Bon Dia

Bon Dia!

Here I am, at one of the old internet cafes I used to frequent some P-days as a missionary. I'm attaching some pictures of my time so far in Aruba. The picture of the bike is from the first couple of days I got here, when I first rode to the beach. That was a happy accomplishment. And the sweaty me is after riding my bike to said beach. You'll also see a picture of the Duncans and I, (we're the white ones), and President Buckley and Brother Daniel Henriette, waiting for the water show to start on the ritzy side of the island (which is not OUR side of the island). And, there's a picture of myself with Allesandro, someone I taught as a missionary. He left for Holland to study less than a week after I arrived, but it was wonderful to see him and his family. Life is good!

There's a Crab in My Flipper

Taylor's Home

Okay, so this is my 3rd post for the day, and a testament to the importance of keeping this bloggy thing updated more regularly if I'm to avoid playing catch up later.

Anyhoo, I couldn't not talk about the fact that my brother, Taylor, IS HOME FROM HIS MISSION!! We went almost 3 years without seeing each other, since he left on his mission while I was on mine. Wow, it was so great to be there at the airport to meet him. He's just as cool as I ever remembered...and actually, cooler because he speaks Spanish now. We spent the first night after he got home playing songs we've written on the guitar, most of which are autobiographical and led to some great conversation of the catching-up sort.

Moab!!

Summery Tales

Here I am for my er, quarterly update.

I'll try to attach some pictures of the highlights.

1) Triathlon training. This Saturday, I will participate in my first triathlon--ever. I am half scared out of my mind, and half excited. I swam the full distance for the swim portion for the first time yesterday, and did it again today. It's a sprint triathlon, so it's just a 1/2 mile swim, but there was a point (yesterday before I swam it, actually), when I thought that distance would kill me. But now that I've done it twice, I feel a lot better about Saturday. Tack on a 10 mile bike ride and a 5K run, and I'm there! Yeah! I feel so hard core.

2) The mental hospital. No, I was not instated. I started teaching piano lessons there for volunteer hours for a psychology class, but I have loved it so much that I've kept doing it. I have just one student, and he is great. Tonight I am going to a talent show he will be playing at. I am so proud! Funny story, though. So, the other week I asked him about a book he carries around sometimes called "The Art of Power." He informed me that it was a tai chi book, with instructions on how to do the different poses and things. I was intrigued, so I asked him some more questions, and then he said, "Do you want me to teach you?"

"Well," I thought, "why not?"

So, there I was, in what I thought to be a pretty private setting. In the group room in this particular wing of the state hospital, with my piano student, doing tai chi. It wasn't until a couple of weeks later I realized the possibility of having been observed. I came for a lesson, and the desk attendant wasn't sure where my student was. I said, "Maybe he's in the group room already, practicing."

"Nope," he said, "I can see the camera right here and he's not in there."

Doh! Oh well...I hope someone got a smile out of watching our piano lesson-turned-tai chi lesson that day. :)

3) Tennis Intramurals. I played in BYU's mixed doubles intramurals a few weeks ago with a good friend, Craig Estep. And we won! It was awesome. I was pretty surprised when they put us in the top division, and I figured we'd meet some pretty stiff competition. But, well...we didn't really. I mean, we only had to play 3 matches to win the championship, and two of those matches were against the same team. But anyway, that's not the point. It was great, and glorious, and I've got a shirt now. I guess there's nothing else holding me back from graduating, now.

Goodbye, Missionaries!

Well, another group of missionaries has come and gone. These ones are headed for Mexico: some to Hermosillo, and some to Leon. They will be wonderful missionaries. I really have grown to love them, and I hated saying goodbye! They have great things ahead of 'em, though.

Oh boy, oh boy!!

I'm SO excited. Here's why: Last semester I applied for something called an ORCA grant. It's where you work with a professor to write a proposal for a research project you would like to do. My project involves going to ARUBA and conducting focus groups to find out current needs and preferences for marriage education there. About 1/3 of applicants are awarded the $1500 to work on their projects. And on Monday, the email came, and I got it!! I'm going to Aruba, baby!! I'll leave in July, and be there for about 6 weeks. I'm probably going to miss my own graduation. SO WORTH IT!!! I'm going to visit everyone I LOVE there, and learn how to KITE BOARD, and go to the BEACH regularly, buy AVOCADOS the size of my head, and drink fruit batidos. Oh yes, and I will research like no other. It's gonna be flippin' AMAZING. I guess I'm just really grateful they saw the good in my project because now I have the opportunity to do something that I feel can make a difference, and I get to do it in one of the most beautiful places on earth. :)