MONTEREY, SÃO PAULO AND SUNDANCE

I suppose I should explain what Grandma Leota was referring to in her last family letter when she said that she hoped that my friends and I made it home okay. Last weekend, five of us from the Spanish Translation program decided to go to the Monterey Institute of International Studies’ open house that was going to be on Saturday the 4^th. We all piled into my friend’s minivan and headed out west after classes on Friday. As Aunt Debbie pointed out when we went and paid her a visit, there were a lot of nerdy language discussions going on in that car but I suppose that’s okay because we all had fun.

We stayed with one of the guy’s relatives in the Bay Area, arriving at 3:00am and left later that morning at 6:45 to attend the open house at 9:00. We were about twenty miles away from Monterey when we started having car trouble. We pulled over to the side of the road to let the car cool down and assess the situation. Nothing looked like it was in too bad of shape and we all figured that probably meant that the problem was either minor, quick and cheap or technical, lengthy and expensive. The car didn’t want to get out of second gear so we traveled the last stretch with our hazard lights on going 45 mph.

When we got there we were late, unshaven and in a bad mood. I regret to say that the school didn’t impress me much, however, I haven’t completely thrown out the idea of getting a degree there because it’s a reputed school where I could possibly get a M.A. in translation in one year. That’s a deal that’s hard to beat.

After the open house we took the car to the only mechanics shop in Monterey that was open on Saturday and, when the head mechanic got back from lunch, we found out that the transmission was shot. That’s when the brainstorming began, was rather difficult because we were all running on about three hours of sleep. Alvaro and I have relatives in California so we started contacting people. After about three dozen phone calls we decided that it would be cheaper to rent a van and drive back to Utah than anything else we could do so we got back out on the freeway at our neck-breaking speed of 45mph and drove out to the airport. After getting the van we then drove to Hollister where my aunt Debbie kindly allowed us to dump the old van. It was nice to see Deb again too.

In the new van it seemed that we were traveling at the speed of light on our way up to Livermore where Alvaro’s parents live. Even though we got there at around 9:30pm their Chilean sense of hospitality made sure that we still got a barbecue dinner. After a couple of good meals and eight hours of sleep we headed back to Utah.

Although the car trouble was a drag, we actually had a lot of fun. It seems like everybody in the Translation program is super busy so we never hang out much. Two of us five are quite seriously considering going to the MIIS and the other three of us are not entirely sure. My buddy David has already found a transmission on Ebay and will be out to California in December to have it installed.

The only other kind of noteworthy thing that’s happened lately is that I’ve been contracting translators for languages other than Spanish. I’ve got people working on projects in Tagalog, Ukrainian and Russian and I’m still looking for somebody decent to do a job in Vietnamese. We’ll see what happens.

I’ll let the lovely Becca tell you about what we plan to do next summer:

Well, it is what we “plan”, and are trying to find a way to accomplish. But we ARE doing it, unless I get pregnant in the next 4 months. We are going to Brazil!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!! It is going to be soooo much fun. It is for a study abroad program at through the Y so we will be able to be there from late June until mid August and then we hope to stay with some family friends till October or so while renting their summer home. After that we hope to meet Kim and Grant in Argentina to pick Elder Boothe up from his mission. We are stoked! We will find a way to do all of this! It will be a great immersion for Ryan into the Portuguese language, and as for me…a crash course. I should audit a Portuguese 101 class at the Y before we go. I plan on buying lots of native gemstone jewelry, because I hear it is really nice, and very cheap. We are going to be able to go to some of the most stunningly beautiful beaches in the world, Iguaçu Falls, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro (and other famous cities) and the most authentic and delicious churrascarias (Brazilian grills). I can’t wait!

I have been working, as always. One of my clients has told me that I can set up a couple massage chairs at his fashion show during the Sundance Film Festival in mid January. I hope to do really well that night!!! He has a restaurant booked out for the show, and it is where all the celebrities already go!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who knows, maybe I’ll get my hands on some famous people!!!! The fact that my chances of doing so are very probable scare and excite me all at once! He is going to send out my business cards with his brochures, and allow me to have business cards there…so this is an amazing opportunity to get my hands on some reputable clientele who would be great sources of referrals! It is his fashion show, and he has said yes, but he still has to run it by his good friend who is providing all of his models (she is helping coordinate everything). I almost can’t believe that I have already gotten this far with the idea!!!!

Anyway, there are exciting things that could happen to this part of the Boothe family over the next year! We both have increasing numbers of clientele which is a blessing. We are both going strong and healthy. We love you, and hope you have a wonderful week!

PS- For those of you who haven’t seen…my twin nephews were Peas in a Pod for Halloween! I think they are the cutest little guys ever!