Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

I sometimes wish that Easter was a bigger deal. Along with Christmas it is one of the most significant days in the entire year, but often it passes with extra candy and the easter bunny. I think it is really sad that the meaning of the holiday is often overlooked. Easter is a time of celebrating the Resurrection, an event that gives us the chance to live again, that gives us hope of a better world.

I was watching the new mormon message on Easter (you can watch it here) and Elder Wirthlin's talk "Sunday Will Come" kept coming into my mind. He puts the hope of Easter into words much better than I can:

"Each of us will have our own Fridays--those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays. But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death--Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come. No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come." (you can read the whole talk here.)

That quote...I'm not sure why it is so powerful to me. But it truly embodies the hope of Easter. No matter what happens in life, how lonely we feel, there is one who has gone below it all. Christ understands me more than I can even comprehend, and we are never truly alone. He will always be there to catch us when we fall.

And that hope..isn't that what we are all searching for? The hope of being happy. Those "Fridays" when I feel like I have no idea how the future is going to work out, when life just seems overwhelming--it is hope, and faith, that keeps me going. I have my Plans A-D yes, but the faith that it will all work out somehow, is what gives me hope.

I recently heard a friend talking about "existential depression", or the feeling of wondering what the purpose of life is (a true existentialist would argue that there is no point, of course). It made me really sad to realize that people deal with it, because I don't have to wonder about that. The questions: "where do I come from?" "why am I here?" and "what happens after this?" I know the answers. And that faith and assurance, or as Paul would put it: a "hope for a better world," is what keeps me going. The answer to Job's question: "If a man die, shall he live again?" is yes. We will all live again, because of the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ, because of Easter.

HELPS

The view from the hospital in Tejutla-we were on a mountain

Guatemala was amazing. I'm so glad I went. Even though I don't speak very much Spanish I still met some incredible people in Tejutla. It was really eye-opening to see how the people in the mountainous villages live. They are so incredibly impoverished but so much happier than most people I know. They were so grateful for the medical care they received and so devoted to their families. Especially the husbands, it was really neat to see how patient and devoted they were--they just stayed by the bedside of their wives or children the whole time they were there, making sure they had everything they needed. I got to learn how to take vitals and helped out the nurses for a couple days. And I got to watch a couple surgeries too, which was fascinating (after I got over the initial queasiness haha).

The little boy Carlos was so cute, plastics operated on his hand

These two are sisters

The little kids were so adorable as well. A couple of girls we were playing with one afternoon asked us what it was like to ride in an airplane, and Sophia was trying to describe it to them. We played games with them for an hour or so one afternoon and they were trying to teach me the Spanish alphabet haha. And laughing at my prononciation. We taught them a couple English phrases too, it was so cute. Their favorite was "thank you veeery much."







A day or two later they were peeking under the crack under our door one day and recognized Sophia (they called her Sophie). But they couldn't remember how to say my whole name, so they were asking her: "Donde esta Kenni??" haha it was so cute.







We had a military escort the whole time in Tejutla, so there were always soldiers around. Haha they totally took this picture seriously and posed with their guns. I think they were trying to look menacing haha.

One of the last days we got to go on a hike down the mountain and up the next to this really colorful cemetery. The view was absolutely amazing. We also got to look at a real flour mill powered by a waterwheel--they diverted the river and everything. So cool.

This boy was wearing a BYU shirt and didn't even know what it was

Grinding flour

The mill

One of the farms

The cemetery

The view

Most of the nights we were just too tired at 8 or 9, so we just went to bed early. The roosters started around 4 am, though so the last two hours of sleep were usually interrupted by them or the dogs, or firecrackers haha. One of the nights I went and played cards though, which was really fun. I had never heard of the game 500 before, but it's basically a more complicated version of hearts.

I already posted about Tikal, which I got to go to on Monday, but after the week in Tejutla we went to Antigua for a couple days to do touristy stuff. Tuesday we just laid by the pool and had a banquet that night, where everybody got dressed up. It was fun to see everyone again but sad having to say goodbye.

Love them

Guatemala was amazing. I definitely want to go again, but next time I want to go on the stove team, cause there were too many helpers this trip. It was definitely still a great experience though. I loved it.

Tikal

Tikal was sooo amazing. I had never realized how monumental it is. You really have to be there to understand the scale. So cool.

Temple 1

After leaving at 4 am, a shuttle, a plane, and a bus, we arrived in the Tikal national park. Our tour guide was studying archaeology but he wants tone an ethnobotanist, so he pointed out different medicinal plants in the jungle. He grew up in Guatemala but his family is from Honduras so he was going to go back and learn the indigenous language of his ancestors. That was really cool because, since he's Mayan he was really invested in the history of Tikal. (the real pronunciation is Tik'al, with a click in the middle).

Allspice tree

One of the plants he showed us was the allspice tree. The leaves totally smell like the spice, usually they get it from the dried berries but sometimes the leaves too. What's crazy is that when you chew the leaves it produces an anesthetic, my tongue went numb!

The other one was the ficus ficus parasite vine. I remembered it from Costa Rica, it takes over other trees until it looks like a tree itself. But I didn't know that the sap is an antiseptic, they put it on wounds and it stops the bleeding. It's amazing how much knowledge ancient people had, and so sad that so much is being lost.

Anyways, that all happened in between the amazing ruins. And I thought the first one we saw was big! They left half of it covered to preserve it but also to show how quickly the jungle can take over. We passed a bunch of them that have some pretty good sized trees on them already, and that was after being excavated partway.

Climbing Temple 2 was super scary, the "stairs" were more like a ladder with huge gaps in it. But the view of Temple 1 was amazing.

The grand plaza also had dormitories for the out-of-town people to stay in, we got to walk through those, and the original wood in the ceiling is still there. So cool.

Ladder up Temple 2

The "hotel"

The collapsed burial temple in the grand plaza had some incredibly preserved masks, also huge.

wooden beams

One of the masks

The astronomical building is part of the Lost World complex, and they have found previous structures dating to 800 BC underneath it! I was trying to wrap my brain around it, and I couldn't. That is so old.

Temple 4 is the largest and from it you can see all of the other temples poking through the treetops. (if you've seen Star Wars IV, they filmed from above when they show Alderan).

Top of Temple 4

View from Temple 4

Another one of my favorite things was the acoustics. The way the plazas are designed, at a certain spot in the middle you can hear them amplified, as the sound bounces off the temples.I don't know that much about engineering, but I know that is pretty remarkable, especially for their time period.

Oh and this tree is really cool, it's called a Ceiba tree, they are really tall, but Temple 4 is even bigger.

Aah basically the whole day was awesome, and so worth the hours of traveling. I love ancient things and always have. I have a distinct memory of checking out books on the Aztecs and the Maya at the Chapel Hill library, so I must have been 7 or 8. Different cultures have aways fascinated me. Good thing I'm an anthropologist!

3 day weekends and other fun things

Last weekend was basically the closest thing BYU has to a spring break. It's the last break until April...usually. Good thing I'm making my own spring break to go to Guatemala! Only 4 weeks, I can't wait. For some reason winter semester in Provo is just hard. It's cold and long and...winter.

Anyways, my mom came down to visit for 4 days, and it was awesome. Since I don't have any class on Fridays, just work, she got to come to the class I teach and hang out. We went out to eat, loaded up on food at Costco, went to Ikea, and hung out at Annica's dorm. Super fun.

In other news it's been really sunny lately and I am so ready for spring. I can't wait until summer on Guernsey! It's going to be awesome. I got a letter from the IRB approving my research so I can officially go. That's a relief, I thought I was going to have to wait a month or two to hear back, and that proposal was a beast to fill out. But it's done!! I have my plane ticket even. It's official.

Also I've had 3 crepe parties in the last two weeks. That is the life!

My new goal for the semester is to be more social. I've been a total homebody lately, but I want to start going to more stuff and enjoy the rest of the semester, not just wait it out until May. So we'll see how that goes.

Happy Sunday!

Dear World

I love Thursdays. Today was a comfy flannel shirt and hair-in-a-braid sort of day. It's basically the start of the weekend, since I only have work tomorrow, and no class. yay!

Some of the random things I've thought today:

• why does 3:00 sound like afternoon but 4:00 like the beginning of the evening?

• don't call your TA: "Sister Cooper" in an email. Just don't do it.

• Anthropology is awesome.

• I'm really glad that all the people working on their research are just as lost as I am.

• the French lab girl today was actually from France, and so nice that I didn't feel dumb for all of my grammar errors (and there are always A LOT)

• i love unexpected friends who make you feel good. tender mercies. 

• i love talking to my dad

• i miss oregon air and the rain

• crepe parties are the best

• especially when they are accidentally scheduled for Valentines day. hehe. 

• so is a dinner with your sis and her roommate, where you end up talking for two hours

• confidence means knowing how great you are, but not bragging about it

• it's ok to to dream big. encouraged even. this is one of my new goals.

• why is your bed so much more comfortable in the morning?

• I really need to sleep more

Also, I just remembered--my mom comes to visit a week from today!!! I'm soooo excited.

Lists

Things I've done recently:

• Taught another batch of students
• bought my plane ticket for Guernsey
• lots and lots of reading (not the fun kind)
• zumba
• dreamed about Europe
• saw Sherlock Holmes 2

Classes I'm taking:

• French 362 (2nd half of history of France)
• Anthro 439 (psych anthro)
• Anthro 442 (field study prep)
• channel islands prep
• Honors film
• Mission prep

Things I'm looking forward to:

• Mom coming to visit in 2 weeks
• Guatemala in March (my fabricated spring break)
• The Hunger Games movie
• Field Study in Guernsey from May-July
• Being home in July
• Going to Montana
• The Hobbit
• Les Miserables
• not being in school anymore
• having time to read for fun

Things I've discovered recently:

• Downton Abbey
• how cool my phone is 
• pinterest
• noisetrade.com
• Thompson Square
• the gym
• some unexpected friends
• braided hairstyles
• Wensleydale cheese
• I understand a lot more spanish than I thought I did
• i have senioritis as a junior 
• I'm excited to go on a mission

Places I've been:

• France
• Canada
• Mexico
• England
• Costa Rica
• Spain
• Monaco
• Switzerland
• Italy

Places I'll go this year:

• France
• UK
• Guatemala

Things I love:

• chocolate
• a really good conversation
• good music
• clever story lines
• BBC
• comfy clothes
• rain
• beautiful photos
• laughter
• getting the mail barefoot
• summers 

January

Today is just one of those days where I feel blue. For some reason January gets to me like this, maybe it's because it's cold and dark, maybe because it's hard to get back into school, maybe because my family is far away, maybe because it's a Friday night, maybe because I can't wait until summer... Maybe it's the promise (or specter) of the coming year...Maybe it's just January. I even have a playlist called January from last year with wistful songs.

These are the days when I go back and look over all of my pictures from France and remember how happy I was. Europe really is the best. The freedom of roaming the streets of Paris--I can't even describe how happy that made me. The history, the language, the culture, the accordions playing on the streets, the sounds of cafés, the metro, the food, the lights, the friends....it's definitely not overrated. I really can't say enough about it. While I was there I tried so hard to soak it up, to appreciate each moment. I could honestly go to France every year and never tire of it. And there are so many parts I haven't seen yet! I don't know what it is about France--I've been to other countries that were really cool, and I loved visiting them. But France trumps them all.

Sometimes I just get tired of everyday life. But everyday life is life. These mundane days...they are the bread-and-butter of a life. Sometimes not too exciting, not too memorable. But character is built on these days, not the ones where everything is easy. The adventures--they are once-in-a-lifetime, and I get 2! How lucky am I!? It's just hard to prepare and wait for them to come, like everything I suppose. Patience is a virtue, and I am getting plenty of practice! I'm reading all about the history of the Channel Islands, and it's just making me want to be there right now. To be distracted, doing something I love, in a place so beautiful. It's 43 degrees there right now and cloudy (yes I looked up the weather) it sounds exactly like Eugene, and I want to be there. It's mockingly beautiful here--sunny and freezing. A mon avis, winter shouldn't camouflage as summer. It should be cloudy and grey, and cold. Maybe that's just my love for home influencing me...I miss it already. But I don't really believe in self-pity (that's probably my mom's influence coming out :) It's okay to be sad, but then you have to pick yourself up and find all of the reasons why life is worth living.

I'm even going to Guatemala in March! My professors have all been so gracious in letting me skip a week and a half of school--they all said go for it, we can make arrangements. I love being an upperclassman. And my major is amazing. It's a little stressful trying to narrow my topic, but soooo INTERESTING. I'm reading these books about how to do research, and it makes me so excited! And they are so helpful. I'm sure my students are probably going to hear more about the Channel Islands than they want to, but hey, they'll live. And hopefully my enthusiasm will teach them something about anthropology that they can't get from reading books.

I still haven't made peace with Utah...I definitely love BYU, but Utah in general? Not so much. I just can't get over the lack of trees. I miss GREEN. At least Arizona's landscape is beautiful in a desert sort-of way. But Utah is just brown. No cactus, no sequoia, no creosote to smell when it finally rains. The things that make Arizona beautiful. It probably helps that I have family there. Utah is lonely.

That's not quite fair. I have really good friends. The kind that become almost family. The kind that will drop everything to make sure you are ok. The kind that bring you ice cream or leave notes of encouragement. The kind that I'm comfortable saying anything around and it doesn't matter. The kind I can laugh with for hours. The kind that like me anyway, no matter what. The kind that want to hang out just because.

Take that January!