Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Mark Twain was a smart man. And funny. I saw that quote last night and thought it merited preservation here. It also makes me feel somewhat better about my recent influx of clothing. One of the worst parts of working is that you have to have two functioning wardrobes: one for work and one for everything else.
Scholar of Mormonism Melissa Proctor says, “A Mormon woman who has post-graduate education is less likely to attend church,” perhaps because “an advanced degree does not contribute to an LDS woman’s status within the church,” whereas the church tends to fill its top positions with professionally successful men. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-10/mission-training-grooms-mormons-to-pursue-presidency-ceo-suite.html I find this to be an interesting statement... not sure how true it is. For me, at least, it's definitely not true!
Awesome places I'm about to go to (after I defend my thesis tomorrow...)
Paris, France
I'm going to Paris, I'm going to Paris, I'm going to Paris!! I suppose no European traveler can really be fully-fledged until they've made the obligatory expedition to Paris. Originally I thought I would have a day or two to see the city, which would enable me to spend some quality time at the Louvre and other Paris museums. As it turns out the time will be shortened a bit, but I don't care if it requires minimal sleep: I'm going to see as much as humanly possible during the time I'm there!
Normandy, France
On July 4th, we will be traveling to the American cemetery at Normandy, the famous location of the D-Day landings. These beaches lead up a bluff, and the cemetery rests at the top of that. To my knowledge, I don't have any relatives that fought over here. Our group is going to visit the Utah soldiers buried here, though. I located Edgar D. Erickson, a young man from the Weber area who died at Normandy on July 28, 1944. He received a Purple heart. I haven't learned much more about him at this point.
Biarritz, France
Could this place look any lovelier? I can't wait to see it in person and walk along the beach! It is an old town, so it seems like the city will have a nice mix of old and new architecture. Call me a humanities nerd, but I notice stuff like that, and I love it!
Versailles, France
I love the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. What does that have to do with this place? Well, thanks to the efforts of the mission office over there, we are performing at Versailles (a stake center somewhere, not here at the famous Palace). I love being able to use my talents to uplift others and share the light of Christ.
Bayonne, France
Basically right next to Biarritz, we'll be spending time in this lovely town as well. From what I can tell, it's not necessarily right on the coast like Biarritz is, but is 7km away, along about three rivers. For those interested, both these cities are in the Basque area of France.
Pamplona, Spain
You see those balconies above and away from the big scary massive bull charging out at you? That is where I will be at. Maybe a few levels up, just for good measure. But either way, I'll be in Pamplona for one long and crazy night of Spanish fiesta-ing! I wish we could spend more time in Spain, rather than just one night/morning and then driving across it, but I guess that means I'll just have to go back to Europe to see it!
Figueira de Foz, Portugal
Apparently I should have been working on my surfing skills, because this city in Portugal has the country's longest beach (2 miles). At the very least, I'll come back with my nice tan and plenty of beach exposure!
Lisbon, Portugal
My mind has been a bit preoccupied with school things, so I haven't been able to marinate many thoughts on where I'm going. But I am definitely super excited to be going here! I've heard so much about how beautiful Lisbon is, and glancing over its history (Moorish influence, Portuguese center of of spice and jewellery trade) it seems to be so rich with many fascinating influences. We also get to perform two shows organized by the church here, which will be quite the experience! Apparently they had so much interest in our show that people were getting upset that only a limited number could attend our single show. So our director said we would perform two shows to accommodate more viewers. This will be my first time doing two full shows back to back. I mean, we often did shows in SPAC that had very short rest intervals, but we'll literally have 30 minutes to end and get ready to begin again. And these shows are not like SPAC... they are way more high-energy, thanks to multiple clogging numbers. It's so worth it, though. The experiences I've had traveling and performing overseas, meeting people from all across the world and connecting with them -- these have been the most incredible opportunities. I have been so blessed to be able to share my talents and share my love with others. They have broadened my perspective and touched my heart.
And, this just in. The day after I return to the states, I am performing a Bollywood dance at the Springville Folk Festival. There are a few prayers I want answered in life, but among the top five is this: please, may I never stop dancing until the day I day!!
And now, I shall go prepare for my thesis defense. Did I mention? It's all about dance too.
:)
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