Parrots, Magnolias, and the Pops

So this past week I was awakened early in the morning by a horrific noise that sounded like a dying squirrel right outside my window. The squawking persisted for a good 15 minutes, so finally curiosity got the best of me and I got up to see what the raucous was about. Imagine my surprise to see a bright green parrot in the tree! For such a pretty bird, they make a really disturbing noise. Sources tell me that these birds have become naturalized (is that the correct term?)in Pasadena due to a pet emporium burning down in the late 1950's!


And then there were two...


In addition to beautiful birds, there are some beautiful trees in bloom right now. The Jacarandas produce a carpet of purple from the falling petals. This brings back memories of Ethiopia, as there are lots of jacaranda trees throughout the country. Also, the magnolias are blooming - and who doesn't love a magnolia?? Also reminds me of my favorite movie: Steel Magnolias.


Tonight there was a free concert given by the Pasadena Pops Symphony Orchestra outside of City Hall. It's so nice to have free cultural events so close-by. City Hall is such a lovely spot in the city. For those of you into the Hollywood side of things, Pasadena's City Hall is the backdrop to the show "Parks and Recreation." I actually walked through the building one day when they were filming. If you've seen the show, see if you recognize it from my pictures...

Friend Visits

I've had a couple of fun weekends visiting friends and friends visiting me.
Two weeks ago I met up with my hilarious friend, Anteneh, from Ethiopia. He's spending 2 weeks in the US to see family and friends. We headed to Little Ethiopia in LA to eat "koors" together.

After that, I caught a bus to Santa Monica to meet Christie, my former (not old!) college roommate who's been at Pepperdine U in Malibu with her husband for the last 3 years while he went to Law School. He's graduating this weekend and they're heading back to Delaware. It was nice to have a friend nearby for a couple months, but too bad it wasn't longer.
We went on a hike way up into the mountains behind Pepperdine's campus. Incredible view on an almost clear day.


That evening we went on a bit of a scavenger hunt of sorts. There are these little fish called "grunion" and during certain parts of the year during the full moon, these fish come up on the beach to spawn. Christie and I wanted to check them out. They don't generally appear until after high tide, which was around 9:45pm. So we went out around 10:30 and checked out about 3 different beaches over the next 3 hours...nothing. Except...we were standing on a cliff looking into the water and I got a little over-eager and thought I saw something moving in the water. I told Christie I thought I saw one, so we both bolted down to the beach. Christie first recognized that it was trash. Imagine our disappointment! Then as we watched this trash bobble in the water, we realized it was an oar. So we kept it as a souvenir. Sure hope there isn't some kayaker stranded in the ocean without a paddle.

On Sunday we had lunch at the Rose Cafe near Venice Beach and walked around the Santa Monica Pier. Quite a fun weekend and I'll be missing my "Malibu friends"! I'm not sure how much they'll miss Malibu and the local paper with Pamela Anderson gracing the cover 2 out of every 3 weeks!


Then this past weekend, my friend Annie flew down to LA from Portland. Annie and I have done a lot of random stuff together - working for the Pennsylvania Dept of Agriculture, living in Dillsburg, study abroad in New Zealand, a crazy weekend in NYC, etc. etc. It was fun to get to show her around my new digs here, and go on a hike, and revisit the 80's, as you can see from this picture!

Dignity

Love one another...a lesson we've been taught since we were big enough to knock over another child. But why?
Because God made us all, right? Have you really thought about it, though? I haven't thoroughly...until now. Why must we love someone who has wronged us? Why should we love murderers, thieves, adulterers? Well, the answer is, in a sense, because God made us all. But to go deeper, it's because we are made in His image. Every living human being bears the image of God, inextricably linking us all together regardless of race, gender, age or culture. Therefore, as image-bearers of God, we have dignity...this is not dignity that is earned from good works; it is only as a result of being a creation of God. Can we lose this dignity from sin? No...when sin first entered the world, the image of God was not destroyed, but tarnished. It is impossible to rid oneself of their inherent dignity as a child of God.
As our professor shared in his lecture, "When I respect the rights of another person who shares the image of God, I am respecting the image of God in myself at the same time. When I denigrate the another, I am consequently denigrating myself. But by honoring the image of God in others, we honor both God and ourselves."
So what's the point of all this "theological verbiage"? It's just helped me understand why I am called to "love my enemy." This is what we're discussing in my Children at Risk class, where we talk about the most vile offenses against children - trafficking, prostitution, abuse, forced labor, children forced to be soldiers. All defenseless, innocent children. But this lesson is not advocating to excuse the perpetrators who force such harm against children. They must face consequences of their actions...and too many never do pay any penalties - at least on this earth. However, we must find the grace to recognize even these polluted individuals as an image-bearer of God and worthy of the effort to restore them to reconciliation with their Redeemer.
So next time you get really angry with someone or are tempted to take advantage of another, think of this.

Romans 3:23...For all have sinned...

Marriage

A lovely wedding ceremony took place in a lovely Grapevine Park on a lovely April day. My dear friend Daphne got married and I was privileged to be part of the wedding.




Carolyn and I offered our services with floral arranging


The ringbearer pillow I made


It was also a great occasion for an ECHO reunion! So many from the 2004 generation made the trip and we had such a great time catching up, reminiscing about old times. It's so great to be with a group of people that, no matter how much time has passed, you can pick up where you left off without effort.


These cheesecakes were just as scrumptious as they look!




Daphne and I were also re-united with a Burkinabe friend. Zenebou has been in the US for a while, living with family in Chicago. She flew out for the wedding and shared her vocal talents with a song to bless the newlyweds.

Ethiopia buds

Had a great little reunion with my Ethiopia pals. Spent a couple days in San Diego with Naomi's bro, who had just returned from Iraq the day before! Went to Old Town San Diego, Balboa Park, and saw some seals being seals. Then came to LA and went to my favorite spots - Little Ethiopia and the Getty!

 
a bubble-gum birthday cookie in honor of the one-of-kind gum-flavored birthday cake in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia!
 
Old Town San Diego
 
What a face!
 

Yay injera!!

Where I live

Here are a few pictures of my room. I'm on the 5th floor of the apartment building, and there is nothing to impede my view looking out to the west. I love having a big window with lots of sunlight, and a little balcony area to do some rooftop gardening! :)

 
 
 
 

Mom and I in the courtyard of Chang Apartments


The view from my window

I'm really liking Pasadena. Everything necessary for survival (and amusement) is within walking distance. There's a $2 movie theatre, 2 Trader Joe's nearby, a Target 3 blocks away, and nearly every ethnicity of people (and food, except Ethiopian :(
I got a job last week working at a new Mediterranean restaurant, so it's good to have a little income generating activity. Despite the $2 theatre, it is quite pricey to live in this area...especially considering the cost of living where I've been the last few years. But I've been so blessed with free furnishings, great roommates, having family nearby, and good friends out here, too! I'm eager to get started with classes, which is the real purpose for the move. Remind me that I said that in a few weeks. For the time being, I'm just enjoying my new digs!

The Getty

I tend to do things in non-sequential order...both on my blog and in life. I am now in Pasadena and should write a bit about what life is like here and post pictures of my apartment and surroundings, but I'll get to that after bit.
Right now I'm posting some photos from my outing to the J Paul Getty Museum in downtown LA. It was a big venture for the country girl, requiring 3 different public buses to maneuver through the metropolis of Los Angeles. Yes, I've lived in Africa and have "traveled the world"...but I've been primarily in rural settings or with other people to guide me in larger metropolitan areas. But after spending several hours pouring over maps to figure out my route within the LA public transit system, I tried my best to look like a confident local. And I successfully got to where I wanted to go...
If any of you come to visit, the Getty will most likely be on my list of places to take you. What an impressive work of art to house works of art. To be honest the pieces inside the buildings did not impress me nearly as much as the outstanding architecture of the buildings, as well as the gardens and amazing views of Los Angeles. Here are some pictures of the landscapes:
 

 
 
 

In this photo, our garden tour docent told us that generally a child's perspective sees a maze, but adults will visualize the intertwining circles. I saw a maze. What do you see?