shake things up and have an Obama/Romney ticket! How sweet would that be! And how unlikely to happen! Maybe we should start voting for President and VP separately. I think it would be awesome to see two people from different parties have to work together for the good of the country, because after all, the election is about the good of the country, not the party, right?!? But anyway, is anyone out there willing to say what issues are big to them? Or what is making them vote whichever way they're voting?

I am officially employed.

This is good in that I'm poor and I'm going to Vegas later this month and you know what that means . . . SEPHORA! This is bad in that being employed means you have to work. I've loved having these last few months free from employment. It's actually a really good opportunity, though. I finally found out more about what we'll be doing-the project is in conjunction with the Women's Research Institute and the Psych Department. We'll be measuring the effects of opiate use (specifically cocaine, I think) on visual processing in men and women, but particularly females at different times of the month (if you know what I'm sayin'). Basically they are hypothesizing that opiate use has something to do with being able to see the color blue. I think it'll be really interesting, and it'll look awesome on my resume!

Just call me Miss Cleo!

I would just like to say that I correctly predicted the outcome of the top four on SYTYCD. Just thought you would want to know!

lesson learned

I learned in my Religion class that we are not supposed to label people as gay, lesbian or bisexual. This is because people aren't gay, they just have gay feelings (according to my textbook). Therefore, I have decided to rename my friend, Chris. Usually I refer to him as Gay Chris because I know multiple Chris's and I need to distinguish between them. Plus I just like saying Gay Chris. Anyhow, from now on I will be referring to him as Straight with Homosexual Tendencies Chris.

Good parenting book

If you have kids, I would highly recommend that you read "Awakening Children's Minds: How Parents and Teachers Can Make a Difference" by Laura E. Berk. It was an optional book for my Parenting class and I'm just now using it to write a paper on fostering creativity in children. It's a great book not just about creativity; it also addresses the quantity vs. quality time debate, child care issues, learning in the classroom, children with disabilities, make-believe play, private talk (children talking to themselves), and a bunch of other factors that affect development. I find it all fascinating and I don't even have kids, so I would imagine that those of you who do will really appreciate it.

BTW, I spent more for my used copy from the BYU Bookstore than the price Amazon has listed for a new copy.

Too funny!

Click here to watch a clip of Anderson "Andy" Cooper talking about the Lohan's and their t.v. show. Hilarious!

SYTYCD update

I've been a slacker the last few weeks with my SYTYCD commentaries. I'm not going to keep posting videos because they always take them down, so I'll just let you in on a few of my thoughts:

• Did you notice during Twitch and Katee's Amy Winehouse-esque dance, that a chunk of her hair fell out? It distracted me.
  
• Lady GaGa's ensemble, headset, and pretty much the entire performance, weirded me out. Who is this person/thing? Why was her leotard cut up to her breasteses?
• I'm pretty sure Courtney should not have made the top 4. Even though Chelsie irritates me, she's still a way better dancer. But I guess if it all came down to who danced better, Will would still be there. Oh and btw, I'm completely bummed that Mark is gone. I loved his quirkiness.
  
• I am loving that Sonya chick's choreography. She's crazy (in a good way). I'm putting her up there with Mia Michaels and Tabitha and Napoleon (or as Cat calls her, Tabither) in my favorite choreographers.
  
• I don't remember if I mentioned it before (and I'm too lazy to go back and check) but I loved Will and Katee's pas de deux (is that spelled right?). The only thing about it that sucked was that David Archuleta was singing the song.
  
• I also loved it when Mia Michaels told Chelsie she was so gorgeous she wanted to stab her. It was slightly creepy, but completely hilarious and totally something I would think, but probably not say.
  

special project

For my religion class, we had to come up with a project that would help us work on becoming more Christ-like. I chose to work on several things, including not making as many mean and/or sarcastic comments. I don't think my plan is working though. I still think all the things but I don't say them out loud. I think this is causing problems. You know how when you stuff your feelings and don't express them, they just grow and grow and grow and then you explode? Well, I think I'm about to starting spewing random comments. It'll be like I have Tourettes and in the middle of class I'll just randomly yell out "Your mom works it!" or "That's what she said!" or "Wow, that's just so interesting, I can't even contain myself." I'm thinking that for the well-being of everyone around me, I should probably find some outlet for my negativity. Any suggestions?

new favorite perfume

Lorri has been telling me for months that I have to smell Bobbi Brown's "Beach" perfume. Actually, the first time she told me this I thought she was talking about Bobby Brown, and I asked her if it smelled like crack. Anyway, I finally smelled it and at first I didn't like it, but then I let it settle and completely fell in love with it. I now have to spray myself every time I go by the bathroom. As I mentioned in my last post, I have found ways to get people to buy me things, and this was one of those things last week. Just remember, it's this:


Not this:

I'm back!

Are you beyond excited!?!

The shoe tally (see last blog entry) for the trip ended up being 20, I think. The women in my family all have slight shopping issues, so I blame my shopping habits completely on genetics. The way I differ from my mom, aunt and grandma though, is that I am not a browser. Unless it's a bookstore, I loathe browsing. I am perfectly capable of filling a cart (or two) at Target in 30 minutes. I don't need to spend hours looking at everything. This causes problems when I'm with them because they want to spend ages in the store, and I just want to get the heck out of there. I have learned, though, that if I help them find things to buy, they spend money much faster and are ready to go in a shorter amount of time. If I do this and don't complain, they will also usually buy me things. :)