Kyoo 100

This Internet Cafe is about to kick me off but I just have a few things to write. Mexico City is beautiful in it's own way. There is so much culture here and the cities are beautiful. I have so many pictures I want to take but I really want a better camera to capture everything.

I was asked today if I needed a Mexican boyfriend for free. Haha, interesting story but not enough time.

We got to eat dinner on top of a tall building and watch the sun set and the city light up. The weather was perfect and it was just beautfiful.

We leave for Oaxaca tomorrow morning and get to stop at a cactus garden and a few other places. I'm kind of sad to leave Mexico City and this hostel but I'm sure the next places will be just as neat, or even better!

Have a great day :)

Kyoo 99

Not going to lie. These keyboards are different and this is taking a little bit of thought. I do feel pretty ingenious though. There isn't an underscore key and I need an underscore for one of my user names. So, after thinking for a moment, I pulled up Microsoft Word and just used Insert - Symbol followed by a quick copy and paste. Viola!

If this post isn't assurance enough, I did make it to Mexico City safe and sound. We're staying at the cutest little hostel right off of Zocalo Plaza. It's like a 24 hour party here. Except in the mornings. I guess people finally go to bed around 4 or 5. Some interesting highlights of the first couple days:

• I'm practicing my Spanish! It's not as horrible as I thought it would be because I can still communicate but it definitely needs work. Most of the people are so nice about it and seem thrilled that you're even trying to use their language. It's quite exciting. But, I seem to forget the most basic phrases right as I need to use them. That's frustrating.
• I accidentally had tequila icecream. I couldn't understand the guy explaining the flavors and it looked like it had graham crackers in it. My tongue still feels like it licked a litter box. It was a waste of 12 pesos. But, I did have some pretty stellar icecream last night.
• I might fail my tour class. It's just reading and then quizzes on the reading almost every morning at breakfast. Not too bad, right? Wrong! I tried 4 times to get through the reading (in the airport, on the plane, on the bus ride, and at night) and couldn't stay awake long enough to get through 3 paragraphs. I go to the sites and learn a lot from those but I'm just so exhausted and can't stay awake to complete my reading. I really hate assigned reading. And papers.
• I touched a cactus. I knew it was stupid but I just had to do it. It was one of those with all the microscopic needles on it. So, imagine me wandering around the ruins of Teotihuacan trying to pull them out of my fingers with my really llllllllllooooonnnnggg fingernails (sarcasm - lots of sarcasm about the length of my nails) while fending off the vendors. Yup, it was that cool.
• No, gracias! Those words automatically come out of my mouth when people approach me. The vendors are waiting around every corner to lure American tourists into buying their goods. Haha, if only they knew how stingy I was........I am not paying 250 pesos for bracelets! Do you see me wearing bracelets right now? No. Then why would I want to buy bracelets? I don't. But I did buy something. You'll find out later what it is.

I think there was a lot more that I wanted to type about but I'm getting tired and this room is kind of smoky and my lungs hate me.

Family, I love you and I'm excited to spend a couple days with you in about a month. I'll keep this blog updated as best I can and stay in touch. Mi madre, you should check to see if texting is free. Some of my classmates can still text without additional charges even though the calling rates are lethal. Just a thought.

Have a great day :)

Kyoo 98

Here ya'll go! I'll try to keep this updated and maybe post some pictures. Not quite sure what the Internet access will be like and I do have a couple online classes that I'll be working on.


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Just click on any of the points for more information.

Have a great day :)

Kyoo 97

My music homework is seriously making me cry right now.

Diminished thirds, augmented fourths, harmonic minors, ascending and descending melodic minors; everything hurts.

And I thought the W+H interval was supposed to be between the sixth and seventh scale degrees? How come all of these scales have it between the fifth and sixth? There's no pattern like that!

This is only for my cluster! My brain never hurt this much while doing my CIT homework!

In 4 days I will be in Mexico....

Have a great day :)

Kyoo 96

I just started taking malaria pills in preparation for my month-long jaunt to Central America next week. When I first picked up this prescription, I laughed as I read the possible side effects which included, among other things, strange dreams.

Strange dreams. A legitimate medical side-effect?

Guess so.

While it was probably the fact that the possibility of strange dreams was on my mind, I did indeed have very strange dreams last night. And I actually remembered them. I have not been able to remember my dreams for a really long time.

One particular dream involved Josh Groban performing at a Super Bowl-like event on a playground set suspended on top of a ginormous pole. He was swinging around and going down the slide whilst serenading the crowd. And then he fell. But a net caught him. And there was a ladder leading back up to the playground set. But then a cup of water appeared. And he reached for the cup of water. And fell. But he never landed. In the next scene he was backstage teasing a crewman about how "not cool" it was of him to put that water there.

Crazy. Can't wait to enjoy more tonight!

I think my eyes are really big sometimes compared to my capabilities. Like tonight. My tour group had an FHE were we made school kits for some of the orphans we get to work with. Everyone made one but then there were extra supplies and the opportunity to make another one was extended to us. So I took it.

I do not have room in my pack for 2 big school kits.

This will take some strategy.

Have a great day :)

Kyoo 95

I got 4 days break between semesters.  In 13 1/2 hours I will be sitting in class again.  But, there is light at the end of the tunnel.  In 2 weeks I will be in Mexico City and by December 12th I should be graduated with my bachelor's degree.

If I can make it through a crazy summer semester that includes a month and a half of travel study, a 3 month internship, and 3 additional online classes.

But, that's boring stuff.  I realized that it had been a while since I'd posted any pictures so I took an opportunity to take some, dig through my hard drive, and treat ya'll to the following:

My freshly cleaned and tuned car, Babar.  Here's to hoping he's ready for a really LONG drive to Nebraska and then San Antonio:

Frog truffles!  A most-generous Sis. Jensen sent these to me for my birthday.  They were delicious and did not last long.  Snickers thought they were scary with they're eyes.  I don't know if she ever worked up the courage to eat one.....I did though.  A few times.

These are the climbing shoes I'm trying to sell.  Too small for my feet - though I had some of my best climbs in them!  So, if you're interested, check ebay before Thursday.

Chadrick!  I miss my dog.  Actually, I think I'm just getting really antsy to being able to provide a stable home for one of my own.  Maybe in a year.  In the meantime, this is my favorite picture of us together:

Haha, this is one of Calvin's baths!  I think it was from over the summer.  His baths are few and far between.  Kind of like my practice sessions nowadays.  I miss him.  We shall strike up melodious conversations again soon.

And this is my favoritest tree at my grandparent's house in Eden.  Except during the summer when the squirrels knock apricots down on me.  I spent a fair amount of time soaking up the sun and reading "Training Plans for Multisport Athletes" today.  It was perfect (and yes, that's Harold):

So, I think that completes my photo show.  Hopefully I'll remember to take more pictures.  It's so much easier than trying to write everything.

Have a great day :)

Kyoo 94

Finals.

Please ignore the time of this post.

Let it be known that people should NOT practice for their vocal final at 2 a.m.  Okay, I'm not complaining but it just seems like a considerate thing to do.  I found the situation quite entertaining, but that was only because I was already awake and it wasn't coming from my complex.

Sounded good though :)

I don't know what it is about winter semesters.  Maybe I have more homework?  Something.  I seem to have a lot of run-ins or near run-ins with campus police.  I've gotten pretty good at evading them though and staying in the Smith as long as I need to.  The problem comes as I'm trying to sneak out and then get across campus without running into a guard.

Tonight for instance.  I was wearing my  squeaking shoes so I took them off and tip-toed down the eight flights of stairs to the door.  Then came the walk across campus.  The shoes went back on and I just started strolling like a normal student heading home at 2 in the morning (not so normal here).  This stroll turned into a dead turn and sprint just minutes later when the patrol came through.  I had to take a 10 minute detour to get off campus and walk around.

I don't know how many warnings I can get before they actually do something.  I'd rather just not get the warnings and remain in ignorance there.  Besides, it's kind of fun to be all stealth at that time of the morning.

YouTube inspirations are being fueled......

Bouldering yesterday was awesome.  I sent five problems that had been challenging me and really surprised myself on one of them.  I got to the top and realized I had a long way to jump down.  I haven't shook that much since I went bridge-jumping in November a year ago.

Ahhh, so many other stories but I do need some sleep before work tomorrow.

Have a great day :)