My CA Heart Was Happy :)

Beach!

Organic anything :)

BOBA...LOTS OF BOBA!!

No caption necessary

Sunset...on the beach :)

Walking in the sand

Good friends

It was Valentines Day...let us have a little cheese

BIKING!!! probably my highlight :)

Chai...like real chai made my an Indian man!

Our Hindi friend who did henna for us

Again no caption needed :)

GREEN and PARK together!!!

Explaining Winter

Have you ever thought about how to explain an electric blanket to someone who has never seen one before? I mean, how absurd does putting electricity through a piece of cloth that you're going to put into contact with your body sound?! C'mon! That just sounds stupid! Especially to someone who has grown up in weather that I could probably safely say has rarely if ever gotten below say 65 or 70.

And slippers. Why would you put something warm and soft on your feet indoors? Your feet are in a constant state of sweat barefoot, let alone being inserted into the soft fuzziness that is "indoor shoes".

What about sweat pants? Thick cotton covering your legs?! Why would you put yourself through such misery? What are they used for? Sports? No, actually, just to keep warm when it's cold outside. Unfathomable to them.

These and other conversations keep me entertained as I teach English and talk to people in my neighborhood :) Oh the things that seem so everyday to us yet are so foreign to them. And vice versa!

Hiking, a Wedding, a Sunset (finally!!!), and Some Students

First time I got/had to wear my wedding outfit

I miss pretty sunrises and sunsets!!

Some of my beginner students :)

I think we need to teach them what "crazy picture" means!

Chinese New Year

Sorry, this is the only pic of decorations I have right now

How I spent Chinese New Year's Eve (for lack of a better English word):

• Heard lots of fireworks
• Had a sleepover with some friends and watched a movie and ate martabak (aka heaven on earth)
• Listened to my friends make up a dance and countdown to the new year
• Stayed up till almost one talking with them :) 

How I spent Chinese New Year:

• Went to mass with my teacher and her husband, heard 4 different languages in the span of an hour and a half, learned more about the ritualistic nature of Catholicism, was banned from participating in Communion, and ate an orange that had been sprinkled with holy water (don't think it helped me much!)
• After mass, we went to the store, where her husband (as always) taught me about all different kinds of foods here, how they're cooked/eaten, the health benefits, etc. He's so kind and teaches me so much!
• Exhausted, I came home to read a little and take a nap before lunch. However, a group of kids came over who had come over the day before, so no nap. We had so much fun talking, reading books, and sharing stories :) I miss kids!!
• Was supposed to go to a new friend's house for lunch, but she didn't get to our house until 3pm!! Needless to say, we finally ate at like 2:30 because we were starving, so she just came to our house to visit a little bit instead.
• Watched Pride and Prejudice disc 3 of I think 6 with the roomies while listening to the rain :)
• Finally took a nap
• Went to my supervisor's house for dinner (7 layer Mexican dip!!! that's more exciting than you might think seeing as all ingredients Mexican are very hard and expensive to come by here) and meeting

Pretty sure that was FAR from traditional for Chinese New Year, but I did learn about a lot of their traditions. I'm excited to go to Singapore in the next week or two because the celebrations will still be going on, so I'll get to be a little more up close and personal.

10 Reasons Why Not to Run in the Rain

Ok, so I could only come up with one. And it's not even a good enough reason to not run in the rain.