Oh, yeah, I have this blog...

Yeah, I guess I've just been really tired, lately. I've thought about blogging a few times, but just gone to bed instead. I think I may have been sick for a while, but it could have just been stress. What an exciting life I lead! Well, I do have a couple of tidbits for you:


I stopped trains in L'Enfant Plaza.

I was really late to work and I pulled out my BlackBerry (bb) to see what time it was and it slipped out of my hands with enough momentum to make it all the way on to the train tracks. For about half a second, I thought about jumping down there to get it. Then my survival instinct kicked in and I realized I didn't know which one was the third rail and that I wasn't sure I was in shape enough to jump down there and hoist myself back up in the 3 minutes before the next train ;)

Luckily, it fell all the way to the bottom where no part of the train ever goes, so it didn't actually get crushed and I found a really nice Metro supervisor to retrieve it for me. They have these long grabby stick things for exactly this purpose, but the bb was too small and slippery, so he had to wait a while for a break in the trains (I think he probably just gave up after a while, because there is a Blue or Orange train coming through there every 3 minutes all day) and then stopped trains and walked down on the tracks to get it for me. Then he teased me about there being a fine for dropping things on the tracks while I begged the bb to come back to life, which it finally did. Sadly, my biggest concern was not the loss of the bb, but that, if I lost/destroyed another one, I would never hear the end of the teasing from my co-workers.

So, for all you Metroers, the next time you are sitting in the train in the tunnel for no apparent reason, you can just think, "Oh, Pache must have dropped her bb, again." :)


I'm becoming an English Mentor

They have just started this program in my ward - a partnership between us and the Spanish ward in our stake - to pair us with a Spanish speaker to help them with their English. I am not required to speak Spanish to do this (which is good because I still only remember Donde esta el girafe?). I really have no idea what I'm doing, but I thought, since I really have no commitments outside of work and need to infuse some service into my life, I'd give it a shot. They started it off with a pot luck last Monday so we could all meet each other. The person I'll be mentoring wasn't able to come that night, so I just hung out with the other people at my table and soaked up the experience. I got some really interesting thoughts from it.

Someone mentioned at the beginning that it was a good pairing of wards, because we both feel kind of left out in the stake. The singles because everything seems to be oriented towards a family we don't have, and the Spanish ward because everything has to go through a translator. I felt a real kinsmanship with them after just that thought. Beyond being my brothers and sisters in the gospel, we shared the bond of feeling out of place at stake functions. And, now, we were doing something about that. At least we would know each other.

All future activities with this program will be conducted in English, since we are teaching English, but this one was conducted in Spanish. As usual, I was able to pick up about every third word of Spanish, so I was very greatful that my Home Teacher was at my table to translate for us. It was interesting, though, to get a taste of what everything must be like for the Spanish speakers.

The other interesting thing I learned from the people at my table, and, by far, the most comforting thought in my inadequacy as an English teacher, was that they have a hard time getting people to speak English to them. They said that whenever someone offered to help them with their English in exchange for help with their Spanish, they usually wound up teaching Spanish and not learning English. And church is in Spanish, and work is in Spanish, and everyone at home speaks Spanish, so what they really wanted was just someone to speak English with them. Well, I can do that! That's about all I can do. I could throw in a little German, but I don't think that would be helpful, either...


I discovered a direct flight from DCA to SLC

Okay, so my roommate tells me it has existed for quite a while and it is the only flight she ever takes, but I just discovered it. DCA (the airport ten minutes from my house) to Salt Lake on Delta round trip for $248! And it is a direct flight! I'm so used to everything having at least one connection that direct flights still kind of freak me out. I think that my trip to Orlando last fall was the first time I had ever flown directly to somewhere. Come to think of it, all of my government flights have been direct (Orlando, San Fran and Dallas) but it had never occurred to me that I could get a direct flight to somewhere and be able to pay for it myself. This could be revolutionary...

BTW, this brings up that I am planning to come to Utah - SLC and CV - this summer. Some time between the beginning of May and September. I'm leaning towards Memorial Day weekend. Any of you Utahans have comments on that?

I finally have a calling!

(Um... I think everyone reading this will know what a calling is. If not, ask.) Today, I was finally set apart for my first calling since moving to DC. :) I am the co-ward-bulletin-person. It is funny how good it feels to just have an assigned task for the ward. I feel a lot more connected now, even though it sounds like a really minor calling. I'm going to magnify it like crazy! :)

Grr. Stupid rules.

So, I have all these funny stories, but they all happened at work, so I have forbidden them from this blog. I guess I need to work on spending more time with people outside of work. I did go out with some friends on Friday night, but, by the time they showed up I was soooo tired that I might as well have been drunk. (Seriously, I was dancing to the music at Baja Fresh!)

I went to Eastern Market the last three Saturdays with various people. Last week, with Rae, I was introduced to this crazy little book store which will probably prove to be a very expensive discovery, over time. And, we decided that we should take a road trip to PA. So, if anyone has suggestions for things to see in western PA, or wants to come along, we're headed there sometime soon.

Yep. I guess that's about it, for now. I will endeavor to be more interesting in the future.

Chama a isso uma sanduíche de fiambre? Leve já isso daqui!