Silence!

One time, during the metro strike in October in Paris, Janna and I decided to try the metro anyway because of a ward Halloween party we were excited about. The number of trains had increased significantly but the stops and train were still congested because of the Rugby World Cup. I believe Scotland was playing that night, and while we walked during our transfer, there were a ton of Scots who kept shouting out the first line of their annoying pop theme song over and over again. I finally yelled "SHUT UP!" (once I established that I was far enough away for no one to realize it was me.) A stunned silence settled over the crowd. First of all, I shouted it out in English, and second of all, the Scots probably thought that any English-speaker would be there for the cup and would therefore support the singing. They quickly recovered, however, and continued on with the first line of the internationally popular song.

I surprised myself that night. Brought silence to dozens through a voice that many people hardly ever hear. Sweet! Maybe I needed it.

YES!

Every night before I go to sleep, I look up at my ceiling where the word "YES" has been scrawled in night glo-paint. I've never asked why it's written there. The first night I moved in, I turned off the light, climbed up to bed, and there it was. Is it a self-affirmation? "YES...I have great skills, including intelligence and the ability to read upside down words on ceilings." Or perhaps it is the answer to a question: "Will you marry me?", "Can it get any better than this?", or "Is this cereal as good as I think it is?" (Demetri Martin: YESSS).
It's at a time like this, when I'm supposed to be coming up with an awesome paper topic, that a three-letter word on the ceiling can suddenly become captivating, sort of. Slightly captivating, if you will. (I'm pretty sure that's an oxymoron).

Anyway, it's hard to go wrong with YES. Especially for me, considering the question: "Should I be doing something else right now?"

YESSSS.

Monkey see, monkey do

I came home from school today with an overwhelming need to relax. So I grabbed some celery sticks and peanut butter and turned on the t.v. What was on, you ask? A Spanish-language program about the plight of starving monkeys in India. (No, as a matter of fact, I am not making this up). Since I'm fluent in Spanish (okay, now that's a lie), I decided to watch for a bit. The monkeys kept snatching things from a vegetable cart until finally a basket of apples spilled over and the owner got furious. It was very similar to Abu's antics in the movie Aladdin. It's sad what can be related to Disney movies and how I can always make the connection. (ha!) I actually remember reading an article about the monkeys in New Delhi in the Economist last year. The monkeys don't have anywhere to go because of all the developments in the city and its surrounding areas. I heard they were considering moving the monkeys to a sanctuary which sounds like it might be the best option. Save the monkeys in India! (don't hear that one a lot!) So that was a visually-enlightening 10 minutes.

life-changing icicles

This isn't related to travel...the reason why this blog was originally created. But what can I say? Travel to me now means hopping into Dad's car and scooting up and east of the I-15 to Alpine. Every once in a while. Other than that, it's Provo/Orem, baby! What small lives we transportation-less college students lead.

So I've been doing a lot of pondering lately. Okay, let's be honest, when am I not doing a lot of pondering? If you think about something for long enough, you'll begin to question the validity of its existence and try to connect the dots in a different fashion. For example, take a word. Preferably three or four syllables. Better yet, take "California." Say it 50 times and you'll begin to wonder if you're even saying it right anymore and might take the Schwarzenegger route- "CAHL-EE-FOR-NEE-AH."
By the way, I seem to have developed an online spell-checker (I don't know when these things happen). How the heck is Schwarzenegger in it and "okay" isn't? And apparently Orem should be Oreo. I'm Tokay (replacement) with that. And I should probably honor it with an Oreo shake every time I'm there. All in the name of tribute.

Anywho, this is life post-Paris. Kind of normal. Normal is Tokay; it's great. But switching things up is great too. I had all kinds of goals for my return to BYU. Unfortunately, I think I've stepped into that world of getting caught up in work/school things and having too little time for play. (I still feel like a four year old every time I talk about playing). And the thing about goals is that you actually have to take steps to accomplish them. (I know! who knew?) Life within a comfort zone leaves something to be desired. So I am switching it up a bit. Thank goodness for the life-changing inspiration that icicles can bring. The icicles lining my window are long, imperfect and jagged. At the same time, they are incredibly beautiful and mysterious. (Has anyone actually seen an icicle being formed?) Life is imperfect. There is no way around it. But it has so much potential to be beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, I discovered the album I'm listening to (Chevrotine by Holden) at a store in Paris. The music flows over you and feels like a floating stream winding around corners bringing content to everyone it surrounds. My favorites are "Ce que je suis", "Charlie, Rosie et moi", et "Comme une fille." Ecoutez!

http://armelle.mocke.club.fr/home.htm

California Dreamin'

Thought I was gone, eh? Wrong!
I have another photo album!

California trip


Jackie and Bruce got married!


Sheri, Heather, and me


I LOVE the beach!

This last weekend I drove down to Yorba Linda with Sheri because JACKIE, our friend from middle/high school, got married!! (To Bruce, who I met for the first time at the reception). We were in Yorba Linda/Newport Beach for a grand total of 24 hrs. Kind of swooped in and out. (We're smooth like that). It was great to be able to see friends from high school and many people from my old ward. AND I went to Laguna Beach and spent 45 glorious minutes carefully kicking up the water (we went there after the temple).

On the way down, Sheri and I stayed at her grandparents' house in St. George. Her grandma got married last year to _______ (his name escapes me). He asked where I was born and my last name (Orange County, Linford) and then immediately asked if I knew "Ray Linford." That caught me a bit off guard because Raymond Linford was my great-grandfather. I've never met him (he passed away a few decades ago) and was surprised that Sheri's new step-grandfather in St. George knew him.

When we stopped in St. George on the way back, I met Sheri's second cousin Sheri. She lives in American Fork and is the neighbor of Aubrey, who was in Paris with me. What are the chances? And there was another cousin who was a good friend of my great uncle and aunt. All in all, it was a very coincidental weekend!

I loved being able to see Jackie take this next step in her life. I'm so happy for her!

PICTURES!!!

I posted a ton of new pictures on Facebook- So I am going to share the wealth with you!!

My France! album:


The Bois du Boulogne (right next to my apartment!)


Rome! in November:



Last Week in Paris:


The Eiffel Tower on a beautiful foggy night.

London! in December

I'm still alive!

I know this blog has been dead for the past month. I'm sorry! After I went to Rome, which was AWESOME- don't worry, I'll post an album- I got right into two long political science papers. The second was due last Thursday. During that time, I pulled through a 9-day metro strike (ended yesterday)- and THAT was fun! Fortunately, I live in the city, so after a couple of days it was possible for me to get around- albeit smushed up against everyone else in the car- the way Japan does it I hear! During metro strikes (I'm a veteran now), the first day is TERRIBLE, but the other days are a little better depending on the line. For example: line 1, the best, would have 1 in 2 trains come by. But the line from 1 to my apartment, line 9, would have 1 in 10. Bleh. But still- SO much better than being on a train during a metro strike in Rome. I should've slapped one old man in particular.

But now that the strike is over, life is great! Yesterday I finally went to Les Invalides and saw Napoleon's tomb which looks like it belongs to a god. The coffin is HUGE and has seven others inside of it. The dome church is gorgeous- definitely a Louis XIV project. I ran into Wes, Ashley, and Andie, and after touring the war museum (with swords, knight armor, etc. galore), we went to the Petit Palais. It has an interesting mix of modern art and art from all other time periods.

After eating at McDonald's (hey we were on the Champs-Elysees, everything else is expensive!), Ashley, Andie, and I went to the Galeries Lafayette. It's decorated for Christmas with lights covering the entire side of one exterior wall with the clock. It was amazing. We went inside and found the Christmas tree in the middle of the makeup on the first floor. The store has all the big designers like Armani, Prada, Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, etc. etc. etc. EVERYTHING is there. We wandered around a bit, imagining that we could actually drop 239 euros on a sweater. ha.

So that was yesterday! Today I'm studying for finals (fun)and then going to Hawaiian night! (A missionary couple, the Murrays, are from Hawaii.)

More to come when I'm not supposed to be rehashing my knowledge of the development of Protestantism!