Kyoo 120

Muahahaha. I have speakers. For my computer. They're loud. Just ask my roommates.

I love them.

Everyone thinks Harold is gross and needs a bath. I'm starting to agree with them. I just hope he can make it till next weekend. Snickers, be ready. As soon as I get to Rexburg you can step in and work your magic.

Special K, happy late birthday! I hope it was awesome and memorable. If not, we'll do something memorable the next time we're together and attribute it to your birthday.

I get to ride the bike trails of Lincoln with my Dad next week. I'm pumped. We used to ride all over Lincoln when I was younger. And stop at the same gas station to get corn nuts. Sometimes he'd take me to his lab and let me help him in the evenings. By help him I mean I got to fill big tubs full of water and occasionally weigh filters. Not quite sure what it was for but it was the coolest thing at that age. I remember playing in the concrete canoes, too. My dad's awesome. I love him.

I also get to see my big black dog next week. She tells me she misses me over the phone sometimes. I'm excited to see Shadrick.

And of course all my siblings. And go to my sisters' volleyball games. And see Sparky. And tell Jordie she's getting too big. And play the new Wii. And bug my mom all day. And probably get pulled into a seminary lesson.

But until then, I will enjoy the remainder of my time in the heat and humidity. I am going to be freezing in a couple weeks. And I am not looking forward to that.

In pictures, Tina and I visited some of the San Antonio Missions last weekend.  Granted, I mostly went to play with my new camera but they were still neat.

There has been a prank war going on and, of course, Harold eventually became a target:

More protesting of my fish.  My roommates really want me to clean him.  Patience is a virtue.  He will get cleaned soon.  And yes, he may or may not be donning a Hannah Montana underwear set in these photos....

I got attacked by fire ants whilst playing frisbee over a month ago.  I still have spots on my foot.  This is the reaction about 42 hours after the fact.  And this is only part of my foot.  Those little bugs are vicious.

My speakers are still blasting.  And I'm still procrastinating writing a paper to finish up this internship.  Ugh.

Have a great day :)

Kyoo 119

I don't think they have worms in San Antonio. It has been really rainy the past few days and, when I was out walking last night, I noticed I wasn't stepping on any worms. Kind of sad. Now I can't run around saving them after it stops raining and they're still stuck in the middle of the street or sidewalk.

It reminded me of one of my friends in high school who always complained about it smelling like worms after it rained. Must not smell like worms here...

I did see a frog though. I get really excited every time I see any wildlife. It's a rare occurrence now. Except snakes. I don't miss them.

The Olympics rock. And I'm a new fan of Shawn Johnson. She has the cutest smile I've seen in a long time and just seems to have it together. Very fun to watch.

Just 8 more days at USAA. I'm gonna miss it.

Have a great day :)

Kyoo 118

Did you know that it's almost impossible to buy Garth Brooks music unless you get a CD? iTunes can't sell it because Wal-Mart has exclusive rights to it, yet you can't find it on the Wal-Mart music download site. At least I can't.

Perturbed? Yes. Yes I am.

All I wanted was to take a step down memory lane! My parents used to listen to "Garthy" (as my mom called him) all the time. And I heard "Standing Outside The Fire" on the radio today and decided that I wanted to buy a few of my favorites.

So ready to part with my money yet no opportunities. What is the world coming to?

I could do this the illegal way. Is that what I'm reduced to?

Maybe I'll just go to bed. Sleeping is fun. I slept when I was little. I guess it could be nostalgic too.

And Legos are so dang expensive these days. Maybe I'm having a mid-life crisis but I really want to buy a Lego set and play with them. Maybe some Lincoln Logs. And Tinker Toys too. I was at Wal-Mart and settled for the Erector set. I'll slowly build my toy collection.

It's an investment in my future children. And if I never have any, my future nieces and nephews. I'll just get the toys broken in for them. Then I'll be the cool aunt they always want to visit.

And we'll do Mousercise together every morning.

You can't have a bad day when you wake up with Mousercise.

Do Mousercise and...

Have a great day :)

Kyoo 117

I'm taking a break from my MesoAmerica posts. So many pictures...

Someone stole my Frisbee yesterday. It may or may not have been because I left it at the pool. But I'm still sad. I went to the pool again last night and really wanted to play Frisbee but couldn't. Until I found that one of the covers for a drain made an excellent Frisbee and flew quite nicely.

It kept me and my roommates quite entertained for the evening. Can you imagine how crazy it would be to be decapitated by a Frisbee?

Weird.

Sidekick's flying in from Portland tomorrow and I'm pretty excited to see her. We have lots of plans and will be sure to capture our adventures on film.

Natalie MacMaster is performing at school this fall and I am SO excited. I'm such a nerd but I like really like her music. Fiddles just make me want to dance.

I recently, with the coaxing of my roommates, finished Twilight and enjoyed it. It's a pretty easy read and fun to fall head over heals for Edward but I will say that I'd much rather have a Jane Austen character to fall in love with. Maybe I'm a hopeless romantic.

You'd never guess it just looking at me...

I know I'm hopeless when it comes to icecream sandwiches. They have this consistency that just sings in my mouth. And it's got perfect pitch.

Have a great day :)

Kyoo 116

MesoAmerica Day Three:

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Mexico City, Mexico

This was a busy day. We visited Tenochtitlan, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the National Palace, and the Zocalo all in the morning. I got to explore the city on my own for a bit during lunch. Wandered around for almost an hour trying to find a place that I wanted to eat at. Tacos had lost their appeal already so I settled for some enchiladas. In the afternoon we visited Tlatelolco, or Plaza of Three Cultures, La Basilica, Benemerito (an LDS High School just outside of the city), and various monuments around the city in the evening.

Just a short briefing on some of the sites:

Tenochtitlan is the Aztec city that was founded when they discovered the prophesied eagle with a snake in its mouth sitting on a nopal. Mexico city was built from and on top of the ruins of Tenochtitlan.

The Metropolitan Cathedral was built between 1573 and 1813 from the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan. It was customary for the Spaniards to tear down indigenous religious structures and build churches.

The National Palace has a lot of history that I won't go into but it houses the president of Mexico and the Federal Treasury. It also has amazing murals painted by Diego Rivera.

Tlatelolco represents the convergence of the three cultures of this area: Aztec, Spanish, and modern Mexican. At this plaza resides the ruins of the Aztec city Tlatelolco, The Church of Santiago, and closely surrounding office and apartment buildings.

The Basilica was built on the site where an Indian peasant named Juan Diego supposedly saw the Virgin Mary and had her image miraculously imprinted on his cloak as proof of his vision. It now houses the Cloak of Juan Diego and is one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in Mexico.

Now for some pictures!

This is a slightly blurred picture of the Monument to Heroes of Independence or The Angel. Pretty much the coolest roundabout I've ever seen. And busiest. Imagine 40+ college students running across this street in downtown Mexico to get a closer view.

The flag at the Zocalo. Huge. And it wasn't a windy day so this picture is kinda boring.

We got to climb to the roof of the Cathedral and watch them ring the bells to call people to mass. There's lots of history associated with the bells and they're all huge but I won't bore ya'll.

These are a couple pictures from the Ballet Folklorico we got see at Benemerito. It was amazing! These were all high school students and I was just stunned at the level of technique and just the energy they put into every performance. And the costumes.

You can sort of see the Monument to the Revolution in this shot. So many monuments in Mexico City. This one was especially fun because there was a group of people doing indigenous dances to the beat of a drum and they let us join them. It was a lot of fun. And then, of course, there was the flame thrower. Pretty much the coolest atmosphere for a night in Mexico City. And I got the dance steps after about 10 minutes of trying.

View of the courtyard in the National Palace.

Me and Covina showing how cold we are, mostly in spite of all our friends back in Rexburg. The rainy season was just starting in Mexico City so the weather wasn't scorching hot but it was definitely still warmer than Rexburg. I did have to wear a jacket though. The real warm weather began a few days later when we traveled south.

A very small part of the Mexico through the Centuries mural by Diego Rivera in the National Palace.

Some tour guide posing for me in the National Palace. This was shortly after I saw the biggest, most ripped man I had ever seen in my life (until a couple weeks ago). I was trying to nonchalantly sneak a picture of him and this guy noticed and was trying to get his attention for me so I could get a picture. Those attempts failed so he told me he'd flex his muscles and I could get a picture of him instead.

One of the bell towers of the Metropolitan Cathedral.

One of the ginormous, ornately carved organs in the National Cathedral. I just stared in awe the entire time I was in there just trying to fathom the work that went into the whole building. So many details.

Me and Vanessa in front of a replica of the Coyolxauhqui Stone (haha, pronounce that!). Workmen digging at the site in 1978 happened upon this stone which soon led to the discovery of the Great Temple.

Me with the ruins of the Great Temple (Templo Mayor) and the Metropolitan Cathedral, which was built from the Great Temple, in the background. Notice the jacket. It was a little chilly, I'll admit it.

Chac Mool! He was the messenger of the Gods. This was part of the Templo Mayor at Tenochtitlan that they're still unearthing. I think he looks pretty cool.

And this concludes my brief summary. I have to go finish making bread for a potluck after church today.

Have a great day :)