Seattle and Settlers of Catan

Seattle was amazing. I wish I was born there instead of Los Angeles - I enjoy rainfall, I prefer rocky beaches, I like sailing, climbing, and hiking, and I loved the large number of Thai restaurants. I ate delicious, inexpensive Thai food every day. I think my family made a mistake when they moved from Arizona to LA. If I had a say in that move, I would gladly leave the inferno of Arizona for the lush greenery of Washington. The only downside I can think of is that the closest surf is an hour away.

If I do go to UW, I know I would spend more time hiking, climbing, and sailing (or at least thinking about those activities) than doing my schoolwork. That might be a problem. Although, there is a study that involves ship welders and manganese exposure... that would be a great excuse to get off campus! Fieldwork anyone?

I've been working on my project on injury prevention all day, every day this week. I am so sick of the word "injury." Somehow, between the 14 + pages of text (and yes, I still have more than half left to write..) I had to sandwich in a blind double date.

Three words summarize the experience: Dungeons and Dragons. Yes, the men were Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts. They didn't force us to play D&D (thank goodness), but I was forced to play one of my least favorite games: Settlers of Catan. What possessed someone to invent this game?! Games that take longer than five minutes to explain, and longer than an hour to play will not hold my attention span. Especially if I spent the last 6+ hours writing SAS code.

I quickly discovered that one of the boys too serious about this game. So, I decided to be really random just to see his reactions. I made random comments, used the robber to sabotage his resources, and tried to form my own version of the mafia to steal resources from other players. He still won, but at least I entertained myself and made it appear as though I cared about the game. Despite my initial thoughts about how the date would go, they were actually funny and interesting (in a good way) people.

My mistake was being too quick to judge these boys. I really was not looking forward to this set up, but it was actually a good time. I don't see myself dating either of them, but meeting new people is fun.

I'm sad that I do not have any more free trips, but I have been given time. It seems like there is never enough time! Now that my trips are over, I now have time to finish my project, time to decide upon programs, and time for the upcoming General Conference. Thank goodness for time.