A little off the beaten path

We're going on a litte adventure with this post. We'll affectionately subtitle it, "in which Cynthia explores her connection with odd music."

There's this poem by W. Shakespeare that I love. It's in Much Ado, and while I usually just think it is funny and it makes me happy, there are unfortunate times that the poem just resonates with me. The title of my blog is from this poem - "Sigh no more, Ladies. Sigh no more..."
A little over a year ago I found a band that I have to come to love intensely. Mumford and Sons. They put parts of this poem into a song, and it was the first song I ever heard by them, in the middle of one of those unfortunate times. I listened to all their music, and every single song has at least one line that always resonate with me, no matter when I listen to it.



One of the things I love most about this song is that they take other lines from Much Ado and put them in the song. "Serve God, Love me, and mend." "Man is a giddy thing."

Other songs worth listening to...
1. Winter Winds..."My head told my heart, let love grow. But my heart told me head, this time no."
2. Liar... "you say you have spoken, and like the coward I am, I hang my head."
3. Awake my Soul... "Lend me your eyes, I can change what you see, but your soul you must keep totally free."
4. Hold on to What You Believe.... "I ran away... it was a promise I could not make."

and last but certainly not least, is Little Lion Man. It's my second favorite song ever written. But be warned... it has some swear words in it. But in all of the English language, I don't think there are other words that can so clearly convey all the anger, self-loathing, and despair that the guy sings about having. A very moving song. Well, at least to me.

3.5 days of AWESOME!

This is what I wrote yesterday....


Today I assisted in an arrest. Yesterday I read informant letters. And on Monday I just tried really hard to stay awake all day.
It's been a busy 3.5 days since I arrived!
Note to self: allow more than one day to adjust to time change when engaging in international activities.

London is lovely. I'm so happy to be back, and I am really excited to be working in the Embassy. It's HUGE and fantastic.

I intended to write this fantastic post about what I've done and learned and all that jazz. But I find that I am so exhausted that I cannot really form coherent, much less interesting, sentences. Jet lag is my worst enemy right now. And terrorists.

I'll write about the arrest though, since that just happened, and it was the most interesting thing.
Some guy came into the embassy, and he's been living in the UK for a very long time - way past his visa allowance. He came to the US embassy to see if he could get a visa to 'visit' the US. When they ran his passport number, a little flag went up, and we (the Fraud Dept.) were informed. (His passport was also a fraudulent.)
Anyway, the visa dept cannot make arrests - actually, arrests can't really happen in or on the embassy. So we got to call the police, give them a picture and let them know who to arrest. The fun part was when I got to follow him out of the embassy with someone else from my deptartment and point him out to the police so that they could make the arrest. He was very calm (which I learned was common... no one really fights the police), and then they patted him down, cuffed him, and took him away.

I just reread that and realized it's very boring. There are other details that make the story interesting, but I'm not supposed to tell. Suffice it to say that working at the embassy is very, very interesting. I highly recommend it.

sometimes i think it never ends.

i'm nearing the end of a 9 hour take-home final.
is it just me, or are finals getting waaaaay out of hand?

anyway, you should all know that the only way to get through a take-home final is to listen to Christmas music.
That's what i've been doing all day, and that's what i'll keep doing for the next.... 2 hours. until this final is over.
it kind of makes the process fun. or maybe i just stopped caring about college. you know, whatevs.

Yielding to peer pressure

I feel like everyone is doing an "end of the semester" post, so yeah, sure.... I'll jump on the bandwagon!

I finished my work at BYU on wednesday.

HECK YES I DID!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, I've thought this 2 times before, but this time I'm really sure. But who knows? I just know that I'm done, and I am not interested in coming back to continue my education here. It was really great 4.5 years, but it's time to close this chapter, and time do other fun adventures.

The world is my campus!

YAY!!

Happy December!

Do you know what that means?

Now I get to say, "I go to London next month!"

Yes, that's exciting.

5 weeks, people. 5 weeks.

And Merry Christmas to you all!

it never gets old

I will never ever ever ever ever get tired of saying that i get to live and work in London, that i have lived and worked in Germany, and that I got to backpack for a month in Europe. not ever.

I'll work a hop, skip and a jump from here!

Granada the Pomegranate

GRANADA!!! The one place outside of Prague that I was really really anxious to go to. I mean, I wanted to go to a lot of places, but Granada was like, #2 on the list of "Very Important places that if you miss I will make sure you regret it for the rest of your life." So it was glorious morning when my train rolled into the station.

I took a night train and shared a compartment with three little old ladies, and it was hilarious. They didn't speak a lick of English, and I hardly speak spanish... language barriers are always fun.

Granada means "Pomegranate" in arabic. The city is so named for when the Muslims invaded Spain and took over. They were kicked out of Spain entirely in 1492, and Granada was their last stronghold. But more on that later. Tidbit: The street lamps are in the shape of pomegranates. quaint.

excerpts from my journal:

"I got here and settled in and then went on the free walking tour of the Albayzin [ the ancient and beautiful part of town]. There are so many twisty, windy, crazy streets. Sometimes a road will start out wider than the breadth of my arms, and in the end I'll be edging sideways...makes me feel like a spy. The Albayzin is amazing! all whitewashed walls, silly grafitti, many a tapas bar, flowers on the window sills, cobblestone streets, and a great smell of desert dirt and spices. Really, I love this place."

View of the Albayzin and Sacramonte in the back

"I found a nunnery that makes and sells candy!! It's so tasty! Well, it definitely tastes odd, but I like it!"

"In true Spanish form, I joined a group leaving the hostel for a late dinner and a tapas tour (each on separate nights). And I mean a late dinner. We were seated at 10pm and had our food by 10:30. And in true European fashion, we stayed chatting at that table till 1AM. but it was a flamenco restaurant, so it was dinner and a show!! Three guys came out, and man, Flamenco is awesome. Intricate, a strange mix of river-dance and tap, but with all the attitude of the latin dances. FUN!

The tapas tour was exciting - we went to about 4 bars. Granada is a college town, so with every drink you order, they also give you tapas (small appetizers). YUM. By the end of three drinks you're quite full. Our guide let us know that that's actually a good preventative measure because the kids don't get as drunk because they're full. hahaa funny. I got lemonade at one bar, coke with lime at another, and pomegranate juice at another. And each tapas bar served different tapas! it was a fun night. I smelled outrageously like smoke (GROSS!) and had to let my coat air out over night. ah well, it was worth it.

Tapas!

Alhambra = "the most romantic place on earth". Well, Schwetzingen gives it a run for it's money, but the gardens of the Alhambra are breath-taking. When the Muslims ruled, they believed that Granada was directly under heaven. Literally. I can see why... with the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas in the east, and the beautiful valley stretching out before you, and the setting sun... I would think I was IN heaven. The Gardens are ridiculously extensive, and the actual architecture is nothing we see in the west. Intricate mosaics with stones and colored glass, all those curly cutesy desigins, outdoor courts with reflection pools, fountains, and artistically sculpted greenery. And so many flowers!! The Alhambra is a must see! I spent 8 hours there.

Granada was lovely. I great respite - since it was so warm in southern Spain. I loved the oranges that grew on the trees, free for the taking, the late night adventures that are just part of the culture, the Albayzin with it's crazy, twisty funny streets, the caves on Sacramonte where hippies lived, the cozy little carmens (private gardens), the delicious candy from the nuns!, and the lovely couscous we had at the hostel. And so much more. I spent 5 days in Granada and could easily spend another 50.

One of the many fountains in the Alhambra. This was my favorite one. Check out those Roman arches!!

hahaa I just found this intensely amusing.

Many people in Granada decorated their patios and windows this way. Lots of flowers and hanging plants, plates with interesting designs. It's so beautiful and artistic!

This is in one of the Carmen's - a private garden. This was in the college campus, and if I looked directly to my right I could see the valley of the Albayzin and the Alhambra. It was lovely.