I didn't sleep for two days. I spent one night studying for a final exam and then the next celebrating freedom. It was a great day/night until I was sitting around in the Minneapolis airport and I realized that I forgot my laptop at the security line in Salt Lake City. Not the dumbest thing I have done, but up there.

Finals blues

Here we go.

I am only writing in this to avoid cramming never-ending Arabic vocabulary into my head. Someday, I will be able to write steadily. Here are some highlights from this semester:

I moved into an apartment with wonderful roommates. We are poles apart, but we compliment each other nicely.

Jayk is STILL bumming around in Hawai'i playing his guitar on Hukilau beach while I rock myself to sleep every night.

Beyonce is a topic of interest that occupies us during study breaks. We tried to learn Ego....kind of failed. We are not nearly as sexy. We also attempted waking up early to learn Tahitian dancing and hip-hop, courtesy of Amber....failed as well. We excel at eating and making neighbors angry because of our constant noise. One time, Joni was dancing on top of a nightstand and fell almost breaking the lights of the neighbors below us.

We share beds. That's right. We have six king-sized beds, but we share due to the Arctic weather and paper windows in our apartment. Gotta love that body heat. Most nights, I sleep with Ynna. Amber, Joni, and Ally sleep on one in another room. On weekends and special sub-zero occasions, we join our warming forces into one bed. It is surprisingly comfortable.

We roll lumpia weekly and keep it stocked in our freezer in case of an emergency.

Political Science 200 has made me weep multiple times. Current events and languages are my fortes. Research is not and regressional analysis is certainly not. From this experience, I have discovered that I will never aspire to be a professor. On the bright side, my writing has improved. (This post is not an example of this improvement.)

The pleasures of having a car in Utah has given me two opportunities to travel to Arizona. Each time is an adventure.

Our guy neighbors eat our food, but we enjoy their company and their WakaWaka dancing. We are currently having a Band of Brothers marathon.

Ally has yet to make the quote wall. We are hoping our humor will rub off on her. :)

I was Lady Monster and a man for Halloween.

Ynna and I share a room. Our cynical attitudes and anti-social behaviors mesh well. The other night, we had a brain explosion. Ynna was memorizing the anatomy of the body while I was typing up a paper for political science. Three hours into our study session, we decided to play all of our favorite 90's hits from artists like Shania Twain to Savage Garden. 90's was such a great era. I rediscovered my love for Seal. What a sexy man. Three hours later and I still needed to complete my paper. I can't say I regretted any moment of it.

It's time to return to reality. I will return after a week from Friday to report the outcomes of my exams. Insha'allah, I will do well. Libraries are open until two...can't find excuses for failure.

Dormancy

These last two months I have evinced my terrible journal habits. I wish I could use extreme busyness as an excuse, but that would be false. I have been in Pennsylvania with my family. Some of my activities have included: sleeping, working at the gap, painting/cleaning our house (we are moving to BOSTON), and avoiding any necessary language practice. To make these next couple of months productive before I return to school, I have decided to create a list of goals that I will accomplish before the end of the summer.

1. Re-memorize all of the arabic words I learned last year and more

2. Take fos7a lessons from an Iraqi woman

3. Learn Clair de Lune on the piano

4. Do not spend money

5. See John Mayer in concert (I'm aware this is ironic after number four. I already purchased the ticket so... starting now.)

6. Danielle and Crichton's wedding = Party with the Soliai's

7. SLI reunion and visit Bryan and Esaite in DC as much as I can :)

8. Yoga, rock climbing, and running

9. Get a tan (if possible)

10. NYC

Having the list online makes it more official.

Also, it has only been six hours since you left, but I miss you. Everyone misses you. Be safe.

My Inspiration

Yesterday I went to Festival of Colors also known as Holi, a Hindu festival. Holi was traditionally an agricultural festival that celebrated the arrival of spring. Colored powders are thrown symbolizing the shedding of the grays of winter and celebrating the appearance of beautiful spring colors. It also provides an avenue for Hindus to indulge in happiness and to ignore social norms. Happy Spring!

Ynna and I after the three mile trek to the temple.

Singing hare krishna, dancing, and crowd surfing

Roaming around the temple.

We got there a little late so we missed most of the powder throwing.

Not so eco-friendly. The remnants of the colored powder.

Hitchhiking on the back of a random truck saved us from walking the three miles back to the car.

A man in the stake high council visited our ward this Sunday. He spoke about a recent business trip to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. I absolutely love this story and will do my best to remember everything he said:

Everyday young boys between the age of five and ten waited around business buildings and hotels where foreigners stayed to beg for spare change. Upon arrival, the councilman was warned not to give attention or money to these boys. The hotel owners did not want them to loiter in front of their businesses, potentially scaring customers away. Despite their warnings, the man kept his pockets full of small change to hand out to the boys. He was sympathetic because they seemed to be orphans taking care of themselves and each other.
He watched them everyday go about their usual schedules. He observed that their clothing was in shreds. Only owning a couple of shirts, the boys rotated them daily so a new boy had the opportunity to wear the shirt. Often, they would tie a piece of cloth around their right ankle as a fashion statement.

One day, the man was returning from work. He had neglected to bring spare change with him and was only carrying large bills. As predicted, he was approached by a boy who asked for money. The man told the boy, in his native language of arabic, that he did not have change. The poor in Sudan use the same word for change as money. The man wearing a suit and tie just told this boy that he did not have any money. Regretfully, he went inside the hotel.

After a couple hours, the man found himself once again leaving the hotel to run some errands. This time another boy approached him for money. Before the boy could finish, the other boy from before spoke to the second telling him to stop, this man did not have any money. The two boys walked away whispering. Naturally the high councilman was curious about what was being said so he paused. After a while, one of the boys ran back to the man and held out his hand with many coins.
The high councilman tearfully told us that this money they intended to give him was more than what they would make in a month.

"They who give have all things; they who withhold have nothing."
-Hindu proverb.

This one's for the lonely

The ones that seek and find

Only to be let down

Time after time

This one's for the torn down

The experts at the fall

Come on friends get up now

You're not alone at all