We Were Bored

After five days as a full time guide for team Siberia, I am officially sleep deprived. And not just the yawnnnn every five minutes kind. We are talking failure to pass a sobriety test sleep deprived. Night of the living dead sleep deprived. Seeing things that aren't there sleep deprived. Using Nair to write my brother's name on his leg sleep deprived. Greg, on the other hand, has been getting record amounts of sleep over the past week, so I don't know what his excuse is. He doesn't look coerced in any way, right? There was no water-boarding involved. He actually thought that this random misfire of my exhausted brain was a cool idea.
Greg's first comment after removing the Nair: You know you're a redneck if you shave your legs for identification purposes.
Greg's second comment: Now lets do my last name on my other leg!

Please remember that this time it was HIS idea. The older boys must have dropped this kid on his head a few more times than they admitted, eh?I don't know if it was the adrenaline that comes from doing something stupid, or the fumes from the hair removal cream, but in the 15 minutes it took to do this, I kind of forgot that I had gotten less than 10 hours of sleep all last week. I was too busy giggling gleefully to be tired.

But the adrenaline/fumes rush wore off about the same time Greg washed the Nair off and now all I can think about is getting some sleep...and after that Greg and I should probably both get lives.

Idaho International...YAWNNNN...Dance and...YAWNNNNNN.....

WARNING...This post contains photos from the last three days of the festival making it extremely long. Sorry. Thursday morning was the Youth Culture Day. My beautiful Siberians gave three wonderful interactive presentations to kids from all over the valley.
They spoke in Russian, played their instruments, and taught the kids a fun dance.
The fire alarm went off at the end of the first presentation and we all had to evacuate for a few minutes. The Siberians took the opportunity to sign some autographs.

The kid's favorite part seemed to be watching Khongr make the little wooden horse dance as he played.
Thursday afternoon...Well, that particular time period has become known as "the time we will never speak of again." The team got to tour the temple and they loved that, but everything else about that afternoon is in the process of being deeply repressed. We are going to replace those memories with this photo of my feet. See the polka dots? I wore my Crocs to the river and the sun manged to sneak through the holes to make funny little tan circles. Very funny, da?

Friday morning Marquetta went with the team on a tour of farming and irrigation sites organized and hosted by their new best friend, the honorable mayor of Rupert. A THREE HOUR FARM AND IRRIGATION SITE TOUR. AND THEY ENJOYED IT! Then we met up with the host families at the park and boat docks for a big picnic and water party.

Here are Elena and Erzhena on a boat with host mom Shawna and the driver guy.
Tatijna, Victoria, and Khongr took a ride in one of the very fast boats. Khongr was so happy with the ride that he even made a rare English comment..."High Speed!" Professor Victor swam in the river, tried out the kid's slip'n slide, rode in a boat, and even talked our boat guy into letting him drive the boat. Here he is talking to Marquetta who is representin' team Siberia in her housing director shirt.
After the boating party we had a microphone check, went to rehearsal, and then got ready for the final gala performance. Here is team Siberia selling souvenirs in the lobby.
Me and Tuyana in the lobby during the show. She had performed the night before so she was happy and care-free. I was sweaty and tired and stressed out, so please direct most of your attention to her.
Here I am with Victoria in the hall way outside our dressing room after she finished her performance.

This morning we met up to pack up and say goodbye. The team presented me with several gifts and did a blessing ceremony. Here I am with Elena, Victor and Victoria.

This is Nadejda blessing me with her horse tail thingy. She promised many years of good health, a handsome and "best husband" and many daughters with "beautiful eyes" like mine. How sweet!
This is us in the dressing room before saying goodbye.
I bought some silly hats at the dollar store but was embarrassed to give them to the team after they gave me such nice gifts. Instead, I gave the bag to Elena and told her to give them to the team after they got on the bus. We had our farewell dance and song, said goodbye for the second time, then got ready to wave goodbye as the bus drove away. The bus didn't drive away, however, instead the team got back off the bus to have their picture taken with us again in the silly hats. They had me wear one of Lena's handmade horsetail hats. Back Row: Amy (festival co-chair) Janet (festival chairperson) Wendy (host mom), Erzhena, me, Victoria, Lena, Victor, Marquetta (housing director), Sanie (host mom), Shawna (host mom)

Front Row: Mellissa (gala director/choreographer), Kristine (team USA director), Tuyana, Tatijna, Nadejda.

My Siberian Gifts: Two photo prints by Vladimir, Sounds of Siberia CD, Reindeer fur good luck thingy, Magic wishing rock from Siberian Lake, handmade nesting doll with eyes the team though resembled mine, carved key chain.

Saying goodbye to the team wasn't as hard as it could have been because I am planning on taking my folks to Rexburg to see them on Monday. All in all, being a team guide was a good experience. Both Marquetta and Wendy compared being a guide and a host to child birth...incredibly painful and inconvenient at the time, but then you forget and want to do it again. We'll see.

POST FESTIVAL ACCOUNTING:

Miles driven as team guide: 195

Blisters on right foot: 2

Blisters on left foot: 1

Foreign accents obtained: 1

Horse's tails obtained: 1

Times I participated in traditional Yakutian dances: 5

Siberian friends made: 10

Kisses from old Siberian men: 4

Kisses from young Siberian Khongr: 2

Times I misspelled "Siberia": many

Idaho International Dance and Music Festival, Day 2

So after two days of being a team guide, I have the following announcements....
1. I vill be speaking vith a Russian accent for many days. I think vith Russian accent now, Da?
2. By the end of the week, my team guide shirt will be nothing but a string of blue dye molecules held together by Fabreeze, sweat, and prayers.
3. I love my Siberians so much I may have to drive to Rexburg next week so I can see them again and introduce them to my folks.

Wednesday Report
In the Gala performances Thursday and Friday, all of the teams will participate in an opening number where they pass glow sticks down the aisles and then wave them as they walk, run, and dance up to the stage. Today, for the practice, we used plastic knives instead of glow sticks, which confused some of the performers. There are about 200 dancers here from around 9 countries who all speak different languages, so it was amazing that they all managed to learn the opening and closing numbers in such a short time. The people who run this festival are amazing!
I took Victor, Elena, Vladimir, Lena, Nadejda, and Tatijna to the Mayor's luncheon this afternoon. It was a slightly more formal event and before we went, Elena volunteered to "dress me." I turned her down and she settled for spending 20 minutes doing my makeup..."To make you look like Hollywood Movie Star, yes?" Here we are in the bathroom at the school after she finished.
At the luncheon, Victor became best friends with the Mayor of Rupert who told him all about farming and irrigation. Victor was so interested that the Mayor offered to organize a tour...of farms and irrigation sites early Friday morning. Elena insisted I come too because she says the mayor will be "a good contact" for me. To the Siberians, the Mayor is a very important, influential man. I didn't have the hear to tell them that, in this part of the state, being mayor is a part-time job. The Rupert mayor is a great guy and a good sport. During the gift exchange the girls did the same cleansing ceremony on him that they did on us last night...horse tail and all. I was really worried the burning bark and hair would set off the fire alarm, but we lucked out. After the luncheon we met up with the rest of the Siberians to practice the program with the other teams. Here is Nadejda with her amazing horsetail thing that she uses in blessing and cleansing ceremonies. Melissa is fitting her with a microphone during our first sound check.
This is Tuyana and her really big, really cool instrument getting ready for her dress rehearsal/microphone check.
Here are the girls backstage right before their dress rehearsal.

This is our group in the parade around the square today. I got to hold the sign that said "Russia" and march with our team. It was extra fun because many of my students were there to cheer me on.
After the parade, each group had seven minutes to perform. Tuyana played her big, cool instrument, then Lena, Nadejda, and Tatijna taught a dance to some kids in the audience.
I helped Sambueva and Tatijna sell souvenirs they had brought to help earn money to pay for the trip. They had some smaller versions of the horsetail thingy that Nadejda uses to do the blessings and cleansing. I wanted one, but I knew they wouldn't let me pay for it, so I snuck some money to my friend Zealanda and she bought it for me. After we finished selling, the girls gave me a carved key chain..."for Miiin-deee, Super Driver!" The event at the park was done around 7:30, so the host families took the team to go swimming and I went to go see Elizabeth. We ate snow cones and she told me about her trip to Poland. She brought me this bag (how cute!!!) and this candy bar. Both Chloe and I are very glad she is home!

Thursday is youth culture day in the morning, then we have some free time in the afternoon. We may take the team to Twin to see the temple and the waterfall, or Victor might want to practice more because the first gala performance is that night. The dress rehearsal was so amazing, I wish you could all come and see it!

Idaho International Dance and Music Festival, Day 1

Becuase I am missing the part of my brain that controls rational thought and the ability to say "no", I am serving as a "team guide" for a group of Siberian Musicians. It is pretty much an 18 hour per day job that started when they rolled into town from SLC around Midnight Monday/Tuesday. I am incharge of making sure the host families get them were they need to be on time, coordinating between the team and the festival people, making sure the team has every thing they need and that they are very, very happy.
Yesterday's schedule included a luncheon and performance for the Rotery Club, a few trips to "market" (walmart), one long trip to Radio Shack, a meeting with the head of the festival, a BBQ, and various other activities. I didn't have the time to break out my camera until the BBQ, so here are a few photos...
Victoria and Tuyana jumping... ...Vladimir, the publicity guy. All he does is take pictures...
Lena helping with a pre-dinner cleansing ceremony...
...Nadejda and Tatijna continuing the cleasning ceremony...
...Elena, the only English speaker translating...
...that is Khonger in the background. He is the only guy performer in the group...

...Lena, Elena, and Professor Victor (his new favorite English phrases are ... "Miiin-deeee come" and "Minn-deeee super driver!")...
...We learned how to do a before dinner dance and an after dinner dance...
More dancing...
When the after dinner dance had finished, Marquetta and I took Victor, Elena, Khonger, and Victoria to see the location for tomorrow's parade and performance. Then I went back to the school with Victor, Khonger, and Victoria for an 1 1/2 hour practice before making an emergency run to "market" for super glue to fix a broken instrument.
Wednesday starts nice and early with a 7:30 a.m. meeting, so I had better get dressed so I can pick up Professor Victor and Elena.

Flamingos is good eatin', ain't they?

Somebody gave me the bird!
Twice!
I woke up Wednesday morning and went to go pack up my car for my impromptu trip back to my parental homeland and found THIS on my front steps. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to having things left on my steps. Shortly after I moved here, a kindly plant-fairy used my steps as a drop off point for several leafy things that I some how managed to not kill....at least not immediately. So plants I am used to but, although my cute little cow-town is full of wildlife, flamingos aren't exactly indigenous to Southern Idaho so you can understand my confusion.
Turns out, this wasn't your average, everyday, run of the mill paper flamingo. This was Flo the traveling flamingo. She apparently had used the worlds worst travel agent, ended up on my front steps, and was now relying on me to get her to her next destination. Unfortunately for Flo, I had already made travel plans for myself, so she got to hang out in my kitchen while I visited the big city and pondered whose lawn she should visit next.
Imagine my surprise when I pulled up in front of my home Friday evening to find yet another flamingo waiting for me. I believe my exact thought was, "What the flock is going on here?" (I'm pretty sure it was thoughts like that, which I vocalized in the middle of Relief Society, in several Sacrament Meetings, and one truly memorable Stake Conference that got me released from my RS President position).

Apparently, I am running some sort of flamingo hostel, which I'm pretty sure violates about three clauses on my lease. Therefore, to help me achieve my goal of not being homeless before I'm 30, the flamingos will be relocated to the yards of which ever of my friends and branch members a) live in town so I can find my way to their houses and back b)don't have vicious guard dogs (or guard heifers as the case may be) and c) are good candidates for passing Flo and Flo Jr. along so that the traveling flamingo legacy can live on. In other, non-paper-poultry-related news... My branch had the opportunity to usher at the Twin Falls Temple open house this morning...very, very early this morning. I had the good fortune to direct tour-traffic in the hallway between the bride's room and the celestial room, so I got to see a lot of amazed faces. Speaking of amazed faces, here I am with Jessica, one of the girls who risked her life to ride to the temple as a passenger in my car. (This is us at a restaurant after the open house, NOT at in the temple...in case you were, you know, concerned about the decor in the back ground). This is Jessica's backside. I wanted to take a picture of her at a branch activity a while back and this was the only part of her that she agreed to have photographed. Should you happen to see Jess at the branch tomorrow, be sure to compliment her on the photo.
Oh, and don't think I'm mean to post it. She actually wanted me to print it out and hang it up at the branch building(Which inspired me to invent a fun game for a branch activity wherein you have to identify branch members by photos of their backsides. It is fun branch activity ideas like this [and my branch "shotgun wedding cake social" idea) that will eventually get me released from my calling on the branch activities committee). Here are Alison and Kendra, the other brave souls who rode with us.
Spending the morning at the temple was a wonderful way to start out my weekend. It put me in such a good mood that I didn't even consider useing my already dirty car to run down the handful of anti-Mormon protesters who had set up shop on on the corner. Well....I didn't seriously consider it. And if I had seriously considered it, it would have been for the charitable purpose of being able to do their work for the dead (if they weren't already dead, the irony of that situation would have killed them, eh?) ...Too bad I didn't have those flamingos with me. I sure would have loved to give those guys the bird.