Church and BBQ, tailgate and football game, Biosphere and more...

Once again I owe you an immense amount of stories, all of which are keeping me very busy in practice! :) You can find all my pics from September here.

Let's look back at last Sunday first, 19th September. I was invited by the Sanfords (my "American family", whom I got in touch with through the International Friends association) to go to church with them, and afterwards go to their house afterwards for a barbecue. As you might know I am not particularly religious, but with my endless curiosity I loved having the chance to see how a service is held in US. We started out first with Sunday School, I joined a young group of girls for their chitchat and bible readings. Afterwards we had the service, which was a little more "modern"(music and atmosphere wise) than I have seen in Denmark.

While I like the idea of a strong community with clear, supportive values, I find it harder to comply with the preaching of "the truth". After my hour-long conversation with Chuck and Janine Sanford about religion some weeks back I realize that as a non-Christian I wouldn't enjoy going to heaven, I am pretty settled on that aspect. :) It does however worry my that there is so much emphasis on the non-believers being "wrong". As this is a very touchy topic and I feel like I am lacking words, I will leave the rest of the discussion for a face-to-face opportunity.

Giant t-bone steaks

After church we went back to the Sanford house to grill t-bone steaks - and never have I seen such big steaks! Served with different salads and baked potatoes it might just have been the best meal I had since I came to the US. :)
Great company as well: The family (Chuck (23), Rachel (??), granddaughter Raven, mom Janine and dad Gary), Theo and Ziad (my Lebanese brothers :)), and Jing (china) and Aizhan (Kazakhstan). We had a fantastic afternoon with long talks and playing a game called Apple to apple. Who needs to study anyway... :)

Monday night I had dinner with Susan (aged 65), my other International Friends-friend, and her boyfriend Pat. They invited me for a biketrip soon to the desert and her house. Tuesday is inevitable Improv show to support Hillary and have fun, Thursday I had a great Strategic Planning class with MBTI personality tests and discussions, and Friday I went pharmacist shadowing in an outpatient pharmacy in a hospital. Another great experience, this time I got a better impression of what a "real" pharmacy is like over here. What surprised me the most is that the pharmacists actually count tablets for each prescription. They have big bottles out of which they take the required amount of tablets, hand count them, and put them into a little orange bottle. So happy we can save time and brains on that in DK!

Saphhire club patio 

Friday was also guacamole at Hillary's and Mexican dinner at Jesus's! YUMMY! Good food, sangria and fantastic company (once again), doesn't get much better! Hillary left me and the boys, and we went out to Sapphire, a club downtown. Finally I got to do some dancing over here! :)

Saturday I had arranged a trip to the Biosphere 2 with 10 people, 2 of which cancelled last minute. We took off 8.30 with Hillary, Chris, Theo, Ziad, Aizhan, Ji-Young, Meltem, and me. Biosphere 2 is (hard to explain) a dome with artificial landscapes inside, simulating various biologic systems (rainforest, desert, ocean) for scientists to study. Was a really nice (nerdy!) place to see, and a must for curious people in Tucson. :) Afterwards we went to a mexican restaurant with seafood for a great lunch.

Biosphere 2

After a much-needed nap I was off to tailgating and the football game, Wildcats vs. Cal. While Im sure you understand the latter, maybe you have never heard about the tailgate phenomenon. At least I hadn't. So tailgate is an American thing, where everybody pull up their trucks, and bbqs off the end of the truck. Thats the simple version. In the complex UA-version a HUGE grass area is filled with trucks and tents lined up, with grills scattered around, people throwing balls and playing other games, drinking, eating, relaxing, cheering, etc. etc. IT IS CRAZY and a lot of fun of course! :) All this happens before the football games, and there is a great Wildcat-atmosphere, with everyone dressed in red!

My tailgate experience so far comprises 18th and 25th September, the latter where I went to the game afterwards with some people from one of my classes. The game was very slow, but it was still fun to watch - and the atmosphere indescribable when the Wildcats turned the game to their advantage seconds before the end! BEAR DOWN! :D