2007

I always spend some time writing in my (paper) journal on New Year's Eve. Usually the entries I write are dominated with reflections on the year's events, highlights and lowlights. This year I found myself comparing 2007 to the previous two years, because the '05 and '06 New Year's Eve entries were so f-ing awesome, and included extremely exciting highlights.

'05 was the year I decided I would leave Vermont and leave school for awhile. That year ended up changing my life. I started the year in the Pacific Northwest, with New Year's day in Olympic national park with three of my better friends. We spent the next two weeks between Washington and Whistler, BC mountaineering and deep-powder snowboarding. I came back to school 4 days late and stayed only 3 days

Within a week of arriving in Vermont I was set on leaving. A cocktail of good reasons to leave convinced me that my time would be better spent anyplace but the present. I figured, since the semester had started and it was too late to transfer universities, that spending the next few months following a compass was better than being without cause or direction. I packed my stuff, headed back to NH, and was on a plane to Lima, Peru within the month.

Latin America is, as far as I'm concerned, an essential hemispheric experience. I can't believe more Americans don't spend the 500USD to get down to Peru, Bolivia, or Ecuador. If some "adventurous souls" do go, some tips; don't make the same mistake I made; flying back.

On my first trip to South America, I snapped these pictures:

Looking back, and equipped with comparative perspective, I can say that journey was not--in the scheme of things--that remarkable. But to me it was. It was an epic. I lived day to day, today. I learned how big the small slice of South America I experienced was. In turn, I learned how incomprehensibly large the world was. I learned alot about my potential as well: that I am not a boring, regular guy, I'm something different.

When I came back to the US a few months later, I had acquired a fatal virus that I never shook; the travel bug.

I re-entered school in the Fall of 2005 in Washington, DC. I fell in love with politics and world affairs again, and spent all of my time interning and partying with an intense group of individuals who remain in Washington, and nameless (to protect identity). It was sick.

At the end of my semester I had to return to Latin America. I flew to Guatemala and wrote my New Year's Eve '05 entry from Antigua with volcanoes puffing smoke in the background. I shot this pic;


'06 had alot to live up to. It delivered. Spring break road trip from the Grand Canyon to LA with hometown people was unbelievably fun. When my semester and new internship was over, I was on a plane to the Middle East, where I got the chance to travel the Holy Land.

After that I spent a month in NH surfing a summer of great waves and at the end of July I was on a plane bound for Japan and China. I spent a month in the Philippines and Malaysia where I fell in love with Island Asia. I started my semester in Hong Kong and took weekend trips into southern China. I fell in love with city Asia, especially the "fragrant harbour" of Hong Kong.

I made another trip to the Philippines, which is quite possibly the most delightful country on Earth to travel through, and the end of my semester I spent 5 weeks fulfilling a mini-fantasy I have had for a few years: traveling overland from Singapore to Hong Kong. The route took me through Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and southern China.

I wrote my New Year's Eve entry at Hoang Hiem Lake in central Hanoi where I snapped these pictures:



















The physical beauty of the trek was rivaled only by the overwhelming variety in culture, food, economy, and religion I encountered. I got back to Hong Kong with a huge smile, and I felt like I was coming home. I left Hong Kong the day before my birthday, and got back to Washington-through NH-on the second day of classes at AU. I hadn't showered at my class on Latin America. 2007 was off to a good start.

Little did I know my travels would be limited in 2007. Except for travel around the eastern seaboard for work, and a jaunt to Canada over Thanksgiving, I would spend about 10 months out of 2007 within the Washington, DC city limits. I bought a motorcycle so that I could escape to the Shenandoah mountains and take nighttime drives when I didn't have anything to do, but it did little to satisfy my need for adventure and activity.

I graduated from American U and returned to New Hampshire. Now I have solidified my plans to be out of the country for the next 2 and 1/2 years. Big commitment. Luckily the first two months of that I will be in Latin America again. I will be able to do some of my favorite activities; climb active volcanoes, surf warm water, and live and learn about life in a foreign country.

2007 may not have been the most exciting year ever, but alot of good things happened. I'm a college graduate! I'm in the Peace Corps! Most importantly, I'm happy!

2008 has alot to live up to, but it has potential to blow 2005, 6, and 7 out of the water.

My Pathetic Love of School

Today I met with my favorite Professor, a guy who I am endlessly impressed with. We were meeting to discuss the final draft of my independent study on Venezuela's economy. I felt really lucky to have him agree to advise me on the independent study, it is extra work for him and Professors have no obligation to do so. I got him to agree to it by putting a really good sales pitch together and convincing him that I would shoot for publishable quality of research and composition.
I started running through some really specific details about supply-side volatility for Orinoco belt oil extraction--something I just assumed he knew about. He stopped me and asked what the hell I was talking about, where it fit into my research, etc. I thought he was criticizing me about going off on a tangent but he was actually testing my knowledge of this very obscure subject. He let me elaborate on the issues surrounding Venezuela's foreign investment shortage and how that was effecting production and capacity maintenance and some other stuff that I think I am the only person on earth who enjoys thinking about. He then told me he was really impressed with the level of understanding I had about the vagaries of my study. We started talking about the possibility that my research was good enough to "keep working on" which he explained meant spending a few more months on, possibly in Venezuela. I then mentioned that I was going to be in Central America next month (in the neighborhood) and said I might be able to get over there for a few weeks. He said some stuff about friends of his in Caracas, something about a university, and that he was going to email me. He seemed really excited. He is never excited.
Long story short I might get to perfect my research in Venezuela. I thought that was good news.
I went into the library and back to work on random details in the research. I realized that I was tremendously happy to have gotten positive feedback on this work, and that I had an awesome time doing even the most mundane research on the topic.
Obviously I'm not going to have time to spend more than about a month on any more work, but it would be really interesting to be developing what I already have into something more significant and maybe getting published down the line. I think I have found the perfect thing to work on during this upcoming trip. This is positive.

Last weeks of college!

One of the things I am really good at is recognizing when I need to begin saying goodbye to a place. Being a professional leaver of places and things, I have learned how to get my fill of a place before I leave it, so that I don't miss it too much. Leaving Washington may be a little different because out of all the places at which I have been relatively sedentary, (except for NH) I have been here the longest.
I have found myself taking the ridiculously long way to and from school, walking through the opulent neighborhoods of AU park and enjoying seeing the Diplomat plates, the Metrobus, little things. Also, the leaves this fall have been especially crispy and took longer to fall of the tree. I think everybody likes leaves.
I am really thankful that I am not graduating with everyone else because I couldn't put up with all of the "Last Time" this and "Last Night" here, etc usually associated with collective human dispersal. I feel like everything is normal. There is no finality in me leaving, which is cool, but I am stoked to leave.
I got most of my finals completed early so I have been torturing myself by watching the Surf Cinema specials on Fuel TV. I saw one about Siargao in the Philippines and it injected me with an unbearable sense of urgency to get out in the surf in an exotic locale again. I remember Siargao was the first time I actually got held against a reef for any significant period of time. The terror of the moment has morphed in my memory, now I look back at that day as one of extraordinary adventure. I spoke with a guy last night that had done some surfing in southern Nicaragua (where I'm going in January) and he told of burly barrels, warm water and uncrowded, friendly line-ups. My only problem is that when I was home for Thanksgiving and surfed the cold swell that came in that week I realized that my 19-credit workload and PC application process schedule has taken alot of time away from staying in shape. I hope I can keep up in the warm water.

Peace Corps Aspiration statement

The Peace Corps, in one of the many ways they test the commitment of future volunteers, ask that you submit a statement of specific strategies and goals for your work in the assigned country. This is the shortened versions of my "Aspiration Statement".

In the months leading up to when I began the application process for the Peace Corps, I had been traveling through southeast Asia. I was doing what I usually do when I travel; writing about my experiences and political, historical, and physical landscapes through which I passed. In the past 4 years, I have been lucky enough to put enough into my savings to satiate my budget-travel addiction and also complete a major stage of my education. Increasingly, I was getting extremely frustrated with the impermanence of my visits, and the reality that I was able only to stay long enough to observe the some of the varied problems of developing nations, but never fully digest their causes, or identify ways I could employ my skills toward ameliorating them.

My trips were of average length—usually between one and two months—long enough to gain a sense of perspective when returning to the United States. I would return to Washington, my university studies, and work with a loose sense of purpose; I knew there was a lot I wanted to accomplish and that, for the most part, I needed to study hard, be active, and get my hands dirty in the professional world in order to begin. When I started applying for what most people would call “real jobs” during my senior year, I encountered very positive returns. It was satisfying to know that my resume was marketable and even attractive in Washington.

Running parallel to my job search was a methodical execution of the steps in the Peace Corps application and clearance processes. I would schedule appointments, send in forms, research possible assignments and read volunteer stories with regularity, almost as if it were a function of some involuntary organ. In August of 2007, I spoke with my medical clearance officer and he mentioned that the program I had been nominated for was filling up fast, and I was yet to receive my medical clearance. I remember a feeling of panic, like I was missing out on something important, something I would regret not being a part of. I remember that weekend I didn’t answer my cell phone, I carved out a cave in the basement of American University’s library and evaluated my prospects—professional, academic, personal—for post-graduation. I also took a look at my goals, who I wanted to be by the time I was 25, 30, 50, and what else I could do for two years. I made countless hilarious diagrams and lists, like my father the engineer used to do when tackling a major task.

The most significant realization I came to during this ridiculous exercise was that I was happy in my life and very proud of some of the things I have done. Also, those things that contributed most to my happiness, and of which I was most proud, were congruent with two of the goals originally laid out in the Peace Corps Act. I always have derived great joy from learning about things very different from what I am used to, things which defy my American conventions. I also have felt very good about representing my country in foreign countries, even though my presence is mostly insignificant and passing. In this small way, I have been a cultural ambassador by trying to tell people of the great place I come from and asking about this wonderful place they are from. Asking questions and answering them, extending a smile and receiving an invitation for tea, identifying the ways I am so profoundly different from the very poor local guy I am surfing next to, but appreciating more how amazing a surfer he is, and connecting with him.

Still, most of my travels have done little to improve the lot of the people I met. Though I am a firm believer in supporting local tourism economies, money is all I contributed. I believe my knowledge, skills, and abilities can do much more for underserved people if given an appropriate venue. I am confident the Peace Corps is the appropriate venue, and that I want to work toward the three goals.

My expectations for the Peace Corps are probably similar to many; presumptive and inaccurate. What I do expect from the Peace Corps experience is that it is not going to be a vacation, which is what my previous travels have essentially been. I expect to find true what I have been told by many volunteers, that I will find patience and understanding much more valuable than fervor for accomplishment and progress. When I think about my approach to my assigned project, I envision spending a lot of time building relationships and credibility among my community. I think (I’m not sure) that Moroccan workplace culture will depend much more on hierarchical respect and proper conduct then American-style competition and under-dogging. I have heard that those who depend greatly on athletic outlets for entertainment find parts of daily life difficult, so I expect to try to find the best way to get around that to make myself happy. Also, I expect to find whatever athletic outlet I discover will allow me to open more doors to my community. I once heard of a volunteer who was able to develop a baseball program in Moldova, I thought that was amazing, I hope to be able to accomplish something like that within cultural bounds and norms.

While living in Hong Kong, I found the best strategy for adapting to new cultures is to dive in. By doing this, you are able to quickly identify things that may bother you about the culture, and develop ways to make sure it doesn’t poison your experience. For example, in China the approach to table manners is very different. I was raised to attach great importance to table conduct, and I found it very bothersome at first. I made sure that I explored the reasons why people ate, well, differently, and I found that even some of the most disgusting noises can many times be construed as respectful in Chinese culture. This was something I would remember everytime I would begin to be bothered, and I learned to accept and even kind of enjoy these practices.

My personal goals for Peace Corps are many, but the biggest goals for me concern my ability to persevere and find ways to keep myself happy. I sincerely hope there are fun, outdoor-oriented things to do at my site, but I realize there may not be. I hope that I leave my Peace Corps service with a high tolerance for slow pace.

My professional goals center around my ability to identify goals and find the most effective methods to achieving them. I hope to develop best-practice models that will translate for community members in dealing with problems in the future. Also, I hope I find ways to make my services most useful. I hope I am able to find side projects that will boost my status in the community. I have a few ideas for this, but I fully realize that I will not be able to identify an appropriate project until I am very familiar with the realities and sensitivities of my site, its people, its culture, and its resources.

Easy Observations

I've started a blog at the request of friends and family because of my inability to remember to whom I have promised to maintain communications. If you know me, you know emails and phone calls ebb and flow; partly a function of my tendency to move quickly from place to place.