A lil bit of my world

Finally, my own country now recognizes the fact that I can have wine with dinner-- an excellent combination that has been denied to me in U.S.American restaraunts for 3 years after the "legal" mark in most other countries. And here I thought we were the "leading nation";)

Anyway, yesterday we had the family party. I worked in the morning, then helped mom make my birthday dinner. I feel the menu was very representative of myself:

Mango juice
pan con tomate, Spanish appetizer
aji, Ecuadorian salsa
pasta salad(tricolor bowtie pasta, diced green apples, diced monterey jack cheese, pine nuts, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, s&p), Spanish host mom's recipe
chicken with peanut sauce over vermicelli, inspired by my love of Thai food
lemony pecan pesto chicken, from a cookbook and just sounded good
fried okra, Grandma Shirley's specialty
potato/cornflake/hashbrown casserole (i dont know what to call it), Mom's country cookin
celery w/ PB
baby carrots
red velvet cake
PB choc chip cookie dough ice cream
pure yummy goodness

Grandma Martha, Gma Shirley, Gpa Charles, Uncle Dave, Mom, Dad, and Ann were all there. Gma Shirley was very hip and got me a really cute outfit, Ann got me the Life Aquatic sountrack that I was coveting, Dave gave me a Target giftcard which Ann later helped me spend (partly) and lots of goodies, and Mom and Pop were very generous as they always are with their kids-- thanks again padres, I'm a very lucky kid to have you two *warm fuzzies*

Today I went to lunch with Gma Martha and Mom at the awesome Allie's Deli & Cafe downtown, and I got some really sweet cards, emails, and phone calls. Trish was the first one to call on my real bday, at 12:30ish am:D. Then Mom, Dad, and I went to Wichita where I purchased myself an iriver MP3 player with some of my bday money --woohoo, new toy, and an awesome one-- and then went to dinner at Olive Garden. I had a glass of red wine with my Mussels di Napoli, got carded and everything. So now we're home and I just got the sweetest collaborative email from some of my BCA buddies-- thanks so much for sending that Ruby, it made my day! I'd like to post it cuz it made me smile

Happy Birthday Hilary~!!!
This is Ruby. How are you doing on this fine day! I hope you are having a wonderful and memorable b-day! Here are a few messages for you that I got from some BCA kids!

Happy Birthday Hilary~* Julia Valvo
Feliz Cumplea~nos Hilary! I hope you have a super chevere birthday! You better be celebratin' Ecua style cuz that's the only way to do it ;) Miss you muchisimo! Dame otro tequila!!--Keri

Hola Hilary! Feliz cumplea~nos! Thanks for starting the group Ecua-emails...I'm so glad that we can all stay in touch again! I leave for Barcelona in less than a month, and so I will be forced to learn Catalan now. Haha, I tried this summer to teach myself, but it got too difficult and I had to stop. Well, happy birthday, y cuidate mucho, y nos hablamos mas tarde. Chau! --Julia Sahd

Hilary, I was very fortunate enough to get to know you during the study abroad. It seems that you are doing great, right? Let's keep in touch, Hilary! I will leave my information in your book. Take care and HappyBirthday~ Shinsaku

It was so great to get to know you in ecuador and I want to thank you personally! you have such an amazing heart and I'm so glad I was able to share this incredible experience of ecuador with you! clubbin' with you finally during that last week was tight! I'm glad I went, ...let me know whenever you come out to Socal! luv ya! ---Ruby
Hilary, I hope these messages brighten up your very special day! US BCA members still love you and thank you for everything! If I recieve any more messages from some late-comers I'll be sure to send them to you!
Again, Happy Birthday!
BCA 2005 Quito, Ecuador!


>>You guys are awesome, thanks so much for thinking of me y les echo de menos. Get your butts out to Goshen sometime, eh? miss alicia, happy late bday my young friend! keri dear, happy 21st in advance! i'll have a cocktail for you both when I go up to Manhattan (disclaimer: it's in kansas) to go out with some h.s. friends on thurs.
Thanks again kids!!

besos pa todos

I recently went to Maryland to visit Uncle Brian and my cousins over 4th of July. I will be posting pictures shortly. In the meantime, here's something entirely different:

the prairie dog is calling you...

Father's Day
Being home for Father's Day was a nice change from the past couple years, and, although I'm sure the mere gift of my presence was enough for him, I did get my dad a t-shirt in Ecuador. It's a painting by Guayasamin, the famous artist I mentioned on here earlier. I wasn't sure I got the right size though, so I also got him the electric knife he wanted. He actually had to borrow our friend Cindy's to help make Father's Day dinner, so it was needed. I also gave him a break from helping me decide on a car. We'd just spent the last 3 days test driving, internet researching, and generally agonizing over the differences between a Honda Civic and a Toyota Corolla. Chels couldn't come down cuz she had to work, but Emily and Ann were there, along with Grandma, Grandpa and David.
Grandpa got a homemade cheesecake, by Mom, and a "gift certificate" for another one, his choice of flavor.

I went to Manhattan on a Wednesday night to visit my sister and some high school friends. I also got to see Brownwyn, a friend who just got engaged! --and in Paris of all places (no, not at the Eiffel Tower, at dinner after a show at the Moulin Rouge). I took some pictures of the Kansas landscape on my way up there, to give people an idea of what it really looks like.

Other than that I didn't really take any, except this one that I thought was funny. Me in a cowboy hat, cuz I'm such a country girl, haha. It was great to see Court and Bronwyn and Tray. I didn't get to see Emily much cuz she had to study and work a lot while I was there, but hopefully I'll make it up there again when she's not so busy. Tray and I went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant, got to practice a little bit of my Spanish. And he informed me that I must come to Manhattan on a Thursday after my 21st birthday so that we can all go out. I started salsa lessons again this week[:D] so maybe there'll be a latin club we can go to. Court and Bronwyn and I went out to a great Thai place, and Wednesday night I just stayed at Courtney's and hung out with her, Meaghan Keuck, and a roommate who popped in and out. It was definitely a good break from Hutch and the routine of working. Plus, Bronwyn told me that she'll be back in Hutch most weekends to work at her dad's vet's office! Yay, I'll have a friend, haha. She actually came over 2 nights ago to hot tub.

One other little project of the summer was helping Ann Marie repaint her room. She was inspired by a Modest Mouse CD cover, so we scraped the popcorn-texture crap off the ceiling, painted it, painted pink stripes, taped over them, painted the walls green, and viol'a!-- new room. She took over Chels' room and has made it her own. Chels came home last wkend and liked it though.
I think it was that same weekend that I went to church for the first time too cuz I had Sunday morning off, and my friend Adam was there. His mom invited me and Marcus, another youth-grouper, over for lunch and we had a good time catching up. He goes to Bethel, so I'm gonna try to go up sometime and see a performance by a local theater company that he's a fan of.

Did I mention I'm currently waitressing at Prairie Dunes Country Club, home of the 2002 US Women's Open and the 2006 US Sr. Men's Open? That's right, I'm serving mankind by serving food to rich white people all day, haha. No, actually, I like it; the people I work with are fun, the club is 4mins from my house and we get paid a set hourly wage so we don't have to worry about tips (we're not usually that busy during the day). Plus I know some of the members that are friend's parents or that go to my church, etc, and it's cool to see them when they come in. I have, however discovered the startling news that there is a swingers set among the Hutchinson "elite," and I know some of the couples-- very weird indeed. Anyway, I have an appointment at the local Domestic Violence Center on Wed. though, to talk to the director about working with their Crisis Line. I decided I needed to do something a little more meaningful along with waitressing. Since I got hired at the Dunes before I got hired at the Mexican restaurant, I'm not speaking any Spanish really, which is very sad, but I just didn't want 2 waitressing jobs.

Anyway, I'm on my way to Wichita to take this laptop in cuz it's acting up lately, so hope everyone's having a great summer!
...
8 days till Amanda and Le come to visit
12 days till my dad gives his faith story at church
27 days till I'm 21
30 days till I go to Manhattan to celebrate
4 days till I get my new car!
39 days till I leave for Goshen
88 days till Fall Break, when we visit Kathleen and Liz in Rhode Island
2hrs 8min till I go to work

This past week I discovered basketball shorts.
(And by "discover" I mean I stole my sister's for a day)
Did everyone know but me that these are possibly the most comfortable item of clothing ever invented? i love them! i surely would have played basketball if i had known this; i could've been a point guard, cuz i'm short, you know. and there's something about the length and swishyness of them that makes me want to swagger when i walk, in kind of a Christina Herring posture for those that attended BHS. In fact, she often wore basketball shorts. And she was a good point guard too. So it must have been the shorts that made that walk, and not some kind of embarassment about her height (okay so she was a lot taller than i, and not a pt guard) as we all supposed. it all makes sense. they come with built-in attitude.
so my ever-thoughtful mama has since purchased me 2 pairs of basketball shorts, and i wear them all the time. other than my waitressing uniform, lately i really haven't worn much else.
ode to whoever invented the modern basketball shorts.

Ok so I have lots and lots of pictures from the last couple months that i haven't published yet, so here they are, all at once. Woohoo!

Homecoming trips

So I wasn’t home for long after Ecuador. I applied for jobs, went to my sister Chelsea’s graduation from Cosmetology school, visited my grandparents, called friends [all of whom are either in Manhattan or out-of-state:( ], and started running.

I got home on a Wednesday, and Sunday afternoon I left for Dallas. That afternoon Chelsea left to move up to Lawerence to attend KU and start her job at a Salon/Spa. Emily had come down for the weekend, but she left too, to go back to Manhattan, and Ann was at her mom’s, so after a whirlwind weekend my parents were left kidless again. Abby, a fellow-Quito exchanger, picked me up at the airport. I was so happy to see her! It was great to be with someone so soon again in the States who’d been with me in Ecuador. She’d been home a week, but we could still share that this-is-strange sensation about the little things like paying with a twenty dollar bill for a $3 chai tea and the clerk not even minding. (Two conclusions from my time in Quito: ready availability of large amounts of change, and always having toilet paper in public bathrooms are convenient luxuries, not to be taken for granted. )
Anyway, we went for coffee (it’s a saying of course; I don’t like coffee), she showed me her house and we joked about suburbia, and then we went to the evening service at her church. I’m really glad we went. Due to lots of weekend trips and frequent laziness, I hadn’t been to church in quite a while. I loved her pastor; I would have liked to talk to him for a while. He gave an interesting sermon on Nehemiah, appealing to intellect and providing historical context, things I appreciate when it comes to faith. Abby said he never went to seminary, and in fact was an atheist for over 25 years, but has since educated himself entirely through massive amounts of reading and self-education. We hung around after church for a bit and I met some of Abby’s friends, and then we drove out to meet Travis so he could pick me up. After a brief tour of his apartment, we went out to dinner in the college hang-out section of town, and then Travis proceeded to embarrass me by trying to go to a club that was 21-to-enter, meaning I got stopped at the door. Boo. I didn’t feel that great anyway for some reason, so we just called it a night.
Monday was a lazy day. Travis had plans to show me around Dallas, but neither of us woke up to our alarms (surprise surprise) and ended up sleeping in substantially. We lounged around for a while, I met his roommate Ron and chatted a bit, we walked around his campus (Univeristy of Norhern Texas; he lives right across the street). Later we went to Tapas, a Spanish restaurant that Travis loves (did I mention he’s a Spain-ophile?). It was incredible; I was literally overwhelmed being there. I should have expected it I suppose, because for the last couple years, anytime someone asks about Spain I can chat casually about whatever, but as soon as we start talking about food, I almost just can’t because it makes me want to go back so badly. I think love and food are fairly synonymous concepts in my family, so maybe such a strong reaction isn’t so surprising, but I really was beside myself with enjoyment and overcome with such intense nostalgia that at several points during the evening I actually got teary-eyed. Conclusion: I must get back to Spain, soon (I’m planning to go next summer).
Tuesday was somewhat more productive. I slept in while Travis went to traffic court, then he had to run some errands for his work and we got stuck in traffic for 2 hours—yay Dallas. We took advantage of the time though and had a lively political debate. I realized I’d barely had debates with anyone the whole semester(!) so I thoroughly enjoyed it. We grabbed lunch then met one of Travis’ friends at the Italian restaurant where she works, had a scrumptious chocolate cake, hung out with her at her apartment for a bit, then went iceskating:). I called Abby to come with us but she had to work, bummer. We went to the Galleria mall, pretty ritzy, shopped a little, then skated for an hour or so. Turns out Travis and friend don’t actually know how to skate much, so I skated around and just circled by to chat with them every now and again. After that we were going to go to a club to see one of Travis’ friends do a stand-up gig (I love stand-up comedy!), but by the time we’d stopped by Travis’ apartment, the guy had called to say his gig had been canceled. Since we had to get up early the next day so I could catch my flight, we decided just to stay in then. Good choice; 7am came awfully early. It was a fun visit kids, thanks for havin me!

Nevada (Wednesday): Later that day I was back in Fallon for the first time in two years. It was like coming home again…I have a feeling I’ll be experiencing that sensation frequently over the coming years as I go off and live in different places. Trisha, my mom’s best friend’s daughter who I’ve known my whole life, whose family is like my second family, picked me up at the airport. We caught up some on the way home from the airport, grabbed some lunch, the usual, then stopped by to see Colleen (Trish’s mom) at my old alma mater, Northside Elementary. I got to see Auntie and Unc (aka Sheila and Ernie, but we’ve always called them Auntie and Unc), and Grandma Dottie, and Trisha’s dad Steve while I was there too, though just for a little bit each. It was kind of a quick trip. After hanging out with Cami and Trish and company for a couple hours, Trisha and I went over to Ian and Sarah’s house for Ian’s graduation party. I love being able to surprise people:). I got there and Sarah let me in, then we walked around to the back and Ian turned around when I was almost behind him. “Hey kid! Happy graduation!” “Hilary! I didn’t think you were coming!” and when I gave him a big hug he picked me up; he’s gotten so tall! I overheard a lady say something like, “Now who is that young lady? Ian certainly seems happy to see her.” Haha. I didn’t stay long, just enough time to chat a little, say hi to the rest of the family and plan when we’d get together next, because Trisha and I were on our way to Cami’s 6th grade promotion. Eveyone’s gettin old it seems…


Cam got several awards for doing well in school this year, so we were proud of her. I met Trisha’s boyfriend Tony too, cuz he came with the fam. He works at the Naval Base as a security/police officer, he’s from Georgia and should be getting out of the military in 1.5 years I think.



After the promotion ceremony we all went to a great Mexican restaurant for dinner, so I got to speak just a little Spanish with the waiters. The next two days we all went up to a little town about 1.5hours away for Cami’s fastpitch softball tournament. They did really well, though they lost a couple games, the ones they won were great, especially one really close team were they came from behind (9-0) to win 13-9. Friday evening was the graduation ceremony, so Trisha Tony and I went out to it . It was packed, with no seating room in the bleachers, so we didn’t stay for the whole thing, but I found Ian before he walked up to the stage, so at least I got to let him know I was there.

I actually ran into 2 of my friends from grade school too! I walked by 3 girls and thought-- American girls are tall—without even registering their faces. Then Trisha asked if I’d seen who that was so I turned around the same time they did a double-take, and there were Erin Lowery and Jessica Armstrong. I never would have recognized Jessica just because she had a trendy haircut that made her look a lot different than I remember, but Erin was Erin. They’re both living in Reno and working/going to school.

TBC...

Mis ecuapadres: Yoli, Patricio and I
My host parents made a great welcome dinner for Travis/goodbye dinner for me after I picked Travis up from the airport Monday night. Some of you may be wondering why I'm all dressed up. Well, there is a very good reason I assure you. I brought this dress all the way to Quito and hadn't worn it all semester. I couldn't have that; that would mean that I had overpacked! So see, I wore it once, it was worth bringing it...

below: 1. Teri's dad & brother joining a dancer 2. Travis and I with Teri, her brother & sister 3. The dad with dancer again.

The next morning I dragged Travis out of bed around 7am and proceeded to schlep him all over the city, trying to take full advantage of his only full day in Ecuador. After walking a little bit around my neighborhood and doing a couple errands I had to do before leaving the country, we took a cab to the Historical Center to do some tours of the famous churches, which I had been meaning to do the whole semester anyway, so it was good timing. First we went to La Compania de Jesus, a gorgeous cathedral that's almost completely covered on the inside in goldleaf. Guidebooks call it "a masterpiece of baroque and Quiteno-colonial art with lavish golden altars and gilded columns, making it one of the most ornate structures in Ecuador" (tripadvisor.com). You're not allowed to take pictures, so I've borrowed a couple from websites. You're not allowed to take pictures, so I've borrowed a couple from websites. The Spanish conquerors of Quito and the subsequent Jesuit priests forced the local indigenous peoples to help construct the cathedrals, and their artistry was used for much of the beautiful decoration. As a form of quiet protet, historians believe the indigenous artists implanted some of their own beliefs into the artwork, including small images of animals or the sun, etc in gold reliefs that were otherwise purely geometric or scenes from the Bible. The church also has a large gold dome, which is definitely gorgeous. Our tour guide told us its other purpose was to bring the natives into the Catholic fold. Since the sun was a god to them, the cathedral was designed so that at certain times a year, the summer and winter soltices, the sunlight would enter through the dome and be perfectly cast on the images of Jesus or Mary above the alter, as if the Sun God were giving his blessing to the imported religion. We visited a few other cathedrals stoo, all beautiful, but none so ornate. We had to skip the The Way of the 6 Crosses, a street with 6 cathedrals on it, for lack of time.

Where I was really excited about going was to La Basilica, another cathedral with an old bell tower that can be seen from all over the city. Climb to the top and there's a gorgeous view. Travis has asthma and was obviously not yet adjusted to the altitude, but he did fine one the 6 stories of stairs (I was a little worried). The view from the top was worth it though; it was amazing. We were in the very top of the tower so there were only little gothic windows to see out of, but you could climb out of them and stand on a small wedge-shaped ledge to get the full view. (My thought of course was that my mom would have died had she seen me up there; definitley not a good stop for the very-scared-of-heights).

I'll let a professional give you more information: (frommers.com)

"Work on the basilica began in 1883 and is still unfinished to this day. Yet, visitors are permitted inside of this concrete marvel, which is modeled on Notre-Dame de Paris. Most people come here for the spectacular aerial views of the Old City and to see the Winged Virgin in the distance. For the best views, you have to climb 90m (300 ft.) to the top of the towers. Note that the elevators don't always work [*ours did, thank God*] and that the "ladders" that climb to the top are very narrow and quite steep. As you cross the bridge to enter the towers, look for the carved condors -- the stonework is impressive and the condors look as though they are about to fly away. The basilica is also famous for its mystical gargoyles in the form of local Ecuadorian icons such as pumas, monkeys, penguins, tortoises, and condors. There is a cafe on the third floor -- a good place to catch your breath after taking in the breathtaking views."

The painting was on display in the cafe, and that picture of my butt is really meant to give you an idea of the slightly precarious nature of the last level of the tower.

tbc...

Well I think the best description for my Cotopaxi trip was that it was a very beautiful semi-failure. Ben and I didn't end up meeting up in time due to a problem with the public transportation system, so I was there when we were supposed to leave but he wasn't. Since it was my last chance to go, I just went by myself. I sat by a group of friendly orthodontists on the train, so I just attached myself to their group. The two hour train ride, on top of the train, was absolutely gorgeous. I had no idea that so near to Quito it was so rural. All the sudden there were chickens, horses, hogs, lambs, fields and waving farmers everywhere. I felt like it was a great way for me to say goodbye to Ecuador's landscapes.

Upon arriving at the national park, you're supposed to get a group together and split the cost for a $35 truck ride up to where the hike begins. You have unitl 2pm to get back to the train from the first hiker's refuge, or you can spend the night and start the hike to the top at about 1am when the ice is hard. The friendly orthodontists, however, weren't sure if they wanted to go up the mountain or just stay and hike the green sunny mini-trails inside the park. They'd been really nice to me the whole trip so I felt like I should wait for them, but when they finally decided that they did not want to go up the mountain, all the other ambitious hikers had already left. So...we just ended up taking like a 10min hike through some foilage and then chillin on the grass after we ate lunch. It was pretty and relaxing, but disappointing that I didn't get to go up and see the "lunar landscape." The train ride back was equally impressive, and we got to see Cotopaxi from afar, but I'll have to live vicariously through Kathleen's pictures as far as the actual up-close-and-personal view of the mountainside goes.
I did get back around 5pm, in time to say goodbye to Antonio and Maria Julia.

View of Cotopaxi on my way to USFQ

20 mins outside Quito and suddenly you're in farm country

First view of Cotopaxi from the train

Train ride

Arrival at the national park-- Me doing an Amanda-esque headcock;)

Hiking with the orthodontists

Llamas in the park

What I should have seen/ Kathleen's pictures from actually hiking up Cotopaxi



Kathleen on the trail

Kathleen and friend Javier near the refuge

The snowy peak 

Pretty view from Raq's room