Utah Sojourn

My life and experiences while I work towards my MS in Utah.

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Location: Gitting, Manyara, Tanzania

Just finished my MS in Watershed Science at Utah State University. Am now embarking on an adventure in Tanzania through the Peace Corps. After 2 months of training, I have just started teaching secondary Chemistry and Physics, which will be for 2 years.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Black Diamond
Since I didn't have classes today (or any Tuesday or Thursday), Joe and I went downhill skiing up at the Beav (aka Beaver Mountain) this morning. It was pretty chilly and my fingers froze but we had a good time...and next time I know to wear the new mittens I got for Christmas that are supposed to keep you ultra warm.

Now, I'm not a big downhill skier and have only been a handful of times, so I kind of like the bunny slopes and don't really push myself too much out of my comfort zone (just a little). Today Joe helped push me further by going down some intermediate trails. He would go first, I would see that he didn't get hurt, and then I would successfully carve my way down the slope. We also went one bit at a time so that I didn't get too overwhelmed and could brace myself for the next steep part. I think my form improved a bit more today too because I was in the up and down rhythm that I had just started getting at the end of when I skied last week. On our last run, I even did a small section that is labeled as a Black Diamond but wasn't really any harder than sections of the intermediate trails. So, yeah, I skied a Black Diamond (*puffs up chest and sticks thumbs in pants*). My goal is to have skied all of the Black Diamond trails by the end of the season that are not mogul fields. Although I would like to try a mogul field when there is a lot of fresh powder and I am more experienced...

We only did a couple hours of skiing so that I could get back to help man a table in the TSC (Taggart Student Center). The Newman club is raffling off an iPod Shuffle (that our College Bowl team won and didn't have an alternate to give it to). The money is going to the Sudan through Catholic Relief Services and we have already made at least a $100, which is about the price of the iPod. We're also trying to raise money for our spring break trip to Tacoma, Washington for Habitat for Humanity in addition to just raising funds for the Newman Club. We just found out the importance of having good finance records as no one had done it specifically for the Newman Club/Center in at least a year...so we're slightly in debt. Yet, we're still trying to pursue the spring break trip and raising money for it because it's something that's worth pushing for. Our goal is $2000 to cover building material costs, transportation (gas), and food. Hopefully we can reach it in the less than 2 months that we have and then focus more on raising money for the Newman Club. Any fund-raising ideas would be appreciated....

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Snowshoeing & Basketball
This morning, Eamonn and I went snowshoeing up Logan Canyon. We had originally planned to meet at 07:00 but I didn't get to the Newman Center (NC) until 10 after and we didn't leave till almost 8. Although we tried to get other Newman folk and some of our friends to go, we were the only ones who were there in the morning. Or so we thought. Turns out that Joe D. was there at 7 but the doors were locked and he didn't see any cars, so he thought that maybe the trip was canceled. More on that later.

Since we barely have any snow in Logan or in this end of the canyon, we drove past Beaver Mountain to the Limber Pine trailhead, which is on the other end of the canyon by Bear Lake. There was plenty of snow there and we were able to find ample space to wander without being interrupted by snowmobilers. I'm not sure how far we snowshoed, but it was a good 3 hour trek. We went down and up a couple of ridges and ended up at Sunshine Campground or something before we headed back. Despite the cold, we were able to keep warm except for our toes which froze even though we tried to move them to get the blood flowing. It was great to be out in the wilderness (though it's different because there's not as much vegetation and brush as back east) and talking with Eamonn. I don't think people generally get (or take) enough time to properly communicate and just talk.

While snowshoeing, I learned to identify a different kind of mountain mahogany. They were all over the ridge and Eamonn collected some of the seeds that were left so that he can grow them in the spring. I found a whopping one seed to add to his collection...definitely not good at spotting the seeds (granted there weren't many left). We also saw a lot of limber pines that get their name from the limber or flexible nature of their branches (...or limbs). At one point, we heard a gunshot so we decided it best not to go toward those trees. Especially seeing as how neither of us had orange on (Eamonn's orangish metal in his snowshoes doesn't count) and he had on basically black and tan. We weren't sure what was in season but it didn't seem like a good idea to mess with a gun. Maybe it's some kind of bird season like goose (the shot did sound more like a shotgun than a rifle)...who knows.

After snowshoeing, I took a shower and did some reading for class. Then I headed back to the NC to meet some people to go to the men's basketball game versus Louisiana Tech. Well Joe D. showed up but no one else did (Eamonn and Jamie were still running errands and such for the pancake breakfast, etc.). That was when I found out that Joe had been there at 07:00 to go snowshoeing...and he had rented snowshoes from the ORC for the weekend ($8). I felt awful and told Eamonn later that we owed him.

The basketball game was alright but not exceptional. The game was pretty close for about the first 3/4 of it then USU pulled away. For me, it was my first experience of basketball at Utah State and different than what I expected. The Spectrum Arena is cool and has the screen and scoreboard in the middle. We sat in the student section so we essentially stood whenever the ball was in play (aka only not during timeouts). Now the USU students have several cheers/taunts that they will do depending upon the situation. During our team's foul shots, the fans put there arms in the air and if the basket is made, they bring them down and say "whoosh". When someone on the other team fouls, they say, "you you you you you you you suck" while pointing toward the person. Also, when someone on the other team fouls out of the game, the fans taunt, "left right left right left right left right," and then, "sit down!" when the player reaches his seat. Yet, the crowd doesn't yell "Let's go defense!" during the game to encourage our players. It's disturbing to me that they focus more on disheveling the other team than being positive for their own. I think we have a mean crowd, at least compared to the SU games that I have been to (though I'm not sure I've been there when the students were in town). It'll be interesting to see if it's the same at another men's game as well as a women's game. We'll see.

After the game, I went over to the NC to help Jamie and Eamonn make some signs. We needed signs to advertise our iPod Shuffle raffle, upcoming events, and our monetary progress for our spring break trip. Before I left, Eamonn even showed Eric and I some pictures of his family from back home. I think we need to do more things like that within Newman so that we can get to know one another better. I think that it would help make us more like a family or at least a closer group of friends...we need something to tie people together better. Anyway, it was a great day overall.