Doppelganger Day

Today was SO odd! I kept seeing people that looked familiar but in a weird way. Let me explain...

You recognize this guy?  It's Al, the creepy (villain) toy collector from Toy Story 2.  There was a guy at one of my jobs with the exact hairline, facial hair, glasses and sloppy clothes as our pal Al.  I could not stop starring!  How often do you see a real life human that looks like a cartoon character?!?!

There was another guy who looked like a perfect hybrid between the dearly departed Billie Mays and country singer Alan Jackson.  (a moment of silence for Billie, please)  He had a shoulder length curly mullet and a long angular face like Alan.  He had the loud, enthusiastic voice and dark hair of Billie.  Again, I couldn't stop staring!

Finally, I saw a guy that looks like how I expect my cousin, Paul, to look in a few years.  It was WEIRD!  He looked like a 32 year old version of Paul.  Freaky day.

See what I mean?  They all looked familiar in a weird way.  Fun, exhausting, odd, odd, odd day.

Memories

The Monopoly game is going on at McDonalds right now. I typically associate it with Christmas time, but I guess they needed to increase store traffic or something, so they are doing it now.  It's a clever idea, I'm sure it increases their revenues quite a bit.

Whenever I think of this game, I think of Christmas shopping with my mom. When we were little we would each get to spend a day Christmas shopping with my awesome mama, one on one. We weren't exactly the richest family on Earth so we never got to eat out, except for on Christmas shopping day when we were allowed to pick a fast food restaurant of our choice. I ALWAYS picked McDonalds. Always.  I can't even explain the agony of choosing between a caffeinated soda or a milk shake with my meal.  Believe me, I thought about it the whole week before we went.

We would collect our Monopoly game pieces and scour the floors for any errant piece, just in case our winning piece had been carelessly dropped by another Mickey D's patron. Sometimes if we saw one by someone's feet my mom would toss a coin in that direction and I would retrieve the coin and game piece.  It was so fun!  We would laugh and strategize over hot french fries.

We never won anything except for fun mother/daughter memories. Yep, all worth it.

I found this on PostSecret a while ago and I saved it because it just struck me in a way I couldn't explain at that time. Now, it is even more applicable to me, to Rachel. I am looking forward, with a positive attitude, even though I have no idea what lies ahead. 

Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. 

-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

The Trip - Cambodia

I went to 4 countries on the trip and I have only blogged about one, Thailand. So now here's the story of our excursion to Cambodia. We were only there for two short days. It was amazing! I would go back in a heartbeat! Our main objective was to see Angkor Wat, the largest religious building on Earth. Google it, it's incredible! I wish we would have stayed longer, but it was a fantastic trip either way.  One thing I will NEVER forget is the heat!  I have never sweated so intensely in my life, gross, I know.  I even sweated between my fingers and I thought that was a physical impossibility.  

Enjoy my trip through Cambodia - 

We saw monks everywhere and I was glad that they have priority seating at Asian airports

Our awesome mate, Clarke, traveled with us to Cambodia as well.  He bought us medicinal masks at the airport...we got more than a few nasty looks.  We had fun :)

Beautiful view from my window on the plane

This was SO sad!  There were billboards, stickers and posters all over Cambodia about child sex trafficking.  They varied from the sticker statement above to posters of sweet Cambodian faces saying, "Protect our national treasures".  Heartbreaking!

Our first day we went to a floating village.  This was on the way out.  From the mainland we took an hour boat ride to the middle of a lake where all the houses are on stilts

These darling little girls and their mom were residents of the village and caught a ride on our boat.  The girls were SOOOO cute!  That's my friend, Britta, making a new friend

See...stilts.  The village was HUGE!

View from the floating restaurant where we ate lunch

Everyone got around the village by boat.  It was so cute to see the kids paddling around.

After the village they took us out to a submerged forest.  I have NO idea how these trees grow in the water, but they do, we drove right through it!

Cambodian countryside

Delicious fruit at the night market.  So colorful and strange.  There are fruits there that I could never invent in my wildest dreams

Angkor Wat at sunrise.  We got there at 5:30am and it was totally worth it!  Angkor Wat is the main structure but there are tons of smaller temples surrounding it.  This used to be the capital city.  At the time that Angkor Wat had roughly 1 million inhabitants, London only had 50,000.  This used to be a thriving city that fell into disrepair.  Google it!

Me and Britta

Delicate carving on a wall

He was just reading and praying.  Awesome.

Lawn mower.  Seriously.  There were tons of people with a rake in one hand and a machete in the other and they were cutting the huge Angkor Wat lawn by hand!  Back breaking, to say the least!

One of my favorite temples, Bayon.  There are smiling faces of the king everywhere!

That is one smiley king.  My battery died while we were at Bayon and I didn't have my charger.  I strongly suggest looking up info about Angkor Wat on the internet because it is so overwhelming and impressive.

Hey folks, I'm on a brief blogging hiatus because I'm in Vegas for 2 weeks. The hotel I'm staying at charges a lot for internet access and I'm cheap. I can do minor things on my phone but definitely not blog.

I love you. Text me!

I'm not that girl...yet.

I'm Having This Sort of Life

The Trip - Thailand

I've been back for six days and am just now getting to my blogging. I have thought about doing it almost every day but I haven't wanted to until now. I feel like I'm different now - not a major difference but some things happened on the trip that have changed my outlook on life, on myself and on others. I don't want to get into the things I learned about myself, they're TOO personal.

One of the most important things I learned is that I really do believe in God. I saw Him everywhere. He is in the smallest details of this planet, in the tiniest ant to the largest mountain range. I know we are all His sons and daughters because I saw Him in everyone I encountered. In their beautiful smiles, their helping hands and the amazing children who would laugh and wave with us.  His divine nature could not be hidden.

We spent the first 10 days of the trip in Thailand. I'll blog about the other countries separately. So here goes...

This is a view of Phi Phi Don Island where we spent a few days.  There are several islands in this island chain but this is the only inhabited one.  The Phi Phi Islands were hit exceptionally hard by the tsunami.  When it was all over there was only two hotels left standing, everything else was gone.  It is devastating when I have seen the living that goes on here to know that just a few years ago it was gone as was a lot of lives.  The people here are so special, they are quick with a smile and a helping hand.

Thai pancakes are probably my new favorite food!  They are a really crisp crepe with a topping or filling.  I loved the chocolate ones (of course) and the savory ones as well, like potato and cheese.  They were cheap too!  About $1 each.

One day we went on a longboat tour of the other islands.  The first stop was Monkey Beach.

Click to enlarge if you want to see the sheer delight on my face.  The monkeys were a bit intimidating because they would see food in your hand and then several would start encroaching on your personal space...scary but totally cool.

On the same tour we were able to go snorkeling in secluded coves and swimming in private beaches.  It was breathtaking to say the least.  Even professional photos by National Geographic don't do these places justice, their beauty and magnificence cannot be captured on film.  

I am now addicted to Thai food.  Granted, this is fried rice but it was still the best food I've ever eaten in my life!

We traveled by longboat almost everyday and I felt like they became the symbol of the Thailand part of the trip.

Leaving Phi Phi for Ao Nang we rode a ferry for four hours.  This is just a view from the ferry.

We were there during the rainy season.  It rained SO hard!  

Sunset at Ao Nang

Arriving at Railay

Long story time - on Railay there is an East and a West side.  The West side is really nice - it's where all the fancy resorts are and the nice beach.  The East side is the opposite.  The beach is gross, the hotels/hostels are cheap, and the food is sketchy but cheap.  We stayed on the East side and to get to the West side we had to walk along a path through some woods.  At one point there is a gang/family of monkeys that lives in the area.  They are scary!  They are not scared of people anymore.  They would run right up to us, in front of us and behind us (extra scary).  Needless to say, I am no longer a fan of monkeys.

The beach on the West side.  I took this while we were eating lunch one day.

Sunset was amazing!

My favorite photo of the entire trip.  

Muay Thai is their national sport and we were able to go to a local match one evening in Railay.  It was pretty intense!  The guy I picked won the fight :)

More to come soon on the rest of the trip!

I'm Back....

Before getting into all the photos and trip details, I need to write about what happened on the day I left. My cool brother, Taylor, received the Melchezidek priesthood and I was lucky enough to be there. We're all proud of him and what a good boy he is. He is so smart, loving, spiritual, funny and is an excellent uncle. Below are some pictures from the day (click on them to enlarge, if you so desire)

Trip blogging will happen this week. I'm exhausted.

I forgot to mention that the street we're staying on in Kuala Lumpur is basically the El Cajon Boulevard of Chinatown. Those of you from San Diego understand the reference, those of you not from San Diego should know that El Cajon Blvd is notorious for prostitution.

There are several ladies of the night who hang around all day. In fact, there is one who stays put all day just scanning for clientele. We believe her to be a lady boy, a shemale, a tranny of sorts. She's tall, wears a different colored sari everyday, wears WAY too much makeup and appears to do 12-16 hour shifts. Yesterday she was visited by a group of friends (?) and as we were walking by, one called out to me, "Where are your breasts?". Isn't that so lady like? I had several replies ready to go but I don't think it would be advisable to get in a fist fight with a tranny in a foreign country.

I have WAY too much to say...I should have been blogging everyday but there have been things I have wanted to do other than be in some internet cafe for an hour. I'm currently in Kuala Lumpur at a hostel in Chinatown. I absolutely love it!

Britta and I hae been traveling with Clarke, a Welsh fellow we met while in Phuket, and we have been with him for about 6 days now. He is a laugh and a half and is teaching us all about life in the UK. By the way....the UK has WAY better slang than we do! They really know how to make full use of their adjectives!

I will post pictures and things when I get home next weekend, I have already taken several hundred. Yesterday on a bus trip an old man in front of me came seriously close to falling on the floor several times as he kept nodding off. It was awesome. Also yesterday, Clarke was ever so kind about letting us cut his long hair into a mullet, he bought a beer tank top and we went out to dinner. It was quite a fantastic evening. I learned I have a talent for sculpting mullets!

On this trip we have met people from all over the world and most of them have been traveling for several months already and will continue to travel for several more. Apparently it is common (especially in Europe) to do this sort of world trip several times in your lifer. Everyone has been astounded that we are only out for 19 days, it's basically a long weekend to them! I feel like I've been gone forever but I like the way they think. None of them are in debt over it, they saved and are living frugally so they can afford this incredible experience. I find it inspiring!

More later,
R

Saturday 10am - Ao Nang

Britta and I stopped into an internet cafe so I thought I'd throw out a quick update for ya'll. We left the Phi Phi Islands yesterday afternoon and made our way to Krabi, by ways of a 2 hour long ferry ride along the most breathtaking part of the ocean I have ever been able to float on. We then took a quick car trip to Ao Nang and have decided to settle here for a few days.

This city is awesome! The shopping is incredible, the people are friendly, the food....I'm not sure. We decided on pizza last night and not local cuisine. How very American of us ;) We will be checking into different lodgings tonight. It is a resort with a pool and full spa service. We wanted a day or so of pampering before we scurry off to Cambodia. The room will cost 600 baht per night and hour long massages are about 200 baht. Just for a little insight into our checkbooks, 32 baht = 1 American dollar. Yes, we will be getting massages for about $6 and paying about $9 each for our room. Life is tough, don't I know it!

Backpacking is a cool and interesting experience and I definitely plan to see Europe this way. Tough it is difficult when it comes to shopping! I want to buy soooooo many things but I have such limited space. So far we have met some pretty cool people, including 2 Welsh men who met while traveling and figured out that they're from the same town, went to the same school and were only a year apart. Truly, what a small world!

More to come later! I miss you all!

For those of you curious about the blogging hiatus and who aren't in regular contact with me......


I'm in Thailand!!! It has been incredible so far, we got here on Tuesday (it is now Friday the 11th at 9:30am). We landed in Bangkok, immediately flew to Phuket (pronounced Poo-get) and the next day took a ferry to Phi Phi Island (pronounced pee pee) (seriously). We went on an amazing adventure yesterday that included feeding monkeys at Monkey Beach, snorkeling in the Andoman Sea and racing a rainstorm in a long boat. Terrifying but probably the most fun I have ever had.

More to come later! I'll be here until the 25th and I'm traveling with my good friend, Britta Larsen who I know from San Diego. I miss you all!

Thoughts on Interpreting

I'm going through some sort of quarter life crisis right now. School started last week and this is my first time in six years not being there on the first day with my pencil case, Hello Kitty backpack and schedule tightly clutched in my hand. I realized that about 90% of my friends are currently enrolled and the other 10% are moms. Meaning that they are busy, not that they are lame and don't want to hang out (except for you, Julie. Lame).

The crisis part is that I miss it!  I miss school.  There - I said it.  I have visited UVU twice already and I plan on more visits.  It doesn't hurt that I am treated a bit like a rockstar either :)  I love learning, writing papers and having the discussions/arguments with some of my professors that always got me fired up and doubly motivated.  Blah.  I never expected to miss it.

I am now working as a freelance interpreter and it is wonderful! I love driving around and doing a variety of appointments. I love meeting new Deaf clients and new interpreters. I love the challenges I face linguistically and ethically. In general, I love it.  I was made for interpreting (or law, medicine or politics but since this is what I do I'm saying I was made for interpreting).

Something I have only recently come to realize is how much I am in awe of my profession. I am so honored to be privy to the best and worst moments of people's lives and absolutely everything in between. It is such a privilege to be an interpreter and it is something I take very seriously. There is so much at stake and I am so grateful to have the ability that I do to be allowed to be a part of the delicate balance of this profession.  

For anyone who is not as familiar with ASL or interpreting, I can tell you it is not a charity service I do.  I do not help Deaf people.  Both Deaf and hearing people are my clients.  Often I am thanked for the "service" I perform or complimented on the beautiful language or asked a million questions about my background.  I know there is a lot of curiosity regarding ASL and it is much easier and more comfortable to ask the hearing person, not the Deaf, all these questions.  I do not interpret out of the goodness of my heart, I get paid.  It can be tiring but it can also be a great opportunity to quickly dole out some education to the otherwise ignorant public.

Anyway, I know that there are some interpreting students who check out my blog from time to time and I encourage all of you to not give up.  It is a crazy cool profession and it is so worth it!  I promise!