Alex and I have spent the better part of the last three days sorting through all things remaining in my childhood bedroom as well as everything I put in storage in a spare bedroom of my parent's home (aka "the toyroom") four years ago before leaving for Scotland. We're having a garage sale tomorrow, July 18, from 8-4. Stop by for a visit if you are in the area (and buy an old t-shirt for only 50 cents!!). We'll be sitting by a campfire and drinking a few beers.
We're heading to Michigan sometime in the next couple days to visit some of our friends. All is going well. We'll start our Vanuatu packing after we get back from Michigan, then off to DC to visit Alex's family. Okay, there's a mouse in the kitchen so I'm outta here.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
O-H-I-O
hey everybody,
sorry the blogs haven't been coming regularly. We've been at my childhood home, in Ohio, for the past few days. We have done several outings with my family, and I've been surprised by the number of folks mentioning having read this blog.
So a lot has happened in the past week. We spent a week in California, visiting Alex's cousin. We spent the fourth of July drinking wine, eating crab and posing for pictures under the American flag. We went shopping at several charity shops (I scored a new pair of gorgeous shoes for $6) and mostly just enjoyed the weather and our return to the states.
Last Wednesday we flew into Dayton, Ohio. We ran (walked) a 5K with my mom (my time was 50 minutes and 1 second), attended a go-cart race with my Dad, visited lots of relatives at a family reunion, helped mom buy old furniture and received our official peace corps invitation to serve for the next two years in ....(drum roll).... Vanuatu!!! Here's to not eating canned turkey tail for two years!
We were hoping for (and sort of expecting) Vanuatu, it seems like a good placement, we leave on September 12th, so we have just over two months in America. We plan to spend some time with my parents and some time with Alex's parents and visiting friends.
Starting September 12th, we will have three days training in the states (I'm guessing mostly paperwork and safety briefings) and then we head to Vanuatu for 10 weeks of training. During this time we will learn more specifically about our assignment, start learning the local language and begin to understand the culture of the land. After the first 5 weeks or so of training, we will go on a visit to our proposed site and finally learn where we will be spending the next two years of our lives. After training, we move to our site, spend the first two months living with a family and then get our own place.
Alex's position is community health extensionist and my position is small enterprise development advisor. Peace Corps sent us pages and pages of information to read, plenty more forms and about 5 more essays to write...good times. We've finished the readings and Alex has started in on the essays.
Vanuatu is an island in the South Pacific, it's a chain of 83 different islands, sort of between Australia and Fiji, north (well north) of New Zealand. Most of the 83 islands have their own language while everyone speaks a pidgin English known as Bislama. We'll have 10 weeks to learn enough of the language to get ourselves started. I'm intimidated about learning the language, though it's said to be a relatively simple language. Internet research suggest the people are really happy, the houses are simple and pretty, Alex will have to dress conservatively (think long skirts and the occasional mu mu). Vanuatu is known for it's kava, a narcotic drink the consistency of mud. I've seen canoes in pictures. They eat a lot of sweet potatoes, coconut milk, plantains, and such.
Alex is super excited about the fresh mangoes and pineapples.
We plan to stay in Ohio for the next few weeks and hit up Michigan to see Andrea and Luke (and belly). We will then be in DC for a while and hope to get to North Carolina to see so many of our friends we miss so much!
sorry the blogs haven't been coming regularly. We've been at my childhood home, in Ohio, for the past few days. We have done several outings with my family, and I've been surprised by the number of folks mentioning having read this blog.
So a lot has happened in the past week. We spent a week in California, visiting Alex's cousin. We spent the fourth of July drinking wine, eating crab and posing for pictures under the American flag. We went shopping at several charity shops (I scored a new pair of gorgeous shoes for $6) and mostly just enjoyed the weather and our return to the states.
Last Wednesday we flew into Dayton, Ohio. We ran (walked) a 5K with my mom (my time was 50 minutes and 1 second), attended a go-cart race with my Dad, visited lots of relatives at a family reunion, helped mom buy old furniture and received our official peace corps invitation to serve for the next two years in ....(drum roll).... Vanuatu!!! Here's to not eating canned turkey tail for two years!
We were hoping for (and sort of expecting) Vanuatu, it seems like a good placement, we leave on September 12th, so we have just over two months in America. We plan to spend some time with my parents and some time with Alex's parents and visiting friends.
Starting September 12th, we will have three days training in the states (I'm guessing mostly paperwork and safety briefings) and then we head to Vanuatu for 10 weeks of training. During this time we will learn more specifically about our assignment, start learning the local language and begin to understand the culture of the land. After the first 5 weeks or so of training, we will go on a visit to our proposed site and finally learn where we will be spending the next two years of our lives. After training, we move to our site, spend the first two months living with a family and then get our own place.
Alex's position is community health extensionist and my position is small enterprise development advisor. Peace Corps sent us pages and pages of information to read, plenty more forms and about 5 more essays to write...good times. We've finished the readings and Alex has started in on the essays.
Vanuatu is an island in the South Pacific, it's a chain of 83 different islands, sort of between Australia and Fiji, north (well north) of New Zealand. Most of the 83 islands have their own language while everyone speaks a pidgin English known as Bislama. We'll have 10 weeks to learn enough of the language to get ourselves started. I'm intimidated about learning the language, though it's said to be a relatively simple language. Internet research suggest the people are really happy, the houses are simple and pretty, Alex will have to dress conservatively (think long skirts and the occasional mu mu). Vanuatu is known for it's kava, a narcotic drink the consistency of mud. I've seen canoes in pictures. They eat a lot of sweet potatoes, coconut milk, plantains, and such.
Alex is super excited about the fresh mangoes and pineapples.
We plan to stay in Ohio for the next few weeks and hit up Michigan to see Andrea and Luke (and belly). We will then be in DC for a while and hope to get to North Carolina to see so many of our friends we miss so much!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
On the way HOME
Alex and I spent a total of a month in Australia, dividing the time between three organic farms and Alex's uncle (technically mother's cousin) and his daughter. We stayed at an orchard, a sheep farm/cut flower/seedlings and a baker/permaculture instructor/endangered and indigenous foods importer. Among other adventures, I found myself helping butcher a couple sheep one week and kneading 150+ loaves of bread the next. We enjoyed the farms, but even more so I enjoyed meeting Alex's kin. Rafael headed to Australia roughly the same time that Alex's mother headed to America. It was neat to see the similarities and have experiences with Rafael and Daisy that were similar to visiting Alex's parents.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Patience is a virtue...
Hello everyone! Lucas and I are at my tio Rafael's house reading and relaxing before the asado tonight. An asado is a traditional barbecue in the pampas regions of South America and for me is what my family does when they get together. This asado will have a tango theme as my uncle has become a tango fanatic.
Lucas and I have had reliable and FREE internet access for the last few days. I have been checking my e-mail every morning hoping that the peace corps will tell us what country we will be living in for the next 27 months and when we will be leaving. As of yet, we are still going to the South Pacific and we are leaving in September.
I know that the two programs that leave in September 2009 in the South Pacific are Micronesia Palau and Vanuatu. There could not be two more opposite programs. Micronesia Palau has had several volunteers terminate their tour early, so much so that the Peace Corps sent consultants to try to help them out while Vanuatu has the highest extension rate of any country in the Peace Corps. In Micronesia Palau, the main diet are things like turkey tail and SPAM with little access to fresh fruits and veggies while in Vanuatu most everyone has their own garden and fruit trees. We can eat pineapple with ZERO guilt because we are eating locally and in season! In Micronesia Palau married couples live with a host family their whole tour of service while in Vanuatu, we will have our own teeny tiny house. In our travels, we've talked to people that have gone to Vanuatu, and the first thing they say are how wonderful the local people are. I can go on and on.
As you can probably tell, I've spent lots of time researching our destiny on the internet. One of the best things I've run into where other people's peace corps blogs.
These are my people.
All the blogs reflect the process that Lucas and I have had to go through and it feels really great to know that we are not the only people who are obsessed with how hard it is to sit with the unknown (it's harder for me than for Lucas). And there's something else-- I feel like I am a part of this special community of people that are an interesting mix of crazy and incredibly responsible. The application process is long and competitive and not everyone would be willing to leave their comfort zone for twenty seven months.
I'm excited for my future colleagues!
Most of all, I feel so grateful that I will be sharing one of the most life-changing experiences of my life with Lucas (Hopefully in Vanuatu!!!!). We've made the decision that we will go anywhere we're sent and that we won't stay if it's really really bad (like if we are eating turkey tail every day, are being completely unproductive in our assignment, our host father is a total jerk, and there are no redeeming reasons to stay one minute longer).
For now, though, we look forward to learning more about organic and biodynamic farming! It's been a super fun honeymoon so far!
All our love to everyone!!!
Lucas and I have had reliable and FREE internet access for the last few days. I have been checking my e-mail every morning hoping that the peace corps will tell us what country we will be living in for the next 27 months and when we will be leaving. As of yet, we are still going to the South Pacific and we are leaving in September.
I know that the two programs that leave in September 2009 in the South Pacific are Micronesia Palau and Vanuatu. There could not be two more opposite programs. Micronesia Palau has had several volunteers terminate their tour early, so much so that the Peace Corps sent consultants to try to help them out while Vanuatu has the highest extension rate of any country in the Peace Corps. In Micronesia Palau, the main diet are things like turkey tail and SPAM with little access to fresh fruits and veggies while in Vanuatu most everyone has their own garden and fruit trees. We can eat pineapple with ZERO guilt because we are eating locally and in season! In Micronesia Palau married couples live with a host family their whole tour of service while in Vanuatu, we will have our own teeny tiny house. In our travels, we've talked to people that have gone to Vanuatu, and the first thing they say are how wonderful the local people are. I can go on and on.
As you can probably tell, I've spent lots of time researching our destiny on the internet. One of the best things I've run into where other people's peace corps blogs.
These are my people.
All the blogs reflect the process that Lucas and I have had to go through and it feels really great to know that we are not the only people who are obsessed with how hard it is to sit with the unknown (it's harder for me than for Lucas). And there's something else-- I feel like I am a part of this special community of people that are an interesting mix of crazy and incredibly responsible. The application process is long and competitive and not everyone would be willing to leave their comfort zone for twenty seven months.
I'm excited for my future colleagues!
Most of all, I feel so grateful that I will be sharing one of the most life-changing experiences of my life with Lucas (Hopefully in Vanuatu!!!!). We've made the decision that we will go anywhere we're sent and that we won't stay if it's really really bad (like if we are eating turkey tail every day, are being completely unproductive in our assignment, our host father is a total jerk, and there are no redeeming reasons to stay one minute longer).
For now, though, we look forward to learning more about organic and biodynamic farming! It's been a super fun honeymoon so far!
All our love to everyone!!!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Rafael & Daisy
Alex and I are living the good life in Adelaide, Australia. We are visiting Alex's Uncle (technically Alex's mother's cousin) who immigrated to Australia (from Uruguay) ~40 years ago. Rafael has a South American/Australian accent, drinks matte every night, has cases of wine in the kitchen, cooks asado every Tuesday and goes tango dancing three to four times a week. Rafael's daughter, Daisy, is finishing her last year of university and has a banking job lined up for after graduation. They are both super nice and accommodating. Alex is very much enjoying catching up on family gossip and I am reminded of my insufficient (nearly nonexistent) Spanish skills. We are both enjoying feeling at home for a bit.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Farming
Alex and I have spent the last two weeks on organic farms, working a few hours a day for room and board, and to learn something about the industry. We've been pulling weeds and harvesting salad greens in a greenhouse most recently. Spent this morning at the Farmer's market...it's now nap time since we woke at 5am this morning.
We head to Australia in 7 days...our New Zealand time is coming to an end...
We head to Australia in 7 days...our New Zealand time is coming to an end...
Friday, May 8, 2009
dreaming...
Walking down the trail seems to give one lots of time to think, which is nice if you have nice things to think about and not-so-nice when your thoughts aren't so nice.
Fortunately, being on my honeymoon, I've had lots of nice thoughts to think about.
Alex and I like to dream about what our future holds for us - our careers, our family's values, our future shack, financial, lifestyle priorities and such things...And we've had lots of time to think.
We've been reading this book together, the author used the phrase "season of speculation" to describe gardening in the winter time. It struck both of us that this time in our lives is very much that. I like this time.
Alex and I just finished a 4-day/3-night hike. We essentially circumnavigated the volcano from the Lord of the Rings movies (Mount Doom). The landscape was mostly rocky and exposed (no trees). The weather was windy but nice on the first day and then we were beaten with rain, hail, snow and lots of freezing rain (all with heavy winds, making everything come at us sideways). There is absolutely no denying it's winter (or at least late autumn). We were walking over frozen puddles and through snow on the last day of the hike. I think we've walked our last tramp in New Zealand. We are back in Auckland (same room as last time I blogged) for a day or two to check out the city and they heading north, hoping to wwoof.
Fortunately, being on my honeymoon, I've had lots of nice thoughts to think about.
Alex and I like to dream about what our future holds for us - our careers, our family's values, our future shack, financial, lifestyle priorities and such things...And we've had lots of time to think.
We've been reading this book together, the author used the phrase "season of speculation" to describe gardening in the winter time. It struck both of us that this time in our lives is very much that. I like this time.
Alex and I just finished a 4-day/3-night hike. We essentially circumnavigated the volcano from the Lord of the Rings movies (Mount Doom). The landscape was mostly rocky and exposed (no trees). The weather was windy but nice on the first day and then we were beaten with rain, hail, snow and lots of freezing rain (all with heavy winds, making everything come at us sideways). There is absolutely no denying it's winter (or at least late autumn). We were walking over frozen puddles and through snow on the last day of the hike. I think we've walked our last tramp in New Zealand. We are back in Auckland (same room as last time I blogged) for a day or two to check out the city and they heading north, hoping to wwoof.
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