Passione

I went to the IC--international cinema for all you noobs out there-- and watched an Italian movie. I am trying to learn Italian, again, with little success. Going to this movie was a cultural event. It was the strangest movie that I'm sure I have ever seen and I don’t feel like it reflected Italian culture all that well. Longest hour and a half od my life.

Before the movie I had dinner with some friends with whom I went on a study abroad to Siena. That was nearly, oh gosh, four years ago and we are all still pretty close. It was fun to be with them. We ate Italian food and reminisced and caught up. I love that after all this time we can still get together and talk about what happened that summer in Siena. We never tire of it. We always talk about how we need to go back. I hope that happens one day.

Something unusual that I feel to note: Usually when we get together we watch a Bollywood movie and eat Indian food, an obsession that began in Italy because the only girl tat thought to bring movies had only Bollywood films. Che bella.

Lunchbox

I judge people who carry lunchboxes.

Big boxy lunchboxes. Plastic lunchboxes. Lunchboxes with super hero figures or princess print. Fabric lunchboxes with their own cooler-lined inside.

Let me clarify, I judge people who carry lunchboxes on BYU campus.

I always assume that they are married. If you are carrying a lucnhbox that is somehow associated in my mind with marriage. There is probably behind that lunchbox, a nice wife who so thoughtful packed a loaded ham sandwich, chips, some sort of vegetable, two granola bars, a pudding cup, a bottle of water, and a napkin. Or perhaps a husband, knowing his wife was going to have a busy schedule packed a simple lunch to carry her through the day. Maybe he even included a little note. Maybe it said, "I love you!" or "You're the best" or something cheesy like that that husbands say to their wives via lunchbox notes.

I see them all over campus. As I'm walking to the JFSB, the JKB. I see them in the library. I see them sitting silently next to students seated on floors, their heads down in a textbook. I see them being peeked into for a snack. I see them strapped across chests, hanging from hands, tied to backpacks. I once even saw one being handed to a tall brown-haired boy from a thin brunette girl. He must have forgotten it.

I bet that if stopped all the people weighed down with a lunchbox and asked if they were married their would be a resounding yes.

I do not carry a lunchbox. My PB&J sits in my backpack next to my pencil pouch, feeling pressure form my textbooks.

monster truck

Have you ever been to a Monster Truck rally before?

You're probably thinking to yourself, "who has!?"

Well this girl has. No, I am not a redneck.

My best friend forever had tickets to this monstrous event. No, she is not a redneck either. Because one of her brother is special needs, her family gets tickets to sweet events such as Monster Truck rallies and the like about once a month. And this month they invited me to tag along. Despite the fact the neither of us are redneck or ten year old boys, we were super excited to go.

After we all loaded into an oversized van, Eliza's mom began to dish out some treats while instructing us to stash the goods into our jackets so security wouldn't take them away. This reminded me of my grandma, every time we go to the movies, "Ashley, bring your big coat! We're brining our own popcorn!" Oh Granny.

When we arrived at the event center in West Jordan there were hundreds of cops. Okay, maybe there weren't hundreds of them, but it sure seemed like it. They were every where. Did these kinds of events usually get out of hand? Should I have been scared for my life?

As we got our tickets and proceeded up the stairs to our seats we were handed bright orange earplugs. I have been to plenty of concerts so I placed them in my pocket thinking that I would not need them. Boy, was I wrong! Those trucks were so loud. The poor children around us couldn't take it and they refused to wear their earplugs. Parents were covering their children's heads with coats trying to soften the noise for their their tender little ears. There was this sweet little girl in front of me who appeared to have down syndrome and she was just burying her head into her daddy's chest while he covered her ears for her. It was a precious sight. I watched them for a moment or to and could see how much this dad cared for his daughter.

The whole shindig was a lot slower than I expected it to be. There were safety checks before every event and it seemed like the contestants just moved slow getting into the arena. Along with these over sized trucks there were dirt bikes and car races. The dirt bikes were pretty cool. The riders would go off of a ramp and flip their bikes or do the splits in the air and other dangerous stunts. I kept thinking, "I wonder if their mothers are watching this?" My favorite part of the whole event was at the very end when Toxic, a green and black monter truck went off the really big ramp. He just flew through the air like well, a monster truck. It was pretty neat. The whole crowd cheered.

I had a delightful time at the Monster Truck rally. I even put it on my already completed bucket list.