Whoa.
First ten days in Maroc have been crazy. Flew in from NYC to Casa to Rabat where training began immediately-from security briefings, language, money, and schedule to rules, culture, terrorism, and shopping.
From Rabat we bussed the 8 hours over the snowy Atlas mountains to our training base. Language training in Derija (Moroccan Arabic) began in short order. Sessions start at about 8am and last til 6ish; with a 930 curfew. After next week the cycle between this training site and a remote site will begin, and will continue for 10 weeks. After that, enshallah, I will be sworn in and move somewhere permanently.
For now, the stress of training is easily offset by the physical beauty of Morocco and the fun-loving kindness of its people.
barakhlahifuk.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Friday, February 29, 2008
Packing for a 27-Month Trip Packing is usually quite easy for me. I get alot of practice at it and I have learned a couple tricks to streamline the process (like packing everything, taking half of it out, and doubling the number of socks). Unfortunately those tricks don't work when you're not really packing, but moving.
The last time I had to pack for a long-term thing was for my semester in Hong Kong. I remember standing with my best friend over my pile of luggage trying to figure out if I had forgotten anything. I hadn't. I cursed the amount of crap I brought and learned a valuable lesson about possessions; they are totally replaceable and available wherever you're going. Also I learned that any sort of "sentimental" stuff which is packed will inevitably be regretted. The tendency you have is to think "I can't go for long without my massive wool sweater" and you end up packing it. If you were to simply throw the sweater into the closet, you would forget about it until you return from the trip and rediscover it and love it again. If you bring it, you realize its inefficiencies and flaws and desire it out of your life. Thus the approach must be focused on limits; pack half what you're allowed, give yourself some draft, and bring extra socks.
I got everything for Africa to fit into one large bag, my trekking backpack, and my Marine bag. Clothing went in the big bag, necessities like books, duct tape, flashlights, etc went in the trekking bag, and electronics went in my carry-on. Easy. I plan on buying a few things in Morocco, including just about everything having to do with home life.
This last week has been uneventful, mostly just a long stretch of strange feelings about leaving, none of which were sheer excitement, nor fear, nor apprehension. I don't know how to quantify it, but it seems to fit somewhere between a sense of foreboding and general peace with the understanding that much of the next few months is going to be packed with patently fascinating difficulty.
The last time I had to pack for a long-term thing was for my semester in Hong Kong. I remember standing with my best friend over my pile of luggage trying to figure out if I had forgotten anything. I hadn't. I cursed the amount of crap I brought and learned a valuable lesson about possessions; they are totally replaceable and available wherever you're going. Also I learned that any sort of "sentimental" stuff which is packed will inevitably be regretted. The tendency you have is to think "I can't go for long without my massive wool sweater" and you end up packing it. If you were to simply throw the sweater into the closet, you would forget about it until you return from the trip and rediscover it and love it again. If you bring it, you realize its inefficiencies and flaws and desire it out of your life. Thus the approach must be focused on limits; pack half what you're allowed, give yourself some draft, and bring extra socks.
I got everything for Africa to fit into one large bag, my trekking backpack, and my Marine bag. Clothing went in the big bag, necessities like books, duct tape, flashlights, etc went in the trekking bag, and electronics went in my carry-on. Easy. I plan on buying a few things in Morocco, including just about everything having to do with home life.
This last week has been uneventful, mostly just a long stretch of strange feelings about leaving, none of which were sheer excitement, nor fear, nor apprehension. I don't know how to quantify it, but it seems to fit somewhere between a sense of foreboding and general peace with the understanding that much of the next few months is going to be packed with patently fascinating difficulty.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Next?
I am completing my Costa Rica-Nicaragua-Costa Rica loop, finishing it off with a visit to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, CR. I have an unsure feeling about the end of this trip, I have had unforgettable experiences one after the other, mostly set in Nicaragua. My trip started off crappy, with a disillusioning set of experiences with Ticos in northern CR, and continued with the robbery on my birthday in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua. Now I´m back in touristed-out Costa Rica and can´t help but feel that the best is definitely over. Costa Rica is full of lame spring-break like travelers looking to book tours and overpay for mediocre experiences like canopy tours, sub-par beaches, and tame volcanoes.
So I am begining to realize that Costa Rica was certainly the wrong place to start and end this trip, but it was so much cheaper to fly in here compared to any other Central American city. One thing CR does remedy is that feeling that you don´t want your trip to be over, since I am somewhat looking forward to leaving the 51st State of behind.
Another good thing about Costa Rica being lame is that now I´m looking to the future as I hadn´t during the rest of my trip. I haven´t thought too much about Morocco, or the next two years. Now, looking forward, I am STOKED about all of the change and adventure I have ahead. The action-packed nature of the next few weeks really excites me.
I am working on getting my photos online, it seems like the only option is to wait for the States to get them on, bandwidth here is proving to be a problem.
So I am begining to realize that Costa Rica was certainly the wrong place to start and end this trip, but it was so much cheaper to fly in here compared to any other Central American city. One thing CR does remedy is that feeling that you don´t want your trip to be over, since I am somewhat looking forward to leaving the 51st State of behind.
Another good thing about Costa Rica being lame is that now I´m looking to the future as I hadn´t during the rest of my trip. I haven´t thought too much about Morocco, or the next two years. Now, looking forward, I am STOKED about all of the change and adventure I have ahead. The action-packed nature of the next few weeks really excites me.
I am working on getting my photos online, it seems like the only option is to wait for the States to get them on, bandwidth here is proving to be a problem.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Change of Pace
The last few months of my life have been relatively fast-moving. Alot of things have changed and changed quickly, from graduating to moving away from Washington, to starting a new chapter in life, it has all been very sudden. This all changed when I got to Nicaragua.
Many times I find myself rushing through countries, trying to see as much of it as I can and stretching myself thin. On this trip I planned on going to El Salvador and maybe Honduras for awhile, but instead I have just been slowly drifting around Nicaragua. It has been quite pleasant.
I find that this trip has been different than my two previous visits to Latin America, chiefly because of two things:
One, I speak alot more Spanish than I did the first two times I came, and
two, I have been staying for a long time in every place I go. Language and time has opened up so many doors.
I thought I had essentially done it all in Latin America, I felt like a veteran. Now I am realizing how much I missed out on the first two times. Everyday I am getting invited into houses and for meals, getting a tour from a local guy who is eager to show me his country, or finding little barrios and pueblos around the city which I would previously avoid.
I spent 6 days in Esteli, Nicaragua and the day that I left, on my way to the bus station I was waved to, smiled at, invited for coffee, food, etc, countless times. Time and language has let me begin to know Nicaragua and Nica people, rather than just visit. I cannot believe how much I learn everyday about life, history, culture, food, attitude, politics, and all the rest with the help of just a few friendly local people.
I have always believed that travel is the best way to spend your time and money, and everyday I spend in Nicaragua gives me more reasons to think that way.
It is simply wonderful.
Many times I find myself rushing through countries, trying to see as much of it as I can and stretching myself thin. On this trip I planned on going to El Salvador and maybe Honduras for awhile, but instead I have just been slowly drifting around Nicaragua. It has been quite pleasant.
I find that this trip has been different than my two previous visits to Latin America, chiefly because of two things:
One, I speak alot more Spanish than I did the first two times I came, and
two, I have been staying for a long time in every place I go. Language and time has opened up so many doors.
I thought I had essentially done it all in Latin America, I felt like a veteran. Now I am realizing how much I missed out on the first two times. Everyday I am getting invited into houses and for meals, getting a tour from a local guy who is eager to show me his country, or finding little barrios and pueblos around the city which I would previously avoid.
I spent 6 days in Esteli, Nicaragua and the day that I left, on my way to the bus station I was waved to, smiled at, invited for coffee, food, etc, countless times. Time and language has let me begin to know Nicaragua and Nica people, rather than just visit. I cannot believe how much I learn everyday about life, history, culture, food, attitude, politics, and all the rest with the help of just a few friendly local people.
I have always believed that travel is the best way to spend your time and money, and everyday I spend in Nicaragua gives me more reasons to think that way.
It is simply wonderful.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
For the Love of Gallo Pinto
Nicaragua is fascinating in as many ways as you wish. I credit myself with describing Nica land as the Wonderfully Destinationless Destination. It is desperately poor and inconvenient and dirty and dangerous. At the same time it hides the last of CA`s treasures.
As the cheapest place in the hemisphere, Nicaragua had a jumpstart on the race for my heart. But just being cheap and dirty doesnt make you cool. Nicaragua knows that.
Costa Rica tries to keep it real, but Nicaragua will always be more real. Costa Rica is as expensive as the States, with only the advantage of cheap accomodation and short distance in between medicocre destinations. Nica doesn´t care about the tourist. And that´s whats cool.
The biggest and best waves in CA, the most undistrubed cloud forests, the best food, the most refined accomodation for below 7USD, the smallest distances with the biggest differences, etc.
Gallo Pinto belongs in Nicaragua, and so does my heart.
As the cheapest place in the hemisphere, Nicaragua had a jumpstart on the race for my heart. But just being cheap and dirty doesnt make you cool. Nicaragua knows that.
Costa Rica tries to keep it real, but Nicaragua will always be more real. Costa Rica is as expensive as the States, with only the advantage of cheap accomodation and short distance in between medicocre destinations. Nica doesn´t care about the tourist. And that´s whats cool.
The biggest and best waves in CA, the most undistrubed cloud forests, the best food, the most refined accomodation for below 7USD, the smallest distances with the biggest differences, etc.
Gallo Pinto belongs in Nicaragua, and so does my heart.
Friday, January 18, 2008
How to Apprehend a Mugger in Latin America
I wouldn´t say that I´m a DIY kind of guy, but when you´re traveling in the developing world (or the 2nd poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere in this case), you have to be prepared to make some lifestyle sacrifices. These include everyday things like relying on nutrition to warm you in cold showers, ensuring food safety, helping human waste get where it needs to, assembling a large enough constituency to lobby for the bus to leave today and not tomorrow, etc.. I accept these responsibilities and sacrifices happily, as I know the tremendous inconveniences and sacrifices involved in third-world travel always pay off in big ways.
I have been taking Spanish classes in a little town called San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua before I set off to travel the rest of the country until the end of February. San Juan del Sur is a booming town that is beginning to feel the perks of foreign investment and tourism. It´s a wonderful place blessed with spectacular beauty, surfing, and some of the kindest people in Latin America. Nonetheless, SJDS is poor. Nicaragua´s economy has never recovered from the decades of civil war that left infrastructure and the hallmarks of a developed society bankrupted and in ruins. Recently, Nicaragua´s economy has slipped off after a period of modest growth, and most economic indicators put Nicaragua as the second-poorest in the Hemisphere, and slipping closer to Haiti.
Desperate poverty+vulnerable tourists=crime. Usually petty theft, it happens all over the world. A few days ago, one of the predictions I had written in my journal about this trip came true. I wrote on one of the first pages;
"My string of unbelievably good luck will end on this trip."
I was right.
On the 15th of January (the day after my birthday) I got out of Spanish class at 1230pm. I had some things to study so I went to the beach to do so. After awhile I decided to take a walk to the point on the north side of the beach, about a 2km trek. The beach ends about 1.5km into the walk and it turns to rock, which you have to navigate with care.
I rounded a smaller point and saw a local guy walking towards me quickly. I immediately had a bad feeling about him. He greeted me loudly and approached me, exptending his hand. I tried to keep my distance but it was too late. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. That didn´t surprise me. What surprised me was that he actually knew the English word for money. I didn´t have much so I cooperated, as it is never intelligent to fight off muggers. He took my 250 cordobas (about 21 bucks) and my 40USD watch. When he realized that was all he was going to get he reached for my bag and ripped it off me holding the knife against my chest so I didn´t resist. That didn´t bother me. Its just stuff, and I can replace it. Totally not worth risking my life for replaceable objects.
It all happened pretty fast, and I was very cooperative, but about 30 seconds after he ran away from me with my Spanish books, back pack, some money, and my watch, I was totally filled to the eyeballs with a desire for revenge. The complacent robbery victim that I had been in front of the knife was replaced by a pissed-off vigilante when the weapon disappeared. Therefore I did what any logical person who just got robbed at knifepoint would do. I gave chase.
The assailant scrambled up a path of jagged rock that makes up the 200m tall point, and was met by a group of municipal workers who saw a nervous and sprinting Nicaraguan with a fistful of money and a nice backpack and put 2 and 2 together. They were able to rip the bag from the guy but not apprehend him. My bag was splayed out and emptied on the ground about 100m away from me, and I saw the robber run from the municipal workers. I trusted the workers so I left my bag with them and continued to chase the robber. He scrambled impressively down a part the steep shale face and made his way around the point, he was much faster running on the rocks than I. Watching all this were two Americans--Greg and Samantha--who got their shirt and book stolen from them. We decided it was time to let it go and started walking back south to get to town and safety.
During the walk we recounted our stories to each other, all agreeing that it was totally unreasonable to try to chase this guy, and not worth it to re-enter into close proximity with him. I believed this too, and we made it about halfway down the beach when Greg turned and saw someone coming around the point, about .75km away. The good sense and reason I had in me 10 seconds earlier was again replaced by a thirst for justice and revenge. I started back up the beack to meet the assailant.
When I started to get close to him he figured out who I was and started running. I picked up some rocks and ran after him, gaining quickly. I got slose enough to launch one of the rocks and it just missed. the next two connected solidly on his upper and lower back. He ran off the beach and into the sketchy neighboorhoods on the north side of SJDS. He obviously knew this area better than I and was able to evade me again.
Dejected, I turned from physically chasing him to assembling a neighborhood coalition. Like I said before, Nicaraguans are f-ing cool and very warm. They genuinely dislike crime done to foreigners who come to contribute to the local economy and hang out with them. The people in the neighborhood react in an amazing way to my efforts. For some reason the adrenaline running through me assisted me in retreiving words from my mental Spanish bank that made the coalition-building process run quickly. At one point I told a crew of construction workers about a robber loose in the neighborhood. One of the men had a trowel in his hand, and upon hearing LADRON (robber) he dropped the tool into the concrete he was smoothing over and sprung into an aggresive vigilante position, ready to take action in my cause. It was quite possibly the coolest exchange I have ever had with another human being.
My coalition of local children, construction workers, and a group of men in a beat-up yellow four-door Toyota was swarming the area, and I returned, shank of metal in-hand, to secure the beach perimeter.
After about a half-hour of patrol, I was starting to give up. My breathing slowed, and I began to resign myself to the reality that the asshole got away. Just at that moment, I heard a roar from behind me. When I turned I saw the Yellow Toyota bombing through the river that flows through the beach from SJDS and coming right towards me at, what I would say, was about 50MPH. I was frightened but curious. When the car slid to a stop next to me, the door was flung open and the men inside were screaming unintelligibly. I jumped in, metal shank in hand, no shoes, no shirt, and we sped off with one of my legs still out the door. We hydroplaned over the river and I was desperately trying to get information about what the F was going on. I didn´t know whether these guys were with me or against me, and they were so charged up I couldn´t understand their Spanish.
We came to a screaching stop in the middle of an indescript neighborhood and piled out of the car, all toting various weapons.
There, standing in a pile of acrid waste and metal, was my assailant. Sweaty, head down, in handcuffs.
(Internet is expensive and I have to go meet some friends so I will finish this story, which gets better when we start dealing with the Nicaraguan police, at a later time.) Check back later and watch your stuff.
I have been taking Spanish classes in a little town called San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua before I set off to travel the rest of the country until the end of February. San Juan del Sur is a booming town that is beginning to feel the perks of foreign investment and tourism. It´s a wonderful place blessed with spectacular beauty, surfing, and some of the kindest people in Latin America. Nonetheless, SJDS is poor. Nicaragua´s economy has never recovered from the decades of civil war that left infrastructure and the hallmarks of a developed society bankrupted and in ruins. Recently, Nicaragua´s economy has slipped off after a period of modest growth, and most economic indicators put Nicaragua as the second-poorest in the Hemisphere, and slipping closer to Haiti.
Desperate poverty+vulnerable tourists=crime. Usually petty theft, it happens all over the world. A few days ago, one of the predictions I had written in my journal about this trip came true. I wrote on one of the first pages;
"My string of unbelievably good luck will end on this trip."
I was right.
On the 15th of January (the day after my birthday) I got out of Spanish class at 1230pm. I had some things to study so I went to the beach to do so. After awhile I decided to take a walk to the point on the north side of the beach, about a 2km trek. The beach ends about 1.5km into the walk and it turns to rock, which you have to navigate with care.
I rounded a smaller point and saw a local guy walking towards me quickly. I immediately had a bad feeling about him. He greeted me loudly and approached me, exptending his hand. I tried to keep my distance but it was too late. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. That didn´t surprise me. What surprised me was that he actually knew the English word for money. I didn´t have much so I cooperated, as it is never intelligent to fight off muggers. He took my 250 cordobas (about 21 bucks) and my 40USD watch. When he realized that was all he was going to get he reached for my bag and ripped it off me holding the knife against my chest so I didn´t resist. That didn´t bother me. Its just stuff, and I can replace it. Totally not worth risking my life for replaceable objects.
It all happened pretty fast, and I was very cooperative, but about 30 seconds after he ran away from me with my Spanish books, back pack, some money, and my watch, I was totally filled to the eyeballs with a desire for revenge. The complacent robbery victim that I had been in front of the knife was replaced by a pissed-off vigilante when the weapon disappeared. Therefore I did what any logical person who just got robbed at knifepoint would do. I gave chase.
The assailant scrambled up a path of jagged rock that makes up the 200m tall point, and was met by a group of municipal workers who saw a nervous and sprinting Nicaraguan with a fistful of money and a nice backpack and put 2 and 2 together. They were able to rip the bag from the guy but not apprehend him. My bag was splayed out and emptied on the ground about 100m away from me, and I saw the robber run from the municipal workers. I trusted the workers so I left my bag with them and continued to chase the robber. He scrambled impressively down a part the steep shale face and made his way around the point, he was much faster running on the rocks than I. Watching all this were two Americans--Greg and Samantha--who got their shirt and book stolen from them. We decided it was time to let it go and started walking back south to get to town and safety.
During the walk we recounted our stories to each other, all agreeing that it was totally unreasonable to try to chase this guy, and not worth it to re-enter into close proximity with him. I believed this too, and we made it about halfway down the beach when Greg turned and saw someone coming around the point, about .75km away. The good sense and reason I had in me 10 seconds earlier was again replaced by a thirst for justice and revenge. I started back up the beack to meet the assailant.
When I started to get close to him he figured out who I was and started running. I picked up some rocks and ran after him, gaining quickly. I got slose enough to launch one of the rocks and it just missed. the next two connected solidly on his upper and lower back. He ran off the beach and into the sketchy neighboorhoods on the north side of SJDS. He obviously knew this area better than I and was able to evade me again.
Dejected, I turned from physically chasing him to assembling a neighborhood coalition. Like I said before, Nicaraguans are f-ing cool and very warm. They genuinely dislike crime done to foreigners who come to contribute to the local economy and hang out with them. The people in the neighborhood react in an amazing way to my efforts. For some reason the adrenaline running through me assisted me in retreiving words from my mental Spanish bank that made the coalition-building process run quickly. At one point I told a crew of construction workers about a robber loose in the neighborhood. One of the men had a trowel in his hand, and upon hearing LADRON (robber) he dropped the tool into the concrete he was smoothing over and sprung into an aggresive vigilante position, ready to take action in my cause. It was quite possibly the coolest exchange I have ever had with another human being.
My coalition of local children, construction workers, and a group of men in a beat-up yellow four-door Toyota was swarming the area, and I returned, shank of metal in-hand, to secure the beach perimeter.
After about a half-hour of patrol, I was starting to give up. My breathing slowed, and I began to resign myself to the reality that the asshole got away. Just at that moment, I heard a roar from behind me. When I turned I saw the Yellow Toyota bombing through the river that flows through the beach from SJDS and coming right towards me at, what I would say, was about 50MPH. I was frightened but curious. When the car slid to a stop next to me, the door was flung open and the men inside were screaming unintelligibly. I jumped in, metal shank in hand, no shoes, no shirt, and we sped off with one of my legs still out the door. We hydroplaned over the river and I was desperately trying to get information about what the F was going on. I didn´t know whether these guys were with me or against me, and they were so charged up I couldn´t understand their Spanish.
We came to a screaching stop in the middle of an indescript neighborhood and piled out of the car, all toting various weapons.
There, standing in a pile of acrid waste and metal, was my assailant. Sweaty, head down, in handcuffs.
(Internet is expensive and I have to go meet some friends so I will finish this story, which gets better when we start dealing with the Nicaraguan police, at a later time.) Check back later and watch your stuff.
Monday, December 31, 2007
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
'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.
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.
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