Salvadorian Food and Hiking the Y

I hope Elder Boothe and Lorena had nice birthdays. My friend Doug also had a birthday. Come to think of it, a lot of people I know have had birthdays lately. Mountain weather in the spring is gives you a little bit of everything. We’ve gotten snow, rain and some very lovely days. This teaches you to get outside when the weather is nice. Yesterday I hiked up to the Y on Y Mountain. Not only am I pleased with getting to the top I am also pleased that I am only a tiny bit sore today. I came across a Dominican family on my way down whose teenage daughter was having some big issues getting to the top. In that sort of playful, whiny adolescent way she said, ¡Caminar tanto casi me da un infarto! (Walking so much has almost given me a heart-attack). Since she and her family were all talking so loudly I thought it wouldn’t be rude to encourage her so I said, Vale la pena llegar allí arriba. (It’s worth it to get to the top). They all gave me a really weird look. They must be new to the area. Hundreds of white guys speak Spanish here in Happy Valley.

For those of you who don’t know, I didn’t get into BYU’s MBA program. As I feared, my GMAT score held me back. I’m going to see if I can’t talk to some people and find out if that was the only thing, though I suspect it was. I’ve already checked out a GMAT preparation manual from the Springville's big new library. BYU offers a preparation course for the GMAT. That’s good for me because no one close to Modesto did so that wasn't an option before. I plan to take a GMAT prep. course in the early fall, retake the test at the end of the course and then reapply to the MBA Program at the earliest date possible. They’ll keep my first application on file for two years so all I will need to do is update it, pay the $50.00 and everything will be good to go.

A small group of family got together at our house for lunch on Good Friday and we went to Becca’s cousin’s in-law’s house for dinner on Easter. They’ve been really great about helping us and making us feel welcome now that we’re back in Utah. It was really nice to have somewhere to go on Easter. Holidays, especially religious holidays, are good opportunities for families to come together and reestablish their shared identity.

 

We thought of RossAnne and Walter again this last week when we went to the little Salvadorian restaurant in down town Provo. We ate there about five years ago when my in-laws came to visit. It’s a real hole in the wall, complete with a dirty carpet, missing light bulbs, a poorly translated menu and very tasty food. Becca and I are sure to go back.

I’m singing in a quartet today in church. We’re going to sing Hymn 102, Jesus Lover of My Soul. It starts out with a duet and then the chorus splits into four parts. I start by singing the melody and then they asked me to sing alto on the chorus. Harmonies are usually less rich when a man sings the alto part an octave down. The harmony is not as rich. To make things interesting I switched into falsetto and sang it in the woman’s range. The group wasn’t entirely sure at first but they really like it now since it adds a very missing dimension to the harmony.

Becca bought tomato and pepper seeds and has been growing them with lots of dedication. She’s put them in containers that she made of newspaper and cardboard and then put them under a reading light with tin foil directing the light and keeping the heat in. I’ve noticed that the tomatoes sold at the stores here in Utah are tastier than in California so I am really looking forward to homegrown tomatoes. I’ve already made two batches of delicious salsa and I’m looking forward to making more.

 

I’m going to start up again with my family history project today. I was rather discouraged when I started a couple of weeks ago because my scanner is so slow. My friend Luis suggested that I record all of the family pictures with a digital camera instead. I’m going to give that a shot today. That should be a much better way to digitally record all of the family pictures I inherited from Mom.