Breaking the paradigm

I'm officially a mountain woman. All of my doubting friends should be proud... I spent two full nights in a tent, and five days running around rocks and national parks with my trusty camelbak and trekking poles. All this mountaineering gave me quite a bit of time to reflect. I have three realizations that I'd like to share with the world.

1. I'm a cynical person with an affinity for using citrus products as weapons.

I've never been one for shopping in boutiques. They seem to be filled with old, ugly, and overpriced stuff. However, Chantal found a treasure in a boutique outside of Zion's [see picture above]. As I was sitting outside the store, I heard Chantal call for me to come inside and look at a shirt that was "perfect for me." I went in, took one look at the shirt, and laughed for the next thirty seconds. Chantal's mom then piped in and agreed that the shirt was perfect for me. [In case you can't read it, the text is--if life hands you lemons... squirt them in people's eyes!] The shopkeeper told me she was trying not to judge me based on the fact that two people had confirmed that this totally rude shirt fit my personality so well. Should I be offended?

2. I do not, in fact, enjoy living in small spaces.

I was recently informed that Asians, in general, are accustomed to living in small spaces. The individual backed up his point by saying, "I mean, look at Taiwan... Japan... China... unless the person lives out in the boonies, they're usually in really cramped living quarters." Apparently, because I am Asian, I am accustomed to living in small spaces. Please consider the picture to the left above to be proof that I, Catherine Chou, do not in fact prefer small, cramped spaces to large ones. And, although I do not plan to live on top of that rock, the places where I enjoy playing can be analogized to a place I'd like to live. I like big spaces.

3. I like to scamper.

Fear? What fear? Fear THIS! [I promise, I'm really not adversarial.] The picture above and to the right is on the way up Angel's Landing at Zion's National Park. In case you can't fully tell from the picture, there is a sheer drop off on both sides of that skinny trail. Slip and you fall to your death = good motivation to pay close attention. The chain is allegedly there to help stabilize you, but with multiple people using and moving it, the chain tends to have too much slack to provide a sense of security, and too little slack to avoid things like me punching a rock when the chain smacks against the rock. Ow.

Later in the trip, we went to Goblin Valley--after a five mile "Sunday walk" through the slot canyons. Needless to say, our legs were trashed... but not trashed enough to prevent us from taking a cool jumping picture off the goblins. I'd like to use this picture as proof that I'm a significantly better jumper than Chantal, but I must also admit that she started on a lower rock than I did. However, be informed that after this picture was taken, Chantal rather un-gracefully went tumbling off to the side while I landed solidly on my feet.

This final picture to the right, while not the most flattering picture ever, is of us in Little Wild Horse Canyon near Goblin Valley. Scampering and shimmying up walls is pretty much the awesomest thing ever.