May 2010 Update- A doctor, a cop, and a grad student

On my way to Zion National Park.

A doctor, a cop, and a grad student hiking in wetsuits...

After Africa, I made a decision that I will always strive to be uncomfortable. Now don't get me wrong. It's not that I am trying to be pious, just that I don't get too comfortable with where I am in my life that I get lazy. I figured that by pushing myself a little bit more, I can learn, be and grow more.

I can honestly say that May allowed me that opportunity.

Returning from Africa, I had one week before grad school started all over again. But before I continue, I've received questions on how my trip to Africa affected my grades since I missed most of the last month of school.

I arrived with two hours to spare on the same day as my last presentation. I was groggy and severely jet lagged. I gave my presentation and left right afterwards.

I got an A on that class. I had one more week before my last final. I got a B -. I wasn't happy and wanted to contest it but decided to let it go. I did all the work but the instructor's teaching style of reading from slides didn't gel well with my cognitive learning style. But now that that's over, lets go back...

I decided to double up on my courses this summer. So instead of 2 classes, I am taking 4 night classes that are 3 hours each. Yes, I am cuh-rrray--zzzzy! But it's a well-educated type of crazy. I contacted my professor and after assessing the situation, I thought I'd be able to make it.

Turns out there's 4 of us in the same situation. It's helped build camaraderie amongst the 4 of us as we are learning to rely and lean on each other. One of my colleague's father passed away and missed two weeks of school but we rallied around her to help her catch up in class.

I love grad school alone for the support system it creates.

Now to the title of my blog. Two weeks after class started (Memorial Day weekend), I headed down to Southern Utah's Zion National Park to catch up with friends. While in Africa, they invited me to go with them. In lieu of going to Chicago for a work conference, I thought sure why not. Since I was going to pay for all my professional development expenses, going to Zion would be a lot more cost efficient for me.

There was supposed to be a group of us going including their children. But the intel we received from the park rangers made it unsafe for children (it turned out to be false). Hiking the Subway on Thursday and Angels Landing on Friday about killed me with exhaustion but it was awesome. Talk about being uncomfortable. All I remember about Angels Landing are my feet and chains. Did I mention I get dizzy climbing up steep mountains with the path being as wide as a sidewalk?

The water in the Subway was freezing cold, hence the wetsuit. We had to rappel down, balance on fallen tree trunks, swim across and go under some rocks, and jump through some gaps that made me go "really?!". It was awesome!

The beginning of the hike.

The hike down to the start of the Subway.

Putting on our wetsuits to rappel down to swim through the narrow passageways.

Tying in our rope.

Several hours later, we made it. My friend has more photos on his camera. My camera was sealed tight inside my bag.
I am not the strongest swimmer, the wetsuit helped me float through the freezing waters. After realizing I didn't have to swim as much, I just let my suit do all the work. It was a lot more fun.

Some photos after the Subway.

More photos courtesy of Google image search results: Subway

Angels Landing

Resting on the hike up to Angels Landing

Me chomping on food after a grueling hike. I'm pretty sure I gained all if not double the calories I burned hiking up this trail.

Close up view of folks eating on top.

Angels Landing as it is seen from the road.

More Angels Landing images courtesy of Zion National Park

Zion National Park courtesy of Wikipedia

Odds and Ends

Biking in Green River Utah (Ridetheswell.org)

A friend told me about this mountain biking festival close to Moab. A week after school started, I jumped on the chance of finally riding.

Here are some photos.

Apparently this was used as planet Vulcan in the latest Star Trek movie.

"Open your eyes for the photo" Me: But my eyes are opened.

To best view this photo, turn your head 90 degrees to the right. Or just flip your monitor 90 degrees to the right.

Three fingers rock. Ancient art from the past. I don't remember what this represents.

And happy Mothers Day to all by the way! Here's a photo that says it all for me.

That's Josh and me in Zambia. I saw the monkeys and wanted to get closer. As I inched closer, Josh asked if he could join me for the photo. I was going to see how close I got when that big guy (or gal) of a monkey swaggered right through. I kept inching to see how close I'd get. When Josh's mom yelled from the top of her lungs-- Jerome STOP!!

If it wasn't for mothers common sense, I guess there would be less boys in this world...