There and Back ... Again ... and Again

(On the job in Calgary: Exploring the observation deck of the Calgary Tower.)

After being at my company for a little over a year (internship included), I was blessed to have the opportunity to travel for work. I headed to Calgary, Canada, to write a race report on a half Ironman as well as a travel feature on the town (published in the November issue of Triathlete magazine, on newsstands at Barnes & Noble and Borders).

(On the job in Calgary: Ropes course through the trees at Rafter Six Ranch.)

About a month later, I headed to San Antonio on vacation for Labor Day. Stevo and I loved our time there with the parents and seeing a few friends, including Spencer and Laura Williams. On the Friday of Labor Day weekend, we headed to New Braunfels to float down the Guadalupe River, stubbornly insistent that we should accomplish that activity before the Saturday, Sunday and Monday rush.

(Before floating down the Guadalupe River.)

We should have known after not seeing a single inner tube (or "toob" in Texas lingo) on the river the entire drive that it was a bad day. Storms threatened all morning, and the sun only rarely peaked through the clouds, but we sucked it up, climbed aboard the windowless van with ripped seats bolted to the floorboard ("The air conditioning kicks on at 30 miles per hour," the driver told us), and headed to our entry point. Just as we climbed in, the sun peaked through the clouds and warmed us up. We told ourselves, "We're so glad we decided to do this." It was only 20 minutes later when I started shivering, realizing that neither my bathing suit, my toob or the brown water that surrounded me (in which we saw several turtles) could keep me warm for the supposed three hours we had left to ride. We came to a few rapids, and Laura and I just tried to keep track of our "cooler toob" (inner toob with a bottom to hold a cooler, which we filled with Gatorade, water and snacks) while Steve and Spencer climbed out to repeat the same sets of rapids. Eventually we came to "The Shoot" an especially quick-moving set of rapids that threatened toob toppling. Laura and I zoomed through while the guys decided to climb out and repeat it multiple times. We floated on, hoping to get out of the water to warm up. We arrived back at the rental location, realized we didn't have all the equipment to return and thus couldn't receive our key back nor wrap ourselves in beach towels. Frustrated, we took this photo once the guys finally decided to grace us with their presence:


I returned home for one day of work before flying back out to Austin to write a travel feature on the town as a winter weekend getaway location for the January issue of Triathlete. My mom joined me for one night, as did one of my best friends from high school. Travel writing is so great -- you basically get shown around, dined and chatted up about a town (no real interviewing needed) all for free. That was when I realized that this is what I can do with my life. I'm never going to be a triathlon expert, a fashion guru or a political analyst, which would be great for the magazine business, but gosh darn, I love to travel, and I can do it well. I think I've had enough travel experience in my life to feel pretty comfortable anywhere in the world, and I think I've traveled so much that it's only given me a thirst for more. Last month, Steve and I went to see Anthony Bourdain (show: "No Reservations") at the California Center for the Arts (side note: Sam the Cooking Guy sat in the seat right next to me... what are the chances?). And he went on and on about all the places he had been and all of his favorite places, especially ones where he loved the cuisine. Steve and I sat there drooling--over the chance to be paid to travel. We'll see where this road leads, and I'm so loving my job right now, especially now that I'm being trusted with more writing. But I could see myself down the road looking into travel writing of some sort.

The last week of September I traveled to Interbike, an insanely large bike tradeshow. (The month of September included eight actual flights--a new record for me.) It was in Las Vegas, in The Venetian. We stayed in The Palazzo (owned by/connected to The Venetian). It was my first trip to Vegas--can't say that I liked it much after about 10 p.m., but other than that (what I saw of it) was pretty fun. I was so worn out from work, though, that I didn't see much. Steve joined me on the Friday of the week (as a sort of six-month anniversary celebration), we went out for dinner and saw the water show at The Bellagio (the one thing I for sure wanted to see in Vegas).

I gambled $1 and lost it all on the penny slots. And my first trip to Vegas felt complete (Steve and I are returning Thanksgiving weekend with our friends Josh and Laura Lewis once Josh is back from Afghanistan).


In the midst of all of this, Stevo and I met with a mortgage broker and have put offers on three houses, all in Escondido, all short sales. We love all of them, but are willing to be patient to see if this is really where we're supposed to be right now. At one point a couple of weeks ago, I counted up 14 women I know who are pregnant (I think it's down to 12 now--some of them had their babies), but I'm not hopping on that train anytime soon. And in a fit of creativity this week, I created an autumn wreath, with the help of my good friend Heather Gray. $14, thank you very much:And I currently have a couple of stories online on the Triathlete.com site as the entire office gears up for (and flies to) Kona for the Ironman World Championship, to take place on Saturday. And for the friends I haven't spoken with since the wedding (there are a lot of you), please call me. I'd love to chat--life has just been a little fast-paced in the last six months (and you're probably thinking, "What's new?").

Life Abbreviated (where my time has gone)

Update on life:
Since May, Steve was in Spencer & Laura's wedding in Dallas, Texas, at the beginning of June (such a beautiful ceremony at Watermark).
Steve spent a month in front of the TV watching the World Cup.
We went to the wedding of one of my coworkers in Point Loma.
I went to see Switchfoot at the Del Mar Fair with some old Kaleo folks.
I took the train to Santa Barbara for Emily Harms' lingerie shower and then hung out in Orange County with the cousins for 4th of July.
Our nephew, Jack Bailey Mavis, was born. I drove to Santa Barbara the next weekend to be a bridesmaid in Emily's wedding (beautiful!), and Steve met me up there. We stayed in the Coast Village Inn, which we booked for really cheap on Priceline... but we had to sleep in two twin beds. Serves us right.
We went to a wedding in Balboa Park for one of my old roommates, and we went to see Jim Gaffigan at Humphrey's on Shelter Island (where we got engaged just over a year ago).
I'm now in Calgary on my first travel assignment, for which I wrote a race report and will write a travel feature.

Still to come:
No more weddings till October.
Brother Andrew moving to Paris at end of August and friend Emily West moving to China in mid-August.
Trip to San Antonio for Labor Day. There are plans to float down the Guadalupe River.
Chris and Tiff (our friends and neighbors) are expecting a baby girl in late November.
Alex and Alison (my cousins) are expecting a baby boy in early December.
Week-long trip to Europe in January with the Leach family to visit Andrew (and take a bike tour).
Tim and Leslie (my cousins) are expecting a baby in February.

BMavis'ed

I am only halfway through the process of changing my name from Leach to Mavis after getting married more than two months ago. It's an incredible headache to change a name, and especially so when I'm changing from a Texas to California resident in the process. Today, my name was officially changed at work, forcing me to surrender my e-mail address beginning with "bleach," only to be replaced by a much less clever-sounding "bmavis."*

The wedding was beautiful. Everything fell into place so much better than I could have hoped. I was an emotional wreck the last month, but it turned out better than I could have hoped. After a blur of a wedding, Steve surprised me with two nights in an ocean view room at the Hotel Del Coronado, plus a one-hour massage the day after the wedding. We then flew to the East Coast to spend the remainder of our honeymoon in The Berkshires in western Massachusetts. It was a little brisk (29 degrees the day we left) but beautiful and sunny. We took day trips around the area, never passing through anything larger than what could be considered a "town," stopped in local book stores, coffee shops, hole-in-the-wall restaurants and a couple art museums. We slept in every day, and RedBoxed movies to watch at night by the fire.

We got home to Escondido to a pile of wedding gifts and unpacked boxes (all mine), and are just now starting to feel settled. I returned to life as an assistant editor, and I'm loving my job. I'm published in the current (June) issue of Triathlete magazine. We traveled to Texas in April for a post-wedding reception at my parents' house, and I just got back from my brother's high school graduation in San Antonio. I'm currently overwhelmed by the remaining things to change my name on, but I'm taking them one step at a time.

*Rest assured, the name of this blog will not be changing to "BMavis'ed."

The Golden Ticket

My college years instigated a caffeine addiction that has stuck with me. My post-collegiate years have ushered in an era of caffeine addiction on a budget. I don't want to even speculate how much money I have poured into Starbucks coffee. My junior year of college, I moved off campus to Clairemont Mesa. The 25- to 30-minute commute combined with a lack of campus parking forced me to leave the house 45 minutes before class started. During that year, I purchased a Starbucks beverage every single day from the Starbucks half a mile from my house. And not just a drip coffee--but a "fru fru" coffee, as my dad says. By that time in my life, I had graduated from caramel frappucinos and upside-down caramel macchiatos to vanilla lattes (I hadn't added in the "nonfat" to my order yet). And at that time, it cost $3.60 per beverage x 7 days a week = way too much money.

My senior year of college saw less financial help from my parents and more drinking coffee from home. The French vanilla Coffee Mate was always stocked, and my roommates and I worked out a routine of making coffee for each other. I kept going to Starbucks, but maybe only once or twice a week. After returning from Peru, Starbucks didn't sound appealing to me, especially with the abnormally hot summer San Diego had.

Now that the chill has set in, though, I've gone back to craving Starbucks. I still drink coffee from home every morning, but I sometimes need a grande nonfat vanilla latte pick-me-up in the late afternoon.

This week has been especially exhausting for me--waking up early to train for a half marathon, writing a newspaper article after work and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life. It's Thursday afternoon (which is like my Friday afternoon because I don't typically work Fridays), I'm running out of work to keep me occupied, and I needed a little liquid energy. I drove over to Starbucks, which was busy for 1:30 on a Thursday, and ordered my beverage. The price has gone up--it's now $3.85 for my grande beverage. I grabbed it from the bar but was a little distracted by a phone conversation. I drove back to work, sat at my desk and continued working when I took my first sip. Blech. I removed the lid--it was the color of mud, not vanilla goodness. I was so mad that my $3.85 Starbucks drink, which is now so rare a treat, was ruined. I stormed out of the office, starting to picture myself walking toward the counter angry, demanding a new drink and a free one. Or maybe a venti one.

Of course, conflict-hater that I am, I patiently waited in line until the ignorant lady in front of me ordered a "medium" mocha with "not that much chocolate." I then got all mousy and my hands got all shaky. I told the manager, "I was here about 10 minutes ago, and I ordered a vanilla latte," and then revealed the color of my beverage. "And that is not a vanilla latte," the kind bearded man replied. He took the drink from my hands and poured it out in the sink before wiping up the spill (from shaky hands) on the counter. The teenaged barista tried to defend himself, saying I had grabbed the wrong cup, but the manager defended me, reading "grande nonfat vanilla latte for Bethany" off the cup. I confirmed with a head nod.

The new beverage was out in a jiffy, and with it the embarrassed barista handed me the Starbucks golden ticket, good for any size or kind of beverage, even with extra shots. Merry Christmas to me.

Engagement Photos

In mid-September, our friend Laura Lewis took some engagement photos for us. I thought it'd be fun to take pictures in the Point Loma area--Cabrillo National Monument, Sunset Cliffs and Shelter Island. Steve thought it would only take about half an hour to take engagement photos (it took us about three hours). He was a good sport, other than the above photo.

In this photo, you can see Young Hall, one of the freshman guys' dorms on the Point Loma campus. There was a big swell that day, and we had planned to go down toward the water. Instead we watched the surfers try to paddle out while avoiding being crashed against the cliffs.

Touring S.D.

One of the things I appreciate about Steve's and my relationship is that we try to take advantage of the fun things to do in San Diego. We spend the last few weekends of summer doing fun stuff with friends around town.

After Oregon, I paid for Steve and I to see the musical "Wicked" while it was in San Diego at the Civic Theater, and we went with our friends Chris and Tiff (Steve didn't want to go to a musical without another guy there). It was amazing -- totally worth it.
We also decided to go to the horse races at Del Mar with Chris and Tiff, and my friend Amy. Amy and I dressed up, as is traditional, and I finally got to wear my big hat (which I bought last summer specifically for the races but never got to wear it). I actually did great on my betting -- over the course of the day I placed about twelve $2 bets and ended up making about $35. Out of the five of us Tiff was the only other person that won any money, and she only won on the last race, so they all kind of hated me for it.
After the races, Steve, Tiff, Chris and I used our Wild Animal Park passes to ride the tram and see the animals for the last hour it was open. We saw lions, giraffes, rhinos, zebras and all kinds of antelope things. So much fun.

Where does everyone summah?

About a week and a half after getting engaged, Steve and I met my mom's side of the family in Brookings, Ore., for a week-long vacation at a beach house. We were celebrating my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary, and since Grandma's from Medford, she wanted us all to spend some time near her hometown. The photo above is the view from the house, and the photo below is some of us on our (almost) private beach.

We saw all kinds of wildlife this trip. The water was freezing, and the beach was very rocky, which was kind of painful to walk on, but eventually your feet got numb (from the temperature or the pain) and then it was OK.

One day we all went on a six-hour riverboat tour up the Rogue River. It was amazing... definitely recommend it. On that trip we saw a harbor seal, bald eagles, ospreys, river otters, a black bear and deer. We went over rapids and got soaked, and then we had a quick dinner on an outdoor patio at a restaurant along the river. This is cousin Timmy and I right before we went on the trip (and before my hair got put in a ponytail from being so gosh darn wet and windblown... those boats are fast).
Another day trip took us to the lighthouse at Crescent City in the very northwest corner of California. The lighthouse is on this little island that is only accessible at low tide. We just barely made it back across the rocks before the tide came in.
On the way back from Crescent City, we stopped in Fort Dick to pick some blackberries. Charlie and Timmy were amused by the name.
Toward the end of the week, we went to the redwood forest -- this is in Jedediah Smith, where part of "Return of the Jedi" was filmed. We went on a hike for maybe a mile, but turned around because we were really hungry.
The last night, we went to the nearby state park to watch the sunset. It was chilly but beautiful. Andrew brought that hat back from Ireland to give Stevo.
After the sunset, we had cake and champagne to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa's anniversary. We also spelled out "Happy 60th" on the beach using driftwood.
Grandma and I posed with the sailor dude outside our incredible rental house right before we left for the airport. It was an incredible week of quality time with the fam. I'm glad Steve and I were both able to take the time off work to take a week-long vacation.

The Proposal

On Friday, July 31, Steve and I headed to Shelter Island, which overlooks the San Diego skyline. We've been planning to go see Jim Gaffigan, a comedian, at Humphry's in celebration of my birthday (because I was in Peru at the time). Steve got off work early, got to my house at about 3:45 or 4, and we decided to get to Shelter early because of traffic and we wanted to eat dinner before the 6:30 show. We got there around 4:30, and--since it was a little early for dinner--we took a walk along the water, something that we do pretty often in San Diego. We walked on the sidewalk for about 10 or 15 minutes when I asked if we should turn around. Steve said, "No, let's go a little farther." I was even talking about people that I knew that had gotten engaged on Shelter Island. I had brought my camera along, and we took a self-portrait (our favorite) in front of the San Diego skyline. We walked a little farther, and Steve suggested we step down onto the rocks by the water (it was his attempt to be lower than me, as well as to make it a little more private for us). I'm standing there, taking pictures, and he asked, "Do you want to take a picture as an engaged couple?" I stood there dumbfounded, thinking, "It's not funny for him to joke about this when I've been pestering him for months." But before I could react, he had the ring in his hand and asked, "Will you marry me?" He went for zero intro -- complete shock factor. I stood there, jaw dropped, for about five seconds before I shreaked, "Yes!" I kissed him about a dozen times, we took another self-portrait (above)-- our first as an engaged couple! I still look a little shocked and amazed and pretty much on a cloud.
The ring is amazing. Steve designed it himself, and he had actually only picked up the ring from the jeweler on his lunch break that day. He had been working for months with the designer to make the perfect ring. It's hard to get a good photo of it, but it has a .7 carat center stone that's round, and it has diamonds lining the split shaft on the sides. On the front and back of the center stone, there's an "M" for Mavis, with the symbol of the trinity on either side. It's completely unique and completely perfect for me.

We headed over to Point Loma Seafood, and while Steve waited for our bread bowls of clam chowder, I called my parents and grandparents, who were very excited for me. Steve had flown out to Texas in May while I was still in Peru to ask permission from them, so they somewhat knew it was coming, but he hadn't given them a timeframe. I think they would have had a little chat with him in Oregon on our family vacation in a week if we weren't engaged. It was so nice that no one really knew about it, except for my family, for a few hours. We were sitting there at Point Loma Seafood and then later at the Jim Gaffigan show as a newly engaged couple, and no one around us knew. It was such a sweet time.

The show at Humphry's was hilarious. Jim Gaffigan is so funny and very clean. Steve and I shared a Stella Artois during the show as my "birthday beverage." On the way home from the show, Steve and I both started going down the list of people we needed to call to share the news. We got to my house a little before 9 p.m., and as I walked to the door, I saw one of Steve's best friends, Josh Lewis, down the hall in my house. Confused, I was all flustered to find my house key. I couldn't believe there was more to the surprise. I walked in my kitchen to find about 15 people--church friends, Steve's friends, Steve's brother and sister-in-law--yell "Congratulations!" I turned bright red. They had shown up with champagne and a beautiful cake (that Josh's wife Laura made) to celebrate with us. Steve made such a sweet toast, and so did Josh. I was so caught off guard, and now that whole night seems like a blur. Josh was the last to leave, and he prayed over us and our relationship before he left. Steve and I made a few more phone calls to family and friends, and then we hung out for a bit before he went home. He felt like a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders--with all the stress of getting the ring in time--while I felt as giddy as ever. Steve slept like a rock for 10 hours, and I had one of the most restless sleeps of my life. The night had been perfect and it was completely worth the wait.

You just can't beat San Diego beaches

Last week, Steve and I went for a walk at Torrey Pines Beach in La Jolla at sunset. We saw some dolphins (which, for the record, I enjoy watching from the shore or petting at Sea World, but not swimming anywhere in a 1/2-mile radius from me when I'm in the ocean). It's amazing that I only live like 15 minutes from these incredible beaches--and so sad that I rarely get to enjoy them.

I've been staying pretty busy with work. I really enjoy my job at Triathlete, and I feel like I'm starting to pick up the lingo. I bet in a month or two, I'd be able to talk traithlon with anyone. Also, I got a short story published on the website yesterday about a former NFL lineman who now races in triathlons for charity. (I'm not sure how long that link will be live, though.)

And in the last month, I've had five stories run in the North County Times. The one I enjoyed most was about a woman who was raised in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime, was forced into slave labor as a child and then her father was beheaded and her grandparents died of starvation. Now she's a doctor in Southern California and just wrote a book. She was so sweet -- she kept emailing me to check on how the story was going, and then told me that I conducted my interview like a professional, experienced writer rather than someone fresh out of college.

Steve and I are both busy with work, but we get to see each other a fair amount, despite being in a semi-long distance relationship (San Diego to east Escondido is quite the drive). Next week is our last week of work before we take a week-long vacation in Brookings, Ore., with my whole family to celebrate my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. I think it'll be very relaxing.

Welcome to the working world

After driving about 5,000 miles in a month, I moved officially to San Diego and started my life as a working adult. I was already working as a wedding server on the weekends in Fallbrook and freelancing for the North County Times (I've had two stories run so far -- one about a missions fundraiser and one about a new rabbi at a temple in North County.) But my third job as an editorial assistant at Triathlete magazine started two weeks ago. It's my first 9 to 5 office job, and it's in my industry -- such a blessing! The job is actually an internship and only 24 hours a week, but it's actually really nice because there's not so much pressure on me. My editor, Somyr (pronounced Summer), is a great teacher and views this as a learning experience. Plus, they're giving me a few writing assignments, which is more than the last intern got to do. I love that they keep me busy those 24 hours a week, and that they're actually using me, which is different than other internships I've had.

After my first day of work, I hung out with Steve, and he bought a bottle of wine to share (to go with our leftover spaghetti) as a congratulations for finishing my first day of real work. He told me, "There's no turning back. Welcome to the working world."


On the 4th of July, Steve and I hung out in the scorching Escondido weather (I realize it's not that hot compared to Texas, but he's also not using air conditioning). Then we went to a sushi dinner in Del Mar with some friends (sushi on 4th of July felt a little weird and unpatriotic, but it was delicious). I really wanted to see fireworks, even though the rest of the group didn't, so Steve and I headed back to Escondido, parked in a parking lot in downtown, and watched the fireworks from the bed of his truck. We had a warm Mexican blanket and some Starbucks because it had cooled down about 30 degrees since the afternoon. Our friends Chris and Tiff, who live nearby, drove over to watch the Grape Day Park fireworks with us. Then we made a quick getaway and beat all the traffic. That may turn into a tradition.

Too Many Road Trips

After a week in San Diego for my graduation and moving all my stuff from storage back into the same house and same room from which I had moved it in December, I flew back to San Antonio for a week to see friends and load up my Ford Escape. I spent a lot of time with high school friends -- Emily Harms, Emily West and Susanna in this picture. Emily Harms and I then drove the 1,400 miles back to California. We took our time -- two nights on the road because we were in separate cars. Last time we drove that distance in separate cars we both almost fell asleep at the wheel. We stopped in Las Cruces, New Mexico, the first night and were able to watch a movie and go in the hot tub at the hotel. The second day we spent a few hours in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Emily even got to try on a few wedding dresses. And on the third day, we stopped by the outlet mall in Cabazon, California (near Palm Springs). We drove straight to Long Beach first to attend my cousin Alex's MBA graduation party (he graduated the night before my ceremony).
We spent the night at my Aunt Becky's house and then went our separate ways -- Emily to Santa Barbara and I went to San Diego (that was May 31).

On June 1, I had a job application due to Triathlete Magazine. It was an elaborate application that I had somehow pulled together in a week -- 2 letters of recommendation, cover letter, resume, three editing tests, unofficial college transcript and a writing sample. Within an hour of me applying, I received an email back that asked for an interview the next day. I had a phone interview the next day with four people on speaker phone. It was a little intimidating, and I thought it hadn't gone very well because they asked me what I knew about Triathlete Magazine... "Not much," I said. "I've watched a few triathlons, but I haven't even actually seen the magazine." Nevertheless, they offered me the job on June 4 (and said they would send me a few copies of the magazine so that I could familiarize myself with it before I started). I wouldn't be starting till June 23, though, so I told me friend Sirena, who was stranded with her relatives in Dallas. She lives in Washington, a few hours outside of Seattle, and her husband is in the Navy. He's on a submarine for 6 months, so Sirena decided to take a road trip -- first to San Diego, where she used to live and go to church with me, and then to Dallas. The clencher is that she has three young daughters -- aged 4, 2, and 11 months. She had to have people help her along the way. I called her to tell her I could help drive her, so on Sunday, June 7, I flew to Dallas and drove back the next two days from Dallas to San Diego. (I saw a lot of the same stretch of I-10... pretty boring). We spent the night in Las Cruces at a Motel 6 and then made it to San Diego the next day by about 6 p.m. We got to hang out a bit in San Diego. Above is Sirena with Ava (age 2) and Bella (11 months). Below, Corinne (age 4) and I are sharing a chocolate milkshake at Hodad's in Ocean Beach.
I had to stay in town through Saturday night, when Steve's family was hosting a birthday/graduation party for me. It was so sweet. Then we left Sunday, June 14, to drive toward Seattle. We made it to Redding, California the first night. The second day was a lot of driving through Oregon, which was beautiful.
The highlight of the trip was stopping in Astoria, Oregon, which is at the very northwest corner of Oregon, at the mouth of the Columbia River that divides Oregon and Washington. It was incredibly beautiful (and only a 150 mile detour). It was where the film "The Goonies" was filmed, a favorite of both mine and Sirena's. The girls didn't really comprehend the significance of standing in front of the Goonie house, but Sirena and I were so excited.

It looked a little different because there wasn't a white picket fence around a yard, but as soon as I got back to San Diego, I watched the film and realized that, yes, I have stood where Steven Spielberg and Sean Astin and Josh Brolin have stood. It was very exciting.
We got into Seattle that night at about 11:30 and spent the night at Sirena's friends' house. I got 4 1/2 hours of sleep because I had to be on a 7 a.m. flight back to San Diego with a 3-hour layover in San Francisco. I also had a newspaper article due that day, so I spent some time interviewing people on my cell phone shouting over airport announcements. I'm so glad I was able to help out a friend, though, and that we got so much time to catch up. I'm sick of driving -- 5,000 miles in a month is plenty.

Post-Peru

After a crazy few days of travel from Lima to San Antonio, and San Antonio to San Diego, and packing and unpacking, I officially graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University with a B.A. in print journalism (even though I already received my diploma in the mail in March). My whole family came -- parents, brothers, grandparents, cousins, uncles plus Steve.
With the two crazy brothers. We can never take a normal picture. After all the hooplah on campus and saying goodbye to friends, I had a whole shindig at our hotel suite on Shelter Island. I invited pretty much everyone I knew in San Diego because I hadn't seen any of them in 5 months.

About 50 people showed up. This is my ex-roommate Heather and her husband Tyler -- some of my best friends from college.

With my cousin's daughter, Cailyn, and my Costco cake in PLNU colors.
With the roommates. You can probably see the exhaustion in my eyes. Talking to so many people and telling them the same thing over and over again... yikes. But it was nice to be back in San Diego. And update on everything post-graduation coming soon...

Day 74

I thought I had gotten a tan, but when I'm sitting in the middle of a bunch of Peruvians, I look so pasty. Meredith is even tanner than some of the Peruvians. From left: Christian, Gabriel (lying across the laps), Claudia, Nadia, her sister Cynthia, and Meredith. My last whole day in Peru was pretty cold, smelly (like dead fish) and boring, but I think I needed it to relax a little. Thinking about everything happening in the next week stresses me out -- it's going to be an emotional week. Today I just went to the post office, went to the mall (I'm not good at shopping by myself -- I was in and out in less than 10 minutes), and went to the grocery store to get stuff for my third despedida. A lot of people came -- some Panaggios, some Blocks, gringa teachers, and jovenes from Buen Pastor. They gave me a picture frame with the framed picture of me at the group on Saturday. They joked about how I have a rectangular smile -- like when I smile really big. So, in the photo, they all did the rectangular smile and I had my normal smile. It's so awesome. Cynthia told me that I had to explain that to everyone who sees it or they're going to think all Peruvians are crazy. And Eden gave me a picture that she had drawn -- it's so going to be framed when I get back to the states. After all the gringos left, it was just me and the Peruvians, and they wanted me to give a speech, but I really couldn't. First of all, it would feel like public speaking (even though there were only five of them there); secondly, they wanted it to be in Spanish, which would be pretty difficult; and thirdly, I'm not good at saying emotional things like that -- I can only barely write emotional goodbyes. I started crying! That's why my face is a little splotchy in this picture (and apparently the word "splotchy" doesn't have a Spanish equivalent). They all prayed over me, which of course made me cry even more. I can't believe I'm leaving...

Day 73

My last Sunday in Peru was Dia de la Madre, so the sermon at church was specifically about Christian women. As a gift to all the mothers, the kids had put together a little performance about Moses. I have to say that the costumes were quite a bit better than the actual performance -- there were a lot of little Egyptians with eyeliner on and everything. Awesome. After church, I ran home to see how Bethany was doing -- still sick, kind of flu-like symptoms. Then I booked it (not sure why... Peruvians are used to waiting) back to church to go out to lunch with Eden, Christian (whose mother is traveling), and Josue (whose parents wanted some alone time after celebrating Mother's Day on Sunday). We went out to lunch at a cevicheria in Jesus Maria called Isla del Amor (hahaha...), and I had some really awesome tacu-tacu with a seafood sauce. It was so fun hanging out with those guys -- they all make me laugh so much. Then we walked back to Eden's house, watched Friends (with Spanish subtitles), drank coffee and ate cookies. Josue had to leave, and Claudia and Gabriel showed up, so the five of us went to El Parque de la Reserva, which is this giant, pretty state-of-the-art fountain park. This photo was before the boys pushed me into the fountains and got me soaked (and is to prove that I don't just take photos with gringas). I froze... but it was totally worth it. Only a couple more days with these guys.

Day 72

I got to sleep in again and woke up to already-made coffee... so nice. We hung out at home till about noon, when Meredith, Bethany and I went to El Cascajal. For only 35 soles (plus the cost of drinks), you get a giant buffet lunch -- including postres -- and listen to a live band and watch baile folklórico. We went partly because it's my last weekend here, but also partly because Meredith wanted to treat some friends to lunch as a Mother's Day gift -- they were the family that she lived with when she came to Peru during college, I think. This dance is from Cuzco (there are different cultural dances from all different regions of Peru). They did four different dances, and on the one that is typical of the region around Tarma, they pulled me down onto the dance floor. The dancers pulled Bethany down to the dance floor twice (I think they single out gringas -- we were the only three gringas in the whole place). It was so so so fun (except that Bethany was feeling pretty sick by the end of it). Bethany and I took a taxi home (and I gave directions entirely in Spanish!), and while she slept, I practiced my testimony in Spanish. Then I went to the universitarios group at 7 at Buen Pastor. We sang some songs, had a time of prayer, I gave my testimony -- which I'm pretty sure everyone understood -- and then Ramiro taught a lesson. As he closed the lesson, he prayed for the group, but then he prayed a lot for me specifically, which was so nice. And THEN Christian said that they all wanted to take a picture with me because it was my last time there, and they had bought me a cake that said "Te queremos Bethany!" They're so sweet -- I'm totally blown away. Or maybe that feeling only lingered until they rubbed chocolate cake all over my face and in my hair. Apparently it's a tradition, but I'm inclined to blame Eden because it was she who suggested it, or maybe Claudia because she actually carried it out. Apparently it took about five people to restrain me -- there was a lot of flailing. But Cynthia and Eden helped me wash it off, though I'm sure I still have it in my hair. I don't even care. It was such an awesome day. I'm pretty sure I'm going to cry when I leave.

Day 71

The roommates and I had a relaxing morning at home recovering from our quick trip to Tarma. Bethany and I went to lunch together at a little place within the Residencial San Felipe -- we had aji de gallina, another popular Peruvian dish. We went grocery shopping and I got to show her around Metro (I didn't realize how much I knew about this town until Bethany came). Then we met Meredith back at the hotel so we could ride together to Miraflores, to the ADIEL office there. Bethany met the pastors really quickly, and then we toured around Miraflores while the pastors and missionaries had meetings. We went to Parque Kennedy, had some coffee at Cafe Cafe (the first coffee bar in Lima), and walked over to Parque del Amor, which overlooks the ocean. There were some parasailers taking off from a nearby cliff, but the park is really cool because it has all these funky, curvy walls that are mosaics with quotes about love and names of lovers (my favorite: Esmerelda y Cuasimodo), and then there's this giant statue of these two people making out... kind of scandalous. So, of course, all the young couples of Lima go there to make out (and then get in my pictures... ugh). Bethany and I took the bus home in horrible Friday afternoon traffic, which was suspected to be related to Mother's Day. Dia de la Madre in Peru is a big deal because you not only buy a nice gift for your own mother, but you have to buy gifts for all the mothers that you're friends with. I don't think I'll want to brave the malls this weekend because it'll be crazy. After we got home, Claudia came to pick us up and we walked to Buen Pastor and met up with other girls from the group to go to the Zac Efron movie, "17 Again" or "Diecisiete Otra Vez." It was hilaaarious -- even better than I expected. It was a little weird that his character's name in the movie was Mark Gold, and if I were to name the person I know that looks the most like Zac Efron, it's a guy named Mark Gold, the student body president of Texas A&M (friend of Andrew's). Bethany and I went home exhausted but very content.

Day 70

This is the most snow I've seen or will see in Peru. This was on our 7-hour(ish) drive back from Tarma. We got up early, packed, checked out, had breakfast and rushed to the bus station to find out that our 9 a.m. bus didn't leave till 9:45. We mostly slept (but Meredith woke us up for this view). The highlight of the trip was when the bus stopped in the middle of the road halfway down the mountain (by the way, these are like switchbacks in a pretty steep valley). Ten guys get up and get off the bus. I thought maybe there was a problem with the bus, but then we look out the window, and nope. Just a bathroom break. Only in Peru. Then, we stopped for lunch -- they told us we had 20 minutes. We ate as quickly as we could, but the bus still started to leave without us. It had started driving down the road and pulled over to pick us up. Oops. The second half of the drive, Meredith and I sat together to keep going over the Cross-Cultural Servanthood book, and it's awesome because now that I've been here two months, I've started to have a lot of cross-cultural experiences. I know exactly what the author is talking about because I've experienced it. We got to the bus station in La Victoria at about 4, and back to the house by 4:30. Dave Block picked me up to go to my last English class at El Alfarero, and he had bought me a cake that said "Feliz Viaje Bethany." It was so sweet! Everyone in the class gave me a big hug goodbye, and they wished me safe travel and God's blessing. And the cake was awesome -- chocolatey with a little bit of whip cream and cherries. The lesson for those last two classes was using the song "Big House" by Audio Adrenaline, and I had to teach them all the motions. It's actually a really good song for teaching English because the verbs are in present tense or are commands, it's pronounced well, it has simple vocabulary, and it's slow enough that they can sing along. However, I would be fine if I went 10 years without ever hearing that song again -- I've met my quota of Audio Adrenaline for a while. I was telling Dave, though, on the way home that it hasn't hit me yet that I'm leaving. I'm excited for the next phase in my life, but I'm really going to miss Peru.