A "short" synopsis

Jess and Dave are engaged!! Wooohooo!! I'm the MOH, hopefully I don't let Jess down. Both these genuinely wonderful people deserve to live "happily ever after". I can't wait to celebrate and have Dave as a BIL.The snow came slowly, thus providing a long enjoyable fall with friends.

For Thanksgiving we drove up to Oregon with Reese and Nyles to spend the weekend with Kari. The above pic is a favorite of Trent and my 4th(?) time to Multnomah Falls together.
Kari showed us a great time in downtown Portland.

Celebrating Stephanee's birthday in Lava Hot Springs was a weekend of memories I will always love. Here's to many more fabulously festive fun fiftieths Stephanee!

Brad was in town for a couple weeks. During that time we got to celebrate Raina's birthday with the timeless tradition of foot biting. Happy Birthday Raina!!

Christmas snuck up on me very quickly this year. Even making these fun ornaments with Jess, Reese and Linds didn't help motivate me to shop for presents.
Now Christmas is here to start it off right, we stopped in Vegas on to way to my parent's in California. It was great fun. I don't have pictures of the strip because "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas", right? (or I just haven't gotten them off Jess' camera)

Today we spent time at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. My dad took some amazing photos, here's one of my favorites.
I'm so happy to have such wonderful people around in my life!Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Warm Wishes and a Wonderful New Year!

Where have I been?

Here's a link to one of my work blogs; http://montessorislc.com/blogs/go/. I've been posting our weekly GO (Great Outdoors) adventures. This is for those of you who think that I haven't been blogging enough... you know who you are :)
Wishing you warm in this holiday season!

Changes...

are most evident in the leaves. Lush greens are turning into vibrant reds and yellows. Luckily I've been able to spend a lot of time enjoying the changes.

More to come... I promise.

Busy busy bee..

It's been a month since our return to the U.S. and what a month it's been. Trent headed out onto the Middle fork of the Salmon river in Idaho for a few days before school started back up. I have been getting comfortable in a new position at the Montessori Community School as the Afternoon Enrichment Coordinator and Art Class Assistant. It's been a refreshing change, as I am able to draw or paint most days and am not in front of the computer for quite so many hours. This last fact has limited my blog postings, but it's a price I'm willing to take.

Back in the UT

Phew... we're home. Took us a couple days longer but we made it.

Homeward Bound

Huaraz has been great, along with the rest of Peru. Now it´s time to head home. We start our journey across oceans and the US today and should hopefully be home in the next couple days... cross your fingers for us. :D

Huaraz = Amazing

If I were to move to Peru, this would be my home. It´s absolutely gorgeous here. There are several glaciated peaks towering over the town. It took a couple days longer to get here, but the wait was definitely worth it. Once again the bus ride had me reviewing my life. If you ever travel down here I suggest you bring lots of dramamine and get all your life in order because you never know if the next curve in the road might be your last (this might be an over exageration, due to my paranoia of dying). The ride was definitely worth it! Being the starting point of many mountaineering treks, Huaraz provides a great place to relax and plan the next move. This morning we ate at a delicious little cafe called Cafe Andino which provided the best coffee and beautiful views of the white jagged mountain tops. Their banana pancake was delicious too. It was a little pricier than I would have liked, due to to it´s touristy nature, but what´s a few soles more for a taste of home?
Well we´re going to do a little planning today. Hopefully a small trek will come to fruition. See you back home around the 7th or 8th (if all the standby flights go as planned).

There are some pictures up!!

Slowly but surely pictures are being uploaded here's the website, http://lorenzo.smugmug.com/Joshi's/553594

We're in Trujillo resting until tomorrow when we plan on leaving for the mountains of Huaraz. Hopefully we'll be able to fit in a trek if our bank accounts allow. Now that were a week away from flying home I'm getting sad that it's coming to an end. What an amazing few weeks! I'll remember them always. This last week will definitely only add to the memories.

There are a couple things I'm excited for when I return:

• The concert series will be in full effect
• Bike riding
• Sunlight past 6pm
• Girl friends... not that I don't love Trent, Brad and Nyles.
• Not worrying about swallowing water in the shower... really! (SATC was spot on)
• Veggies... never figured I'd miss them
• My car- buses and taxis down here just don't cut it
• Hailey
• Stephanee's magical garden
• My bed and couch
• there are probably a few other things... I'll add them as they come to mind.

Things I will miss:

• Peru... yup... that's it... I could go into detail and say the beaches, rivers, waterfalls, mountains, ruins, jungle, people, food, and prices... but all in all it's great down here.

Kuelap- Hanging out with the people of the clouds

Yesterday was amazing! I don´t think I´ve fretted for my life quite as much as during the car ride up to Kuelap. Teetering on a dirt road who knows how many hundreds of feet above the river we climbed up to a ruin perched on top of a mountain. At one point the driver pointed to the ruin across the valley and thousands of feet above us... I didn´t /couldn´t believe that we were going to make it up to the top of that mountain. But, we did about an hour later. Kuelap is a ruin built by the Chachapoyan people before the Incas. They were able to make the structure blend perfectly into the surrounding landscape. Little is known about the people of the clouds because around 1500 the Chachapoyans were overtaken by the Incas. The ruins are still being unearthed today. It was truly amazing to see where these people lived. As usual I can´t wait to post pictures. Here´s a link to more information about the ruins, http://www.kuelap.org/kuelap/ .
Feistas Patrias is in a couple days on the 28th. It´s the country´s independence day. Hopefully we won´t be stuck in a bus during the festivities. We are heading to Chiclayo tomorrow then hope to catch a bus to Trujillo or maybe Cajamarca. A visit to Huaraz is in the works before we start our travels back home.

Lions and tigers and bears!! Oh my!

Well... not really. Although I did see some lions and tigers in the back of a truck (think circus) while on our way into Tarapoto. We´ve been here for a couple days enjoying the humidity... well not exactly enjoying it more tolorating it. Yesterday was great, we went rafting on the Rio Mayo. It was similar to the Moab daily, but hey... now I get to say I´ve rafted south of the equator! I´ve of course got pictures.. but you´ll have to wait to see them. There are also pictures of the waterfall we went to in the jungle!
Nyles is on a plane on his way home... I hope (crossing my fingers). It will be sad not having him around to make me laugh. Guess that Trent and Brad will have to kick it up a notch.
We´ve met some great people during our travels. There´s a girl we met on the river named Caitlin that we´re meeting up with for some grub in a few minutes, so I´d better get going. I promise I´ll try to update this more often with more detail... until then I´ll take as many pictures as possible so that you and I can enjoy this vacation of mine for weeks to come :D

It's a jungle out there

... or so I hear. We're heading out to Tarapoto which is in the north eastern part of Peru. It's the furthest into the jungle without flying or floating. Although, we hope to do some floating of the river rafting variety when we get there.
It's been pretty relaxing for the last day or two. Trent was a little under the weather with some funky stomach bug. He's better now... thankfully.
We'll be in Tarapoto for a couple days, it's supposedly a pretty large city so I may or may not be able to update this in the next couple of days. We're about to get onto a 20 hour bus ride... catch you on the flip side. Here are the pictures http://www.lorenzo.smugmug.com/Joshi´s until then.

A wonderful surprise!

While writing the last blog at the internet cafe last night a plot was being put into action. I had no idea what to expect. The boys had something up their sleeve that I was completely oblivious to. While in my computer inflicted state I thought Trent and Brad were back at the hotel emptying their bladders and other fun stuff... well I was wrong. Nyles was given the assignment to keep me away from the hotel for a while, not too hard when I´m placed in front of a computer :) When I returned back to the hotel lovely Claudia had set up the lobby with a plethora of tasty appetizers. In the center of the table was a ¨rico torta¨with ¨feliz cumpleaños Joshi¨written across the top. They boys got me. I was in total shock... actually still am. It was a great way to bring in another year.
We´re in Mancora until tomorrow... thought we´d enjoy the place for another day. Maybe we´ll be able to fit in the mud baths before leaving, but that´s okay if we don´t. Ciao!

AHHHHHHHHH!!! How wonderful life can be! I´ve been hanging out in Mancora for the last two days, we´re planning on heading back to Trujillo tomorrow night. It´s been great! For my birthday, today, I went for a horseback ride along the beach (suprisingly it was only $5 for a half-hour). Who would have thunk it!?! It was delightful. Tomorrow we´re planning on soaking in some mud baths that are about 30 minutes away. So far it´s not quite what I expected of the trip, but that´s okay with me. Everything is very new and exciting. Last night we watched the sunset over the Pacific (pictures to come when I get back to Trujillo to upload them). When we got back to the hotel we had a couple drinks with the owner, Claudia. She´s a sweet woman with two adorable kids. I spent a good amount of time while drawing with them trying to teach her son, Ruben, the names of colors in English. He´s definitely got it that ´amarillo´is ´yellow´. Claudia stayed up until after midnight to wish me a happy birthday. Then it was off to the club for one celebratory drink... then another :P Let´s just say, I wasn´t feeling 100% this morning.
This town is very ¨hippie-esque¨ with tons of little vendors selling their wares along the sidewalk and every 4th person with dreads. It´s easy to forget about life´s worries... do I have any? Hmmm... nope, not that I can recall :D Oh... I can think of one, mosquitoes. Better get going to put some repelent on. Damn buggers!
Thanks for the warm birthday wishes! Wish you could all be down here too!

Off to the beach

We're just getting ready to go up to Mancora, a beach town on the northern coast. The bus ride there is 9 hours... should be exciting.
Up until now we've been hanging out in Trujillo at Brad's place enjoying the local cuisine and getting used to the culture. Something about the place reminds me a lot of Japan. When I have more time I'll try to write more about it... until then check out the pics through the link in the last post.
Hope summer up north is treating you well!
-Yosh

Pictures

So I've started uploading pictures! It's going to be a while, but here's the link :D

Peru 2008 - 7/8/08

We've made it!! I am in Trujillo and am chilling at Brad's place. Think we're going to take a nap, go grab some breakfast and check out the town. This place is crazy. We flew into Lima on Sunday and took the night bus from there to here and arrived about an hour ago. The plane ride was great, although we did have one missing passport scare from Nyles while in Panama. Our bus ride was non-climactic other than a pissed-off suicidal taxi driver who stopped his little cab in front of the moving bus. When the bus attempted to move around the taxi driver would swerve in front of it. We could see all that was going on because we were sitting in the top front rows of a double decker luxery bus (pics to come). It's weird that an 8 hour luxery bus ride only costs 70 Soles, that's the equivilant to about $19.60. From our vantage point you could see the sprawling abodes made out of plaster and brick. The poverty in the country is sad to see. There is a perpensity for people to take advantage of the "gringos". I feel super safe having the four of us together though. Don't think I'd ever think of traveling down here alone, unless my Spanish were better. Everyone automatically starts speaking to me in Spanish, so it's slowly coming back to me.
The past couple days really have been a blur. There have been many other travelers around until we arrived here in Trujillo. Since I'm more of a visual person I've been taking a lot of pictures to document the trip. I'll be posting those when I am able. They will probably remind me of other stories to tell.
Hope all is well with you and that you can make sense of my writings. The hours of traveling have definitely cut into my normal sleep... for those of you that know me well, normal and restful is at least 8 hours... think I'm going off of 5 hours of sleep while on the bus. That nap is sounding really good right now.

What a day!

I'm sitting here waiting for the last of my work to be done. For the last two years I've been working on the production of a 4 disc set. Today I finished the fourth disc!! (well there's a little tiny bit to do when I get back) I'm SSOOOOO excited! For those of you who have been concerned about my stress level, thank you. I should be fine now :D But getting to this point has been crazy. Just today has had it's insane moments. This morning I went to take Trent to work, I was planning on running a few work related errands afterwards. Well on the way there my pants croaked on me! Yes, they decided it would be the perfect time to wither away while I was still in them. A large rip on my backside was no laughing matter... at the time. I was stuck in my car until my dairy air was covered again... taking about and hour our of my most craziest of days. Starting off the day like that wasn't the best but it looks like my day will end on the highest of notes, on an airplane headed to Peru! (Well the flight leaves at 5 in the morning.. but there's still plenty of packing and cleaning to do) When I return I'll investigate and remedy the cause of the disintegrating pants.

Now we're talking hours

With only 3 days until our flight leaves, hopefully with us on board, I'm switching units of measurement. 58 hours til departure. Within those 58 hours we have to:

• pack a months worth of travel gear
• clean a house
• finish all work related projects
  
• figure out who will take us to the airport
• find a place to stay in Miami for Friday and Saturday night
  
• get miscellaneous items to friends (presents, plants, borrowed things)
• buy items needed travel items (quick dry pants, power adapter, etc.)
• calm Hailey's nerves and move her to Trent's parents
• reroute mail
• oh and did I mention pack....

Hmmm... well I'd better get on it! I promise there will be more entertaining posts to come. Oh, and if you notice there's something I'm missing, please call and let me know... seriously!

Almost a Month?!

Time sure does fly when you're having fun... and are really stressed. With our trip around the corner we've been working hard and playing hard.

An old friend from Florida drove threw town with her husband and four legged friends on their move up to Whitefish, MT. Gabrielle and Steven had taken us out sailing in the Keys when we were living in Destin, back in '04. One of the fonder memories of my time in Florida. We haven't seen these guys since that summer but I hope with them on this side of Mississippi it won't be that long until the next visit. Since they were in town only as a stop over we reminisced over a few beers and went on a short walk the next morning.

With the end of the school year there are students who are ready for scholarships. The JACL gives out scholarships to outstanding members who are in their senior year of high school. This year we only had one applicant, but what a great one he is. PJ serves on the SL JACL board with me and reminds me quite a bit of myself when I was his age. He is an artist who is thinking of going into architecture. Although quite and soft spoken he gets things done... which is a trait I need to work on :) We had a scholarship banquet with the Mt. Olympus chapter at the Pagoda restaurant, where he works, to honor him and six other outstanding students. As a side note, if you know anyone who is a junior or senior in high school interested in civil rights and the Japanese American culture, send them my way. We are always looking for eager young minds to help... and it doesn't hurt when applying for scholarships.

Now that it's officially summer I have to reflect on the wonderful spring we've had here. The flowers never seemed to stop blooming... actually many still are. With the cool temps and snow falling on the mountain tops the valley and hills reached a shade of green that I've never seen here before. It's been beautiful. Here are a couple of the beautiful and intricate flowers that I've found outside our front door.

One of the biggest events that's happened recently is the marriage of two members of the river family, Spencer and Barbara. Last year Barbara, Reese and I went down to the Gold Bar camp site to check things out. Little did I know what a magically marvelous delight Barbara would make of the place.

The wedding encompassed the entire weekend, because river rafting and yoga had to be incorporated, of course! On Friday we loaded about 40 people into our boats for a Moab Daily run. The water was big and fun. We only had one person go overboard, the tears that were shed were tears of joy (mostly), and no one emptied their stomachs... that day.
The next morning, since we were so close to Corona arch, a hike was in order.

The ladies (+Jim) did a bit of yoga while there. I would have liked to join in, but I was just so taken with the scenery that I couldn't put Jess' camera down.

On the way back I had to get a picture of the largest karen (trail marker) I've ever seen.

When we returned to camp the magic happened, the group camp pavilion turned into a wedding reception hall. A dance floor with all the bells and whistles (that can be added that far away from home) was erected and painted. Mother Nature provided a beautiful wedding chapel. Ahhhh... sooo perfect. I was stuck behind the camera for much of the evening because I was so fascinated with how everything looked. All in all I believe I took about 800 pics that weekend.... most can be seen here.

Now that we're back the main thought on our minds is preparations for Peru. We leave with a bang, on the 4th of July and will be gone until the 7th of August. Since it's been over 10 years since I've flown internationally or stayed abroad for any significant amount of time, I'm stressed. How much money will we need? Am I going to have enough mosquito repellent to keep those insects from hell away from me? Are the flights going to all work out? Will I remember any of the Spanish I learned in Jr. High? Should I take my computer? How am I going to upload my photos? What art supplies should I take? Where will I be for my birthday? Haha.. well if that didn't give you a glimpse of the craziness going on in this head of mine I don't know what will.

I hope your summer is full of adventure and fun... minus all the stress. My goal is to use this blog while I'm down in Peru to keep family and friends abreast of my travels. Until the next entry... adios, ciao, ja ne, au revior!

Barbara's Bachelorette Biking Bonanza

Imagine 9 girls ready for a night on the town... on bikes! Well that's exactly what Barbara's bachelorette party was. Nine of us; Barbara, Stephanee, Maya, Lena, Gretchen, Natalka, Anndrea, Keely and me embarked on a 24 hour escapade (insert Janet Jackson's song here. Maybe a visual would be more enjoyable )
The exciting undertaking started off at Maya's house. Lubrication in the form of yummy cosmopolitans helped us start off our adventure. Barbara had mustered up the resources for audio enjoyment while pushing peddles. A newly acquired Ipod and battery powered speakers belted great tunes while we canvased the streets of Salt Lake. Our brigade traveled through Liberty park and on to Stephanee's magical garden (which happens to be next door to my house). Our thirst was quenched with a wonderful concoction she has named "Gin-mint Fizz". I'm not sure what's in the refreshment, but it's exactly that refreshing especially after the first leg of our bicycling journey. Here I am with Natalka and Anndrea enjoying the garden and our drinks.

Stephanee mixing some bevies

Throughout the day there were many toasts to the lovely Barbara and her upcoming union.

We then went on to visit our friend Won at the Blue Sky market. I'm not sure he was ready for so much estrogen on bikes. He sure does look happy about it though.


After a photo op and stop we were off again. The next stop was a little place called Gilgal Garden. It used to be Salt Lake's Secret Garden and recently became public.

If you haven't been to visit, I suggest you make a stop. It's located at 749 E. 500 S.. There are many interesting sculptures throughout the small park. They even have a website.

A quick stop at the Virgin Mary tree then we were off to a little know pyramid of the Summum religion.

As you can probably tell by the picture... it was a somewhat confusing moment for most of us. "A pyramid? In Salt Lake? What?" Our confusion was quickly cleared after being handed some booklets and Merh.... well kind of. I could probably write a whole other blog on the religion and our initial reaction but I'm not going to. You can check out their website and ask me in person. I might even let you borrow the book they gave us. :D Let's just say it was very appropriate for a Bachelorette party!

The sun was starting to rest behind the mountains so we huffed our way back to Maya's to meet up with Saphu and KT. A delicious vegetarian Costco gourmet spaghetti was prepared for grubbing. Using all our energy biking through town I can definitely say we grubbed on the deliciousness.
Maya has a wonderful house, included with her casa is a hot tub. And what are hot tubs good for? Long soaks after an evening of cycling, of course. It was so nice to rest after such a great adventure. I think Maya, the poor thing, is still trying to clean up the mess that 11 girls can make of a hot tub. Thanks Maya, for your stupendous hostessing!



The next morning we had breakfast and a few of us were up for a Sunday bike excursion. We made a few random yoga attacks while out and about.
We rode to the LDS Temple and Memory Grove. Then it was back to Maya's for lunch and to sadly end Barbara's Bachelorette Biking Bonanza!

I was just telling Barbara that I'm so thankful that Trent bought the red raft. Had he not I would never have met such wonderful ladies to go with on such epic adventures.

A Successful River Adventure

Desolation Canyon is a section of the Green River which is exactly as the name states, desolate. There are no roads, phone service or electricity for miles. The entire trip is 84 miles starting at Sand Wash boat ramp ending at Swayses rapid just north of Green River. To get to there you drive a road used mostly by the oil companies drilling south of Vernal, UT. It's sad seeing the beauty of Utah's backcountries being pillaged for oil. Granted, oil did help us get to the river four hours away from home. One day I hope we will have vehicles that rely on renewable resources, until then we'll cram as many people into each vehicle as possible. Here is a link to more information and history of the river.

We acquired new rubber for floating down the river. The cata-raft set up is a little different and we had to make some changes to our old frame to make it work. The week leading up to our 5 day adventure was nothing but stress. Trent was dedicated to making the frame work for the new tubes. We made a couple trips to the hardware store and a few more to local welding companies. Up until the day before leaving we weren't sure which boat we'd ride, the old bucket boat or the new cataraft. Thanks to the A-team (Letty, Elliott, Otto and Trent) success was achieved. Letty was a huge help in getting the parts to fit together. On top of the frame fiasco Trent was in charge of the food for 15 meals. Feeding 17 people for 5 days is no easy task. There is a certain level of organization needed for such a feat. For the previous river trip KT did an amazing job. She had labeled everything so perfectly and the meals were top notch. Not one to be out done when it comes to food Trent had planned some daring river meals. They ranged from Surf and Turf (London broil and shrimp) to Fajitas.

Otto wondering why I'm stopping him from eating

He had stayed up until four AM one morning cooking delicious ribs that could be warmed and ready to eat. Unfortunately I am not as organized as my dear friend KT so the labeling of food was done in a rush. Saphu was a huge help! Thank you to everyone who offered their help and sorry to anyone I might have been rude to during that stressful time.
Getting on the river was a huge relief. All the stress from the week before seemed to easily shed away... maybe a little too easily. Our dorky selves quickly emerged.

A night around the fire


Letty and his Ladies

Saphu, KT and Anndrea during a game of Uno

There are many more incriminating photos, but if you want to see them you'll have to contact me :)

Now that we're back we are gearing up for a couple more weekend adventures before a month in Peru. Hope your spring and summer are full of many of your own adventures!!

Out of town

Sunny days, good friends, and miles of river are calling us away for the next 5 days. We'll be floating down the Green river through Desolation Canyon. Like most all my river buddies, it's all that's been on my mind these past few days. I can't wait! We'll be back on Wednesday night and will probably be catching up the the "real world" Thursday so please know that I haven't forgotten about you and that if I had cell phone service I would respond to any missed calls. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures to post upon our arrival.
Wishing you the best of weather and a wonderful weekend! -Yosh

Murals

This last weekend I got to paint!! Hooray!! Dannie and Greg are having a baby girl in less than a month and wanted a mural in her nursery. So Dannie's brother, Jeff flew into town from Seattle to help out. His design was awesome! By the time I showed up it was like a huge paint by numbers. Everything was outlined and all I had to do was help fill in the spaces. Here's the "final" product.

I say "final" because it seems like there are always more details that can be added to paintings. Mostly I worked on the kale, radish leaves, peas and asparagus. But it was definitely a good team effort. If you know of anyone who wants a mural, I'd love to paint more of them. Here's one I painted down in Florida a few years ago.