If I asked you what the most popular event of the year in Utah Valley is, what would you say? Pioneer Day Parade? The popular Rex Lee Run? Just ask any student at BYU and they can tell you - the Festival of Colors in Spanish Fork. In just a few short years this has become Utah Valley's most anticipated and popular annual event - especially for BYU students and the local hippie population. Every year thousands travel to Spanish Fork to attend the Holi Festival of Colors at the Krishna temple in Spanish Fork.
This festival being directly related to one celebrated in Trinidad and Guyana (called Pagwa), I couldn't pass it up. So Saturday afternoon we loaded up the car, and headed down to see what it's all about. The traffic to get into the even was backed up all the way onto the freeway exit, but eventually we made it. We braved our way into the crowd, went to pick up some bags of colored chalk at the temple (more on that later), but all the chalk had already been distributed so we had to go find some friends in the crowd to borrow from.
The festival follows a popular Indian traditional story in which an evil witch named Holika tried to burn an innocent child but was burned herself when the child called upon God to save him by chanting "Hare Rama Hare Rama Hare." To commemorate this event, a huge pire is built with an effigy of the witch Holika, and as the crowd chants along, the pire is lit - symbolizing a triumph of good over evil. As the fire burns the crowd celebrates by throwing the 25,000 bags of colored chalk (just flour in our case)that were distributed in the air, or at each other, creating a huge clowd of dust, and covering everyone completely in colors - hence the festival name.
(click above to see video - the last 15 seconds of this is the main part. Of course I had to shut off my camera before too many colors started coming.)
And after that it turns into a hippie-fest chant-a-long dance.
Wow, it's been a while. So I'll give an update on my life.
First of all, my life has gotten so much busier over the past couple weeks. I started working at a place called Qualtrics Labs in north Provo. They provide online survey software to over half of the nation's top business schools and to about 15% of the Fortune 500 (I added a simple 1 question poll at the end to try it out). I am part of tech support, so I will be answering phone calls and emails from professors and market researchers across the country who have questions about the system. Plus I might get to do some training here and there, showing people how to use the software. I really like this job because for the first time I have a job where I can actually be creative and make a difference.
But, I'm still at the bookstore as well, so my hours have jumped up from about 16 to 24 a week. Good thing I like being busy and stressed. Golf class also started this past week. My Thursdays consist of cooking from 9 to 12, work from 12 to 3, golf from 4 to 6 and public speeking from 6:30 to 9. Nothing especially hard, but a full day nonetheless.
On top of all that, I've started a mentoring program where we go out once a week and spend time with a local kid. It is so much fun. Our child is really cool. So far we've gone bowling and kite flying. Next week I think we'll probably go ice skating or roller skating.
It feels so nice to have a constant flow of daily activities and hobbies now. I remember in high school I never really had any (except computer games? but that doesn't count). I am reading a book called How to Win at College which basically tells you how to approach college so that you have a killer resume that will get you any job you want at the end. One of it's tips is to always be working on a "grand project". I thought about that, and I realized I have a whole string of them - learning to golf, learning to cook, improving my handwriting, learning Spanish, working out, becoming a great guitar player, etc. Maybe that's why life feels so much fuller now. I never wonder what to do next, because if I do run out of homework (which is a rarity these days) I always have something fun (and productive?) to fall back on.
Being home from my mission has been really hard and frustrating because for the first time in my life there is no set structure or timeline to follow. On top of that I feel like a completely different person now - my outlook on life, my interests, even my personality to some extent. Combine those two, and everyday events suddenly become an adventure as I try to figure out how the "new me" should deal with them. So all of the sudden life has become completely unpredictable. But yesterday I was pondering and it occured to me, this is how its supposed to be. On the mission we would always tell people to take steps of faith, and now for the first time in my life I, too, have to learn to walk by faith.
I started studying 1 Nephi today because I think that of all people, Lehi must have learned what it means to walk by faith. I am so impressed that in every chapter there are admonitions and promises that if we will be faithful and keep the commandments we will be led to a land of promise.
I think usually the Lord lets us know the end result and sometimes he illuminates pieces of the path in front of us, but for the most part he asks us to just faithfully step into the darkness. I love the song Lead Kindly Light with the words "keep thou my feet, I do not ask to see the distant scene, one step enough for me." I am grateful that the Lord places so much trust in us. I am comforted to know that we too have a land of promise in store for us if we will follow the Lord in faith.
Life is great. I'm really having fun with my new roomates and friends at Glenwood. We've started a tradition of inviting different girls over for Sunday dinner to get to know them. Last week was Mexican week, and this week was French themed (well, it was soup themed, but we thought that was too boring.) We keep being pleasantly surprised how amazing the food turns out each week (since these are things we've never made before), and also how fun the girls are (since we try to invite apartments that we don't really know). Each week seems to get better. And, I feel like I know half the ward already, so that's another bonus.
So, this week I've got a lot on my plate. Well, that is except for a date. I don't know what I'm doing for a date this week. But other than that, I've got a ton of accounting studying to do, plus other stuff. Really, compared to accounting, my other classes are a piece of cake. Speaking of cake, there's not much I enjoy more than leaving my accounting class, where we talk about debits and credits and financial statements, and heading over to cooking, where we have serious discussions about making sure your meal has a variety of color, texture, and temperature. For a college course, cooking feels like such a joke, but I love it. I also have a speech to give this week for public speaking. We are doing recitations this week - choosing a piece of prose, and reciting it using a variety of tone, volume, pitch, etc.
I'm considering participating in a program called Conexiones - where you have a Latino family in the area, and you and a partner go and read with them each week to promote literacy. I think it would be a fun way to learn Spanish since that's something I really want to do, but I don't know if I have the time for it.
Life is looking up for me. I recently moved to Glenwood, and I love the place so far. Well, not the apartment itself - it's pretty ghetto, but the people. Here's a few of the things I've done in the last week:
-Met a ton of people - I have a goal to be one of those people who always remembers people's names the first time, and then doesn't forget them. Switching wards is great practice for that. The people I've met are great so far.
-Had a bonfire - I took an old pallet from work (with permission of course) and we went in the canyon for a big apartment group date. I'd never done a winter bonfire before. It's actually pretty fun. I think the snow and freezing cold makes it better.
-Watched The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - an excellent french film that I would recommend to anyone. It is based on a true story of a man who suffered a massive stroke and is resigned to complete paralysis except for the ability to blink one eye. Very eyeopening in understanding those with disabilities. I also saw The Emperor's New Groove this week, and it was seriously the funniest cartoon I've ever seen.
-Had Chinese dinner night - we had an apartment of girls over on Sunday for a chinese dinner, and it actually turned out great, considering we didn't know any of them, and none of us had ever cooked chinese. This sunday is Mexican night.
-Got my new laptop (finally!) - I was such a wreck without it, but now it's here. I like the upgraded network card that lets me surf the internet and download at literally 10 times the speed of my old wireless card. Plus the webcam is pretty cool. I'll be practicing and reviewing my speeches for public speaking with it. Here's what I look like now, while I'm typing this.
-Went to amazing devotionals - I really appreciated seeing President Monson on Sunday, and Elder Holland on Tuesday. I think their talks were a great strength to me. I'm so grateful to be here at BYU at this time in my life. There's so much to do, and so little time to waste!
OK, I'd better go now, I have class in just a few minutes. Have a great week!
It's official - I'm moving to the hood next semester - the Glenhood. My social life and dating life have fizzled down a lot in the last month or so, so I'm pretty excited about move. It seems like a much more social place.
But life's good right now. I'm counting down my assignments I have left to complete before the end of the semester - I'm down to nine. The biggest of those is a research paper for Management Communications. I am studying the social networking site linkedin.com to determine if it is becoming a necessity for young business professionals. So far the answer appears to be yes - when used correctly, it is a far more powerful employment site than anything else on the web, because it relies on your personal connections to find jobs. So if you want to work at a firm, it will search and see if someone you know works there. If none of your contacts do, it will search your contacts' contacts (the people the people you know know) , so that you can get a personal recommendation and introduction rather than just following the traditional method of sending in a resume blindly. Companies are much more likely to hire someone with a connection like that. I've actually been having fun researching this, even though it is a little time consuming.
Lately I've been feeling very entrepreneurial. I'm bored with the current student job market. Nearly every job simply requires you to do tasks that anyone else could do just as well. I want to do something that stretches me - where my thoughts and ideas make a difference. But it seems like the only independent work to do in Utah Valley is sales. It's all about satellite dishes, pest control, home security, window cleaning, Living Scriptures DVD's, and the list goes on. Why does everyone here insist on door to door? If, while I'm a student, I have to do work that a robot could do just as well, then so be it. I know there's immense value in keeping myself busy and making a contribution to society. But, I insist on keeping my eyes open for other business opportunities.
So, I think I'm going to join the Web Startup Group at BYU, where people interested in internet entrepreneurship get together and make things happen. I don't know the first thing about web development, but I'm sure I can contribute in other ways. I would especially be interested in managing the finances of a startup.
O gosh, I just realized that every single one of my posts is prefaced with "this might be boring" "this is awkward" "this is serious", etc. What a horrible blogger I am! From now on, every post will be "exciting" or "mysterious" or "funny", etc. And if you don't agree (which is very probable), then I'm sorry.
Do you ever find yourself bogged down with a ton of books you are reading at the same time? Well, probably not - this is certainly a first time for me. Here's what they are:
1. Breakthrough Rapid Reading - So that I can read faster and get more reading in. Ironically, I haven't touched this book in a couple weeks because I'm too busy reading other things.
2. The Eyewitness History of the Church - Volume 2 - If I had a book club I would recommend this one. To me history is much more real and interesting when you look at it from the perspective of the ones living it. This book goes through events in church history and gives correlating excerpts from people's journals and other written communications.
3. This I Believe - An essay collection from NPR where people (some famous and some just average americans) attempt to explain their personal philosophies on life. Suprisingly interesting.
4. Practical Idealists - Discusses how to focus your studies and your career so that you will be prepared to be able to make money helping people. Interersting so far, but I'm only in the second chapter.
5. The Art of Mingling - Do you feel awkward and out of place at large social functions, especially when you don't know anyone? If so, according to the author, you (along with 90% of America) have "minglephobia." This book is surprisingly fun and helpful to read, though you have to take it with a grain of salt, because most of the "tactics" discussed are geared towards having fun, sometimes at the expense of others, and not building relationships.
6. Crucial Conversations - This book keeps coming up in conversations - I swear it's the unofficial second bible for the Marriot School. So I decided to check it out. It teaches how to handle the difficult conversations in our life. I'm sure it's helpful, but when you're reading five other books at the same time, something this mundane is never at the top of the pile, and thus I'm still in chapter 2 after three weeks.
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