Infestation

Christmas ended early for me this year. Here's why:

Within the first few hours back in our dungeonous apartment, I noticed a few small, spider-esque little bugs crawling around our couch and on the floor. And the closer you went to the Christmas tree, the more of them there were. So just to test his theory, T-rav stuck his hand in the tree and found his fingers crawling with mini-spiders. Yes, to my dismay, the lovely Smiths-purchased Grand Fir was completely covered in these nasty little bugs.

Yep, totally covered from top to bottom of the trunk.

So, I sat in the corner of the room and wept as T-rav carefully removed all our ornaments and took the blasted thing outside (I usually leave my tree up until at least after New Year's Day). We then spent the next few hours smashing bugs and vaccuuming up the mess they made.

I think we returned from Idaho just in time; imagine what a disaster it could have been if they had been allowed to breed...

Happy Anniversary to us!

6 years and counting...Ya tin bajo, Tio!

Merry Christmas

Finals are almost over, my piles of things to grade is beginning to dwindle, and peeps are starting to leave for Christmas.

But I'm not ready for Christmas yet! I need another week!!

Does anyone else feel this way?

dinner parties

Last night we were invited to a non-lds foreign friend's house for a dinner party. This was our evening's schedule: we arrived around 5, chatted and snacked for about an hour, started on dinner around 6 while our hostess cooked and brought out dish after dish, sat around the table for the next few hours chatting, had dessert at about 8:30, chatted some more, and finally left at about 11. I think our hosts were slightly surprised that we (there were 5 of us, all lds) stayed so late. Apparently their experience has been that lds people expect to eat dinner right when they arrive, eat, talk for a while, then leave within about 2 hours of arrival. Having not been invited to many dinner parties in my life (after all, dinner at your non lds friend's house when you're 16 hardly counts as an official invitation), I was wondering if this is an lds custom or an American custom. What are the usual expectations for a normal non-lds American dinner party?

I was also wondering about this: what do you expect when you invite someone over for dinner? If I invite you over, I'm offering dinner and, as long as I don't have something pressing later on that evening, inviting you to stay as long as you'd like (usually I prefer it that way. I feel empty inside when people leave). On the other hand, when I am invited to someone's house for dinner, I usually feel like I've overstayed my welcome if it's been more than 3 hours.

And this: if you bring something with you to dinner, do you expect to take home the leftovers? Or do you expect to leave them with the host?

some stereotypes are true

Such as the one about Asians being rill rill smart:

Today one of my Korean students told me that her 10 year old daughter just won a spelling bee in school. Did I mention that she's been here for less than 1 year and barely spoke a word of English when she got here?

And she won the spelling bee for her entire grade.

It's ok to be impressed. I was.

Oh, and exciting news: I've decided to start an International Student Choir (club) at UVU. So as of next semester, I get to be a choir director. Coolies eh?

Now if you have any ideas for songs, I'd happily take suggestions...

you are what you eat

I have a friend who is overweight and quite miserable about it. I enjoy spending time with her, but I often feel quite awkward around her. Let's say, for example, that we're having lunch together. I might sit down to a salad and yogurt, or a sandwich, or even something relatively unhealthy like a hamburger or greasy cafeteria food. It doesn't matter what I'm eating- she always has some kind of comment about it. She might ask me how I eat things like that and stay so thin, or comment on how I'm so good for eating so healthy, or how she's so fat and will never look like me...blah blah blah. For a long time, I felt almost guilty for eating around her because I'm skinny and she's not. But over the past few weeks I've been watching what she eats and my guilt has lessened. Here's an example of a typical meal with this friend:

• Chips
• Chex mix
• Several cookies from the vending machine
• Lots of chocolates
• Salted flavored nuts

She's also always the first one to grab a piece of pie or cheesecake or tart or anything sweet and bad for you. Occasionally she eats something healthy with lunch, but almost all of her snacks, and they are many, are things with lots of salt, sugar, or fat. Really, it's no wonder that she's overweight- if I ate like that, I'm sure my booty would also expand. And I'm starting to want to tell her this anytime she makes a comment about her weight. She's living proof that you are what you eat.

wishing you a Merry Christmas

Dear non-religious Christmas celebrator,

Why does Christmas need to become a secular event? Why can't I have signs saying "Merry Christmas" in my store windows? Why does it have to be "Happy Holidays?" Why can't I sing Away in a Manger in school along with Jingle Bells. I understand that you may not choose to celebrate the religious aspect of Christmas, and that's just fine. But the plain fact of the matter is that Christmas is a religious holiday, no matter how you look at it. I'm not trying to force my Christianity on you by wishing you a Merry Christmas or by singing traditional religious Christmas carols. I'm just celebrating Christmas the way I see fit, just like you are. Why does my way of celebrating = closed minded or offensive? And why can we talk about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa without any repercussions, but Christmas is taboo?

How about this for a solution: I'll wish you a Merry Christmas, you respond with a Happy Holidays, Eid, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or whatever, and we'll both smile and go our separate ways.

Sincerely,
your religious Christmas celebrating neighbor

LOOK...

at what T-rav bought me today! He's the best!


I wish I lived in Harry Potter land.

Cheater!

What, in your opinion, makes one a cheater? Is sharing answers on an assignment cheating? What if it's a dumb assignment or busy work? What about on a test? What about finding information on the internet and "rephrasing it" (kind of) and claiming it as your own? How often did you cheat on things and get away with it? Did your teacher ever catch you?

There is a ton of cheating among ESL students. I don't know if it's because they have a different idea of what cheating means or what, but they all do it, even after we have long, in depth conversations about it. And one of the most unpleasant things I get to do as a teacher is tell students that I know they've cheated and this is how they're going to be punished for it. I always feel extremely awkward, but at the same time slightly vindictive. Ccome on people. If you're a level 3 ESL student, should you really be writing essays that look like a college student's senior thesis? Probably not. But somehow they think I won't notice. They really do think I'm that dumb.

I've been tagged!

Cousin Manda tagged me on a picture post, so here's the fourth picture from the fourth folder in my computer photo album:

In this picture, I'm testing out T-rav's new karate foot pads and gloves. Yes, I am trying to kick him as he takes this picture. I'm desperately hoping he'll buy me my very own set so we can fight without restraint (meaning I can wail on him and he can wail back with fewer visible bruises- after all, I wouldn't want anyone to think we actually beat each other...)

I tag: Layla, Krust, T-rav and Callie.

Good bye Samantha

I have urgent news for any of you who once loved or still love your Samantha American Girl Doll: Samantha is being retired!

Yes, it's true. She and Nellie are going the way of all the earth, and almost ALL of her beautiful accessories and clothing are already out of stock on the american girl website! Right now it's a mad (and expensive) rush on ebay to purchase anything anyone has left. I find this terribly depressing. If only it was my birthday TODAY so I could waste all my money on Samantha stuff, as well as the new head I promised her (her hair is badly in need of replacement).

So if you or a small young female are still in want of any Samantha items, you better hurry. They're going fast!

(to the few males who read my blogs, please disregard this post without any snide or snippety comments...I'm really being quite serious and sincere)

Change....what change?!

I'm kind of annoyed. Our dear Obama has not yet even been officially instated as president, and already there is great reason to become quite skeptical about the great "changes" that he's promising to enact. Take, for example, Obama's emphasis on having "new blood" in Washington, even hinting at crossing party lines in his choices for Cabinet members. And then when it actually comes down to it, he chooses more "Washington insiders" than either Bush or Clinton. "Obama's first four likely Cabinet choices, including former First Lady Hillary Clinton, bring a combined total of more than 60 years of Washington experience" (go here to read the full article). Let's look at some of his selections so far:

• Secretary of Health and human Services: Senator Tom Daschle, a 30 years in Washington AND most recently working as a Lobbyist (mems, Obama, how you said you weren't a fan of Lobbyists?)
• Attorney General: Eric Holder, 20 years in Washington
• White House Chief of Staff: Rahm Emanuel, a strongly partisan Democrat, and, according to wikipedia and npr, kind of scary and emotionally volatile
• Senior Advisor to the President: David Axelrod

and the most TERRIFYING of ALL:

• Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. Heaven help us!
  

Please bear in mind that I have never had any strong dislike for Obama, so I'm not complaining about this out of some kind of I'm mad McCain or Romney or Huckabee or Nader or whoever didn't get elected so I'm going to complain about it vendetta. I just think if you're going to run a campaign based solely on the promise of change, maybe the first official acts you do as a president elect should reflect just a little hint of change, rather than the Clinton administration all over again.

And then there's that whole I'm 47 and have written 4 dozen books about my life because I have so much to say...but that's a complaint for another time.

Today, I was told by one of my Korean students that I am "pretty...but smart."

He sounded surprised. Does this mean all semester he's been thinking I'm dumb? Exactly how am I supposed to take that?

So I was just wondering if you peeps were more likely to think have lots of kids or just have kids in general. It appears that have kids in general wins. I've always gotten the impression, probably incorrect and spurred by my rabid fear/distaste/displeasure at the thought of having children any time in the near future, that it meant have lots of kids, which would also explain why many Mormons are so prone to reproducing like rabbits. Not that it mattered, for, as you've noticed, I still don't have any kids. Which I'm totally fine with.

Take that all you people who shall remain nameless who want me to have a babby asap! :P

I would really be much better of if multiply and replenish meant grow a nice garden and plant trees. I'm really quite good at that...

What does this phrase mean to you?

"multiply and replenish the earth"

Please try not to let other comments sway your opinion. I want to know what you think!

*And will someone other than my family PLEASE comment. I'm trying to win an argument and I need real comments!

Here is one of the journal questions my level 2 writing students were asked:

Complete this sentence: If I were rich, I would... Describe the things you would do.

Here is 1 student's answer:

If I were rich, I would start a new enterprise. However, I fail a project because that project is beyond my power. Nevertheless, I like a venture, so I'm busted to beggary, so my wife leaves me, and I go to subway, and I beg.

Hm- Maybe this is only funny if you're an ESL teacher.

the pains of fashion

So I've been searching for a new pair of black flats for weeks, trying to find something attractive, marginally comfortable, and definitely cheap. What I discovered was this: there are no comfortable, cute, cheap shoes. If you want them comfortable, you either have to pay a bootleg of money, or they're doomed to be hideous. Why is that?

The ones I bought are very cute, but appallingly stiff, wreaking havoc on my no-longer-tough-because-it's-almost-winter feet. It didn't help that I had to walk all over campus today...or that I think my feet magically grow or shrink, depending on the time of day and my location.

Because of the ginormous blisters threatening to form in 3 locations per foot, I taught barefoot for nearly 3 hours. When several of my Korean girls asked me why I wasn't wearing my shoes, all I had to say was "I got new shoes" and they instantly responded with a knowing smile. Girls just understand the sacrifices required to look good.

It's raining today.

Today is a good day.

An ode to my veteran

Ok, it's not really an ode because an ode usually implies good rhythm, a poetic way with words, and even music. Since this post will have none of those things, it's not really an ode...more of a tribute. But ode sounds so much more interesting.

So today is Veteran's Day, a fact which I had completely forgotten until I heard it on the radio this morning. American never really pays much attention to Veteran's Day (probably because us regular peeps don't get school and work off), but this year I'm going to be a conscientious citizen and remember it by introducing you to my veteran brother. He's the only veteran I associate with on a regular basis and is probably not exactly what pops into your head when you head the word "veteran" (I don't know about you, but I usually think of old grey-haired men wearing WWII uniforms that are dusty and possibly bursting at the seams). Nevertheless, my 22 year old brother has served in Iraq on 2 deployments with the Marines, and is scheduled for a 3rd (somewhere). He originally signed up because he didn't know what he wanted to do with his life, but liked the idea of getting paid to shoot guns. Because he was a little too excited at the thought of shooting at people, he volunteered to be in the artillery division when he could have had basically any job he wanted. But as crazy as he may be, my brother loves his country and what it stands for. He loves the guys he serves with and the job he does.. So thanks, brother, for serving our country. And for staying alive.

*Alas, I didn't have any brother-in-uniform pictures lying about...he really is a marine, I promise.

Obama mania

I've noticed that I always get the most comments on my blog whenever I post about politics...and since I'm a glutton for comments, even when they're not always perfectly harmonious (be nice, fautie), I decided I should say something about our new President Elect.

First of all, what do you think?

My opinions of Obama (as well as McCain) have long been mixed. I voted for Nader because I couldn't make up my mind between Obama and McCain, and, of course, because I firmly believe that a strong third party would keep US politicians on their toes. Whether Nader should lead that third party, or whether that third party should be the Green Party is definitely questionable, but I digress. Back to Obama. I question his health care plan, tax increases, his lack of experience, and the fact that many people I consider to be absolutely nuts are obsessed with him.

BUT. Whatever my personal opinions of Obama may be, I am satisfied that he, rather than McCain, will be our next president for this reason: for some reason, people find hope in Obama. You can joke about him being the "Messiah" or whatever, but I think it will be good for America to have a president that the majority, and an especially vocal majority at that, believes in. He makes a good symbol of America (ie. he looks/talks pretty), and I think it is always good for a country to have a change of pace. Whether these changes will be good remains to be seen, but I for one have hope that he will take America in direction that will be an improvement.

Election Day...from an ESL perspective

So I voted at a voting both for the first time today (I've always had to do an absentee ballot). It was much more interesting than I thought it would be AND I didn't even have to wait in line (good thing I skipped my German class!). After voting, I went to my first ESL class proudly wearing my "I Voted" sticker, which, of course, progressed into a political discussion beginning with a whiny "why isn't today a holiday" (good question- I've often asked myself the same thing) and progressing into deeper things like the electoral college. When I asked my students who they would have voted for, the conversation went something like this:

Me: Would you have voted for McCain or Obama if you could vote?
Overwhelming majority of students: OBAMA!
Me: Why? What do you like about Obama?
Student 1: He's handsome!
Student 3: He's black!
Student 2: He likes South Korea
Me: McCain doesn't like South Korea?
Students: silence
Me: Why don't you like McCain?
Student 3: He's OLD!
Student 4: He's UGLY!

I wonder how many Americans will vote on similar lines...

Two Little Chefs

Tonight my friend Caroline and I have started a new blog all about food. It will feature delicious recipes and fantastic pictures (because Caroline is an amazing photographer and she's going to make our food look even more amazing than it tastes...hard to believe, I know). We currently only have 1 recipe posted, but keep checking it out because we'll be updating it on a regular basis.

Read it.

You won't regret it.

help

I need this. As soon as possible.

Feminist Muslims

No, it's not an oxymoron. There are indeed women who are Muslim AND feminists. And this past weekend was the Third International Congress on Islamic Feminism wherein Muslim women from all over the world gathered together to discuss the issues facing women in the Muslim world today. It warms my heart to know that such an event is taking place. Maybe I'll go next year. If you're interested, the BBC has a selection of excerpts from speakers at the conference. I particularly like the ones from Oman and the US, especially this part from Amina Wadud:

"I have always defined myself as pro-faith and pro-feminism.

I do not wish to sacrifice my faith for anybody's conception of feminism, nor do I sacrifice the struggle and actions for full equality of women, Muslim and non-Muslim women, for any religion. Islamic feminism is not an either/or, you can be Muslim and feminist and strive for women's rights and not call yourself a feminist."

Might I say the same as a Mormon woman.

And now the moment you've all been waiting for...

What do I think of Sarah Palin's g-dropping and reductions?

All political views aside, I hate the way she speaks. I don't think it's natural even one bit (maybe it was when she was a teenager, but she's been around the public eye long enough to have mastered Standard American English). To me, she sounds friendly and believable, but very unintelligent. I feel like she's talking down to America and putting us all in a class with hicks and rednecks. Which I am not. *Note: I'm solely talking about Palin's speech, not her personally or her politics.

However, I understand her purpose of trying to create solidarity among Americans. While my little poll was definitely less than scientifically accurate (i.e. it's really hard to separate what you think about the way Palin speaks from your opinion of her and her political views), I was not at all surprised by the results: 55% of you thought Palin's speech made her sound friendly (no one found her to be unfriendly) and 40% thought she sounded trustworthy. On the other hand, 35% thought she sounded unintelligent (I actually thought it would be higher) and 30% thought she sounded unpresidential. The point is, Palin is clearly altering her speech so the she can come across as a friendly, down to earth type of person...and it's working. The only down side is that people don't always take the local "hockey mom" very seriously.

Along those same lines, one of my professors, Wendy Baker, did an extremely fascinating study a few years ago (yes, I'm too lazy to go find a source for this right now) on dialect perception. She played speech clips of people from various areas across the country: South, East, West (Colorado), Northwest, and Utah. Her results found that people assumed different things about people based on the way they speak. Southerners sounded dumb, but friendly; Easterners sounded stuck up and smart; Coloradans had an equal mix of sounding smart, friendly, relaxed- theirs was the preferred dialect; and Utahans sounded dumb, but not unfriendly (interestingly enough, it was the Utahns that rated their dialect the lowest- come on Utah, get some self-esteem!). We constantly make judgements about people based on their accents and word choices.

The real trick is finding a balance in your speech. In Palin's case, she's identifying very well with lower-middle class America, but perhaps not so much with the academics. Do you think it's worth the risk of alienating 1 group to identify with another?

*Just for the record, if I ever say anything about your speech, I for one am not judging you. I'm just observing and sometimes I get excited and want you to know what I've just noticed about your speech. I'm a linguist; it's what I do.

Ode to Krust

Today is my sister Kristi's (you can call her Krust) birthday. She's 24. And since she's stuck in Brazil and I'm a pile who didn't send her a Halloween package for her birthday (her actual present was a birth certificate...the same thing as last year. It kind of rotten having to apply for all sorts of visa stuff, eh, sis?), I thought I'd post a little tribute to my sister.


Here's a short list of the things that make her really great (in no particular order):

She is...

• very loyal
• fun AND cool
  
• a good dancer
• an excellent Portuguese speaker
• loving, unconditionally.
  
• never one to fight (usually), even when I goad her
• smart AND interesting (and not even nerdy)
• a person with great taste in fashion, decor, and art
  
• a good cook

AND she has great hair.

Happy birthday Sister!

You wanna see how politics are changin'?

The other day one of the ESL teachers at UVU shared a most excellent worksheet with me (thanks Maddie!). It covered 2 interesting linguistic phenomena: g-dropping (which technically isn't dropping the g at all, just the -ing sound and converting it to an -n) and reductions.

G-dropping occurs when, instead of saying the compelte -ing sound at the end of a word like fishing, hunting, eating, etc, you eliminate the -ing sound and instead pronounce the n: huntiN' fishiN', eatiN'.

A reduction occurs any time that you slur together or don't pronounce part of the sounds written in a word. This is very common in contractions: I should have --> I should've --> I shoulda. I am going to --> I'm going to --> I'm gonna. You may also hear reductions in a situation like this: Give her the mail --> Giver the mail; in front of --> in fronna (fronnuv); or a sentence like did you eat yet --> jew eat yet --> jeet yet.

You get the picture. To me, the most interesting part of g-dropping and reductions is when they are done with intent to manipulate or change social perception...which is exactly what so many politicans (and many others) have been doing for years.

So this worksheet focused on Sarah Palin's speech during the vice presidential debate. Perhaps you've already noticed, but Palin, like most politicians, (Hillary Clinton being one of the biggest culprits) is excellent at varying her speech depending on the topic and group being addressed (Obama also does this; he has been known to suddenly sound more "black" when he's addressing African Americans). For example, you'll notice that when Palin discusses her views on policy, she has her g-s in tact and uses very few reductions. But when she's talking to the "common man" or emphasizing that she's a hockey mom or just like the rest of us regular ole' Americans, suddenly all her g-s are gone and she sounds like a back country hick. (NPR's All things Considered has a great article about this very topic.) Whenever a person chooses to consciously alter their speech, there is a motive behind it. Most of the time it's simply to fit in better with the social group you're engaged with. And there's not anything wrong with that; everyone does it, to some extent at least.

So I have several questions I would love for you to answer in my Palin poll (please feel free to select as many as you like). Consider this a mini sociolinguistic study concerning the effect such speech variations have on public perception. I shall refrain from leaving you with my opinion until my poll closes (I wouldn't want to bias your opinions now, would I?) If you've never listened to Palin talk, click on the link above to the NPR article. There are several video clips that demonstrate what I'm talking about.

it's apple time

I spend much of my time during the fall searching for the perfect apple. Living in Utah, where the large majority of our apples come from Washington, the selection, in my opinion, is pretty slim. I know most Washington-ers would have my throat for for saying so, but I just don't love them. Sure, Galas are ok. They're definitely leaps and bounds better than Fuji, Pink Lady, or Jonagold. But when I want to eat an apple, I want it to crunch when I take a bite. I don't want my teeth sinking in around mealy mushy pulp posing as an apple. It should be tart, but not so tart that it sucks your cheecks in (take that Granny Smith!), and sweet, but not so sweet that it loses all semblance of being fruit.

Granted, I've been spoiled by growing up in New York. Cortland and Empire apples are just about the best apples around. They are just the right amount of sweet, crisp, and tart. They're perfect for eating or baking. They make excellent applesauce. And even McIntosh aren't so bad. New York just takes the cake when it comes to tasty apples. So during the past 7 years living in Utah, every trip home became a glutinous apple eating fest wherein I stuffed myself to the brim with Cortlands and Empires.

But then along came the Honeycrisp and the western apple world started looking a whole lot better (yes, there really is an entire website dedicated to honeycrisp. Sweet mother of lust).

Honestly, this is apple is Fantastic. It easily earns the right to join the ranks of Best Apple Ever. It's crisp; it's tart; it's crunchy. It's delicious.

And...it's available in Utah! Finally, something tasty is coming out of Washington orchards!

So as long I'm willing to pay 2.49/lb for tasty apples (which you know I am), I no longer have to endure such misery during apple season.

Praise allah. And the genius scientists at the Universtiy of Minnasota.

A LA GRAN PUCHICA

Read this. Or just look at the headline. Words cannot express the growing gnawing feeling in my stomach right now.

I feel like I haven't posted anything of real interest in ages. Not that I'm going to tonight, but I just thought I'd let you all know that we've lugged all our stuff into the basement and are currently trying to jam our 2 bedroom belongings into a 1 bedroom apartment. I definitely need to make a visit to Ikea. Maybe I'll even have to buy some of those super-organizers that I've never before needed or wanted.

On another note, I would like to entreat all of you to please clean your apartment the next time you move out of it. Our downstairs neighbors were less than thorough on ours...meaning they quickly wiped down anything that could shine noticeably (the kitchen sink and fridge) and promptly ran out the door, leaving nasty crusties all over the kitchen cuboards, charred food in the oven, and cobwebs in the corners and on the walls. Dis-gust-ing.

I dropped off one of my students on my way home from school yesterday and this is what he said:

"Thanks for riding me!"

And said with such sincere innocence!

it's really not all bad

I feel like, of recent, I might be giving off the wrong impression. I DO love teaching. I really do. And I love my students (aside from a select few really irritating ones...but really, when you're thrown in with 50 new peeps, a few of them are bound to bug you). But I seem to only talk about school when I'm terribly annoyed by something. So today, since the only bad thing that happened was a pop quiz, and that was only bad for my students, not for me (I actually really love giving pop quizzes), I'm going to show you some happy pictures of some of my students from the past few semesters.

Fall 2007
Reading Level 4
Nationalities (from left to right): Hong Kong-ese, Korean, me, more Korean, Taiwanese, Taiwanese, Korean, German (I can't help but add this: she was the ditsiest person I have ever met in real life. No really, it was like a movie, she was that dumb)

Winter 2008
Writing Level 2
Nationalities: Korean, Chinese, Chinese, Korean, Haitian (guess who), more Korean...(front row) Japanese, me, Korean, Brazilian, Colombian, Peruvian, Korean


Summer 2008
Reading/Writing Level 3
Nationalities: Korean, Japanese, Korean, Colombian, Tanzanian, me, Korean, (next row) Korean, Japanese, Korean
This was my favorite class (or part of them). Maybe it was beause it was the summer...or maybe because I had them for 2 hours every day for almost 4 months...or maybe because they were just great.

Since I like them so much, this group gets another picture. Two points to whoever can find the Nepali by the name of Bhagawati!

It's true, I discriminate; I'm instantly more fascinated by my minority students. Not that I don't love my Koreans. But honestly, how many Nepali/Tanzanian/Haitian people does the average person meet in the course of a year? They're just so interesting.

the things that drive me crazy/cause me anxiety (today at least)

1. the national debt and collapsing economy
   
2. students who ask stupid questions
3. students who don't do their homework and then ask stupid questions
4. 85 degree weather in the fall
   
5. a lack of clouds anywhere in the sky
6. not knowing how to correctly use prepositions and cases in German
   
7. apples that don't crunch when you bit into them
8. a university that regularly doesn't manage to pay its employees on time- SERIOUSLY PEOPLE
   
9. students who ask me questions I can't answer
   
10. not being able to make good tasting chocolate chip cookies

It hasn't been a bad day...I'm just keeping a record of the many things that make my mood change.

*Might I also add: people who honk when I don't turn right in front of the car speeding towards me down the road.

home sweet home

We finally found a place to live! Although it's a bit smaller than our current apartment, it's still pretty nice, and the kitchen is twice the size of my own. And our rent only increases by 5$. Really, that's kind of sad since we're going to a basement and we've had the entire upstairs of a house, but since our rent has never increased in the 3 years we've lived here, it's to be expected. Anyway, here's a picture.


Look familiar? It should! We're moving to the basement! And as much as I would like to dislike the new owners (our new landlords and upstairs neighbors), they're so dang likable. And they both speak German, so when I have questions on my homework I can come up and ask. And they're not making us pay a deposit. And I still get to eat my garden. And I only have to move my stuff a few dozen feet.

I know, it's kind of weird, but oh, so very convenient.

Spiders

One of my writing level 2 students wrote a paragraph about spiders last week. I read his 1st draft and have had 3 consecutive dreams about spiders since then...and now that I'm forced to read his 2nd draft, I though I'd share his creepy, surprisingly good paragraph.

I hate spiders very much. They are so ugly. They make webs everywhere and they crawl on your body when you sleep. Sometimes they would like to disturb you when you are doing homework they hang in the air with a thread and waver in the air like they are about to fall down in your work book. Sometimes they would like to jump in your food or swim in your juice. Some of them have small bodies, long legs, and little hair. Some of them have fat bodies, short legs, and are hairy. When you kill them, it is hard to do too because they run very fast. Sometimes you cannot catch them. When you kill them, liquid always comes out from their body. Aren't they ugly? Don't you agree with me? I think there is nothing uglier than spiders in this word.

Gross!

I thought about putting a picture up, but I was overcome with shudders at the first image...and I wouldn't want to be afraid of my own blog, now, would I?

Happy Birthday T-rav!

Ya tin bajo!

Punching the dough

Tonight I tried out a new recipe for wheat bread. It was good, but I must admit, I was a bit disappointed.  If you're terrified of making bread, or your previous bread experiences have been disastrous, give it a try.  It's really simple and maybe you'll be more impressed than I.  But in my opinion, there wasn't enough flavor to it, and was actually rather heavy for my taste.  If I ever make it again, I will bake it for about 5 more minutes than I did, which would have helped with the heaviness, and perhaps add a bit more salt.  But I think I'll stick to my momma's delicious recipe.  

Whole Wheat Bread

by Kathy Hill

Combine the following in a small bowl:

2 tbsp yeast

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 c very warm water

In a large bowl (or Kitchen Aid or Bosch mixer), combine these ingredients:

5 c warm water

1 c wheat flour

2 tbsp salt

2/3 c oil

1/4 c wheat germ

2/3 c honey (I prefer 1/3 c honey, 1/3 c molasses)

1 c white flour

1. Add the yeast mixture to the flour.  
2. Then add and knead 5-6 more cups wheat flour and about 2 more cups white flour.  Add the flour until the dough is just barely sticky.  
3. Let dough rise until twice the size.
4. Form into loaves and place in greased loaf pans.
5. Bake 35-40 minutes at 350 F 

If any of you know loads about baking, I'm wondering if it's really necessary to use quite that much yeast.  I would think it would be ok with just 1 tbsp if you let the dough rise a bit longer (maybe after you form it into loaves), but I haven't tried it yet.  It might be ok with a bit less salt as well...if any of you have any suggestions or favorite bread recipes I'd love to try them out.  

It's official...

I'm ready for fall. 

regret

Thus far in my life, I feel as though I have lived without any major regrets.  Sure, I wish I would have been a little more outgoing, persistant, or daring, but for the most part I don't have any real regrets.  But today all of that changed.  

You see, my dear dear Gramps (in Denver) had a stroke last night.  He's still alive and he's able to identify people, but he's unable to talk.  And I, being the lazy, selfish, wimpy person that I am, never got around to calling him last week when he still would have had the ability to respond.  My last conversation with him was several months ago...maybe longer.  And now I might never get to talk to him and hear his answer.  

But luckily, my mum just called and informed me that he is up and walking and...talking.  So maybe I'll get to have that conversation after all.  Next time though, I won't wait until tomorrow.  

Exciting news! There was a possibility that at the end of this month we would be both homeless and T-rav unemployed. But his temporary position at the IRC has been extended, yet again, until November. Thankfully. Now if only we could find place to live...

Dinner tonight

I haven't posted a recipe on here in ages, so I thought I'd share the delicious harvest-y dinner we had last night. It's easy (chop up a load of vegetables and mix them together), tasty, looks beautiful and is healthy. Well, assuming you don't put all the cheese in, it's healthy. But really, you should just eat it with all the cheese. It tastes so much better that way.

Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables
from Everyday Italian by Giada de Laurentiis

2 red peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch wide strips (or green peppers)
2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes (I've used both butternut squash as well as eggplant. Both are fine)
4 cremini mushrooms, halved (or regular white mushrooms are fine...and I always use way more mushrooms than called for)
1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced into 1-inch strips
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix or herbs de Provence
1 pound penne pasta
3 cups marinara sauce (store bought or homemade)
1 cup grated fontina cheese (if you have to omit a cheese, I would recommend this one, as it's around $8 for 1 cup's worth at Smiths. But it's oh so delicious!)
1/2 cup grated smoked mozzarella
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/3 cup for topping
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

1. On a baking sheet, toss the peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and onions with olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and dried herbs. Roast until slightly tender, about 15 minutes. (Be careful not to roast the vegetables too long or they will become soggy when you bake them later)

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, you want to make sure the inside is still hard (this is very important! We want pasta al dente, not al mush!). Drain in a colander.

3. In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce, cheeses, peas, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix, until all the pasta is coated with the sauce and the ingredients are combined.

4. Pour the pasta into a greased 9 by 13-inch pan. Top with the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan and butter pieces. Bake until top is golden and cheese melts, about 25 minutes. (For some reason (could be the extra mushrooms) I had way too much to fit into a 9 x 13, so I also used an 8 x 8 pan).
   

oh the lies we (I) weave

Last year, at my first semester of teaching ESL at UVU, I encountered a serious problem. I was young (and very young looking), blond, female, freshly graduated with an MA, terrified to teach a group larger than 3 students, and, to my dismay, 65% of my students were Korean. You may be wondering why this is a problem. Let me explain.

Koreans, more so than any culture of which I am aware, are extremely concerned with age. Concerned to the point where they have particular ways to conjugate verbs and special terms of address for people based on how much older or younger they are than you. If you are older, you say hello one way; if you are younger, you use a different word. Similarly, if you are older, you get respect; if you are younger, you don't (at least not as much).

So there I was, facing the demanding "How old are you" from my Korean students every day, all the while trying to decide what to do. Every time I refused to answer, I was thrown into a fit of blushing (I don't know why). I knew they didn't respect me; indeed, it was hard to miss when they spent their time ignoring me, asking off topic, irrelevant questions, demanding this and that from me as their teacher...and I could go on. I also knew that all of my Korean students were younger than 24. I decided that it would be much better for me, especially considering the fact that being a woman would already count against me, if I were older than all of my students.

So I lied.

I finally told my students I was 25, when I was really only 24. And voilà, they started being much more respectful. I don't know if that was the only reason. I'm pretty sure I was a nervous, confusing wreck for the first few weeks of school. And when my birthday passed in November and they threw a party for me, I turned 26. All summer I've been 26, and word has gotten around to the point where my new students usually already know my age before I even meet them.

Alas, all of this was undone today in a moment of pure stupidity! I left my wallet sitting on the table next to me while I was tutoring today. One of the students I was tutoring saw it laying there and wanted to see my pictures (Koreans are obsessed with pictures). After much begging and pleading, I finally relented and chose one of the less terrible fotos (wherein, I was informed, I look "more fatter" than I do now): my NY license...which happens to have my birth date in plain view and which OF COURSE was noticed by this student!

So now he knows, and although I explained why I did it, and vehemently insisted that he not share this information with any other students, my secret is out.

Blast.

*By the way, I have since grown to love my Korean students and their ridiculous ideas about age. I'm rather obsessed with it myself, so it pretty much works out.

traitor

Today I was forced to renounce my loyalty to New York by becoming an official resident of Utah. I've been avoiding this since I graduated last year and no longer had the excuse of "I'm a student" to explain my continued licensing from New York. But this semester I decided to take a class at UVU because I've always wanted to take German and because I've been missing doing homework and studying a language. Alas, in order to get my free tuition for being a faculty member, I have to be a resident of Utah. So this morning I trudged reluctantly down to the DLD, took the written driver's test and chooked back a few tears while I was issued a new license. They punched holes in my fancy, 3-D NY license, rendering it obsolete. And now I have a really ugly Utah license with a really ugly picture. But at least I get to take a free class, right?

blech

T-rav is a strong proponent of throwing your immune system "curve balls," believing that by keeping your intestinal tract on its toes, you'll be able to handle any unintentional culinary surprises that may sneak their way in. This means that he'll eat just about anything...from 2 week old food and tacos purchased from roadside stands to candy off the floor and mystery meat in foreign countries. And he claims that he's never gotten sick eating what most people would never touch. Although I'm not quite as extreme as he, I'll eat almost anything from anyplace, especially if I have a coke handy- always drink a coke when you eat something scary because it will kill whatever bugs manage to make it in (does that ever make you wonder what's in coke?). Except for leftovers; I hate leftovers. Sure, I'll eat 1-day old food on occasion (dinner for lunch the next day), but only if they were really good the first time.

Yesterday I broke my rule. And I'm paying for it now.

On Sunday last week I made some delicious rice pudding. I kept meaning to eat it all day on Monday, but never got around to it. Well, it hung around in the fridge until I rediscovered it yesterday. In my defense, all rational thought had left me because I was utterly starving; any and everything looked fantastic. It was in this state of mind that I decided to reheat the pudding and have it for lunch, much to T-rav's amazement. (It was a WEEK OLD! What was I thinking?!)

The moral of the story is this: throw your system a curve ball on a regular basis. Your stomach will thank you.

Loyalist or Rebel?

This evening T-rav and I got into a brief, irrational (on my part at least) discussion about something. As usual, he sided with the Law rather than my own whimsical fancies, which naturally made me start thinking about the Revolutionary War (can't you see the obvious connection? Law abiding citizen...my loathing for authority and restrictions...naturally brings us to the Revolutionary war). And I decided that, in my opinion, T-rav would most definitely have been a Loyalist (he may have a slightly different view on this matter).

And I would have been a Rebel.

What would you have been? Law abiding, respectful Loyalist or uncivilized, unruly Rebel?

SWEET MOTHER OF LUST!

I found this recipe today and almost fainted with desire. I'm going to make them tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes. Maybe I'll even convince Goatess to break her current no-treat policy...

a 1 cow wife

Yesterday, T-rav and I had the pleasure of attending a RWANDAN wedding ceremony. There were drums, dancers, an alcoholic beverage served to the important family elders in a large gourd, fancy headpieces, a lot of waiting and drinking of soda (by the wedding guests), Hispanic photographers, a beautiful brother of the groom, and 1 happily married couple. Could you ask for anything more?

The ceremony progressed like a play, beginning with a narrator who declared that the groom's family had just arrived at the bride's house, but they "weren't sure what they wanted" or why they were there...and ending with the families agreeing on 1 cow for the wife's hand in marriage. Then, alas, the bride "disappeared" and the groom's loyalty was tested when the bride's family offered him another girl in place of the chosen bride. Wisely, the groom opted not to accept the other girl, waited until the bride was "found," and their union was then official. Here are our sad attempts at taking fotos while avoiding all the other guests, wedding party, photographers, etc.

dancing girls to entertain us while the families negotiated...


the groom waiting for his bride to finally emerge from the house...

the bride ceremoniously places a special headpiece on the groom...



officially married.

what's your favorite color?

Today during all 3 of my ESL classes, I had my students interview each other to get the basic get-to-know-you info. One of the questions asked "what is your favorite color?" To my great surprised, about 10 of the total 45 or so students said white. WHITE. Not that there's anything wrong with white, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone choose white as their favourite color. Have you?

They were all Korean, too. I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Hmm...

flies

I feel ridiculous and am exceedingly glad no one can see me. I have been sitting here at my computer desk reading my email while wildly waving my arms around at the Most Pesky Fly ever to be hatched on this earth! It's one of those slow moving flies. You know the ones; they land lazily on everything (especially on you), buzz around your head, and move just fast enough to evade every attempt on their lives. It brings all sorts of curses to mind...

I remember the montón de flies that used to terrorize my family when we lived in my grandfather's farmhouse (which is located about 25 feet from the front door of the barn). As a kid, I don't think I really minded the flies. But I did find it rather repulsive to turn the corner into the kitchen and look up to a strand of sticky tape hanging from the ceiling with dead flies plastered all over it. I'm' sure my parents were rather shocked to turn around and see my little sister with fly wings stuck in her teeth because oddly enough, she enjoyed snacking on them as a 2 year old.

Of course, someone was usually readily equipped with a fly swatter at all times. The same fly-loving sister would inevitably flee in horror when ever it came out for fear of touching the fly guts. Once, my dad even offered to pay us 5 or 10 cents per fly swatted. My money grubbing little heart jumped at the change until he informed me that I also had to pick the dead ones up I swatted. No thanks, fautieo! Soon it simply became a crime to leave the doors open. My mum spent her time feeding us, working, swatting flies, and shutting the door behind us to keep more flies from coming in, a futile endeavor indeed.

And now I find myself wishing for one of our speckly old fly swatters or even a small strand of sticky tape. I could go buy some, I guess. But it hardly seems worth it for 3 rotten flies. Perhaps I'll have a go with my havaianas, number one choice of angry Brazilian mothers in need of something to launch at a stray dog or cat, spiders and other insects, unruly neighbors, or even poorly behaved children.

Infernal insects

HELP! A strange and irritating flying white bug has made itself (or rather, themselves, for they are many) at home on the underside of my basil, sunflower, and zucchini leaves. So far they haven't been able to munch too much of my plants, but I fear what fate my plants will suffer if I leave them to fend for themselves. They don't look like aphids (or at least any aphids I've been able to find pictures of). Does anyone have any ideas? Or know someone who might know?

I need help quickly; I feel like I have the blasted white things crawling all over me.

OBX

And because I feel bad that I've only said angry, grumpy things the past 2 posts, I supposed I'll put up some pictures from our wonderfully fantastic relaxing heavenly week at the beach (although I really should wait until my mum sends me her pictures because they are bound to be much better than my own). I don't know why I ever come home from the Outer Banks. I'd really like to abandon all my real life pursuits and become a light house keeper. Except all the lighthouses are now automated. Curses upon all the wretches who thought that was a good idea!

Woops. This is supposed to be cheery...sorry! On with some fotos.

This is our house, charmingly named "Dare-E-Aire." Yes, it is about 100 feet from where the waves crash on the shore.


When I wasn't reading a most excellent novel by the name of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell or sitting on the beach watching the waves like T-rav, this is how I spent my time.



This is where I wish to spend the remainder of my days. Or at least some of them (the Currituck Beach Lighthouse).



And finally, when our time at the beach was up, we headed north to Colonial Williamsburg. If my plans for lighthouse keeping don't work out, perhaps I'll become a member of the "revolutionary city" and dress in colonial attire, speak with an old fashioned accent, and cook delicious food like sweet potato muffins, gingerbread scones, pottage pye (yes, pye, not pie), and various local salets (or salad, for those of you who speak the modern tongue). Alas, I don't have any great pictures from this day, but here are a few awkward ones.

It really bothered T-rav that the main road was paved.


Fautie, finally getting what he deserves...just kidding, oh wise padre.


And finally, T-rav's idea of heaven.


It was a great trip.

Another rant

You'd think that out of 32 or so ESL classes that are taught at UVU I would be able to get at least ONE class that I requested, right? Just one? All I asked was this: that I not be given any level 1 or 2 classes, that I have any level 4 class, and I would prefer a reading level 3. I didn't even care about dates and times!

So how did I end up with these:

• Writing Level 2 (did I mention that I bordered on loathing this class when I taught it last year?)
• Listening/Speaking Level 3
• Writing Level 3
  

I guess it's what I get for being a measly adjunct.

Curses.

1. We just got back from 1 glorious week at the beach. It was too short.
   
2. We're probably 98% sure that in 1 month we're going to be kicked out of our house because our rotten landlord is in the process of selling our house (it's under contract).
3. One of the ESL faculty at UVU refuses to be flexible with the fall schedule...which means I don't get to teach the class that I want.
4. Everything is brown here.
   

I hate coming home from vacation.

There is No Word for Goodbye
by Mary Tall Mountain

Sokoya,* I said, looking through
the net of wrinkles into
wise black pools of her eyes.

What do you say in Athabaskan
when you leave each other?
What is the word
for goodbye?

A shade of feeling rippled
the wind-tanned skin
Ah, nothing, she said,
watching the river flash.

She looked at me close.
We just say, Tlaa. That means,
See you.
We never leave ecah other.
When does your mouth
say goodbye to your heart?

She touched me light
as a bluebell.
You forget when you leave us,
you're so small then.
We don't use that word.

We always think you're coming back,
but if you don't,
we'll see you some place else.
You understand.
There is no word for goodbye.

*Sokoya- maternal aunt (in Athabaskan, a Native American language)

a piece of my soul

Today I gave away a small part of my soul when I made the dreadful decision to turn down the only real job offer I've had in Italy. The tentative plan was to go on a student visa and for both of us to work part time teaching English. The school would find us housing, pay for our first month of rent, and allow us to take Italian classes for free. Sounds good, right?

Well, I thought so at first. But several things made me start feeling a bit apprehensive about it all. To start things off, we discovered that the guy who wanted to hire us was actually planning on paying us under the table. Then he suggested that I could choose to either work on a student or a tourist visa. Now, I'm no expert on Italian law, but I was positive that it is illegal to work on a tourist visa. And he wanted me to work 30-35 hours a week, which seemed high for being on a student visa (international students here may only work 20 hours if it's an on campus- I think it's 20. Maybe it's 10). So then I proceeded to call several Italian Consultates in the US (several because you never know if the peeps really know what they're talking about- better to get several answers to the same question). They informed me that it was 100% ILLEGAL to work on a student visa, even to work part time. Bah!

Well, since T-rav has lots of morals and doesn't want to break the law, and I fear the punishment that may come from being caught (something about being banned from Italy for any extended period of time for the rest of my life...), we decided that maybe it would be best if we didn't accept this shady job offer.

So we're going to stay here in Provo for a while. At least one more semester. T-rav is going to keep working for the IRC, but start looking for jobs doing some kind of non-profit work or refugee stuff, etc, hopefully overseas. I'll keep teaching at UVU. Although I'm very disapppointed, I feel ok about things. At least I have a job here that I really love. And at least I don't have to wait to see how things turn out...at least now I know.

I heart Palestine part 2

We are now going to jump from the late 40s to the late 60s, skipping over the war known as the War of Independence by the Israelis and Al Nakba (or catastrophe) by the Palestinians, and go straight to the Six Day War. I'm sure it had many causes, after 9 years of relative "peace," what it came down to was disputes over land and water (like always), as well as the haughty boasts of Arab prowess by Egyptian President Abdel Nasser.

So one day Arab guerrilla fighters crossed the Lebanese border and blew up the water pipes by the Sea of Galilee, Israel's main source of water. Might I add that Israel had diverted much of the Jordan River away from the Arab States (because, you know, they needed it more).

• "Israeli jets had bombed Syrian waterworks in the Golan Heights, across from Galilee, so that Syria could not diver those same waters. When Israelis moved into the demilitarized zones of the Golan [Heights] to plow disputed land, they drew Syrian fire, which in turn brought swift Israeli response." (p.125, The Lemon Tree)

Israel also claimed they needed to go to war because of the 100,000 Egyptian troops massing in the Sinai (American and British intelligence suggested closer to 50,000). Israel repeatedly exaggerated the state of things in Palestine, perhaps to influence the US or gain more support from Western Nations (which worked quite well). The CIA was quite sure that Egypt had no intention of going to war and were not planning to invade Israel. Even Israel's Minister of Defense would later admit that he never believed that Egypt wanted war.

But on June 5, 1967, the Israeli army made a preemtive strike against the Arabs and proceeded to seriously defeat the Egyptians, Syrians, and Jordanians, which wasn't enough- they also went into Palestinian territories and began a 40 year occupation of Palestinian land (the West Bank and Gaza), contrary to the UN Resolution 242 which mandated a withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from the occupied territories. Which they refused to do. And still do.

Eventually, the PLO was formed as the voice of Palestine, since they were not allowed to have any government of their own. Palestinian children are born and raised with the idea that they have been driven from their homes and deserve to get them back. Or at least should have their own state in the West Bank and Gaza.

And we all know all about suicide bombings and Israeli retaliation. Maybe you don't know that the Israelis imprisoned and tortured Palestinian prisoners who may or may not have been guilty of "terrorist" acts (meaning anything that went against Israeli laws- obviously if they were alive, they weren't suicide bombers). Or that, in the beginning, Israel was just as likely to bomb residential areas as the Palestinians. Or that, although the Palestinians are not very flexible on their demands for land and freedom, the Israelis are not very flexible on what they will offer the people whose land they stole (or stole back, if you prefer to live by Biblical Law).

Obviously, there is no easy solution. If I were in charge of the world, I would give the angry Arabs their own state, consisting of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, and part of the Golan Heights. And then I would tell them to get over the fact that they don't have all of Palestine. And I would tell the Israelis to give up some of their land and point out that they have treated the Arabs the way they wished to have never been treated (mems how no one liked that people were driving Jews out at gun point and then they turned around and did the same thing?).

Anyway. If you think this is interesting, you should read a lovely book called The Lemon Tree, a story that follows both a Jewish and Palestinian family through all the drama of the pats 75 years. Another good one is In Search of Fatima. If any of you have any suggestions of other good Israel-Palestine books, I would love suggestions!

Why I'm pro-Palestine

As long as I can remember, I have always been a supporter of the Palestinian cause. I'm not sure when it all started. Perhaps it's because I often find myself rooting for the underdog...or maybe it's because ever since I set foot on Moroccan soil, I've had a great love for all things Arab and Muslim. Obviously, I do not condone many of their barbaric methods that overstep the bounds of freedom fighting and merge into terrorism. However, if you get a bit more of the whole picture, you might have a little more empathy for their cause. So here's the start of a little history lesson about Israel and Palestine (I hope this doesn't bore you- I find it quite fascinating).

In my opinion, if the Palestinians had just gotten around to forming their own government hundreds of years ago, none of these Israeli problems would have happened. But they didn't and by the 1900s, they had been ruled by various Arab families and Caliphs, the Ottomans, the Egyptians, and then the Ottomans again. But the real trouble began when the Brits disbanded the Ottoman Empire after World War I. And then the dreaded Balfour Declaration (1917) was created, which named Palestine to be the eventual homeland of the Jewish people.

Why did the Zionist movement choose Palestine? In part because in the late 1800s, the founder of the Zionist movement, Theodor Herzl, felt it would be the best place. After considering Uganda and Cyprus as possible Jewish homelands, he determined that Palestine, being a "land without a people" (which I think he really should have said "government," since obviously there were people already there...silly Herzl) and also conveniently being the ancestral homeland of the Jews, would be the perfect place for all the Jews to live.

At the beginning, the Palestinians were fine with having Jewish people living in their country. After all, they had been living side by side with Jewish people (in peace, even) for hundreds of years. It was only after they started coming in droves (many of whom snuck in illegally) that the Arabs began to worry. In 1948, the UN determined that Britain should leave Palestine and that it would be divided into separate Arab and Jewish states, each with their own government: Palestine and Israel.

"The plan stipulated that 54.5% of Palestine and more than 80% of its cultivated citrus and grain plantations would go to a Jewish state. Jews represented about 1/3 of the population and owned 7% of the land." (p. 49 The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan- thanks to Marlo for telling me to read it!) For a nice map depicting this, go here.

You can see that this might cause a bit of conflict...and naturally it did. Fighting ensued, or rather continued, and many Arabs were left simply bewildered at the idea they were going to be forced off of their land that their families had owned for generations upon generations.

And this is where I will leave you in anticipation of what happened next...

*A side note: I am quite aware that what happened to the Palestinians has been happening to nations and ethnic groups all over for thousands of years. Their cause is not any more unusual or just than the Karen people of Burma, the Tutsi of Rwanda or the Nepali of Bhutan. However, the Palestinian situation is one that interests me and therefore I get a little more passionate about it than I do about other groups. I'm sure if I learned a bit more about these other groups, I would get just as up in arms as I do about the Arabs. I also want to point out that I do not have an dislike for Jewish people. I just don't think that just because they suffered an atrocitiy means they have the right to force another people, a people who had absolutely nothing to do with their woes, out of their homes.

And feel free to correct me on anything I might have gotten wrong. I'm no expert on this complex and confusing bit of history.

Oh, politics

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Why I love teaching ESL

Today one of my tutor-ees came to me with this sentence, wanting to know if it was correct:

"You have a very good taste to me."

He was quite puzzled when I burst out laughing. When I explained that unless he was busy biting a poor girl's lip off or sticking his tongue down a her throat, this probably wasn't an appropriate sentence, he was mortified. What he meant to say was "You smell good." Luckily, he hasn't yet had the chance to actually use this on anyone.

Might I add that I have 3 students who are constantly asking me for expressions of love (as well as making up their own...scary) so that they are prepared to woo the first single American girl they meet. Too bad I was never wooed to have heard them myself- got you there, didn't I, chavez ;)

The end of the saga

Since I'm sure you are all dying to know what happened with my rotten car this weekend, I'm going to finish detailing my camping trip. We left off with T-rav and me stranded in Cedar City at a KOA. Thankfully, our friends the Hills were kind enough to accommodate our car troubles and met us there instead of St. George, as previously planned, as well as driving us around the entire time (thanks guys- we had a great time!). After our disastrous Friday, we hoped that Saturday would be at least a marginal improvement...and it was. The four of us headed down to Zion National Park (where Americans were outnumbered by Germans 4 to 1...or some other large percentage) to hike Angel's Landing and a bit of the Narrows.

This is the way up to Angel's Landing (good thing I've mostly lost my overpowering fear of heights).


Looking down from the top of Angel's Landing
Hiking in the Narrows

On our way home. Many thanks to Zillah and K for driving down to rescue us.

Oh! Did I mention that our tent neighbors were from Liechtenstein? Where is that, you ask? It's a teeny, tiny little country between Austria and Switzerland. Eight of the total 35,000 Lichtensteiners were hanging out at the KOA in Cedar City. Crazy, eh?