Mountain girl leaves the desert.

The time has finally come for me to leave this deseret behind. I will be leaving next week and rushing back to the mountains in hopes of sitting on a chairlift by the weekend. Can't say that I'm sorry to leave this place, but it has definetly been a different experience I never thought I would have. I don't have anywhere to live or a job, but I guess I will figure things out after Jackson Hole. I will be in Jackson for a month and then who knows maybe back to Montana or possibly move to a Buddhist Monastery in Thailand. I've been sending out my resume to different archaeology companies in Alaska. I'm hoping to work in Alaska for the summer and then maybe spend another winter at a ski resort or maybe backpack across India (it changes daily). I think after taking a year off I will be ready to finish my nursing clinicals and try to be an adult. Who am I kidding I will never be an adult. Hope to see all of my long lost friends soon and enjoy an adult beverage on a ski slope somewhere. Kate you wouldn't believe what hard core skiing they have down here.

The Game Trail Ski Trail on Ski Apache

You think once you graduate you don't have to study anymore. Wrong!

Verisimilitude- the appearance of truth; the quality of seeming to be true
Who uses words like this? I'm becoming more aware of my lack of vocabulary as I study for the GRE. I can't believe some of the words they want you to know for this test. I'm taking the GRE in a few weeks so I am trying to study hard, but am realizing that this test is going to be a huge challenge. I'm applying to graduate school, and still hoping to finish my nursing. I'm still in Texas working hard for 4 more weeks. I will then be leaving this place and hope never to return again. After, I will be going to Wyoming for a month to do a Wilderness EMT certificaiton. After this, who knows where the road will lead me. Hopefully to a mountain covered in light, fluffly snow.

Dead people

So this is the real reason I went to Peru, to examine mummies and skeletal remains dating to 500 A.D.. Some of you may think I'm sick and twisted, but I find it to be quite fascinating to try and figure out what happend to these people. I hope to return and continue researching.

skiing in patagonia

So my whole trip to Peru has been completly crazy, since in how I am no longer in Peru but in Patagonia. I never imagined a place that could be so beautiful. I skiied my ass of yesterday at resort called Catedral and am really sore. Its amazing how only a few months away from the slopes will really get you out of shape. I´m looking forward to the upcoming ski season. I´ve had a really great eye opening experiance here and can´t wait to see everyone back home, and definetly there will be some long phone conversations explaining everything that has happend. I also went kayaking with a guy from England and another guy from New Zealand today. I am in Bariloche, Argentina, which is in Patagonia. It is called the lake district and they aren´t kidding with the name. There are mountains and lakes for miles. I think I want to move to South America for a ski season. Whose coming with me?

Peru

I´m in Cusco, Peru right now. The whole trip has taken an insane turn in a direction that I can not explain right now. I will have to explain to everyone what happend when I get home. I am taking an extensive spanish language course here and also volunteering with the street children. I have done a bit of traveling, but will probably be returning back to Utah early than expected because of some unexpected occurrences. Lets just say that life never turns out the way that you expect it to. It always throws little detours along the way. It seems like my life is one big obstacle, but maybe this is the way it was meant to be. I will talk to everyone when I get back to the states.

hola!

Just finished my Spanish class. I'm not quite fluent, but I definetly learned some conversational skills. As you can tell from the picture I had some interesting characters in my class. The class started out with about 25 people and by the last day there were five of us, me being the only female. I'm off to Peru this week so I probably won't be posting anything new unless I can find an internet cafe that allows picture uploading. E-mail will be a great way to stay in contact if anyone feels the need.
Hasta Luego!

One more perk of living in the desert.

There are teranchelas all over the desert. I'm constantly walking over them and their homes. Kind of creepy, but they are not as bad as the cactus and acacia thorns that are embedded in my legs. Also not as bad as the rattlesnakes, but you won't see me getting close to them to take a picture. Work has been challenging because one of my bosses has been a complete jerk to me, but I'm trying to stay positive. Some men don't know how to work with females. I leave for Peru in two weeks so it should be a nice break from this place I call home.

I had to get out of the desert for a few days and see some mountains, so I went to the Telluride Blue Grass Festival in Colorado. This is the huge tent city I camped at. It was a blast and everyone I met was so awesome!

Just another day at work.

I got taken over by the army.

How do you know you live in the armpit of the country?

1. Nobody speaks English.
2. Sometimes you don't get water and when you do it's brown?
3. It's 120 degrees!
4. It never rains.
5. When you see rain clouds in the sky it's really just pollution.
6. The crunchy thing in your sushi roll isn't a vegetable, it's a cockroach.
7. There are 100 flights a day leaving, but only one flying in.
8. You look like you have a great tan, but really it's just a layer of dirt from the sand storms.
9. You have three deadbolts on your door, but you can still break in.
10. You think there is an earthquake, but really it's just the neighbors stereo.
11. Nobody throws garbage in a trash can.
12. People keep asking you why on earth you moved there.
13. When driving down the freeway you see billboards that say "Make sure your child is really yours, get a DNA test."
14. Rexburg, Idaho is starting to look like Maui.

Graduation! Wow! I cried the whole time because the ten year plan only took me eight.

The scenery I look at everyday. This is the Chihuahua Desert in southern New Mexico where I hike for ten hours a day.



Since the military does testings out here we always find old missiles.This is a piece of pottery. Typically this is what we find everyday.

This is an oryx, an african antelope. They were transplanted in the desert by the military. I kind of feel like I'm on an african safari when I see one.

Das ist me!

What's happening this summer?

I'll be working on an archaeology project in Acari Valley, Peru. We will be excavating a cemetery dating to around 500 A.D.. My job will consist of examining the skeletal remains and determining sex, age, and hopefully tell if they had any diseases. Keep posted for pictures.