Happy Birthday Ryan, Rockets and Hammocks

This Wednesday I turn twenty six and my cousin Kate turns sixteen. I think that her birthday is a little more significant than mine. After nineteen no birthday has really been significant. That said, I still like the attention and presents! Becca apparently got me three gifts and has given me two already. Since Wednesday I have classes in the morning and Becca works in the afternoon, we decided to celebrate a little early. The celebrating is coming out bit by bit: Becca’s presents and Grandma Barbara’s present were yesterday. I bought five discounted edited movies with some birthday money and Becca and I tried out a new Brazilian hole-in-the-wall restaurant that just opened. About two-thirds of the customers were speaking Portuguese and all of the staff. It was a lot of fun. Today we’re having our friends the Higbees over and Evy (Argentine) is going to help Becca make empanadas for dinner. I slept in yesterday, today and I’ll get sleep in tomorrow too. My 25^th year is ending pretty well.

I continue to enjoy my polyglot experience. I’ve spoken with about four more Brazilians online now and it’s been lots of fun. They have, overall, been very helpful and I’ve tried to be the same to them. Rodrigo is an engineering major at the University of Belo Horizonte and has a really laid back way of speaking. Franklin works for Brazil’s version of the IRS and is interested in American history. Cleber works in an IT company in São Paulo and thinks English is a beautiful language. Flávia, who I mentioned last time, is a painter and an art teacher who enjoys swimming and Geraldo is a computer tech who helps administrate the polyglot-learn-language website on the side. I also chatted with Ziad Fazah again (Mr. I-Know-Fifty-Eight-Languages) and was able to chat online a few times with Stuart Raj (the guy who was on Thai T.V.). My new friends are a lot of fun.

As part of a choral number today in church, I was supposed to sing the second verse of the song as a duet. The choir didn’t come early to do a final rehearsal before church so I supposed we were all a little fuzzy about what we were supposed to do. The other guy and I started the second verse but after a few seconds I realized that we were singing in a trio. The guy who stands next to me doesn’t read music so he’s used to following me when I sing. I guess he heard me singing and figured he should too. I discretely jabbed him with my elbow which seemed to do the trick because he stopped singing.

Here’s my sweet wife:

Well, this has been quite a normal week for me.

I have enjoyed getting Ryan presents. I seem to be more excited about them than he is, but I think that is because I have known what they were for a while, so the anticipation of his joy when getting them just made me even more excited. I love to spend money on him ( I didn’t go overboard though) The best one (in my opinion) was a lifetime subscription to MP3 Rocket that allows Ryan to have unlimited music and movie downloads. I payed a one time fee...and that's that. Ryan has downloaded enough that we have already made our money back. That is exciting.

Things are still going well at 5 Buck. My boss is a very kind woman, but very sneaky in getting people to work shifts…I can see why she is the one who deals with us, and not her husband…she has a fine tuned gift in the art of manipulation.

My little nephew Benjamin (the younger twin) was taken to the hospital and placed in intensive care this week. He was progressively getting worse at not getting enough oxygen and caused quite the scare. I am happy to say that he is doing well. Thank goodness!! He has to go through air treatments every four hours…so that will keep the Tobeys on their toes for the next couple days.

Weather is wonderful here in Utah. Everything is green, spring will soon be over…but the bugs are still mating! Not meaning too… I’ve killed (stepped on) a few happy couples.

I can’t wait for Brazil!! Counting from Monday the 28^th, we will have 26 days until we happily take the long flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil! I am on a mission to find the perfect hammock from that point on, as well as some native gemstones. *I wish that was me in the picture and not that guy*

I have gotten off the bandwagon when it comes to jogging. I really need to hop back on. It isn’t that bad, in fact, when I go jogging I actually enjoy it (never before has that happened). I just hate having to re-wash and style my hair. I know, I know…I am a girl…but if I jog 3-4 times a week, that is what I have to do, and I highly dislike it ( I have a lot of hair and it takes too much time).

I have been making some ‘nummy’ food lately. So far the things I have liked most are the empanadas, artichoke/spinach dip on light rye crackers, and a no oil spice cake smothered in apple sauce and lightly sweetened whipped cream. I still have quite a bit of mint OREO truffles left…well I have the filling which I have to dip into chocolate.

Well, that is it for me this week. We hope all of you are having a wonderful time with life!

CLOMID, SHIN SPLINTS AND MORE POLYGLOTS

I’ve got the bug. No I’m not sick I’m just interested in people who can speak a gazillion languages. This last week I watched a Thai television program (with English subtitles) where Stuart Raj, a half Indian and half Australian man, talked about language learning and how he came to learn over fifteen languages. I don’t speak Thai but I’m sure his was very good. If you closed your eyes you would have a hard time telling which of the three people on the program wasn’t a native Thai speaker.

Anyhow, one of the things that Stuart said really struck a cord in me. He said that in order to learn a language he creates a community around him that will teach him that language. As an example of this he told the audience how he learned to speak fluent Danish without ever going to Denmark. As a boy growing up in Sydney he had several friends at school that were Scandinavian exchange students and as a result he became curious about their language. He went to the yellow pages and looked up a bunch of peoples’ names that looked as though they were Scandinavian: Mortensen, Petersen, Christiansen etc. He noticed that most of them lived in a specific neighborhood so the next day he took the bus and went to that neighborhood. He stopped at a store that sold Danish goods and then at a church that held services in Danish and told people about how he wanted to learn their language. After a month of studying on his own and going to church pot-lucks and other activities in the Danish community he could speak Danish fluently.

I got to thinking about my own language learning experiences and about my friend Ziad Fazah who learned his languages volunteering at travel agencies as a boy and studying different languages on the side. I then started to think about how I could create a community that would help me fine tune my spoken Portuguese. After only a little searching on the net I found the website www.polyglot-learn-language.com, which is a free way for people to communicate online and teach each other languages. After just two days I have chatted with people from Thailand, the USA, Brazil, Spain, Mexico and Turkey in all three of my languages and found people from Brazil who have agreed to talk with me over the internet through msn and skype. Just last night I chatted with Flavia who is from Campinas and she was a very good tutor. After speaking for a while in Portuguese Becca and I spoke with her in English for so that she could practice. My goal is to get my spoken Portuguese up to a very high level of fluency and then when we get back from Brazil I want to become fluent in French. After that I may feel gutsy enough to tackle something really tough like Arabic or Mandarin.

I know that this makes me a big nerd but that’s one of the things that I’ve been most excited about lately. My raggedy running shoes were giving me horrible shin splints so we had to buy me some real running shoes. I applied online to the CIA at the request of the recruiter from the OSC and that was a surreal experience. I suppose it’s a good sign that he asked me to apply; maybe he just forgot to tell me to do it before. They will also mail me a translation test to see how well I can translate into English from Portuguese. Hopefully good test scores in two languages will make me a more competitive job candidate. I got a C on my science test a week an a half ago which I think was probably a rather good grade to get on a test like that. I hate classes that make a C a good grade, a D a descent grade and an A impossible. I also taught the men during the third hour of church today. Okay, that was pretty much my week and what’s new with me. Stick around for the lovely Becca.

Well, where to begin? As you know, for over a year now we have been wanting to have our family grow. It has been quite the cause of stress…particularly for me since my body wasn’t working the way it was supposed to. This can be very depressing, and I have had my battles to overcome because of it. Unexpectedly, and to my surprise and joy…the doctors finally put me on Clomid!!!!!!!! YAY!!! I wanted them to do that about 8 months ago, but had to wait. I have been overwhelmingly happy at the idea of a baby coming soon, and with it being highly likely that it could be more than one. This may scare some of you, but be assured that Ryan and I have talked about it. Hopefully this will help a baby to be on the way within the year! I want twins. I know, I’m crazy…but I really want them! Ryan is excited with the idea as well. I know that we as parents can do it, and that is all that matters. It would be difficult, yes, but not impossible…it would be a trial, but one with lots of blessings. And it is those blessings of which I look toward. Motherhood is something that I have always longed for, and something I know I will love. I am truly ecstatic! So that’s that.

Other than that, life has been pretty normal. I found some great deals at the D.I. (Deseret Industries) again: a Nine West beige 100% leather skirt and a Banana Republic skirt which are both long enough, and in great condition. I love finding really nice things at D.I.!!! It takes searching and failing to find things sometimes…but when you do find something, it is great!

We just got back from a lovely dinner up in Bountiful with my Aunt Emma. We carpooled with my cousin, Alicia. Being with family is always nice. I am glad that we have some relatives around.

Well, it is time to wind down for the night. We hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Hyper-polyglots, Truffles, Mamitas and Massage

It seems that you mothers out there had a nice day. I certainly hope that those mothers that I didn’t talk to were able to enjoy themselves. Most of the men at church today stood up and sang “Love at Home” as some sort of tribute to the mothers in the congregation. Then all of the ladies got flowers afterwards. I don’t know if Becca really liked hers but she likes getting gifts in general so it couldn’t have hurt.

I had two phone calls today that were very out of the ordinary. Calling my mother, mother-in-law and grandmothers is not out of the ordinary. The second phone call was to Garit down in Clorinda, a little Argentine town right on the boarder with Paraguay. It was the first time in a year and a half that we had spoken. The first time was Christmas of 2005, when he had only been there a month, and let me tell you his Spanish has improved a ton. You can tell that he is one of those missionaries who has really worked on his ability to talk like the people he serves and teaches. It was late at night for him and he seemed so surprised that I called that he didn’t quite know what to say. We wish him the best down there and hope that he will be able to teach the pure in heart.

The first phone call was with the world’s greatest hyper-polyglot. What does that mean? A monolingual is what about 80% of the USA is, a bilingual person is someone who knows two languages, a trilingual person knows three languages, a polyglot is someone who knows four or five languages and a hyper-polyglot is someone who knows six or more. This guy holds the current world record with 58.

Ziad Fazah is really a phenomenon. When he was a boy he noticed that he had a great talent and interest in learning foreign languages. At home in Lebanon he spoke Arabic with his family and went to school in French, like a lot of other Lebanese in the 70’s. By the time he was twenty he was fluent in all of the world’s major languages and then some. He said that Mandarin Chinese is the toughest but still doable. As a young man he went to the Taiwanese consulate in Lebanon and asked about learning Mandarin. They laughed him off and told him that their language was simply too difficult for any foreigner to learn well. I have been told that most far-easterners believe this about their languages. Two months later he called back on the phone, in Chinese, and asked to speak to the consul. The consul couldn’t believe that it was the same kid so he asked Ziad to come down and speak to him in person. Ziad’s proficiency in Mandarin was so impressive that the consul offered him a scholarship to go and study Chinese in Taipei for a semester. Ziad had to turn the offer down due to a case of bronchitis that he was suffering from.

Sound fishy to any of you? I’m having a hard time believing it myself but I spoke to him for half an hour in the three languages that I know and the guy was darn impressive. His family moved to Brazil when he was in his early twenties and he’s lived there ever since. He speaks Portuguese just like a Brazilian and his Spanish and English are very fluent. He’s been on television shows in Greece, Spain, Brazil and Chile where they brought in random people to test his language skills in uncommon languages like Hungarian and Mongolian and he always comes out looking great. I’m enthused: if he can learn fifty-eight then I can learn at least ten.

I’m starting to get past the phase where such intense exercise isn't killing me anymore and I’m beginning to enjoy it. I have a horrid science test this week but I’ve been studying and think that I’ll at least pass. My religion class is absolutely wonderful.

Stick around to hear from my favorite read-head:

Hello everyone! Happy Mothers Day! It has been a pretty good week overall. The weather has been fabulous, and everything is becoming beautifully green. I absolutely love the warmer side of spring!

Ryan got me a wonderful stone/resin/copper statue of a woman holding her baby for Mothers Day. The detail on it is so beautiful!! The real thing is much better than the picture…the detail has a delicate etched texture with some raised work, is rich with color and has a poem engraved on the back I absolutely love it! It was a very thoughtful gift!

I have been making all sorts of cookie truffles this past week. They are dang tasty!! Everyone I give them to thinks that they are some sort of gourmet truffle that I bought somewhere. As flattering as that is, I got the recipe from my sister, who got it from another sister in her ward, who got it from someone else…etc etc. I altered the recipe a little, and used other ingredients to make a variety of truffles. I have been quite satisfied. So far we like the Oreo (#1), Ginger snap, Pepperidge Farm Chantilly (my second favorite) and Nutter butter(Ryan’s second favorite). They are either coated in white or regular chocolate. I will start to use dark chocolate as well. It has made me want to open up a small truffles shop. I (as you all know) have always had a great affinity for chocolate, and even if it didn’t become huge (there are lots of chocolate stores out there), I would still enjoy it for what it is worth. If I decide to do this, I would open it up with one of my best friends Tessa Hobbs. We have both always had a knack for the art of candies and pastries, and we think it would be fun. We have always worked well together, and are both very detail-oriented and creative when it comes to the art. We are very picky, precise, and quite the perfectionists when it comes to the culinary arts (especially if we are baking/cooking just for fun). We both wanted to go to culinary school, but it is way too expensive for the little return that you get. She is also an advertising major, so that would be a bonus if we started a little business. Who knows what would happen, but with the two of us combined…something great could happen.

On the lines of opening a business…as some of you know, I have also wanted to start working with Midwifes. I think it would be great to be the massage therapist during labors and maybe even through the pregnancy of each woman. I would work specifically with at home births/at home water births. I haven’t acted upon this idea since we are going to Brazil soon, and then hopefully Key West…but wherever we go for 2-4 years at a time I will look into it. The chocolate shop hopefully would be something I could delegate or sell to someone else, and get some sort of royalties so that I can travel with my hubby. If I don’t start it soon though, it probably won’t happen. The massage idea is thankfully flexible as well since as long as I keep up my license wherever I go, I can do it. Who knows what I will do. It is fun to think about it though, and know that both ideas are very possible, and would fulfill two of my dreams.

5 Buck has been alright. I rolled out this past Saturday. I had to be there at 7am. I know, I know…I don’t function very well that early! We made somewhere around 600+ pizzas (well, tossing the dough and putting it on the screens), as well as topping 250 of them for 1 order!!! It is actually really hard work, especially since you are doing it for 5 hours! I did alright, but my entire body is sore! I felt worse after doing that, then I do after the same amount of time giving massages straight!

I went in for a massage at UCMT since I have gift cirtificates, and got a girl that was a newer student, and she just wasn’t good, at all. Now, I know all students have to go through a practice phase, and none of us ever gave our best massage to every single client that came into clinic…but she just seemed like she had no idea what was going on for being in school at least 4-5 months!! I know I’m not the best therapist, but I was never that bad. I felt as though she had no idea what to do, and just poked around at my body doing random unrelated things, and having absolutely no flow to anything. It was the choppiest massage I have ever received. She was a sweet girl though with a hearing disability, and I just couldn’t tell her all I wanted to. I am required to give feedback being a graduate and working therapist, so I tried to be encouraging instead of rude. It took me a while to think of positive things to say so that she wouldn’t get down. When it came to massage, I craved honest constructive criticism, I wanted people to tell me how they personally thought I could improve…and it helped! I tried to do that. I hope I was helpful. Even if someone thought my massage sucked, it never helped to hear that it sucked, because a lot of the time it is a very personal judgment that has nothing to do with your skill as a therapist, but instead with you not giving them what they want (and that is your fault for not paying attention). You need specific feedback if you want to improve. Hers was like she had never touched a body before in her entire life. I really hope the program will not be a waste of her or her parent’s money.

Anyway, that is that I guess. All of our friends are moving away, and it is sad. I really do not like losing contact with people that I care about. I will have to deal with that for probably 20 years of my life with the work Ryan wants to do. I guess I will just have to get used to moving and remaining in close contact with the people we meet and build friendships with. I can’t wait for that life though! It will be exciting to see where we end up over the years!

Well, sorry the blog is so long. I never think I have anything to say… none of it is really all that important anyway, but it is still fun to get it out. Oh well. I don’t keep a journal, so I guess this will do for now.

DIRTY DISHES, TEST SCORES AND STIFF ARMS

I tried not to overdo things in my P.E. classes but by Thursday I couldn’t fully extend my arms. There are other parts of my body that aren’t very happy with me either but my arms were the biggest complainers this week. Becca did “trigger-point” therapy on my left arm which was embarrassingly painful but by the time she was done I could straighten out my arm. She really is very good at what she does. That pain came from my weight training class. My jogging class instructor told us that by the end of these two months we should be able to run a 10K race without stopping. If nothing else, by the end of the term I should be in better shape.

I feel sure that if I don’t check myself I’ll end up complaining about my science class way too much on this blog. I’ll refrain myself to only one item worth whining about this week. I don’t think classes should be designed to produce certain grade ratios. I think that when the administrators are planning the overall major they should examine what needs to be taught and at what phase of the major (freshman, sophomore, etc.). Now, if everyone always gets A’s in a certain course they might consider revising it, just as they might consider revising it if everyone is always getting D’s, regardless of the course instructor. This class I’m taking, Physical Science 100, is designed so that if the student spends three to four hours a week studying then the grade best hoped for should be a C. One science teacher even did a study about this class and found that the average French 101 student doesn’t have to memorize as much new vocabulary as a student for Physical Science 100. Okay, that’s my complaint for the week.

Last week I received my forms and tests to apply to the OSC (Open Source Center). There are two tests and they both have been fairly difficult. I’ve been kind of nervous taking them because I want to do particularly well. I’ll probably have everything ready to scan and then email to them on Tuesday. If I do well on this part then they’ll be another test to pass and if I do well on that part they’ll do a back-ground check on me and I’ll get the job. I’m applying a little late so my test scores need to be extra good. Cross your fingers everyone because it would be fabulous for me to start this job soon after we get back from Brazil.

Many thanks to Debbie for her Cinco de Mayo e-card and belated congratulations to our friends the Cranes who were married a year ago yesterday. While I’m at it, happy birthday again to my mother who became a year wiser last week on Thursday. I’ve written plenty, here’s my sweet Becca:

Well, like usual the week has gone by quite normally. The weather in Utah has decided to go rotten again. I keep chugging along knowing that it will soon become sunny and wonderful. Since Utah is seemingly unpredictable, I have decided not to get so down, and instead enjoy the weather no matter what it is. This is part of my de-stressing plan.

Life overall is pretty good! I got another raise at 5 Buck Pizza! This is my 3^rd raise since I first began working there a little over a year ago!!!! Every time I go back to work for them they give me more money. I’m definitely not complaining.

Brazil is becoming more and more attractive!! I cannot wait! As of today, there are 48 days counting today, until we fly out! June 22^nd is going to be fantastic…June 23^rd will be even better since that is when we arrive in São Paulo!!! I bought the Copacabana song from i tunes. Even though it isn’t about the famous beach in Rio de Janeiro, it is still fun to listen to and get excited for Brazil while doing house work.

I have found that I absolutely do not like having dirty dishes in the sink, not even a couple cereal bowls and spoons from breakfast…because those magically turn into our entire kitchens worth of plates and forks and pans etc. seemingly overnight since we like to cook so much, and we do not have a dishwasher. So, Ryan and I have been really good at washing them right then and there, and wiping the sink down. It is fabulous!