Rock climbing in the Peaks

First a house-keeping type thing.  If you know anyone who'd like to be added to the email list, please let me know!  Also, let me know (if you have a preference) whether these long entries are alright with you, or if you'd rather have shorter, but more frequent ones.  I'm also reckoning that once school starts, I'll slow down a little and make them shorter, especially once I get a journal and can separate what I want to remember and need to records from what everyone will really want to know, haha.

Now on with the show!

Today we went rock climbing in the Peaks district.  I'm still not really clear on why it's called the "Peaks" district, except maybe it's more hilly than the Lake district, which probably has a lot of lakes, if we're being logical.  The weather was not very nice, it was cold and windy, but it also wasn't any worse than a fall day in Albuquerque.  I'm even used to that biting cold wind we were getting up there, as it's like the younger, less serious cousin of the wind that blows across Johnson field practically all winter.

And I got to experience outdoor climbing for the first time ever.  I'm thinking it's probably the last time ever, too.  1, I was utterly terrifying and almost froze halfway up, and 2, I don't have time to join the climbing club.  Maybe I'll do it at home if I get the chance, but I really like gyms much better.  See, in gyms, you have those nice, prefabricated holds that aren't going to scrape you into oblivion if you fall.  Oh, you won't fall to your death, because someone is on belay, but when you slip, you kind of go a little face first into the rock.  Ow!  I didn't do that, but I saw someone nearly do it.  My glasses would have been sad.  I did eventually make it past my, "OH MY LORD I'M GONNA DIE" moment, and just took a deep breath and shoved my fist in a crack and grabbed a rock no one else apparently had ever found (or so the guy on the ground said- he had no idea how I'd gotten up from where I'd trapped myself) and made it all the way to the top!  Semi crack climbing for the win!  And the person who taught me climbing basics will be proud to know that I kept my body close to the wall, and kept wedging myself between rocks so I could reach up with both hands.  Actually, the guy on the ground said, "Wow, you did really well.  How did you get up past that point?" and was surprised when I told him I'd just sort of shoved my fist into a crack in the rocks and both held on to a little spur of rock and braced myself with my knuckles.  Okay, yes, I was pleased with that.  But I'd still rather climb indoors.

Anyway, it was really pretty out where we were!  I even have photos.  I have some other photos too.

By the way, about my pictures- my camera is doing this really awesome thing where it adds so much noise anymore than it's making the pictures really, really bad.  I'm going to try to reset the thing, as I think it's some setting I chose, but I don't know.  If any of you know how to set it to not do that (if it's an ISO or quality thing setting somewhere) you should totally let me know!  Because it's driving me absolutely insane.

We first have something not rock climbing related.  We were down in City Centre the other night for a ghost tour (really good story telling!) and so I snapped a picture:

See?  It's actually quite pretty all lit up like that (notice that one side bank of lights is broken?  Yeah.)  But still, pretty neat.  Also a good meeting landmark.  Frequently, you'll hear one of us on the phone shouting at the person on the other end to "MEET ME AT THE BIG WHEEL.  YES, THAT ONE BY THE OLD CHURCH," sometimes followed by, "Well, it's the only big wheel in city center." and only occasionally, "How can you possibly miss it?  IT'S A GIANT WHITE FERRIS WHEEL!".  But it's all good, we usually find each other.

Speaking of the old church, I should post a picture.  It's apparently town hall now, but I didn't know this and had been calling it the cathedral (which I think it is, as the bus stop nearby is called the Cathedral stop).  I really like it, it's just a typical cathedral kind of place, all sheer and imposing.  I'll mention again about the horrible snowy noise going on in every picture.  It's really bad in low light!

I also made tacos the other night!  They were epically tasty.  Oh man, and I made flour tortillas that we ended up not using, but which are yummy anyway, and would be yummier if I covered one in butter and cinnamon, except I have no cinnamon right now, and I'm limiting myself to visiting the grocery store once a week, unless I totally run out of food (which I shouldn't).  So I'll just put cinnamon and whatever else on my list, and get them next week when I go.

Look!  Tortillas!  And that's honey, which wasn't very good, so now I eat them with butter and jam.  Interestingly, one of my favorite jams at home is the Bonne Maman kind, which I was overjoyed to see they also sell at the Tesco down the road.  Also Dusty said she's sending Algerita jelly and maybe prickly pear if she can find it.  Mmmmm.  Can't wait!

At some point, I was no longer cooking alone (it took like three seconds flat, haha) and Anneleen and Anna came in to help!  They kindly chopped up all the toppings and the onion for the meat, and kept me company while I handled the ground beef (or mince beef as it's called here).  Anna also provided some big tortillas so we wouldn't have to use all of mine, because I'm selfish and wanted mine all to myself after everyone tasted them.  I did later say they could have them any time they wanted, but they wouldn't have been good for tacos.

It was soon discovered that I was the only one who had really made tacos before.  So I showed them how to make one.  This is my version.  Typical taco, right?  Well, I mean, it's a little big, but other than that.

Anneleen preferred to mix all of her fixins together and make a wrap, which worked well til the really juicy meat started dripping juice out the bottom (all of them did it.)

Alex's is a little more like mine, but was also destined for life as one of the messiest wraps I've ever seen, which ended up being eaten with fork and knife.  It's good the meat wasn't cooked dry, but the juice was making it really hard!

And Anna's was a variation on the mix together wrap theme.  I don't have pictures of Faustine's, for whatever reason.  I think she made a wrap too.

Oh hey look!  The pictures which actually pertain to the title of the blog!  If you click on the photo to blow it up (if you're online, dunno if it'll do it in email) you'll see a person halfway up that sheer rock face about halfway.  That's where I climbed.

Typical Peak District view!  It's really really pretty in person, even on grey days like this.  There's rocks strewn about everywhere.  I don't know if a glacier put them there, or if they were already there, but I intend to find out.  I need to know the geology of this place, because I reckon it's pretty interesting.

I kind of want to go scramble all over this rock sometime.  There were loads of people out there, and some little kids, so it can't be that challenging and I'm unlikely to fall and break anything.

Also, one of my friends (Carmen) posted a really good picture of the group I've been hanging out with!  The only person missing is the mysterious and not oft-picture Jinho Han.  I don't know why that boy is not in a single photo of the whole group.

Why yes, I am wearing one of my Inca hats!  It has guanacos on it.  And awesome tassles.  I love the awesome tassles.  I can name everyone in this photo, by the way.  Want me to prove it?  I bet you don't believe me, cause I know I wouldn't!  So, in that uh, back row?  Starting with the guy in the khaki jacket crouching over- Attila (Hungary), Daniel (Germany), Marc (Spain), Fatou Mar (France), Paolo (Italy), Marie-sophie (France).  Next row, starting with the girl who is making that comical :D face: Nerea (Spain), Edu (Spain), Julie (France), Tiziana (Italy). I crouched in front because... well, I did.  So I need not name that row.  They're all a blast to be around!

I dunno, guess I'm out of news for now.  Oh.  We're getting a TV Wednesday (for 20 quid.  And it works.) and I finally have a working desk lamp so I can read before I go to bed.  And my coughing is so so so much better now, I'm sleeping at night (which is great) after the obligatory coughing fit when I first lay down.  Yay!  And I get to go to campus tomorrow and walk out a distance to see if it can be done in 10 minutes.  Oh!  My schedule!  I didn't ever tell anyone what all I'm taking!  I'm taking:

1st Semester

Vertebrates

Community Ecology

History of the US, 1776-2004

Spanish 1A (like 101)

German 4A (Like 401)

2nd Semester

Issues in Conservation Biology

Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems

Pagans, Christians, and Heretics in Medieval Europe

Spanish 1B (Like 102)

German 4B (Like 402)

I also joined the Archery Club (and may end up not being able to go... but at least I got a cool pencil?) and the Equestrian Club (words can't accurately describe how excited I am.  I go a little crazy inside every time I think about all the awesome stuff they're doing this year.) and I'm going to join a choir, which is why I may not do archery.  Archery is great and all, and I want to learn to shoot an English longbow (yes, it is because I am obsessed with Robin Hood, so laugh now!) but choir is good for my soul.  Seriously.  It's totally cathartic.  And closer to where I am than archery, which you can't beat.

I'm way excited for the Biology classes too, even if I don't get to start it til the 7th week.  I ended up changing all my pre-picked choices except Vertebrates when I got here because the 300 level classes sounded like way more fun, and the advisor said the others wouldn't be challenging enough.  Since he was willing to let me in even though he hadn't checked my pre-reqs (other than verifying I'm a senior/ 4th year at my home school) I decided to go for it.  If UNM doesn't want to give me credit, I guess I'll have a discussion with them!  I'm also excited to be picking up Spanish.  I have been wanting to learn it for a couple years, so now if I keep up with it I'll technically be trilingual.  Rockin'.  Then maybe I'll start in on French, since I can get help with that!