Christmas Ham...
new look
Though I have one question: How do I add links to other people's pages etc?
I was messing with the html but it's been a looong time since I last did a "layout" haha Miranda you know what I mean.
So Christmas is here, though I don't feel like it. Tomorrow is Christmas eve.
Tomorrow there will be 8 people in our house (possible 11 more?) and then on Christmas there's going to be 12 (and possibly 15?) wowza. Packed house.
So ya right now I am feeling gross, sick before christmas. how great is that eh? ah well
Oh and the present I got my mom for christmas hasn't arrived. won't on time now.
so now I have a back up haha
anyways I need sleep. goodnight.
oh and mom I blogged so :P
7 Random Facts
My body: thumb is double jointed and I can flip it completely backwards. My knees crack almost every time I crouch down, my shoulder can dislocate partially, just moving my wrists makes them crack.... ya it's messed.
I hate looking at directions. I would rather figure out how to fix it or put it together myself. (map directions are good though haha cause I have no sense of direction) ironic?
Random Fact Four:
I broke my nose when I was three. It was a bloody mess and Miranda hid under her bed.
Random Fact Five:
I hate monkies. REALLY hate them. They freak me out, they are ugly, scary, and freakish things. Even the small ones. Don't be decieved by the small ones.....they are evil.
Random Fact Six:
I have a rock and mineral collection.. Yes I am a geek. Also had stams, jones soda bottles, old pennies, and shells. I have it, but haven't actually done anything with/to them since middle or high school. Can't remember haha. oh and the picture is what I saw when I looked up geek... LOL
Random Fact Seven:
I am a pro lip syncer - says Mik. hahaha
SO I don't really know how to tag people so I'll leave it at that.
kids.
I work in the childrens department in sears right now so I see lots of cute things for them to wear, and lots of mums with stories and cute kids.
I also help out babysit some kids when their moms have a 'home-group' type thing on friday mornings. I LOVE IT! These kids I get to know, they are cute, their mums are upstairs so if they are crazy then they can go there. The other day there were some cryers so I took them and sat on the couch with a book. A bunch of others joined in (oh there are about 9 or 10 every time), so there I was with a bunch of kids asking them what sound a cow makes..... and hearing a few MOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! 's was so cute. I love em!
Oh and p.s. there are 2 of us taking care of all the little people so it's pretty fun.
So another little kid experience: Yesterday I went to value village and shopped. Trying something on in the change room and WOOAH some little kid crawls under and into my tiny room and says "I'm looking for my mommy" AH! was my reaction.
I have never had a complete stranger see me without any pants on until yesterday. wow. That was what I was least expecting. Ah well, makes for a funny story.
Probably one of those " you had to have been there" moments. but oh well.
So Miranda, your nintendo (ancient one) came in today :) be happy.
I think Tony should get a bird. It seems to make him elated when he seems them lol think about him having one?
Have a good one people.
The Potato Man
This old man who seemed to be quite quirky stood beside Mikaela as if in a line (which there was no line) and then while Mik and myself were taking pictures of eachother with my cell phone, he pipes in and says "Did you know potatoes are a tuberous root?"
Kind of shocked, Mikaela looks at me with a weirded out look, and I say back to the guy and smile and nodd, "yep..."
Then Mik and myself go back to what we were doing, and he then says "I had some for lunch :) " and then laughs to himself and then the bus came thank godness.
Mik and myself couldn't help laughing after we got on the bus out of ear shot of him haha.
He was then known as "the potato man"
How random can you get eh?
"The Potato Man" is behing Mikaelaon the bus
we had fun with my cell phone hahaWoe!
I have a tecchie dude coming as soon as the parts are shipped in. So today I was on the phone with dell support and I didn't get angry, frustrated, annoyed or anything! It wasn't bad at all, and plus, I knew Miranda knew has had some pretty nasty experiences at stream so I thought, "Hey I won't be a jerk today" hahaIt was all for you Miranda :)So yep, that was today.
This week I also found out that Dumbledore from Harry Potter - was written as a gay character from the begining. Shell shocking eh? Beloved character of a children's book, gay. I never thought he was and that's how he is going to stay in my memory of the book. But still, I wonder if she was doing this to appease all crowds or something. Not that I am against gay people and all, but it still makes me think.
Oh and this week TV-Links - a really awesome site that I used before to just watch tv online and stuff, is shut down and the owner was arrested. shucks eh? ah well, there is still hope of watching online tv :)
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9066/TVLinks+Shut+Down%2C+Owner+Arrested%21
That's the article PLUS new links! If you are a geek like me, the tv on the internet is great hehehe.
Tomorrow Miranda hopefully comes out and then I can see her finally!And then next weekend my friend from Ontario is coming to visit! I AM SO EXCITED!!
What are some things that I can show my friend out here (in the wack or in Vancouver) ?
Well take care everyone, and have a lovely week.
Missing Things
Well, for me right now, I am missing people, things etc. so here they are:
1. My YWAM-er friends now scattered across the globe.
2. Brisbane - Aus - beaches. etc.
3. Nice hot weather.
4. Being on a cool adventure away from home.
5. Community living... I can't believe I'm saying it either.
hmmm well I think I will leave it at 5
anyways, I am off for now. Bye
My hair dyed!
Before... I am posing like the girl on the box by the way.
My hair dye professional.It was smelly... and strange... and my head was itchey! hahaha
Like I said before... smelly.
TA DA! It isn't much of a difference but meh, I think it's good.
Home Alone!
Right now, I am baking a pie, finishing laundry, listening to music, blogging, uploading pics.. the list goes on. So nice to do it in peace!!! YAY
this is Aria's famous pie crust -- The Beginings... dun dun dun. It is my secret recipe.
so looking in the freezer we only had cranberries and blueberries left... Okay
gotta have the tunes. hehe thanks Katie for the music!
yummy yummy yummy. It was so tastey.this is the magic pie dish -- haven't had a failure yet.
To Be Continued
True story!
One day, not too long ago, well this afternoon, a few friends ended up at a shop and began a shoot. Photo style.
Angry Pirate! ARRRRRIA -- haha get it?? ARR!? HAHAHAHA... (note the slight over exaggeration)
Pimpin'
Strike that pose! hmmm the eccentricity reminds me slightly of Britney Spears...
And here is Tony... before he was wearing a red hat and leather jacket, unfortunately he did not submit to a photo shoot in front of many people.
Though in the end he picked up a sword and the shoot began.
My Last Update!
Home again home again jiggedey jig!
So when I got back to Australia, we went to the Gold Coast, for an extra bit of outreach.
The Gold Coast at this time has thousands of muslim people that come there to holiday - to get out of the scorching heat that the arab countries are going through right now.
So it is quite the opportuinity to give them glimpse of christianity. For a lot of the arab countries its so difficult to go into and at least talk to them about chrisitanity, but they all came to this place. So off we went, we talked a bunch, and they really really liked talking religion.
Hearing about their culture and they religion was really interesting too. I loved it!
So that was week one of getting back, the next week we had lectures, graduation, and coming home. Lectures were pretty good, I really like the speakers that came in - very very interesting. I think out of all our lectures, there was only one I didn't really like :P
So graduation was a blast! We all got dressed up, had a zillion pictures taken, a nice dinner, music, slide shows, aw it was such a nice way to wrap it all up.
After that we went for coffee at the "three monkies" cafe and it was heaps of fun :)
And that's about it. The only other random facts from travelling would be
1. I got frisked at the airport
2. Both flights I had an excellent view and a window seat, and I think I might have seen chilliwack from the plane but I dunno,
3. They didn't even have to go through my baggage in the airport again! YAY! I had tea, and kinves, and shells, and food stuff... loads of stuff that they checked when I came into Aus.. but hey! Prayer so helps for quickness and less stress through airports! YAY! Thank you God!
So that's about it, but before I go, here are monkey pictures...
And a link to all my pictures (of which I am still uploading and will take a couple more days)
Enjoy :)
MONKEY ATTACK
Once apon a time Aria and her friend Becky were walking down the streets of Darjeeling from their friends house home. It was a dismal and rainy day and the two girls just finished walking for about 5 hours of it. As they were walking home chatting along the way and avoiding massive puddles, there was a band of monkies ahead of them! Aria takes out her camera (since she has never seen monkies before and has not even been to a zoo) and takes a picture, sees more takes more pictures. Taking one last picture of a baby monkey she felt a tug on her pants.
"OH WOAH!" she yelled and hopped/ran/jumped forward a little bit. Becky started to yell and they both ran a little bit away.
Aria asks her friend "What the heck happened?!" Becky then told Aria that a monkey went behind her and grabbed at her pants. The monkey then barred it's massive fangs and was about to bite her leg! Other monkeys were yelling at this point too! Becky was in total shock when it happened that she couldn't scream at Aria to move until it already grabbed her.
Aria was shocked still and a little shaken up after the incident as well. Oh to her surprise though she took some lovely pictures of a cute baby monkey. But was it worth the fright?
I think not.
DUN DUN DUN
The End.
stop.
in the middle of a battle zone....
Reminds me of guild wars a tad eh Miranda?
anyways, the past couple days have been pretty interesting. I have been sick for the past 4 and they have been miserable.
may 30 - we were heading up to a villiage - I felt sick in the begining so I thought I could tough it out... so we were waiting at the jeep stand and I needed to go to the bathroom badly so I ended up using a public squatty.... oi. that was quite nasty, I have heard stories but now I experienced it. I would tell anyone that has a weak stomach should never even attempt.
so we got in the jeep - me by the window and contemplating the best way to puke out the window.. get there! no throw up until we got to someones house :S
there I threw up into something that I didn't know what it was used for.... oops. there is yet another embarassing moment for me.
we start hiking down a mountain and get to someones house and I felt that I really shouldn't go on -- I blacked out, had cold sweats, and was dizzy and stomach sick... so ya, we got a hold of a jeep, hiked to a jeep stand (maybe another 20 min) and get in, they massively raised the price and took us for all we were worth. Kara came back with me, bless.
Jeep ride - was off roading basically with no shocks. sick
get to half way to switch jeeps and oi. another dizzy black out ness. this time we get in the jeep and Kara looks at me funny but I didn't notice. (find out later I was pale and my lips were blueish...) so off we go back to Darjeeling. yay!
jeep ride wasn't bad this time I got to talk to a british girl sitting between Kara and myself most of the way, lovely to take my mind off the nasty ride.
so back to darj and I basically passed out when we got home. 15 hours later waking up and sleeping a tad during the day, oi so much rest the past could days! 13 hours the next, 12 last. OI! I could sleep for everyone on my team!
So presently I am doing alright, hopeing the worst is behind me and looking forward to seeing the rest of my team tomorrow.
Hoping that the meds I got from a chemist work too!
Anywho, I gotta run, but hugs to you all! lol
Aria
momos and more
Met up with some frieds we met at the seminar and then they taught us how to make a traditional Nepali dish - momos :) They are like meat peroggies/ wereneki. The girls we met took us (Becky and I) to the markets at around 12:30 ish, we got onions (the main ingredient), coriander, hot peppers, tomatoes, some spice stuff, and meat....
The meat story - so we went down to the lower markets and got to this "beef market" and entering in I walked over some bones in the mud, entering in saw meat (some as big as me) on hooks, slabs on tables, organs everywhere hanging too, and so we go over to this one shop part and get a slab of beef - they got it for us, chopped it up -- ended up like ground beef, and wrapped it in news paper and gave it to us. well the girls also needed something else... pointed to a hoof/leg with their umbrellas and talked something in nepali and the butcher grabbed the leg on the table *it was from the knee down* and brought it to his block of wood / stump, and started hacking at it - bits of bone and blood flying/spraying... and put all the chunks in news paper and gave it to us... I was kinda grossed out since he took some of the fur and skin off it and the tip of the hoof... sick.
so we get to the apartment - where we are making the momos and start making stuff.
making the dough out of flour, water, baking powder, and salt and water.
the filling we were chopping like 14 onions and adding the coriander, meat, and salt.
they then made a paste and got out this block of rock, and another rock... put the peppers, tomatoes, salt and coriander on it and smushed it up into a paste.
so we then got the dough rolled it out and filled little dough flat things with it and viola! put them in this weird pot over top this other pot.... and cooked...
later on I found this other pot had the foot in it and that is the soup they served us. oi. so I drank stuff that came out of a foot/leg. oi. oh and one of the guys started knawing on a bone later too with soup...
cleaning up I found out that out, also it looked sooo gross! it looked like toes and skin and bones in the pot >_<
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ok well then, that is the momo experience.
I am heading out to the villiages tomorrow and I need to go prep some stuff for that. I will be there for 6 days and it's going to be a lot of trekking up hills and stuff.
Take care guys :)
Aria
Yay for Darjeeling!
We live at the top of the hill/mountain. That means to get anywhere we walk downhill, to get home it's alllll up hill. This is by no means a small hill. It is big. steep. hard to get up with a massive pack. Harsh would be one word to describe my frist trip up hill -- the one time we carry our entire pack to the palce we are staying. Sick -- the word I would to describe how I was at the time
Tired - another word describing our entire team
Cold - we got from 40 degree heat to 15 degree chills + rain.
so all in all first time up the hill = brutal
ah well it's not so bad now. I quite like it now. Lots of excercise. We go up this hill (like an incline 50-70 degrees at most points) every day twice a day I think.
The locals laugh at the top I think because we are usually huffing and puffing (well 3/4 are) But hey, I am getting more in shape and getting less huffy-puffy each time :)
so it's all good :)
Rain -- it is monsoon season. sick. when it does clear up though it is beautiful. we have a view out our back windows of the 3rd tallest mt. in the world, and if we get up tiger mountain when its clear we will be able to see everest. Wow :D
Squatty - Yep I used a squatty hahaha = hole in the ground with foot holds on either side. haha I think I would rather use a squatty sometimes than a tiolet in some of the places I have seen.
Damp = this word describes all of our belongings. I don't think that they will ever dry completely until we leave. Our bedding is always damp, clothes = damp, towels = damp, shoes, purse/bag, Everything is damp.
I entered our room and was like holy crap! I could barely breathe (I think I am allergic to some mold...) and ya everything is damp so possibly mouldy, and cold!
oh well I am getting used to it now. But still every time I enter our room my nose goes "ooook oh here we go again!" haha
ok well that I think will be all for now because I have to run.
Let me know whats up :)
I now have facebook too!
Mom emailed me and said I have 56 days until I am home. So 56 days guys!
Talk to you later :)
Aria
India thus far.
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I just finished lunch at a very dodgy place and it was something I didn't know what it was -- spicy rice
Today we got lost on the way to the mother teresa house. We took a bus (thought it would go to the Daya Dan house) but it didn't. we got off at this place that was pretty dodgy and walked for a bit trying to find a place we knew (we were with some others from the mother teresa house too so it wasnt that scary) but still, scary place in calcutta, ah well it was all good, we got there an hour late I think. Walking in 35+ heat, my last bit of water, pants and a tee, oh my gosh it was sick. and passing the dodgy places smelled nasty too. We ended up finding the place where our bus would have dropped us off. So we took a motor rick shaw and went down a street, more like an alley, to daya den (the name of the specific house we went to). Oh rick shaw rides are fun! we hit the motor cycle in front of us yesterday, almost got squished between a bus and a car (rick shaw is like 1/4 of a car). That was one trip (my first trip), another was a little better, less scary which was good haha.
So far I have taken the subway (and got on in a guys car (they have guys and girls cars! weird eh?) well no worries it was all good though squished (more squished than the one in singapore), we took cabs (those are great, almost hitting people. people dodging out of the way, almost hitting cars and busses and motorcycles, rick shaws etc. they go really fast and even we took one today and zoomed between two busses. So yep, pray for safety on the roads etc.
I went shopping yesterday and bartered! I bought a skirt and a bag for 300 R. Like 10 aud. They wanted 650 I think (different deals though) and it was kinda fun.
oh wow I have been trying to journal so much but there isn't enough time to write down everything. I haven't taken many pictures at all because I am worried I will be swarmed with beggars asking for $$.
I am being a vegetarian while I am here.
Chicken = sketch b/c 1. climate. 2. whats food safe?? 3. I see chickens all on the street (in basket like pens), on bicycles (about 80 perhaps clucking away upside down), below rick shaws (non-motorized ones), raw in the shops... w/ this heat? sick! and it doesnt taste very good and it just looks gross when cooked. Oh and that egg grossed me out completely.
pork = 1. looks gross. 2. it seems like mystery meat. 3. don't see pigs around at all... makes me wonder. and don't see it in the restarunants much either. :P
beef = I am in India need I say more? lol... becky thought it would be sick if mad cow was out here..... lol
fish = seeing them be gutted right in front of you on street corners is pretty dodgy to me... especially since they pee and poo on the same streets.
so veggies is where its at.
Ok well there is a tad of an update on what I am doing...
heres random points
- water here is merky green ish
- we have a toilet in our room!!! no squattie!
- I have met a bunch of backpackers and they are nice to talk to
- men 'hork' and spit every minute down the road... you would be sick
- they pee everywhere
- they are very dirty here. even wearing pants and shoes my legs get dark from dirt.
- there are bars on all our windows
- we have a tv in our room and I watched Heroes, frasier, and i want to see Indian Idol tomorrow night!
- there are bed bugs and I have been bitten a bunch... so annoying.
- 3/4 people in our team are sick... myself included. and the healthy one is getting sick. Pray for health ?
- I got pants that I could fit two of me in and they are the best ever... and ya they are meant to be that big.
-------------------------------------------------
From today!
ok. Last night we went to Pirates of the Caribbean 3. I loved it. The atmosphere of the theater was cool too! People all cheering and clapping at heroic parts, laughing at (random to me) points.
They had an intermission right in the middle of a action part and it was wonky, but fun. Britney Spears and Micheal Jackson tunes played... Kara, Becky, and myself knew the words and lip synked and wow it was fun. The lady behind us then asked where we were from and stuff and she was soo nice. At the end of the movie she even gave us buisness card from her brother in law's hotel in Darjeeling. For a place to stay, even gave us her number on the back. So kind.
Aw I love the people (for the most part)! Even some of the peddlers are halarious and fun to talk to.
Ok so I am going to go now.
Next post is from Darjeeling.
Oh and I am heading there tonight and arriving 6am ish. The night train.... in India. I have heard it's an experience and a half haha. Ah well hope it all goes well.
THE SHARK
Have a good one guys!
Airlie Beach (the last week until now)
ya I am too tired to figure out where to move pictures to so here they are clumped. Top are random ones from Airlie Beach, bottom ones from the reef trip
Well the bus ride was alright, long but alright. We stopped at this free zoo and botanical gardens on the way and yay! I have now been to a zoo. There were chimpanzees, koalas, iguanas, a huge bird thing (and there was this bird that looked like a very ugly duck haha) and ya, it was pretty cool. The koalas are so cute!
I know a couple people that are koala haters here, they consider the pointless animals that are stoned all their lives, and just sitting and eating and getting stoned 24/7. I still think that they are cute :)
Yep, so lots of sleeping, some pizza eating, and ya. Oh and I saw camels in a circus place on the road. Pretty weird but cool.
The Chai Tent is our outreach thing and it’s cool. We set up this tent right by the beach, it’s a chill place basically. So music goes, we play sports, and give free chai away in the evenings. We stay there till after midnight every day and I am so tired already and hoping I will be well rested before we head out over seas.
There are coconuts all around us here and they are so much fun to husk, crack open, drink and eat. Hard work and I did one all by myself! And mom and Miranda I actually ate it too!!!! I am so proud of myself hahaha.
Yep, so It’s pretty good so far, I am going to go now and finish this later.
I went to the Great Barrier Reef and snorkeled – it was amazing. I have never seen anything that amazing in my life. It was just a little bit of God’s creation. It was so intricate, so beautiful, so awe inspiring. There were so many different colours and fish. WOW the fish were neon colours, vibrant polka dots, striped, fuscha pink, flashing different colours, it was just like the movies. The coral was all different types, all different colours and all different sizes – from tiny to massive amounts. The water was a beautiful crystal turquoise. Anemones swaying with the waves, didn’t see any sea weed either, just coral and anemones. It was so beautiful I can’t compare it with words. It was just like out of Finding Nemo – the edge of the reef was there, the colours of all the corals, types, all the different schools of fish – medium and small, I even saw Nemo!!
I EVEN SAW A SHARK!!!! But that wasn’t when we were snorkeling. We saw a tiger shark taking down a sea turtle. Wow! I got a bit of video which was cool. I saw one of the top 10 beaches in the world, it was breathtaking. It seemed like miles of pure white sand and clear clear water.
Tomorrow I leave Australia and head to Singapore. A day there, and then we go to Calcutta India ! ! ! ! ! ! ! WOW! A week there, and we head up to Darjeeling (right close to the Himalayan mountains) I am crazily excited and it seems unreal.
Update time!
Page 1:http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p244/random-nonsense/update1.jpg
Page 2:http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p244/random-nonsense/update2.jpg
I tried to make is pretty and new
love you guys!
Chinchila and other junk.
Oh Look! A TREE!
well this last weekend was in Chinchilla... about 5 hours away and it was very flat. Kara said it was flatter than Manitoba. wow. Well we were there for a youth camp and this conference that was going on. It was pretty cool. It was about a town of 3000 max. and had 1 main road with some shops on it. On the way there I was noticing how bad this drought really is. Also, the outback is pretty desolate. Yep, that's right! I went into the outback! Well, the earth is red, the trees are broken, uprooted, spiney, and dying. The flies were everywhere, the dust was bad, and it was hot. haha it was pretty good though.
One night we went with all the youth to this "bush dance" - basically a ho-down, square-dance, thing. It was a blast! There were all these aussie cowboys - the hats, jeans, belts, and boots to top it all off. There was plenty of dancing, fresh home-made doughnuts, and it was pretty fun.
We did this one dance, I think called a drungo or something. It was where you have your partner, 8 people, each making a square, and one guy in the middle. Well you do some dancing in the middle, out, around, and then the guys get together, the girls run away, and the boys chase after them. The guy that can’t get the girl is the drungo (? Means idiot in nice terms) haha and it goes on and on. I was with Becky, Marietta, Pauline and we were partners with the hardcore cowboys HAHAHA they knew all the dances, had the stedsons and everything. Makes me laugh just thinking about it.
Ah it was a really good night. That day our group was also divided in two, half did work, half got to play with the youth groups…. I was in group two! Group one had to do this relay race (I wish I could have done it though) they had to catch and carry sheep around, pull a truck (with their entire team) and do lots of outback stuff in the scorching heat. And the dog peed on the water tank they were drinking from…. Haha sick.
Our team got the hang out day.. lots of sports (footy, volleyball, lacross for losers, and stuff) one guy had a bull whip and was flicking that everywhere too haha it was creepy. They also dug out this pond, filled it, and with the dirt made a slide, put a tarp on, and flew into the “dam” as they called it. It was really cool.
They played footy (football … rugby) until Justus kicked the football… someone missed and broke someone’s windshield. Yowza.
The mound of dirt/slide and part of their "dam"...
who knows what game this was.....
Anywho, now I am back at the base, and the countdown is on. Next Thursday we start outreach. One week in Airley Beach, and then 8 weeks in India. Wow it is coming quick.
I still have a bunch of stuff to get ready and hopefully it all gets done in time!
Well, I gotta run, more new pics are on my photobucket, check it out :)
Later guys!
Oh and thanks for reading I like telling people what's up but I like hearing about whats up back there too! so give a shout!
Hope these pictures post alright ... I am trying something new :)
Oh and I will post a video I think?
Laters
A Day on the town
This weekend we go up to this palce called Chinchilla ( a long long bus ride for this youth camp up there)
anywho, here are some pics from the weekend :) Enjoy. Oh and you can look at them ALL on my photobucket : http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p244/random-nonsense/Aussie/
top three pics are from the gardens :)
these are the tallest palms I have ever seen. This was in the Brisbane Gardens :)
Enjoying the boat ride across the river :) beautiful day! Below is the night time picture going across the river.
Anywho, have a good one, I have to go to a team meeting and then get shots :(
Bye