Rattlesnake, Ratatouille, Radio!

Some fun things to report. Last night, I encountered my first rattlesnake. I was just sitting in my room, reading when my host mom Shirley yells, "Louise, do you wanna see a rattlesnake!?" I hurry to the backyard where the whole family is surrounding a little rattlesnake on the back of the house. There is a sound going through the air that sounds like a sprinkler system, when in reality it is the angry rattle of this snake. I try to remain calm but am freaking out because I've never seen a rattlesnake before.







I ask, "What do we do now?"
Shirley says, "Well, that's what we're trying to figure out."
I ask, "What are the our options?"
She says, "One is to cut off its head."
I go, "WHAT?"
And with that, her brother-in-law takes a metal shovel and jams it over the snake's head. I scream and run away and when I come back around he is carrying the snake to lay down on the lawn.






































And with that, it was all over. Since it was my first rattlesnake, they cut the rattle off for me. We need to let it dry out and maybe I'll make it into a necklace or something...And Helen, don't tell mom and dad cause they'll freak out and get all worried again.





In other random news, I went a drive-in movie this past weekend! How often do you get to do that? Really, only in small towns, like Globe. They played Ratatouille. Here are some pictures.



























I was sneaky and took a short video of the movie too...the reason you can hear it so well is because it is played through a radio station!













And lastly to report in this random blog...I am going to be on the radio! I recorded two ads with a local radio station. It's going to be played at some other random places too. P.S. Why does the sound of your own voice always sound so weird???





Ok, that is all. Except for my blog question: Since I am in a town of 8,000 people, I do not have the biggest exposure to culture here. The question is, what is the best song or artist that you've heard lately? I am thirsting for some new music, so TELL ME!! Ok, take care everyone.

It's Starting...

It's finally happening! My adventure as a Community Relations Coordinator with Up With People is starting in Globe, Arizona. For those of you that have no stinkin' idea what I'm talking about here is the 411:

Up With People (www.upwithpeople.org) is a global education program for international participants 18-29 years old. For a semester, the participants experience world travel, community service and performance in a musical/dance show for the communities they visit.

My job is to travel to a city in advance of the cast's (that's what we call them) arrival. This particular cast consists of 55 people, representing 18 countries. I will be setting up host families, meals, community service projects and details regarding their show, presentations, etc. I will be working to make sure the community, our sponsor,the cast and road staff's experience will be absolutely wonderful.

So far everything is going great. I have LOTS to do, but there are a lot of people willing to help. I am missing my friends, family, and all the cast members and road staff back in Colorado, but I am also excited for this adventure. Here are only some of the beautiful people that I am missing already (thanks to some of the friends who I stole these from!).

Here are my fellow CRC's who will be busily working around the country with me. How we managed to not kill each other after training together 8 hours everyday for 3 weeks straight is quite a miracle. Haha, you guys are great.



So that's it for now. Since I'd rather make this blog about you or whoever is reading this, I am hoping to keep you connected by posing a question everytime. If you are worried that I won't be interested, please don't because I absolutely will be. So here is the question:

Tell me something that has happened that made your summer extraordinary/unique/interesting, or tell me something that is still to come that could result in your summer being kick-butt.

Email, facebook, calling or replying to this blog are all welcome forms of communication. I hope to hear from many of you.

Next blog: What is living in Globe, AZ really like and what is it like living with the County Supervisor as your host mom??