cm2007 conference

I was in Korea a couple of weeks ago for a conference with Crusade. My 8 days there provided me with countless things to blog about, and I will just write about one for today.

The Koreans were incredible hosts, looking out for all of our needs. In the conference handbook we were told what food we would be eating each day, and there was even a picture of what to expect at meal time. They also gave us a tip about the food. "If your food smells spoiled, don't eat it and let one of the conference workers know." I remember thinking, "All the food smells spoiled, how am I supposed to know if it really is?" So I ate my meals gratefully and in ignorance.

Until one day at the staff women's time. I was sitting in my chair, chatting with friends and enjoying my lunch consisting of unidentifiable dishes. One of the conference workers got on the microphone to inform us that one of the side dishes in the meal had "slightly spoiled" and she told us not to eat it. My stomach turned and I broke out into a sweat as I swallowed my last bite of the dish she just talked about. I now know what spoiled Korean food is like.

Cheyenne Frontier Days

Yesterday I participated in a cultural experience. It was the 111th celebration of frontier days, held in Cheyenne Wyoming. As I thought of what to wear for the day, my fake cowgirl hat was at the top of my list. Then I imagined myself being so clearly seen as a poser that I would get beat up by real cowgirls wearing wranglers, sparkly shirts, and real hats. Oh, and don't forget those boots. Cowgirls are nice, but don't get on their bad side. I know. I'm from Montana.

It's a good thing that anyone is accepted at frontier days cause I had such a blast. The Rodeo was fantastic. One of the bulls earned his living when he gave us a good show by digging his horns into the cowboy who dared to ride him. The guy walked away though, and I was amazed once again by how tough cowboys are.

One of my favorite moments was the Native American dance show. They even invited me to dance with them for the last song. I was proving my motto in life to be true once again, and I danced.

more crazy animals in Tahoe

Yesterday my friend Kelly and I were taking care of last minute details for summer project. In the Staples parking lot we pulled in next to an old convertible car with chipped paint. There was a dog in the passenger seat, which is not weird. But when the dog turned its head towards us, we saw that it was wearing sunglasses!

I tried taking a picture of it so you could enjoy the sight. But the dog started snarling and barking at me when I pulled out my camera and I got scared and ran away. I'm hoping to see it again and I will be brave and get a picture the next time.

Animal sightings in Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is full of incredible wildlife like....

The peach colored parrot that was sitting on the tailgate of a Dodge truck in a parking lot. I wouldn't have noticed this bird had it not started talking to two cute girls walking by. As I was trying to decipher what the bird was saying, the owner came out to feed the bird an apple. This guy was tough..a miner in fact. His truck had a logo that said a company name and then "exploration and mining inc." The owner was wearing carhartts, sporting a fumanchu mustache, and wearing a tight tank top. Just the type of guy I would imagine owning a peach parrot.

In other animal sightings....
I was walking down to Camp Richardson with some friends today. A guy on a bicycle passed us with a child carrier in the back, naturally we expected to see a child sitting there.
Instead we saw a cat.

Tahoe is a crazy place #2

I'm sitting in an amazing coffee shop in Tahoe. When I ordered my french press coffee I even got to choose from among 15 beans from different parts of the world. I chose an Italian roast, next time I'm going for a Costa Rica bean. Anyway, this isn't a post about my coffee obsession...what was I talking about?

Oh yeah. Another crazy Tahoe sighting.

These 3 biker guys just walked in all dressed in their black leather and chains. They said to the barista, "What's a mocha shake?" After the explanation, I heard, "I'll have one of them. Give me one with white chocolate."

Luckily the Bing Crosby music playing in the background was too loud for them to hear me chuckling at them. I bet they would have gently set down their white chocolate mocha shakes and beat me up.

Tahoe is a crazy place #1

I'm in Lake Tahoe, CA for summer project. This has been such a great opportunity for new observations. This place is crazy, let me tell you.

Today we had a staff meeting outside and I saw these two crazy events within a few minutes of each other:

A tow truck hauling another tow truck. I think there's a problem with this picture.

Off in the distance I heard a faint "tinkle", "tinkle" of a bike bell. That's a common sound since the project property is surrounded by bike paths. When I looked in the direction of the bike bell I saw a man in a billowy shirt, a wide brim purple hat with a 2 foot bright purple feather sticking out of it. He was followed by a woman on another bike in a red medieval shirt and jeans.

I apologize to my fellow summer project directors for laughing out loud during staff meeting. But the pirate made me do it!

Always camp with an Italian

My wanderlust caught up with me last week and I had to get out into the wilderness. Disregarding the promise of rain, I called up a friend and we made a plan to go camping and hiking. Our destination was Opal Creek, just east of Salem.

I learned some great lessons on this excursion:

• My friend Ari can make anything burn
• Secret camping spots make even a rainy weekend worth it
• Always camp with an Italian

My friend invited her Italian friend along for the weekend. A great call I would say because he generously provided all the food. I've never eaten so good while camping. Caprese, pasta with red sauce, olive bread, Italian espresso in the mornings, and sipping on port as we sat around the campfire at night.

That's me in the yellow.