Extra Terrestrial

Ok, So...kinda a random blog post. BUT I am reading this FABULOUS book and I just have to share it with everyone. I was skeptical to start it, but I decided to give it a try. Stephenie Meyer's "The Host" is just gripping. It is about aliens...yes...that take over earth. They come in the form of "souls" and are "inserted" into hosts on whichever planet they choose to reside. It all sounds kinda whacko and crazy, but it is actually a very interesting story. The 'souls' are very peaceful creatures and think that they are doing mankind a favor by taking over their entire civilization (as men are so vicious and violent to each other). Melanie is a human who refuses to fade away and stays in her body, along with Wanderer, a soul who was placed inside her. The story just really puts things into a very interesting perspective. It makes you ponder on crazy things...if you've got any extra time..I'd reccomend to pick it up. Boys Beware: there is romance in this fabulous find.

Spitfire.

hello friends.
So I haven't written for a while, but I have a lot of random thoughts that I would like to spit out. It has already been a month since I moved home from Logan. I wish that time didn't get lost so fast. One year down of college. I don't feel so mature and old! (oh wait, maybe that's because I'm not!) You have to be really careful or you'll lose days. It happens. Many days will go unnoticed. It seems to me that I find myself a little bit lost these days. Ever since my return from Peru I've been a little anti social. It's work all day and then close myself up in the basement in my room. I've started on this big project that I like to call "Simplify". I have just realized how much STUFF I have that I DO NOT need. Just last week I took FOUR garbage bags of clothes and over 50 shoes to the DI. It feels good to try and get rid of stuff. The African guys that were working at the DI claim center were pretty stinking cute too. They're reactions as they unloaded piles of stuff out of my car were...priceless. "Thank you Miss! Thank you. Thank you."


PERU. I want to try and explain my 2 week experience in South America. I don't think that you can really physically or mentally prepare yourself for something like that. The morning I left to the airport I still couldn't believe that I was going. It was all so fast. Only 3 days after I moved home from school and I was GONE. I think it was almost better that way. Don't get too settled..just start right in on the adventure.

The Jungle. We started out in the jungle. Hmm. Now that was something! We slept at this river lodge- right off of the amazon right in the heart of the jungle. Being that we only had 5 minutes in the airport to pack our backpack for 3 days in the jungle, I didn't pack ANY of the right clothes or supplies. I was off to a rough start. And I WOULD be roughing it the next few days. We went to this village and worked with the people all day for 2 days to get them started on this fish farm. Wow. Brute work. That's what it was. Digging holes, raking, in all that humidity. I couldn't believe how strong the local peruvian men were. They're like ants- can carry 10 times their body weight. We also experience two wild anacondas in the jungle. two of the villagers brought them out. Not my favorite moment. One of the guys was taunting them and got bit. luckily they're not poisonous!!!

The Big Bug. On our last night in the jungle I had a experience I would never forget...
me and ashlyn (my roommate every night) got shafted to this tiny bungalow for two..
we had just settled into bed after a cockroach and other misc. bugs had been sprayed or squashed. somehow we got stuck with the cabin that had MULTIPLE large holes in the netting that was supposed to keep these things out... ashlyn was under her mosquito netting and i was over in my bed with my headlamp writing in my journal.... ash told me to check up in the celing one last time, for any other creature friends.. I flipped over quickly and shined my light right on a.....TARANTULA! right above my head. OMG. it was massive too. it was 4 feet up there just chillin on the netting. what a wake up that was. i screamed bloody murder and jumped on ashlyn and immediately spooned her, grabbing onto her as if she could save my life from the big hairy monster.. I had a panic attack. For real. The boys came running to see what the commotion was. They grabbed a stick and they poked it until it got into a place they could squash it. me and ashlyn were freaking out this whole time. The thing was massive. Straight out of my nightmares. I think I slept 2 hours the rest of the night. I was laying there, unprotected, listening to all the jungle sounds. It was pretty much the worst night of my life. I accumulated about 25 bug bites just while in the jungle. I must have sweet blood.

The People. That was the highlight of my trip to peru. They are so amazing. I can't believe how humble they are. They have basically nothing...and yet they are so happy. Working side by side with the people and playing with the kids was so amazing. The language barrier was tough. If I ever do a trip like that again, I will make sure to memorize more phrases. It is so horrible to see the conditions that the people all live in. No matter where you go- even in the more higher class places that we visited- it was all still very unsanitary. It is a huge eye opener to be there first hand. After visting Belen- the most disgusting place that I have ever visited- I talked to Mom and I couldn't help but break down. It is heart breaking to see what these people survive in, day to day. The dogs in that city were either skeletons, or completely covered in fleas, being eaten alive. And there is hardly anything that anybody can do to change this.

The Children. There were multiple occasions, with multiple little boys that I wanted to kidnap bring back to the states with me. I just want a better life than what they have. There was this boy named Angelo who is 12 and works on the streets of Iquitos, shining shoes. His English was almost perfect and he was so charming. I saw him a few times while we were staying there. It amazes me what they do. There are tons of children who work on and live in the streets. There are gangs- that will establish different "working" areas. Drugs and violence are common. Pretty much "survival of the fittest". American kids take what they have for granted.

The Translators. Our two 5' tall translators were named Freddy and Julio. They are ages 26 and 30-something. These two men were so incredible. It was so neat to get to know them. They stayed with us the majority of our trip. They have both had really really hard lives but they have been resilient and are still really happy. Freddy left home at age 10 to work in the streets. His mother found him 2 years later and told him that she had cancer. An American man found Freddy a year later and took him under his wing. Did so much for him and sent him a hefty check from the United States every year. On Sept. 11 this man was killed in the tower attack. So sad. I just don't understand how some people are so blessed and others have hardly a chance at life. Freddy and Julio do so much good. Out of the 15 or so translators that Monty (leader of the Hope Alliance) has had- they are the only two that have lasted. The others got fired because of honesty issues. Freddy was really one of the highlights of my trip. He was hilarious. We all had so much fun together.

The Macchu Picchu. Hmm. Majestic? Wierd? Incredible? I don't know that this place can be described. The air is so thin and it seems like you're in a dream the whole time you're up there. It's so mind boggling to try and understand HOW the Incans built it or survived there. A little group of us just sat on the edge of this wall with a perfect bird's eye view of the whole place. We sat there for at least an hour. I think we were all on the same mind set - trying to take it all in. One of the seven wonders of the world.

The English Boys. So at the base city in the middle of the mountains where you stay before travelling to Macchu Picchu, I met some boys from England. Just graduated from High School. Travelling in South America for 4 months. No big deal...AH! Before the conversations that I had with them I thought "Oh yes! Some people who speak English! They're Just like me." Oh Ellen. So naive. We got to talking about a few things...Religion. School. Families.
They had never met a Mormon before. The first couple of questions that they asked me were 1. Do you "Mormon's" have Electricity? 2. Are you very..."liberal" with your women? WOW! Stupid boys. The classic misconceptions. I answered them with a laugh and a ,"Do I look Amish to you? Or in the styles of a Polygamist?" It was cool to answer them all their other questions. I'm glad taht they have now met a Mormon and know that we are...normal? To say the least. So next we got to talking about the home life and the schooling. They've all been to boarding school grades k through 12...seeing their families only once a year. What IS that? Why have kids?? It was very interesting to learn about their culture. Even they are so different.

The Sum Up. There was a lot more the whole Peru Experience. I can't type any more though. My poor fingers are tired now. As well as my body. I reccommend this kind of trip to any one who could work it out. It's pretty amazing. Some people never see what half of our world is like. There are billions of people living in 3rd world countries. I just feel so blessed.

Until Next Time,

Tell Me Something Good!!

Ellen

Baby Owls and Third World Countries

Hi All-
It has been a very interesting and exciting weekend. Moving home from Utah State was a DOOZIE! (aka...large and grueling task) And I had a little under 4 days to pack up and be completely ready for PERU. I take off on Monday morning...bright and early at the crack of dawn. It is going to be an AMAZING trip. I just can't wait. The nerves have started to set in but the excitement is over-running them. I can't wait to witness South America. I've always wanted to go there. Monkey Island, travelling up the Amazon River, Macchu Picchu, and Jungle Tours are just a few highlights of the trip. I am so excited to work with the people- especially the children. I just know it's going to be the most amazing experience. Probably life-changing. Through all the excitement of getting ready and spraying "bug killer" on all of my clothes we had a very exciting thing happen. The backyard of the Larson home is basically a forest. It attracts animals of all sorts. Baby animals to be exact. Yesterday afternoon our dog Cooper started freaking out and barking at something. Dad and Graham went down to discover that it was indeed a baby owl (about 4 inches tall) that was wedged inbetween a scary dark wall and fence. The little guy just happened to be the runt of his owl family that had taken up nest in our huge trees. The fledglings were learning how to fly and runt ( I like to call him Hedwig ) had been booted out of the tree and his mother didn't care about him. After research- we have discovered that usually the brothers and sisters will peck the runt to death and then eat him. (ew!) Dad Bill brought Hedwig into the house (with thick gloves on of course) and set him on the kitchen table. That was quite the surprise to come home to that. Me and Katie were dying. He was the cutest little most amazing creature we had ever seen. Poor little guy was traumatized and so we took him back outside and put him in the tree hoping that his family would have mercy on him. We are rootin for him. All last night the owls were communicating with each other. Hooting/clicking. It really was a cool thing. Come this morning- they were gone. Probably got sick of all the human interference. So that is the Larson owl experience. How I wish I could've kept the little guy and raised him to be my buddy and my Message Carrier-

Until next time,

Ellen