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Rexburg, Idaho
Every morning I would wake up and see this from my dormitory’s window
Now, I wake up and see this:
Where did the temple go?
Learning
Rexburg, Idaho (January 8, 2009)
I feel like after almost 2 years I am actually learning something again. Perhaps because now I am learning about something I get excited and I actually like.
Rexburg Idaho might be cold and I might be getting sick, but I don’t remember being so happy and energized like I am now.
Back
Back to Rexburg, Back to school, back to the rules, and the shaving everyday, back to my roommates who only speak bulgerian and cook smelly food.
Back to the nothingness… back to this:
Downtown Rexburg, Idaho
A Handy Job = A Handy Man
Rexburg, Idaho
Good news! I got a job!! I gat hired yesterday and I started working today. I’m part of the maintenance for the Girls dorms. According to my boss I’ll mostly do pluming and fixing stuff.
I am excited about it because I’ll get to learn stuff that in the future might come handy.
Music (for the heart beat)
I am can hardly moved! Lately I’ve been working out a lot with my personal trainer (It’s so cool to be able to say that)
Today’s session almost killed me.
Anyway, the point of this post is something really silly but awesome to me.
Jared, the PT, said to me that he recommends listening electronic music while running or working out. (That helps to balance the rhythm of your movements, with your brain and your heart beats… or something like that)
However, he said that he likes to mix it up with some other kind of fast music so he wouldn’t get tired of techno music. He uses Disney’s fast music.
It is not the first time that I heard that Disney’s music is good for working out.
What kind of music makes my heart beat faster? The first thing that came to my mind is Xuxa (Shoe-Sha)
Xuxa used to have a kid’s show that’s was really popular in Argentina, since then I collected many CDs from her that I never listen because, honestly, I never had a chance to do it.
Working out though is the perfect excuse to listen to her and feel like a kid again while I man myself up. ; – )
Randomness from Idaho
Rexburg, Idaho
Randomness
I still didn’t get a job so I have nothing but time. I still don’t know many people here, so to kill time I work out a lot (a lot!) and I read a lot, (a lot!)
I read mostly books, newspapers On-line and blogs…I stated reading almost weekly this blog: Discover Buenos Aires, by a New Yorker named Dave who moved to Buenos Aires (Argentina) not so long ago.
My favorite part of his blog is the “Random Observations” where he mentions some things that we Argentinians or porteños do that he finds amusing.
Some times are things that also I noticed but in the other way around, for example when he said “Everything they (Argentines) sell seems to be much smaller than the U.S. equivalent.” I, in the other hand, found some how funny that everything they (Americans) sell in the U. S. seems to be extra large.
Here is some of his randomness that was interesting to me:
- “No one picks up after their dog and I mean no one. I picked up after Delilah and felt weird doing it.”
- “There are (almost) no obese people in Argentina. There may be some people with pot bellies or a few extra pounds, but you do not see people who are extremely overweight like in the U.S.”
- “You seat yourself at most restaurants.”
- “Pedestrians do not have the right of way. Taxi drivers drive much worse than they do in NYC. I’m really surprised there are not more accidents.”
- “Sidewalks here are maintained by the building owners and not the city, so as you walk down a block, the sidewalk can change over and over.”
- “Everyone who has met more than once kisses each other on the cheek when saying goodbye. I mean everyone: women kiss men, men kiss women, women kiss women, men kiss men…”
- “As you walk down the street here, you might notice some cars that have jugs half-filled with some type of liquid sitting on top of the roof. We’ve seen this many times and have finally figured out what it means. (Well, ok, we didn’t actually figure it out, we asked our Spanish tutor, Marco, what it meant.) Ready? It means that the car is for sale. Yep, that’s it.”
My own randomness
Rexburg, Idaho is the most interesting town I ever been to. I don’t really know why; maybe because I am not from a little town so all little details call my attention.
I will start school here at the Brigham Young University – Idaho or BYU- I in January, so until I find a job (which it would be really, really bad if I don’t) I’ll be a tourist here.
BYU-I is located in Rexburg, ID, a city about 212.1 miles from Salt Lake City, with a population of 26,265. 95 % of whom are white (0,5 %are Latino, Lowest in the nation?)
Rexburg, Idaho’s random observations: Week 1.
- People drive really slowly here, and they don’t seem to mind giving all the time pedestrians need to cross the street.
- People walk! When I came to the U.S., I found really weird that most people wouldn’t walk at all. In Utah, if the grocery store or church was 2 or 3 blocks away it was not a walk-able distance. Here though, people walk everywhere.
- People are very friendly. They wave at me when I am crossing the street and they are in the car. (Weird)
- A lot of rules. I always attended privet schools so I don’t mind rules at all, but I was very surprised of how strict Brigham Young University – Idaho is with the students. Some of the rules are from the code of honor that all students have to sign before being accepted. There students commit to live under the standard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That includes no drinking, smoking, drugs, coffee, tea, extramarital sex, no vulgar language, no facial hair, modest clothing, and going to church regularly.
BYU-Idaho however appears to want the students to go an extra mile to achieve excellence:
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- Hair cuts must be always modest and clean (crazy hair styles are inappropriate) Guys must follow certain hair cut style.
- It’s not allowed to wear On-campus, sandals, shorts, or clothes that looks like it’s showing underwear
- You can’t live anywhere that is not previously approved by the University.
- To be approved apartments must follow certain requirements like a safe internet connection that blokes all adult websites.
- Also the apartments must provided a cable services that doesn’t have certain TV channels (in my case they blocked MTV, VH1, HBO, etc)
- Curfew is another rule that apartments have to have to be approved housing: In my apartments it is 11 to 11:30. However Fridays and Saturdays one can be out until midnight.
- Girls are never allowed in the bedrooms and they must leave the apartment at 11.
- Apartments are all male or female apartments (not mixed apartments)
- The city of Rexburg has just one Movie Theater, and it doesn’t show rated R movies.
- Apparently, Rexburg is also an Alcohol-free city. All the rights to sell Alcohol are held by the University.
- The crime is almost inexistent here
Y Idaho?
Rexburg – Idaho
“It started out as a feeling, which then grew into a hope, which then turned into a quiet thought, which then turned into a quiet word… and then that word grew louder and louder ’til it was a battle cry”
How?
My computer broke so I couldn’t write before. Today I am really happy because I can write again.
In a few years I’ll be done with school, probably I’ll be married and hopefully with some kids of my own. I’ll grow old, I’ll grow wise. Some day my kids will be sitting around me and I’ll ask them “Do you want to know how I got into college?”
Well kids, the story includes a series of miracles, but begins way before I was born…
Genesis
My dad (your grandpa) didn’t finish high school and my mom (your grandma) didn’t even finish the elementary school. I don’t like to talk about this because some times describing the poor conditions in which my siblings and I had to live could overshadow the efforts and sacrifices that my parents had to do to gives us the best they could. However, in order to understand how far we have come already, I feel it’s important to know certain details about my family.
Exodus
My parents migrated from extreme poverty in Paraguay to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Because of their lack of education they struggled to find good jobs and opportunities to do well.
Understanding how important education was they sent us to the best schools in Buenos Aires. In order to get to a good school we would have to wake up every day at 4:30 a.m. travel for two and half hours by train, bus, and walking several blocks. We were in class from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; we wouldn’t get back home until 6:30 pm.
Chronicles
We didn’t have a gas nor a water system installed in our house, so we had to hit water and put it in a container to take a shower. Electricity failed more than often, so some times we had to do homework under some candle lights.
My parents were often criticized or praised for all the sacrifice they went through or that they made us go through.
When I was 11 years old, my parents transferred my younger brother and me to a private school 45 minutes away from my house. Though we were attending a much better school, I remember how my mother struggled some times to provide food for us.
Education was always important goal in my family, even if to achieve it was necessary to give up certain things.
New Testament
What my parents wanted the most for us was a better future. They knew that learning good values was as important as any other kind of education. My mother especially, encouraged us to pray to overcome troubles. I was always very sick when I was a child; most of my memories include a big deal of childhood being in the hospital. I remember when my mom would hold me really tight and pray so hard while giving me comfort.
Blessings
I am convinced that because of her… because of both of my parents, God is blessing my sibiling and me so much. They all found their porpoise on life; they all have a beautiful family with beautiful and healthy babies. They are awesome.
Some times I felt that I wanted that too, but I couldn’t deny though that I was being spoiled with blessings too.
Lucky
I was “lucky” enough to get a sponsor who gave me an opportunity to study English at Brigham Young University. Then, again, I had some other sponsors who felt that it was important that I went to College also. Some times I thought I would never get my associates’ at the LDS Business College, but I did. And I thought it was over, I thought that I was time to go home. I really missed my family.
“Stay!”
The problem was that I didn’t even have money to go home. And here is where the so called miracle happened.
Both of my parents felt really strongly that it was important that I finish school here, in the US, the land of opportunity. And it truly was, at least for me…
The good news were that I was accepted to Brigham Young University-Idaho YAY! And the
bad news was that The U. S. Government required me to pay tuition for one year before receiving the scholarships. That’s $4,000 dollars! AND it has to be paid by Friday, September 12, I remember well because that was 2 weeks from the day I found out that I got accepted. How in the world would I come up with $4,000 dollars in less than 2 weeks?
“200 times 20″
One night I fell asleep praying, asking what should I do to get the money on time. The next morning I woke up with the phrase “200 times 20″ in my head.
I had the opportunity to go to BYU- Idaho to get my bachelor’s degree in Communications with an emphasis in advertising. The only obstacle standing between me and my goal was the $4000.
So I did what I thought was very embarrassing, you see kids, here was when the “200 times 20″ inspiration came in. If 200 friends will each donate $20 I would be able to meet the U. S. government financial requirement.
I didn’t have anything to loose, so I sent an e-mail to every single friend I had. I didn’t have 200 friends though, so I also sent the e-mail to co workers, people who I met here and there, to friend of friends, to everyone.
And the money kept rolling In (and in)
My parents were the first one to sent their part, they sent $800, which in Argentina is a lot of money (especially for them), and I had saved $500.
Many people laugh at the idea, and told me that it would be impossible to reach the goal of $4000 in such a short time. But the money kept coming.
It kept coming from people I haven’t seen in a long time, from close friends, from lost friends, from people I never met before, or maybe I met once.
From…
One time a friend got the mail and started reading from the envelopes the places from which they were coming, she read Ohio, Florida, Alabama, Michigan, California, Utah, New York, Colorado, Washington, Maryland, Arizona… and then asked me “Do you know people from all this places?” “I guess so” I said.
Piggybank
Part of my savings were part of a piggybank, some of the coins were foreigner money so I put everything in the carpet and started separating the dollars from the pesos and the pounds. When Jo Ellen and Ema Lita saw that, they both brought their own piggy bank: hundreds of coins. We guessed how much money we had, we all guessed between 50 to 60 dollars, but it was 111 dollars!!!!
Causalities
A friend of Jo Ellen heard the story and told Jo Ellen “May I give these 20 dollars I found yesterday to him?”
I was so close to the goal so soon that it was so overwhelming to me. I didn’t want to think about it because it made me want to cry, and also feel over-blessed. With $400 needed to reach the $4000 a really good friend of mine said to me crying, “My husband and I were helping a kid to pay for his mission and yesterday we received a letter from him telling us that he got enough money for his mission so he returned us this money, and we want it to be our contribution to you: $400!
Even BYU Idaho got the e-mail! (Not from me though) They waved $500 that I had to pay when I started working there, in Rexburg, Idaho.
And that’s how I got into College… as I said kids, nothing but a series of miracles, one after another. Why? Why me? Why Idaho? I still don’t know.
